REVIEW: CSI: Vegas Season 3, Episode 7 Is a Confusing Misfire

The following contains major spoilers from CSI: Vegas Season 3, Episode 7, “Coinkydink,” which debuted Sunday, April 28 on CBS.

The case of the week isn’t the only issue, either; there are other concerns that keep this from reaching the CBS show’s normally high level. It would be fine as a filler episode in a normal 13 to 22-episode season. But in a shortened 10-episode season, and knowing now that Season 3 is also CSI: Vegas’ final season, there’s no other way to look at it than as a missed opportunity.

CSI: Vegas Season 3, Episode 7 Has a Muddled Plot

The Investigation Never Picks up Steam – Except for the Crime Scene

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Therein lies the other issue with the plot: none of the characters are that interesting. The best TV crime dramas, including CSI: Vegas, make a viewer care about the entire story — not just the investigators. Libby and Ella are obviously codependent and neither character is developed past that. Dirk and Warren are painted postmortem as terrible people; Dirk was having an affair and Warren is called “shady” by another gym employee known as Twist, who comes across as a caricature. Even the subplot, in which Serena Chavez goes undercover to get close to the suspect in the now-ongoing Cliff Roland case, is mostly memorable for actor Ariana Guerra’s complete commitment to the bit.

CSI: Vegas’ Cliff Roland Subplot Takes a Hard Right Turn

How Much Bigger Can the Ongoing Story Get?

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Catherine and Maxine CSI Vegas

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The subplot in “Coinkydink” is still continuing the plotline from the end of CSI: Vegas Season 3, Episode 5, “It Was Automation.” In fact, the episode opens in media res, with Maxine Roby having identified the figure in Cliff’s photo as a mystery woman named Valerie — mysterious because there’s no record of her in Las Vegas at all. Valerie quickly shuts down Max’s interrogation, and so Serena decides to go undercover at the staffing agency where Valerie works, hoping to gain her trust (or at least her DNA). But this is unlike any other staffing agency; it requires Serena to dress up in a series of costumes.

Ariana Guerra deserves points for going with that gag wholeheartedly, but that’s pretty much what it is until the closing chapter of the episode. (It’s also a bit odd that a veteran detective like Serena wouldn’t know that to get DNA from hair, one needs the entire strand of hair — including the bulb.) It’s not until Valerie blows Serena’s cover that the action has any relevance to the ongoing story, and then it takes a sharp turn when Serena arrives at the other woman’s apartment to discover that Valerie’s been kidnapped, presumably by whomever she claims set her and Cliff up. But again, because of the show’s shortened timeframe, this doesn’t flow well.

Even before the upsetting cancellation news, CSI: Vegas still had only four episodes to wrap the Cliff Roland story up. That’s not a short period, but it’s not a long one either. Presuming that everything is going to come to a head in the Season 3 slash series finale, there’s just two episodes to ramp up the tension and spell out whatever greater conspiracy is at work enough that the audience cares. “Coinkydink” needed to spend less time on the Serena-as-a-mermaid gag and more time on her seriously investigating. The Silver Ink Killer took half a season and the reaction to that storyline was mixed; it would be a further disappointment if the entire show ended with another ongoing Big Bad plot that didn’t get fans on the edge of their seats. And speaking of ongoing subplots…

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Season 3, Episode 7 Drops Some Big Hints

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CSI: Vegas Season 3, Episode 7, “Coinkydink” drops some of the biggest hints yet about Josh Folsom and Allie Rajan’s friendship turning into a romantic relationship. In fairness to this episode, people have been rooting for Josh and Allie to get together since Season 1, and after Josh and Serena broke up in Season 3, Episode 2, “Scar Tissue,” it’s been pretty clear that the show was heading in the Josh and Allie direction. But “Coinkydink” pushes them there in a slightly heavy-handed way that would work on any other crime drama not as nuanced as this one. Viewers are treated to scenes of them working in physically close quarters and talking about how it’s just like old times, before Allie points out that she is Josh’s boss now.

She does have a point — thanks to Josh’s demotion earlier in Season 3, Allie is now two ranks ahead of him. She raises concerns about being so close to him that it “could be misinterpreted as inappropriate or favoritism.” But bringing up that subject would’ve been more impactful when Josh originally returned as a CSI Level I weeks earlier. Besides, who would consider it inappropriate? Certainly not any of the main characters, who know them both well and know how much their integrity means to each of them. Allie’s likely referring to everyone at the Crime Lab outside of their team, but no one is actually questioning their work or threatening her job. The audience doesn’t have any face to put this problem to, so it feels like a delayed reaction, a plot point utilized to keep them apart.

It’s possible that the CSI: Vegas creative team is just trying to get Josh and Allie into the next phase of their relationship before the finale. That as with the aforementioned Cliff Roland story, they’re playing to a big resolution in that last episode. It’s not uncommon for TV shows to end on cliffhangers or huge character twists as they try to keep from being canceled. “Coinkydink” is a fine episode to entertain viewers, but it lacks the depth or emotional weight that CSI: Vegas is known for. It’s playing by numbers, and that’s the one thing this show should never do.

CSI: Vegas airs Sundays at 10:00 p.m. on CBS.

CSI Vegas TV Poster

CSI: Vegas Season 3, Episode 7

5/10

When a fitness guru is found dead in a gym sauna and his soon to be son-in-law is found dead from an apparent hunting accident, the CSI team investigates to see if these deaths are unrelated tragic accidents or if they’re connected.

Release DateOctober 6, 2021CastLex Medlin, Paula Newsome, Jay Lee, Ariana Guerra, Mandeep Dhillon, Matt Lauria, Mel Rodriguez, Jorja Fox, William Petersen, Marg HelgenbergerMain GenreCrimeRatingTV-14Seasons3FranchiseCSI: Crime Scene InvestigationDistributorCBSNumber of Episodes16 Pros

• Josh and Allie fans will appreciate their scenes together.
• Ariana Guerra provides some laugh-out-loud moments.

Cons

• The case of the week is confusing with flat characters.
• The ongoing subplot doesn’t move forward enough.