What initially appeared to be weird ended up quite simple in the end.

Relationships were at the heart of CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 7.

Not only relationships between the victims and the murderers but also among the various CSI team members investigating the bizarre case.

Right off the bat were the relationships among Maxine, her staff, and her family as she attempted to ignore the PTD resulting from her assault on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 3.

Because her denial therapy has been working so damn well for her. Just ask any of her teammates or her neglected son.

A sleep-deprived Max was in precisely the right mood for a middle-of-the-night callout. Serena took the brunt of the first blast from Max when she failed to deliver the necessary search warrant. Why did they need a search warrant for such an evident crime scene?

Serena, who had already addressed Max's condition on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 6, didn't give Max's sarcastic outburst a second thought because she was in the wrong dawdling with an old beau.

Also, Allie again tried to tactfully ask Max how she was feeling and was quickly dispatched once more.

Fortunately, Max isn't Bryan's boss anymore, so he doesn't have to let it go. He knew her better than anyone and realized something was seriously wrong with her.

That was why he showed up at her work when she failed to get back to him. Then, since she was burying herself in her career, she forgot he was there and stood him up.

Then poor, well-meaning Beau, while praising his new boss Max, spilled the beans about her assault. It wasn't Beau's fault. He didn't know Max failed to tell her son what she had been through.

Way too late, Max came clean with Bryan, and he volunteered to stay with her so that she could get some sleep. She was so exhausted and felt so secure with his presence that she passed right out.

Since Bryan can't put his life on hold, Max must find a more longtime solution for her condition. It's time to bring in a shrink since she refuses to take time off.

Then it was time for a new triangle involving Josh and Serena.

Serena didn't realize that Folsom has trust issues thanks to his family viewers who haven't met yet, other than his skeezy brother-in-law.

So, yes, Serena animatedly talking with a firefighter that she later offhandedly described as an ex-girlfriend was all it took to set off Josh.

The fact that he was quizzing her about Jocelyn should have set off warning bells with Serena but no, as she was at least minimally truthful with him.

Folsom was mainly in the wrong here. Just because Serena didn't answer his call didn't give him clearance to go cyberstalking Jocelyn. Or at least he could have done a better job of it, enough to realize that she was in a committed relationship now.

After their argument in the locker room, Josh should have picked up on how Serena wouldn't have been that upset if she didn't care deeply for him.

But he's proven to be pretty dense when it comes to women. He's an intelligent guy, but he's never comprehended how Allie feels about him, for another example.

If Folsom had a clue, he wouldn't have been leaning on Allie for advice on his relationship with Serena. That was just unintentionally cruel. Luckily, she stopped him in his tracks before they went down that path.

Then Allie admitted to overhearing their argument and pushed Josh to make up with Serena. She could read Serena's feelings toward him even though he failed to do so.

Allie deserves to find somebody for her good-hearted gesture, but a person better than that self-possessed loser she was dating on CSI: Vegas Season 1.

Among all the personal drama, the case of the week was reasonably intriguing, although it would have been much better if the killer had been a sasquatch. CSI: X-Files would be a great spinoff.

Once one of the victims had been identified as an unscrupulous real-estate developer, that's where the investigation should have swung. The question should have been, who had Painter wronged?

But that's not how CSI works. They must follow the evidence, even if that takes them on a circuitous route to an eventual solution.

So the critical pieces of evidence were the DNA off a diamond and some asbestos, neither of which truly belonged at the arson scene.

However unlikely it seemed, the evidence pointed to two people living with cancer who escaped the fire scene wearing a Bigfoot costume. It doesn't have to make much sense as long as that's where the evidence points.

So the killers were two men who lost their wife and mother, respectively, because of a haphazard renovation by a cheap developer.

As Carlo set up the murders, it was almost justice for what Painter had done. But Painter's son was an innocent victim.

The terminal Carlo will never see the inside of a prison. But his son Michael will also end up paying for his father's crime.

To revisit its strange cases, watch CSI: Vegas online.

How dense is Folsom?

Will Max be better now?

Isn't it time for Catherine to return?

Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.