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The following contains spoilers for CSI: Vegas Season 2, Episode 7, "Burned," which debuted Thursday, Nov. 10 on CBS.
CSI: Vegas viewers have fallen in love with Allie Rajan and Josh Folsom, the creative crime solvers played by Mandeep Dhillon and Matt Lauria. Through their combination of ingenuity and charisma, both characters have proven themselves worthy of following after their CSI: Crime Scene Investigation predecessors. However, viewers are also waiting to see if Allie and Josh fall in love with each other.
The CBS series has teased romantic potential between the two since Season 1, but complicated Allie and Josh's lives in Season 2 with the introduction of Detective Serena Chavez (played by Ariana Guerra). Josh and Serena's relationship has left Josh and Allie fans wondering if their ship has sailed. Yet Season 2, Episode 7, "Burned," highlighted Allie and Josh's dynamic in some unlikely ways -- and CBR spoke with Dhillon and Lauria about the making of the quirky, intriguing episode, now streaming on Paramount+.
CBR: Both of your characters had big changes in the offseason -- particularly Allie, who left the state for a while. How did you pick her up at the start of Season 2 when she'd grown significantly?
Mandeep Dhillon: The writing does a lot for me. With Allie, she's been in L.A. [attending] FBI training, so that was easy because I'm in L.A. I was like, "Great, I don't have to do too much work on that!" It hasn't felt like a job or a task or anything. It's felt quite natural.
"Burned" is the first CSI: Vegas Season 2 episode to specifically focus on Josh and Allie. You've had scenes together all season and great ones in "The Painted Man," but this was unquestionably your showcase. What was it like to have a full episode to collaborate together and to zero back in on the rapport between the characters?
Matt Lauria: Any time I get to work with Mandeep, any time we're in scenes together, is a happy day because we get to hang out all day. Sexual tension is all fun and well until people start getting all fussy about it -- looking at you, Allie Rajan -- and then we've got to take a little space. Suddenly Josh and Allie aren't in as many scenes together, and then we don't get to hang out all day. [laughs] Feelings are complicated. This episode, in particular, there's definitely some awkward moments.
Dhillon: This is the worst I've ever gotten the giggles on set in my life.
Lauria: We're about to go into a crime scene with charred bodies in a burnt-out house, and we just cannot get it under control.
Dhillon: For five minutes, just trying to not laugh. It got to the point where I looked at the camera, and I was like, "You just need to cut," and I just stood there and laughed.
Lauria: She wept.
The episode does give you both a lot to do, however. It starts with what seems like investigating Bigfoot and has some very interesting experiments in the crime lab. Were there any aspects of the case that you particularly enjoyed?
Dhillon: I liked climbing the ladder. [laughs] I was so happy that they trusted us to go up there.
Lauria: That was a fun scene in the burnt-out house.
Speaking of fun, there's a scene between Allie and Sonya [Sara Amini] where Sonya wrongfully assumes that Josh and Allie were romantically involved. That's the second time in Season 2 that another CSI: Vegas character has asked Allie about Josh, and she's been thrown off by it. Mandeep, what are those moments like for you to play?
Dhillon: I love those scenes. It gives me a chance to play a bit of comedy, and I love comedy. I think it's always fun when you're dating someone or want to date someone, and then someone's like, "Oh, are you two together?" "Um, are we..." It's just awkward. I love awkward stuff.
"Burned" also has a few scenes featuring Allie and Serena. One of the great aspects of the episode is that it doesn't lean on the love triangle idea; all three characters work well together. How would you describe their dynamic?
Dhillon: There are so many twists and turns, but as [for] me, I really like Serena Chavez, and Allie likes Serena Chavez. It's an interesting experience for Allie as the season goes on because she's seeing why Josh likes her, and she's like, "I like her too." That's been really nice to play. Put Josh and Allie to the side a minute -- it's been really nice to have these two women who society would try to pit them against each other because of him, but that's not the case. We really see eye to eye. We really like each other.
Lauria: That's going to be tough on Josh if these two are going to like each other. They're going to start hanging out. They're going to start telling the truth to each other. They're going to be like, "I hate when he..." "I know!" [laughs] Serena's awesome. She's adept, and she's strong, and she's no-nonsense and a lot of fun. Whenever Allie and Serena are going to do something together, I think [he's] always a little, "How's that going to go?"
Dhillon: Pleasantly surprised with how much they get on.
CSI: Vegas airs Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. on CBS and streams on Paramount+. New episodes return Dec. 8.