CBS edited the CSI: Vegas series finale, find out what's missing from the episode!

CSI: Vegas had its unintended series finale, which did wrap up some key plotlines. However, fans may not know that one scene was edited out, which would have led to the season 4 mystery! Find out what it was here!

Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for CSI: Vegas series finale

The finale had Max being abducted by a mystery man (Faran Tahir) with her and the team assuming he was working for tech guru Truman Thomas. At least until they found Truman’s long-dead body in a freezer and realized someone else was behind all the mysterious murders happening this year.

Maxine played for time, claiming she could fix the DNA encoding the guy wanted. It eventually turned out he was a Saudi spy as his organization wanted to get a scoop on DNA and robots. When the CSI team started poking into things, they went ahead to start covering their tracks with murder and framed Thomas for it. 

Luckily, Max’s delay gave the team time to find her with the mysterious boss being shot. In the aftermath, Joshua was reinstated as a Level 3 CSI tech, Matt and Allie bonded, Chris seemed to recover from his gas attack and Penny and Jake agreed to get married fast. All that, and it turned out Max had secretly been dating someone the gang never even knew about.

While not a true series closer, the finale did bring some good closure to the main case and the characters set for brighter future. It was good but what fans never saw was the real ending that would have been a key point for Season 4. 

What was the unused ending for CSI: Vegas?

As explained by TV Line, press screeners got an extended finale with a final scene showing a homeless encampment in Las Vegas with a hooded figure hacking someone with a sickle. This clearly was going to set up the season 4 mystery of the team tracking a serial killer hunting the homeless. 

So far, the producers haven’t spoken about the ending and what it meant. However, it’s obvious how editing it out was the smart move. See NCIS: Hawaii, which could have ended on a decent note with the characters together toasting the future only to have a cliffhanger that will never be resolved. There’s no sense for CBS to air this original ending if there’s no season 4 coming to build on the tease. 

It can be argued the series deserved to continue, even with its low ratings. After the wild AI-tech filled mystery, something less elaborate like a serial killer could have been a good long-term mystery. There were dynamics to play with like the media and other cops not interested in homeless victims and the hunt would be fun to watch.

It’s a bittersweet reminder of how CSI: Vegas never planned for this to be the series ending and the writers had bigger plans for season 4. It’s too bad its cancellation came like this, but at least they smartly avoided giving fans a cliffhanger that could never be solved.

CSI: Vegas seasons 1-3 are streaming on Paramount+.