CSI: Vegas Spoils How It’s Writing Off Two Major Characters

William Petersen and Jorja Fox are both leaving CSI: Vegas, the latest installment in the long-running police procedural franchise. The return of Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle was a huge selling point in the revival’s first season, but it was never going to stay that way for long. Petersen only signed on for the ten-episode first season, and Fox departed the show later, saying that she couldn’t bring herself to break up Grissom and Sidle after all these years. So when veteran Marg Helgenberger returns to her role as Catherine Willows, she will be stepping in to fill the void left behind by her old co-stars.

Petersen will still serve as an executive producer on the series, and presumably leaves the door open to one or both of them making an appearance down the line. If that sounds familiar, it’s more or less how their departures played out on the original CSI.

“I personally just can’t split Sara and Grissom up again,” Fox told TVLine. “Wherever they go, they belong together.”

And where’s that? According to a clip from the upcoming season 2 premiere, which is also hosted at TVLine, the answer is, on a boat near the Arctic Circle. That little bit of information comes out as two of the techs, excited to meet Willows, speculate as to whether she called Grissom and Sidle to get a lowdown on the team she will be walking into.

Season 2 of CSI: Vegas kicks off on a new night – this Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS – with an episode centering on the murder of a dominatrix who is found near her secret sex dungeon.

Maxine Roby (Paula Newsome) and Joshua Folsom (Matt Lauria) head up the lab in the new season, alongside the returning Helgenberger. Helstrom‘s Ariana Guerra and Lex Medlin (Drop Dead Diva) are joining the series as Serena, a CSI who “is not content to let science lead the way without some saucy commentary and tough questions,” and Beau, the most overqualified CSI Level 1 of all time. Sara Amini of Future Man is coming on board as the medical examiner, Sonya, while Marvelous Mrs. Maisel vet Joel Johnstone will play Jack, Sonya’s brother and assistant medical examiner.