Finally, Beau comes to the fore.
Beau Finado, the lab’s older yet new criminologist, was in the spotlight on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 11.
Like Chris Park on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 10, Beau learned things about himself that he hadn’t considered when he switched to becoming a CSI.
Since his debut on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 1, it was evident that Beau wasn’t your average newbie in the crime lab.
He explained that he had had an epiphany during the pandemic and wanted to contribute more to society than better cleaning agents working for a chemical company.
That was also the episode when lab legend Catherine Willows returned to the fold. So the mystery of Beau was shelved as he faded into the background.
He was content to collect and analyze samples while attempting to learn his new job, taking big swings and missing as often as he connected. Beau was that lovable goof that every office needs.
Until this episode, that is. While collecting evidence of an extremely nothing little case, Beau met the boy Michael, who was hiding in a bin in a garage.
Even though Beau is a girl dad, the nonverbal Michael spoke to him. And Beau put himself on a mission.
Beau connected with Michael by folding him a T-Rex out of a dollar bill, exchanging that for a temporary loan of Michael’s bracelet.
Maxine admitted that she hired Beau because his heart was even bigger than his considerable brain.
That’s why Max steered him aside at the hospital to explain how he needs to manage his feelings while working on any case. But he was too locked in to do so already.
Beau kept seeing his young girls when he looked at the frail Michael, and he was determined to get justice for him, no matter what.
His feelings only intensified after cadaver dogs tracked Michael’s scent, only to find his mother, Cara, buried along with Michael’s missing shoe. Unlike Cara, Michael had been buried alive.
After Michael had been placed with his grandparents, Beau was part of the lab’s visiting party. After he made Michael laugh, the boy freaked out when Beau offered him a glass of water, which was strange behavior that left Beau upset and puzzled.
When he recounted what happened to Folsom, Josh explained how most of the team used getting justice for the victims as fuel. But Beau said he doesn’t believe that approach would work for him.
Beau needed to learn how to compartmentalize like his fellow newbie, Penny. She clearly has a heart, but her scientific curiosity is always front and center.
When she heard that two other girls had gone missing around the same time as Cara, Penny thought of using local bees’ honey as a way to track where their bodies might be hidden.
It was hilarious when she had to slow down and spell out how the procedure worked to her self-appointed mentor, Catherine.
That’s always been the fun of CSI: the different types who inhabit the crime lab.
There are the academics such as Gil Grissom, Allie, and Penny. Then there are the self-taught locals such as Folsom and Catherine. Max seems more like that latter type.
Penny seemed so annoyed that her honeybee mapping hadn’t worked. Then the cadaver dogs discovered Cara’s baby, and Penny’s search was suddenly moot.
It was appropriate that the case was solved thanks to Beau’s grand gesture. He went to grab the dinosaur he had seen in the basement for Michael, only to notice about half of the basement had been flooded.
That’s when he found the secret room and pieced together that Cara’s stepfather Pete had been holding her and Michael captive since she had disappeared. The sealed enclosure had become her tomb when the water pipe broke, and no one could hear her scream.
Even worse, Cara’s mother, Mary, had been a silent co-conspirator in Pete’s imprisonment of her daughter, bought off by solo vacations.
The whole Michael experience made Beau realize that he was meant to be in the lab rather than interacting with victims and suspects out in the field.
It was good that Max gave in to Beau’s ultimatum. Maybe after some time reflecting in the lab, he’ll decide to venture out into the world again.
The ongoing electro-shock killer storyline (for lack of a better description) returned to the fore as the killer taunted the CSIs with a thank-you postcard.
Allie was frustrated by her lack of progress with the two postcards from the killer. So she and Catherine decided to take another look at the other victims, soliciting Dr. Auerbach to help them obtain those medical records.
Auerbach was more than happy to help, even offering up her theory of the case: that the killer was playing a game.
Then she dangled the possibility that old records were missing from her files, welcoming the crime lab to look for any trace evidence.
You don’t hire Kathleen Wilhoite to play a recurring consultant. Her portraying a suspected big bad would make a lot more sense.
Let’s see how things proceed when Auerbach returns from Saskatoon.
To revisit the ongoing case, watch CSI: Vegas online.
How did you enjoy this peek into Beau?
Did he make the right decision to step back from the field?
Do you suspect Auerbach?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.