Summary

• Strong characters, especially the leaders of the crime lab, are key to the success of CSI. Empathy and scientific skills are vital for a leader, but being too emotionally invested or not available enough can harm the team dynamic.
• Different leaders in the CSI universe have varying levels of success. Liev Schreiber's Michael Keppler was unpopular, while Ted Danson's DB Russell was loved for his sense of humor. Marg Helgenberger's Catherine Willows made mistakes but was consistent and competent.
• Paula Newsome's Max Roby in CSI: Vegas brings a new type of leader to the series. She is emotional and uses her emotions to fuel her work, creating a positive environment for her team. Mac Taylor in CSI: NY is tough and values not cutting corners, but also forms close bonds with his team despite his own emotional pain.

Part of what makes CSI such a successful crime procedural is the dedication to writing strong characters, especially the leaders of the crime lab. The lieutenants of the lab play an important role in giving the investigators direction and creating a team dynamic that creates cohesion to catch criminals the most efficiently. Both empathy and a sharp scientific mind are vital to success as a leader of a CSI team. However, being either too emotionally invested or not emotionally available enough can harm the team dynamic.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered in 2000 and ran for 16 seasons, and incurred the spin-offs CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, CSI: Cyber, and CSI: Vegas. With such a large universe, there are plenty of characters who come and go, but the leaders of the crime labs tend to stick around longer because they're often framed as the protagonists of the series. Though each series sticks to the murder-of-the-week formula common with crime procedurals, there are frequently longer-term arcs and recurring killers that appear throughout a season. It's in these more episodic plots that the actors get to shine and do exciting character work.

7 Liev Schreiber - Michael Keppler

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Michael Keppler is a very brief addition to the team, coming on after Gil Grissom took a sabbatical in season 7. Liev Screiber's character only lasted four episodes, and no one was sorry to see him go. Due to Grissom's departure and his unusual investigation tactics, he was not well-liked among the team . His character was never written to last longer than a few episodes and be an interesting interlude while Grissom was missing, but his unpopularity foreshadows how hard CSI had to work to keep the series' momentum going in later seasons once Grissom was truly gone.

6 Ted Danson - DB Russell

CSI: Crime Scene Investiagtion, CSI: Cyber

DB Russell appeared as a supervisor on both CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Cyber. However, it was on Cyber that he reached his full potential as the leader of an elite team. Cyber was not the most successful CSI spin-off, running for only one season, but Russell was one of the best parts of the series, and here he got to work alongside the FBI on major cases.

In CSI, he was introduced in the latter half of the series and had tension with Catherine Willows as he usurped her position as supervisor. However, the team quickly grew to love him due to his sense of humor and good-natured attitude. Though he was a solid leader, he is not quite as iconic as his predecessors.

5 Marg Helgenberger - Catherine Willows

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

After Gil Grissom left the original CSI, it left a hole in the heart of the show and the team. Assistant Supervisor Catherine Willows stepped up to take his place after his exit in season 9. Despite having her ups and downs, she's always a consistent and competent investigator. Though she is later demoted and DB comes in to take her place, the circumstances of her failures weren't entirely her fault. Part of her team goes rogue, and it's clear she wasn't given the tools needed to handle the transition of Grissom's goodbye. As a character, Catherine is one of the best, but she does make mistakes as a leader.

4 David Caruso - Horatio Caine

CSI: Miami

Horatio Caine is a stickler for details, and that shows in the efficiency with which he runs the Miami crime lab. The internet knows him best for his iconic sunglasses, but his team knows him as a fierce protector who will stop at nothing to make sure no piece of evidence falls through the cracks. Though he plays his emotions close to the chest, he evolves as a leader over the course of the show and is unafraid to follow his gut. As a leader, he developed a fatherly bond with many of his team , but it would have been compelling to see more depth in his personality.

3 Paula Newsome - Maxine "Max" Roby

CSI: Vegas

CSI: Vegas is less a spin-off and more of a revival of the original CSI. It originally was only going to run for one season as a wrap-up for the first series, but it became popular in its own right. Part of this popularity is due to Max Roby, the night shift supervisor in the Vegas crime lab. Though Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows both appear in Vegas, Max is the leader who will bring the series into its next phase as a stand-alone show.

She's a new type of leader for a whole new set of characters, and the actress, Paula Newsome, does fantastic work bringing new life to the leader archetype. Instead of the stone-cold, no-nonsense patriarchal figures that CSI has utilized in the past, Max can feel her emotions and use them to fuel her work and create a positive environment for her team. She went through some major trauma at the end of season 2, so she deserves plenty of recognition for her work building the new generation of CSI.

2 Gary Sinise - Mac Taylor

CSI: NY

While the other CSI shows focus on cities less represented on television, CSI: NY opts to set itself in one of the most iconic police departments in the U.S. To lead such a stressful and intense division takes a tough character, and Mac Taylor embodies this through his past in the military. He doesn't stand for cutting corners or lapses in judgment when it comes to cases.

A central part of his character arc is overcoming his grief at the death of his wife in the 9/11 attacks. Through his struggles, he forms tight bonds with his assistant supervisors, Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes) and Jo Danville (Sela Ward). His ability to work well with others while being in deep emotional pain shows the kind of supervisor he is.

1 William Petersen - Gil Grissom

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Gil Grissom was the first supervisor for the Vegas crime lab on the original CSI, and was brought back in the revival, CSI: Vegas. After he left the crime lab in season 9 of the original series, the show never fully recovered, and it's because Grissom was not only the team's leader, but also the lynchpin. If his first love is science and investigation, his second is his team.

The chemistry between him and his assistant supervisor, Catherine Willows, was an extremely successful dynamic for much of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. His relationship with Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) is also one of the driving forces behind his actions, and he becomes a better man, so they can be together. Outside these interpersonal relationships, Grissom treats all the of his team with respect, and as a vital part of solving every investigation.