CSI’s season finale episode “The End Game” started with a flashback to the Gig Harbor case before we see two women walking up to a man and removing his shirt to put tattoos all over his body. Scenes also intercut to show them having sexual relations while flashbacks show Jared talking to Paul while the former looks at himself in the mirror. Paul talks to himself before cutting off his finger.
Nick comes to see Cooper, who is sporting a beard, much to his wife’s dislike. He mentions the lab director in San Diego and tells Nick he heard that he’s at the top to succeed him. However, Nick isn’t too happy that Nolan told him. Julie comes in to tell Cooper she gave some samples to Hodges and is leaving.
Julie arrives home and sees a package that is addressed from her mother. She opens it to find a statue of Castor and Pollux. But when she sees a finger inside a jar, she gets a phone call from Paul. He tells her that this is “the beginning of the end.”
At the lab, Julie tells Cooper and Ecklie she had Philadelphia police put her mother under protection and Cooper did the same for his wife and daughter. He talks about Pollux asking to be one with his brother Castor after he was killed, so they feel it is a message from Paul that he is still one with Jared. Ecklie brings up the partner Paul had and that Shaw is asking for a deal in exchange for information, so Julie says she will talk to him.
Sara tells Nick the tracking number on the package didn’t go anywhere and he mentions the human tissues on the threads may tell them who the victim is. He asks her for her advice and she deduces it is about San Diego. He’s not interested in a promotion and she brings up Grissom, saying he would most likely tell him to “go where you can do the most good.”
Julie goes to see Shaw, who is arguing with his lawyer about not wanting to make a deal. He tells his lawyer to leave and Julie tells him it may not be in his best interest to let his lawyer go. Shaw tells her he wants to help her find the co-conspirator and he informs her that the person received lots of money from Winthrop’s business. He tells her that he wants a 48 hour pass to help catch him and he reveals it is someone named Brother Larson.
The next scene is at night and shows a young woman telling Brother Larson she doesn’t want to be an escort anymore. He convinces her she has a gift for the world and to go home and get some rest before asking for an envelope. Daniel reveals he is there once she leaves and Brother Larson believes he may be wearing a wire. When he says no, Larson thinks he is with someone and Julie arrives. He tells them he isn’t Winthrop’s partner and that while he may provide girls as a service, he doesn’t harm them. Larson tells Julie the partner is most likely Paul’s father, Collin.
Henry tells Morgan that the finger was placed in saline and an unknown substance. He also reveals the blood found on the Castor and Pollux statue came back as a match to two unknown identical female twins. But when they run a test, he shows her there is blood all over it, meaning it is likely a murder weapon.
Greg sees Hodges putting on fake tattoo sleeves. He tells Greg the unknown substance with the saline was tattoo ink that was very rare and had been used by an artist for Jared Briscoe’s tattoos. He tells Greg the artist’s ex-wife moved to Vegas to live with her twin sister and Greg realizes it could be their blood.
Sara and Greg go to the loft, which is rented out by Amelia Vance and her sister, Margot, is on the lease. No one has heard from the girls and when the police enter, they find a set up for tattoos and the strings Winthrop uses, along with a lot of blood. They also find a photo of Winthrop with his brother’s tattoos. They also notice that some things are different about the crime scene, such as the fact that Winthrop didn’t bother hiding the Gemini sign inside the strings and there is an unfamiliar piece of rope with yellow transfer.
Greg has a new prototype that can help them figure out how old a blood stain is, so he uses it to compare the blood at the scene with a sample of fresh blood. They are surprised to discover that the murders took place only 12 hours ago when the previous ones had taken place weeks before. They find a recording from Winthrop, where he doesn’t bother to disguise his voice as he taunts Cooper about the ones who are responsible for separating him from his brother paying.
Cooper and Julie talk about Winthrop having a partner, especially since he had been hurt the last time he was seen and that his bank accounts haven’t been used. Julie says it could be his father. Meanwhile, Hodges tells Sara the rope she found was handwoven plant fiber used in gardening and is called dogbane. The trace on the rope were pollen spores from a cactus.
Julie and Shaw find out Collin Winthrop is a plant enthusiast and has been accused of sexual assault and he was apparently in Mexico. Shaw believes it’s possible he never left. He remembers that tax records for Winthrop’s showed money going to a nature conservatory in San Diego and she can’t go, but Julie knows someone.
