See Also: 'Viva Las Vegas' Episode Guide

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has tackled everything from scuba divers in trees to dead gorillas and murder at a Furry convention, but the team have never had to deal with an alien lifeform. Until now.

Season five's premiere episode, "Viva Las Vegas", will reportedly feature a dead alien, found just outside Area 51 in the Nevada Desert. Nick and Sara (who has returned from a vacation after the events of "Bloodlines") are called to the scene, where they meet up with Detective Travis, recently transferred to Vegas from Los Angeles. The news has spread like wildfire across the Internet and a large crowd of people dressed up as aliens and sci-fi characters has massed at the scene.

Of course, it's not a real alien — but, hey, this is Vegas, where anything goes! The deceased was buried in an alien costume from the Chapel of Inter-Galactic Love, the place for sci-fi fans to tie the knot in Vegas. When Nick and Sara turn up at the chapel, a couple are being married as Mulder and Scully from The X-Files by a minister wearing exactly the same alien costume as the victim. Prepare for Star Trek jokes galore as the CSIs try to get to the bottom of a murder that's out of this world!

Catherine is working a case that's somewhat more down to earth. Carl Johnson, a forty-something golf ball salesman, woke up in his hotel room to find a woman dead in his bed, her skull bashed in. He says the last thing he remembers is having drinks at a strip club and claims the woman must have drugged him. Will the evidence support his story?

Grissom has his hands full investigating the shooting of a man in a nightclub, but he's got a more-than-willing assistant in the form of Greg. His replacement, a well-qualified and attractive young woman by the name of Chandra Moore, has arrived to take over his job in DNA, meaning Greg is free to work in the field, as per Grissom's promise in "Bloodlines". But with all the cases being worked on by the Las Vegas Crime Lab (not to mention some teasing from the CSIs), Chandra's first shift quickly turns into the day from hell.

Please note that the above plot details have not been confirmed by CBS, Alliance Atlantis or Bruckheimer Films, and until such time you should treat this information as you would any other rumour. The above information comes from an early draft of the script and details may change before the episode goes to air.

"Viva Las Vegas" is scheduled to air in September, 2004.

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