CSI: Vegas Review: Pipe Cleaner (Season 1 Episode 8)

On CSI: Vegas Season 1 Episode 8 “Pipe Cleaner,” Grissom and Sara hope for a miracle in some trash, and Josh Folsom proves he is The Best Man™.

On what is the show’s best episode yet, we meet a victim who completes a thinspo challenge by being able to fit down a drainpipe in one go. 

The idea of dumping a body in acid has always been the best way to do it, in my humble opinion, if you’re looking to kill someone. On “Pipe Cleaner,” we’re given a chance to see the cause and effect behind this clever but deadly strategy. 

What’s So Punny? 

I wish I’d counted the number of puns that came with a man being liquified and entering his sewage pipes, but after that impeccable shot of Josh scooping the… gunk out of the tub with a ladle, I was done for. 

Then we find out there are two victims, and one is a twin?

Oh, brother. 

Reminiscent of literally any Mary-Kate and Ashley movie, the concept of a surprise twin is used, but not abused! 

The OG twin is dead, though. May he rest in peace. He is but a broth now. 

On the other hand, we get to see Grissom go absolutely HAM in trying to figure out how a tiny pageant mother of two killed two men. Of course, he does, because he’s Gil Grissom. Turns out I was wrong, and maybe dumping a body in acid isn’t the way to go. 

This case is absolutely solid, with enough going on that it fills the episode nicely, but doesn’t overflow (ha) into Hodges territory. And speaking of which…

Wix of These Trash Bags Make Me Look More Like a Murderer?

As always when we see Wix, I must give credit where credit is due in the fact that nobody is ever as confident as a straight white man in a courtroom. 

And maybe the most horrifying thing I’ve seen on television (which is saying something, as I just finished episode two of Yellowjackets), Anson Wix’s star witness 3D prints a finger. 

She takes a fingerprint, and prints a whole entire finger. Every new episode of CSI: Vegas convinces me that love is real (thank you, Grissom and Sara) and that I, Robot was actually a futuristic documentary. 

Sara Sidle was the first TV character I ever fell in love with, and I still love her, but girl, if you don’t turn your dang flashlight off when you’re looking through another man’s trash. 

Grissom’s disappointed but worried “Sara” is what makes you really take in the gravity of the situation. 

A CSI, one who worked with David Hodges, still knows him, and is working on his case, has now directly let Anson Wix know that they’re searching for anything they can find on him. 

Not that he doesn’t already know, but now he knows. 

All in all, going into David Hodges’ trial nearly empty-handed is not great news, but now that Wix has fired his expert witness slash girlfriend, we’re also not sure what he has coming into this trial. 

Here’s hoping his little affair with Mrs. Woo comes back to bite him in the behind. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Max tells Josh that he’s the person she trusts most and I am truly the “pleading face” emoji. 
• The parody of “When I Grow Up” by The Pussycat Dolls playing at the pageant for little girls made me full-on guffaw. 
• CSI: Vegas has finally decided to address the pandemic, and they do not care a single bit about it. I actually sincerely admire that the show isn’t harping on it. 
• I’m only just piecing together that the reason Sara and Grissom haven’t kissed yet is probably because of COVID protocols on set, and I guess I can let that go now. It’s still deeply upsetting.
• Allie. Is. Jealous. [Miranda Priestly voice] that’s all.

What did you think of this episode of CSI: Vegas? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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CSI: Vegas airs Wednesday at 10/9c on CBS.

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