Maxine Roby (Paula Newsome) is a superwoman. She’s regained control of the Las Vegas crime lab and has a team of criminalists working under her. In CSI: Vegas Season 2, Marg Helgenberger returns as Catherine Willows, so two strong women will lead the lab.
TV Fanatic got to chat with Paula about Max’s journey in CSI: Vegas Season 2, the new team dynamics, and which legacy CSI characters might pop back in later this season.
Check out the interview below:
Hi Paula. It’s great to chat with you again. It looks like CSI: Vegas Season 2 will have different comings and goings. Can you tease some stuff about the new crew and the new dynamics of the team?
I’m sure you know about Marg’s return, which couldn’t be more exciting. We get to revel in her history with this fantastic franchise.
Joshua and Allie now have a third person they’re dealing with, which could be very interesting. We have the lovely Ariana, who joins us as Detective Serena Chavez, and Lex Midlan plays Beau. Sarah Gilman will be back as Penny, and Jay Lee will be back as Chris. So, it’s a fantastic group of people.
We run the spectrum, and as I said, Matt Lauria, who plays Josh Folsom, and then Mandeep Dhillon, who plays Allie, will add a third to their love triangle.
Well, that’ll be interesting to see, and what has it been like working with Marg Helgenberger? How quickly do we learn why Catherine is back?
We learn right from the jump. Don’t miss that. She’s right at the top of the show. We have a lovely story of why she wants to come back. It was essential to Marg to come back for a particular reason that felt good to her and good for her character.
It’s a unique story. We also have some amazing arcs. We did some fantastic serialized stuff last year. We had a long story, and we dip in and out of that in this fabulous, exciting, spine-tingling world.
So, is it fun having two leading ladies in charge of the lab?
It is. I don’t know if you know this, Laura, but criminalist labs all over the country have exploded in the number being run by women. So many women are becoming criminalists. Our lab is very much like real labs in the real world, with two women caring for things.
That’s great. So, is CSI: Vegas Season 2 going to have an overlying mystery arc? And if so, how soon will we see it?
Laura that is hard to say. There is a story that’s quite surprising that could tie some things together. That’s all I’ll say.
Fair enough. What about the murder in the season two premiere resonates with Max?
What we got to do this year was I talked to Jason Tracy, our showrunner. It was imperative that we find that Max is like a superwoman. She runs this fantastic world-class lab. She has a bunch of Michael Jordan’s in her lab underneath her tutelage.
It was important to me that we find Max’s vulnerabilities, find ourselves in a situation where Max is in harm’s way, and see how that affects her and her lab.
And yes, Max is absolutely a superwoman. We love Max.
Yeah, she’s a badass. Max is amazing. That was my dad’s name, Laura.
Wow. Will we see more of Max’s family and personal life during the season?
Yes, we will. Her son comes back in, and there’s word of a love interest for Max. We haven’t gotten to shoot that part yet, but I’m excited as we talk about it. So yes, we do get to explore Max’s personal life. That’s beautiful.
I can’t wait to see that. l I liked the actor that played her son in the first season, so I’m looking forward to that.
Isn’t he amazing? That’s Luke Tennie.
He is. I enjoyed him. So, how do you think season 2 differs from CSI: VegasSeason 1?
During the first season, it was like when you get a new car, and there’s a bunch of bells and whistles on it, and you’re like, where’s the air conditioner? That’s what season 1 was like for me, trying to find the air conditioner and learning how to turn on the radio or the windshield wipers.
Now, we know where all that stuff is, and it feels like we’re getting into a flow that feels so cool. The people on this show have gelled beautifully, and it’s fun.
I can’t wait. Tell us why you think the fans should watch CSI: Vegas season 2.
There’s everything that people love about CSI and some new and exciting things. That’s why CSI was a worldwide phenomenon, and audiences were pulled in, and they got to experience that again with fantastic new players and then some of our old.
I can tell you a little secret we’re going to get some of the legacy players that are going to dip in and out, and that’s exciting.
Are we going to get more legacy players besides Catherine to come back?
It’s a possibility.
Oh, that’s exciting. But you can’t tell me who?
Not a word.
Okay, well, that’s interesting that we make it some more. I can’t wait to see who.
It’s amazing. When you have a show like this, it has that just the show itself has so much excitement and the people that used to do it, and it’s just exciting to be part of it.
It is. I’m excited because I love having CSI: Vegas back. It was one of my favorites back in the day, and it’s so exciting to see it back on the screen. I’m enjoying every minute of it.
Thanks for chatting with us again, Paula.
CSI: Vegas airs at 10/9c on Thursdays on CBS.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.