IR TV Review: CSI - VEGAS - EPISODE 1 (“Legacy”) [CBS]
Coming back to the place where it all began but making it make sense to do so with the stakes requires a bit of movement while not losing the angle overall. It is a tall order...and even more tricky for a show like "CSI". Finally coming back home to its Vegas roots with "CSI: Vegas" always required a return to arms of a certain person. The key is balance and the pilot for "CSI: Vegas" entitled "Legacy" recognizes that. The program can't embrace the future without bringing in some part of the past. This episode makes that transition exceptionally well. While it doesn't feel forced, the viewer understands what it is trying to set up. The good thing is much of the new characters, like the old ones, really gel back in to form, though the power dynamic remains to be seen though reverence is paid.
Paula Newsome plays Maxine Roby who leads the Vegas Crime Lab which has undeniably changed since Sidle and Grissom were there. Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) wonderfully moves back into the scenes in a very nicely written way with correct reasoning. Nothing says effectiveness like loyalty and respect. Sidle gives both and how it plays with Roby is exactly the kind of role model that we need to see play out. By extension, Mandeep Dhillon as Allie Rajan as a Level II CSI is able to be both brilliant, strong and vulnerable at the same time while understanding where she is. There is one moment in an examining room in the pilot that tells the viewer everything that is going to make the character great...and Sidle sees it as well. Technical know how is no match for instinct but one cannot exist without the other.
Matt Lauria is the other side of the coin on the male side as Josh Folsom and while he is not as dynamic parhaps the character's depth will grow. Mel Rodriguez as Hugo Ramiirez, the medical examiner is just as inetresting as the former resident but unique in his own way...and again Sidle's interaction with him shows this. To tease any more would push the boundary of spoilers, but suffice to say, the reasoning for Sidle to come back from where the original ended is by no means permanent but a reveal towards the end on two fronts gives her and a certain somebody all the reason to make an appearance back in their stomping grounds. A-
By Tim Wassberg