In San Diego, Nick meets CSI Ellis, who tells him Nolan asked them to give him professional courtesy, especially since Nick might one day be his boss. He tells Nick that Collin is in the greenhouse and there is a guesthouse in the back where his son could be. Julie and Shaw are on their way as well.
Julie and Shaw confront Collin, but he plays it off like he is the victim and that his son did nothing wrong. They ask him where Paul is, but he refuses to cooperate and asks them to leave as Ellis and Nick head into the guesthouse. They go inside and find evidence of Winthrop being there since there is medication near the bed and in another room, they find crime scene supplies. In a freezer box, Nick finds two bodies. Shaw and Julie place Collin under arrest. But as they are heading back to the police car, Julie gets a call from Paul, indicating he is nearby and she tells everyone to get to the ground, but not before Collin and Daniel are shot.
Ellis finds the sniper’s next Paul used and he also finds the weapon. He hands the gun to Nick so he can process it. Julie calls Cooper as we see Shaw’s body being covered. Ecklie and Cooper tell her she needs to come home since Paul is now making things more personal than before. She agrees to transport Shaw’s body to the crime lab and Cooper tells her to go home when she’s done.
Robbins and Dave tell Cooper the twin victims had blunt force trauma and so many fractures that Dave was almost not able to count them all. They also found evidence that the girls participated in rough sex.
Julie calls Mrs. Devlin, Amy Shaw’s grandmother, to talk to Amy about her dad.
Morgan shows Cooper surveillance footage from Winthrop’s property and they had seen Paul at the guest house, but she also saw Collin arguing with Brother Larson, who claimed not to be dealing with the man anymore. Morgan tells Cooper she can get audio from the plants through vibrations, since she got a lot of audio analysis tools with Sara in working on the case. They hear Collin Winthrop telling Brother Larson he is done with the blackmail and that Paul might try to find his daughter, May, and kill her because he has realized something.
Brother Larson is in interrogation with Cooper, who had done digging and found out May had disappeared when she was 15. Brother Larson gives him a story about May running to a convent to give birth to the twins and he claims that her father is the father of the twins. Cooper tells him that Brother Larson is actually Paul’s father through DNA evidence. Brother Larson tells him he lied in order to protect May and that he didn’t do the murders. He tells Cooper that he killed his mother through the girls. He reveals May is Sister Alice from the convent.
Sara and Cooper talk about the case and she thinks Cooper could be the next target. He feels they can use May to get to Paul. Cooper tells her he will take Julie to the airport to go to Seattle. But when he arrives at her home, he is shocked to discover blood on the door and inside is a processed crime scene with blood. Paul shows his face as a stunned Cooper looks at him.
Paul claims that he killed Julie and Cooper tries to hit him, but Paul holds a gun on him. Back at the lab, Morgan tells Sara the convent can’t find Sister Alice and she can’t get a hold of Julie or Cooper. Sara has a bad feeling and tells Morgan to go and get Greg so they can go to the condo.
Meanwhile, Paul taunts Cooper about making Julie suffer and makes him look at the crime scene. But Cooper doesn’t believe him, because the blood on the ground isn’t covered in too much blood and his crime scene isn’t finished. He asks where Julie is and Paul claims she is in the desert. Downstairs, Sara arrives with the police.
Cooper tells Paul that he knows where his mother is and that his father was actually a pimp who got her pregnant. Paul demands to know where she is, but Cooper wants to find Finlay. However, before he answers, the police shoot him. Paul tells Cooper he won’t find her. Cooper thinks she should be nearby so Sara has Greg and Morgan search for vehicles. They find a car that was reported stolen so they open the trunk, where they find Julie’s battered body. They get her on the ground and Greg begins doing CPR.
In the lab, Cooper puts Julie’s things in an envelope and Nick comes to let him know that the nurse mentioned he has been at the hospital visiting Julie. Cooper says while her body is healing, she’s still not waking up, but Nick tells him Paul will pay for what he did. Nick asked if Nolan called Cooper, who congratulates him on the job. However, Nick says he won’t go because of Julie. Cooper tells him they can’t do anything about that and she would make him go.
Nick is packing his stuff up out of his locker and we see a photo of the last breakfast he had with Warrick and the team. Greg and Sara come to say goodbye and he tells them he has love and respect for them. They tell him to be well and that they are happy for him.
As music plays, Nick walks through the halls of the lab and flashbacks show Nick’s career throughout the last 15 years. He puts his hand over Finlay’s name on the board showing their crime solving rates. He puts a ‘solved’ magnet over his name before leaving.
We’ll miss you, Nick.
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