Helgenberger: She Has To Prove Herself

Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) will face obstacles as the head of the Las Vegas Crime Lab when CSI: Crime Scene Investigation begins its tenth season this week. (Spoilers after the jump.)

When William Petersen (Gil Grissom) said goodbye to CSI last season, Catherine took over the lab. “The pressure’s on her; she’s just having to prove herself a little bit. And she does,” Helgenberger said. “Catherine’s a very confident person. And even though she might feel a little bit of reservation and insecurity because she’s being scrutinized through a microscope, her skill and intelligence win in the end.”

One thing that will help Catherine succeed as the team leader is giving Nick Stokes (George Eads) a promotion that will make him her second in command. “It takes some of the pressure off of Catherine. It’s a big job to run everything and have the buck stop with her,” the actress explained. “She promotes him because she has complete and ultimate trust and faith in Nick and his capabilities. She wants someone to bounce ideas off of, in addition to him lending her a hand.”

There is “definitely some friction” between Catherine and some of the other CSIs in the season premiere, but she’s getting along fine with newcomer Dr Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne). “Catherine’s relationship hasn’t really changed that much with him,” Helgenberger shared. “They’re definitely more on equal footing, and I think, because they brought him in as an underling even though he’s overqualified for the job, Catherine didn’t know what to make of him. But I think they’re on the same page; their minds work alike.”

Helgenberger anticipates that Petersen will reprise his role on CSI, but it will be a while before he returns to guest-star. “I think they really want to establish Laurence’s character and not have Gil come back too soon,” she explained. “I don’t think it will be anytime too soon, maybe toward the latter part of this year.”

Catherine may not have time to find a love interest this season, but it’s not for lack of trying on Helgenberger’s part. “Every year I say that to the writers and producers, and it never really comes to fruition,” Helgenberger laughed. “I’m hoping that changes this season. They’ve got it in their heads to really shy away from any grain of a person’s personal life, especially when it comes to romance. I think they’re just very reluctant to go down the road of veering into a soap opera.”

“They’re throwing out some strong cases, some strong stories,” Helgenberger said of the crimes being investigated during season ten. “The quality has remained the same. It’s remained as high as it’s always been, if not better.” The opening minutes of the season premiere were filmed with a stop-motion camera, and Helgenberger described the scene as “riveting.”