Josh Folsom Was Demoted on 'CSI: Vegas' — What Does That Mean for His Character's Future?

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the first three episodes of CSI: Vegas Season 3.

Although it's one of five CSI series, the drama and attention has really been on CSI: Vegas as the show starts its third season. That's in large part because of the aftermath of the show's second season finale, when Josh Folsom was arrested on suspicion that he was involved in the murder of his mother's killer.

That arrest led many to wonder whether CSI: Vegas was preparing to write Josh off the show altogether. As the fallout has spilled over into Season 3, Josh has been demoted following an investigation into the case. Here's what we know about whether he's going to leave the show completely.

The answer, thankfully, appears to be no. Although Josh's personal life has been very much at the fore in the show's recent run of episodes, it doesn't look like the show is planning to write the character off completely.

Instead, Season 3 has kicked off with a juicy arc that involves Josh sitting before a review board and ultimately getting demoted to a CSI Level 1.

As it turns out, though, Matt Lauria, the actor behind Josh, has known that Josh would be going through this arc for roughly a year. He also said after Season 2 that he absolutely believed his character could be responsible for the murder. In Season 3, though, it was determined that he wasn't, but that he had crossed several other lines in his pursuit of his mother's killer. Now, he has to deal with the consequences.

"For Josh it’s less about the professional than it is about the personal," Matt explained to TVLine of his character's conflict through the rest of Season 3. "I’ve shattered a trust [with Max, played by Paula Newsome], so what can I do to be beyond reproach and be trustworthy? How can I be perfect in a way that that helps me regain my standing with her?"

He also said there will be some tension over the fact that he's overqualified for his new role.

"Outside of that, the conflict obviously is that I’m so overqualified for the [Level 1] job and I’m used to a high degree of personal agency on the job. But, that agency is the thing that got me in trouble. It’s hard, but Josh is focused on being a team player and crossing all the T's and dotting all the I's," he explained.

Thankfully, it seems like both Josh and Matt are going to be around far into the future of CSI: Vegas. Josh may not be thrilled about his new roles, but he stepped out of bounds and has to be put back in line. Josh has certainly gotten plenty to do through the first few episodes of Season 3, but that's not because he's being written out of the show. In fact, the show seems determined to develop him as an important character.