The news that Marg Helgenberger’s Catherine may return to the CSI franchise in CSI: Vegas season 2 would be perfect for the show’s formula. CSI: Vegas season 1 debuted to mixed reviews, although many fans of the long-running police procedural were happy to see series stalwarts William Petersen and Jorja Fox return to the franchise. Petersen’s Gil Grissom and Fox’s Sara Sidle were arguably the original CSI’s most important characters, so their involvement lent CSI: Vegas an air of legitimacy that carried the series through a shaky debut season.
As such, the news that Fox and Petersen were moving on from the show came as a disappointment to some viewers. However, CSI: Vegas was soon saved (in the eyes of franchise fans who valued its returning stars) by the news that Marg Helgenberger’s Catherine Willow may appear in season 2. This character would be a far better fit for the show for numerous reasons.
While CSI veteran Catherine was always an instrumental part of the team in the original series, she was never the show’s lead in the way that Gil Grissom (and, later, his love interest, CSI's Sara Sidle) was. As a result, Helgenberger’s character can be integrated into the cast of CSI: Vegas season 2 without drawing too much attention away from the original characters that season 1 sidelined in favor of Gil and Sara. Season 1 struggled to find the right balance between establishing its own supporting cast and giving the returning stars of CSI their share of the spotlight, whereas Catherine’s status as a long-time team player makes her a much better addition to the spinoff.
CSI: Vegas’ new characters Allie Rajan and Josh Folsom proved that the show could create intriguing new personalities that held their own against the returning stars. However, the series never got to delve into their stories in much depth during season 1 due to CSI: Vegas’s overarching plot focusing on Gil and Sara. However, since Marg Helgenberger’s Catherine was already a supporting character in the original CSI, she can return to this role in the new iteration of the series and keep CSI: Vegas’ connection to the original show alive while offering more focus for Rajan, Folsom, and Mel Rodriguez’s Hugo Ramirez.
Gaining Catherine alone will not be enough to guarantee the success of CSI: Vegas season 2. The show faces an uphill battle, with the franchise’s popularity declining in recent years as proven by the failure of 2015’s short-lived spinoff CSI: Cyber. While that flop may have been able to blame its focus on internet-based cases as the primary problem with its premise, the reviews for CSI: Cyber received also cited the CSI franchise’s broader lack of new ideas as an issue. As such, CSI: Vegas bringing back original characters may not be enough to convince viewers that the series still has a place in prime time. Only time will tell, although it is hard to deny that Helgenberger’s Catherine gives CSI: Vegas season 2 a better chance to keep the CSI franchise alive than any other returning character could.