Just days after CSI: Vegas was canceled, the CBS drama provided a subtle reminder of why that cancellation makes zero sense. CSI: Vegas Season 3, Episode 6, “Atomic City” featured a trio of small, subtle scenes that gave major character development to Maxine Roby and Josh Folsom.
Not to slight the wonderful “will they, won’t they, they probably will” between Josh and Allie Rajan, but the best relationship in CSI: Vegas is the friendship and mentorly bond between Max and Josh. There are several layers to it, both professional and personal, and what separates it from other such dynamics in TV procedurals is that it goes both ways. Max is a mentor to Josh because she sees his potential and pushes him to reach it, while the way she treats him is in direct contrast to the difficult relationship he had with his late mother Jeanette. But Josh also teaches Max and is able to help her see things from a less clinical perspective. Both of them make one another better, which is why it was so devastating to see that friendship blown up after the events of the Season 2 finale “Dying Words.” Season 3 has slowly been piecing it back together, and “Atomic City” affirmed that they’ve finally gotten there, even if neither Max nor Josh said it out loud.
The dismantling of Max and Josh’s friendship was one of the many reasons why CSI: Vegas upending Josh Folsom’s life was so compelling. It would have been unrealistic if she hadn’t been livid at him, both as a boss and a friend, and Folsom wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He knew what he was doing was wrong and facing the consequences was important to him; it’s one of the aspects that separates him from his mother (as well as most characters in TV procedurals). But allowing that relationship to fall apart also means allowing it to grow again, because just having it degrade wouldn’t be realistic either. Both characters have invested too much into one another to simply walk away. That was highlighted in their scene together from the previous episode, “It Was Automation.”
When something’s potentially wrong with Max in “Atomic City,” Allie reaches out to Josh, asking what he knows. “[Max]’s been off the last few days,” she says. “You two talk about that kind of thing.” His response: “Well, we used to. Since everything happened with my mom…” This brief snippet of dialogue is a subtle acknowlegement of how Josh and Max’s relationship has suffered outside of work. It reminds CSI: Vegas fans that the aforementioned consequences extend beyond Josh’s demotion; Max no longer feels comfortable opening up to him. And that affects her, too; it leaves her without anyone to confide in, as the end of the episode reveals that no one had any idea that Max was still looking into the Robert Cuevas case.
Max and Josh’s friendship comes to a head near the conclusion of “Atomic City,” when Josh realizes that he’s been manipulated by nuclear expert slash murderer Angela Hoppe. Throughout the episode, CSI: Vegas has positioned Hoppe as a sort of surrogate mentor to Josh, giving him plenty of praise and even encouraging his potential romance with Allie. She steps perfectly into the void that Max has created. So it’s important that when he understands what’s happened, the person who’s there to support him is Max.
“She saw you needed connection,” she explains to him and to the viewers. “She exploited it. That’s not on you, Joshua. You did a good job.” Max is the only one whose words are going to matter in that situation, because she is his genuine mentor and friend. She’s the one who can absolve him of the guilt he carries. If he’d heard that from anyone else, he’d just be worried about disappointing Max again. Which leads into the second reason that scene matters so much: Max is telling Josh explicitly that he’s done well, after the harsh criticism she gave him earlier in Season 3 and after how hard he’s worked to prove himself to her. Those words, from his point of view, are validation not just for this case but for everything that’s happened since Jeanette’s murder.
But again, this relationship goes both ways. CSI: Vegas extends the scene because Josh then feels confident enough to ask Max about what he learned from Allie, and the audience sees her almost respond before the two are interrupted. She’s willing to give him some kind of answer when she’s brushed off everyone else. Would it have been the full truth? Who knows, but the fact that she starts to say anything is important. Paula Newsome and Matt Lauria play that moment with a subtle warmth to it. Even though there’s very little said, fans can see Josh’s concern for Max and the way that she reacts to being questioned by him is different than the way she reacts to Allie.
Josh and Max still have some healing to do, but CSI: Vegas makes them a united front again, as the two of them and Allie interrogate Hoppe together. Josh has his actual mentor beside him when he gets to say his piece to the woman who tried to usurp that role. Hoppe tries to appeal to the fact that they’re both civil servants. “Give it another 30 years. Maybe when you’re my age, you’ll understand,” she tells him, to which Josh’s response is an immediate and almost offended, “No, I never will.” This exchange underlines the biggest reason why CSI: Vegas is on a whole other level: its characters are given such depth and emotional life. They’re not worthy of viewers’ attention simply because they’re “the good guys.” They’re the heroes of the story because they’re legitimately good people. Even when they’re flawed. Especially when they’re flawed, because they want to learn and do better.
These scenes also illustrate how disappointing it is that CSI: Vegas was canceled. No matter what the case of the week, there’s an underlying mission from Jason Tracey and his writers to keep moving the characters forward in organic and meaningful ways. Character development is not just someone’s romantic relationship or what happens after some big plot twist. It’s what happens to them every week and it’s following their journeys where they need to go, which may not be the most dramatic places or the ones that can be easily wrapped up. CSI: Vegas investigates its characters just as much as the cases of the week, and its actors play the small moments just as meaningfully as the major ones. Max and Josh have had an entire emotional arc together, from highs to lows and now something comfortably in between. With just five episodes left, who knows where they’re going to go next—but it’s going to be a joy to watch them flourish again.
CSI: Vegas airs Sundays at 10:00 p.m. on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
