Warning: Spoilers for CSI: Vegas season 2, episode 1!The love triangle that is developing in CSI: Vegas season 2 showed True Detective’s influence in its creepy, Gothic imagery, and now the series premiere has taken inspiration from an even more unlikely source.
While True Detective was a lot more serious than the playfully campy CSI, the latter show was at least a dark crime drama. As such, CSI: Vegas season 2 taking inspiration from the hit HBO series makes a lot of sense. In contrast, the other cop show that seems to have inspired CSI: Vegas season 2’s latest love triangle is a lot less obvious.
The Allie, Serena, and Josh love triangle in CSI: Vegas season 2 shares an unlikely amount of similarities with CSI: Vegas’s shorter season 1, Allie never noticed just how much she had feelings for Josh, despite the pair’s persistent chemistry. However, she seems to be all too aware of the fact now that he has started dating their new colleague, Serena. Much like Brooklyn 99's Jake, Allie seems to have worked out how much she is genuinely interested in her co-worker at just the wrong time, with both the Brooklyn 99 hero and the CSI: Vegas heroine realizing they have feelings for their colleague just before discovering that the other person is now taken.
CSI: Vegas Season 2 Romance Resembles Brooklyn 99’s Amy/Jake Plot
CSI: Vegas season 2’s love triangle shares more similarities with Brooklyn 99’s romantic storyline, as both show’s heroes have to work out a way to express their feelings or quell them to continue working alongside the object of their affection. It was Marg Helgenberger’s Catherine Willows who suggested that Josh call Allie away from her training to assist in the case of the week, but it was Allie who decided to finish her course online so that she could work alongside Josh despite how difficult and awkward this dynamic could prove. Similarly, Jake insisted on trying to work with Amy and ignore his feelings as she continued to date Teddy, a plan that was always doomed to fail.
However, this CSI: Vegas love triangle may not shake out the way Brooklyn 99’s plot did. For one thing, season 2 newcomer Serena is sharp, clever, and charismatic, and could not be less like the comically personality-free Teddy. For another, if CSI: Vegas is anything like the original CSI, its character-centric storylines will develop a lot slower than Brooklyn 99’s wacky sitcom pacing. However, there is still no denying the fact that, as of the season 2 premiere, the dynamic that is emerging between CSI: Vegas’s central trio calls to mind an earlier, far-sillier cop show’s love triangle.
New episodes of CSI: Vegas air on CBS on Friday nights.