‘CSI: Vegas’: How Guilty Is Josh After That Season 2 Finale Cliffhanger?

When CSI: Vegas Season 2 ended, one of the Crime Lab’s own was in cuffs. But what exactly did he do? While we wait for Season 3 (a premiere date for which is unknown due to the writers and actors strikes), that’s what we can’t stop wondering.

In the finale, Josh (Matt Lauria) learned his mother (Lolita Davidovich) was murdered, and along with Trey (Daniel Di Tomasso), ran his own investigation that got a little out of hand. At one point, he tricked Kahn Schefter (Shane Callahan), who he thought only knew who killed Jeanette into thinking he was bleeding out (using blood bags — it’s helpful to be a CSI). But then, it turned out, Kahn was the person who killed Josh’s mother … and the team found him dead near the end of the episode.

Max (Paula Newsome) and Serena (Ariana Guerra) then found Josh. “Why?” Max asked, while Serena told him, “you have to come with us now,” and tried to stop him from saying anything. “I found the guy who did it,” he said … and let Serena cuff him. The finale ended on a photo of Jeanette, with blood on it.

But just how guilty is Josh — and of what? “It was deliberately penned with that ambiguity infused in there,” Lauria told TV Insider in May. And while it’s hard to imagine Josh killing anyone, “anything is possible,” he cautioned. After realizing he was looking at his mom’s killer, “something breaks and something snaps.”

Josh letting himself be cuffed was him knowing “there’s no use in fighting it. It’s the only way it can be. And so regardless of what may have transpired, it’s an inevitability,” he continued. “But yeah, I definitely think absolutely, no question: I could have done it.”

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Still, we don’t think that’s the case. In fact, we’re not even sure if he knew Kahn was dead before Max and Serena showed up. The blood on the photo could have easily come from the bags he used as part of his manipulation. He could have been miles away from the scene of the crime when whatever happened transpired. After all, he said he found the guy and seemed to be in a state of shock.

But we can’t discount the possibility that Josh was in shock because he knew what happened, though he wasn’t the one responsible. Whether or not that’s the case, our money’s on Trey being the one to kill Kahn. And if Josh knew that (even if he left before the actual act of murder), the guilt he might be feeling as a result could be why he didn’t protest when Serena cuffed him.

Still, it’s more likely that Josh isn’t even an accomplice or accessory to murder, simply because he needs to be able to continue to work at the Crime Lab in Season 3. That doesn’t mean things might not be up in the air when Season 3 begins: He might not want to turn on Trey, especially considering the circumstances surrounding what happened. But any guilt he might be feeling could simply stem from how his and his mother’s relationship was (estranged) when she was killed.

But what do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

CSI: Vegas, Season 3, TBA, CBS