Showrunner Jason Tracey dishes to ET about the perks of having Catherine Willows back in the 'CSI' universe.
Marg Helgenberger steps back into the shoes of Catherine Willows on CSI: Vegas, and only ET was on location in Las Vegas, Nevada, while they filmed Thursday's season 2 premiere to welcome the veteran actress back to the CSI franchise -- and find out just how she fits into the new normal.
"Marg Helgenberger is a legend and Catherine Willows is a character that I could not wait to write," showrunner and executive producer Jason Tracey told ET's Will Marfuggi in June. "That voice is indelible. It's been there in the beginning of this franchise and it means a ton."
With the departures of original stars William Petersen and Jorja Fox after season 1, Tracey detailed the pitch process to have Helgenberger agree to return, though she's expressed that it wasn't an instant yes. "It was exciting," he recalled of their initial meeting. "I got to take her out to breakfast and pitch what I had in mind for this season. You're sitting down opposite this woman who you grew up watching and she somehow looks better now. It's very intimidating is how."
Helgenberger further elaborated on why it took her a beat before ultimately coming aboard for the spinoff.
"I had to really give it a lot of thought because I left midway through the 12th season, mostly because I felt like I was ready to go, as great as the job was," Helgenberger said of her original departure from CSI in 2012. "I gave it about a week or so and then I had a conversation with Jason Tracey and [producer] Jonathan Littman and Jerry Bruckheimer TV. It was a process, it was a process."
"Why would a woman -- she’s been retired for a while -- why would she come back? 'Cause it’s not an easy job," she continued. "I had my ideas and Jason had his and we're marrying those two ideas together."
Picking up nine months later, the sophomore season of CSI: Vegas opens with Catherine having a one-on-one meeting with the head of the CSI Lab, Maxine Roby (Paula Newsome), as they discuss why she wants to come back to the team after so many years away. During their conversation, it's disclosed that Catherine has been working with the casino she inherited from her father, the Eclipse, and she's been mentoring an intelligent young woman, Grace, who had a promising future and, in many ways, reminded her of herself.
"We're going to start our season with her return to CSI after about five or six years away and we're going to find out that she's run afoul of some of her business partners in the casino business and it's going to unfold with a mystery that will get us rolling," Tracey teased, adding in a separate interview, "One of the things that's bringing her back is the young lady that she's been mentoring and that launches an eight-episode arc that's her initial foray to get back into the lab and her reason for being there. I think it's nice because it's a nod to what the character has meant to the profession."
Helgenberger did return to CSI after her initial exit to help send the original franchise off, but coming back for CSI: Vegas held a different kind of significance for the 63-year-old actress.
"I did sort of miss Catherine, the character. There’s something iconic about Catherine Willows and the original CSI: Crime Scene investigation," she reflected. "I liked her passion, I liked her spunk, I liked her tenacity, I liked her intelligence, I liked her provocativeness and it’s fun to revisit that. This is one of those rare [opportunities], I mean, that’s the other thing. I think about coming back, like, what an opportunity. So many actors don’t get an opportunity like this."
"To return to a role that was so meaningful to me and meaningful to people other than fans of the show. That’s what you do with a long-running series, how this character develops and how the character ages. She’s going to go through ups and downs, and it's giving me an opportunity to go down that path again," Helgenberger said.
Of course, with Catherine walking the halls of the CSI Lab again, there remains a very good chance other familiar faces from the CSI family will be dropping by.
"One of the beautiful things about this franchise is that there have been so many great characters that have passed through, but I think we got something special with Catherine's return and she was the person that passed the baton to this new batch. I think having her backsets us up for long-term success," Tracey credited.
"We're going to be able to revisit some other old friends in time. We're excited about it," he later shared. "The roster of folks that we could draw from across the franchises in the Vegas universe in particular, I want to continue to get to touch base with some old friends and audience favorites. So we're lucky enough to be able to do that with some other folks, in addition to Catherine later in the year."
CSI: Vegas premieres Thursday, Sept. 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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