‘Delko For The Defense’, ‘Second Chances’ & ‘Better Off Dead’ Official Details

As the franchise prepares to go on hiatus until the new year, all three series air fresh episodes that offer the return of a familiar face, a group of special guest stars and a suicide connection. Official plot details and cast lists after the jump.

Starting out the week on Monday at 10:00pm ET/PT, a former CSI finds himself taking on the CSI: Miami team in “Delko for the Defense”:

Eric Delko returns as an expert witness for the defense, pitting himself against his old team.

Gina Lamar has directed eight previous episodes of the show, including “Bolt Action” earlier this season. “Delko for the Defense” was written by Tamara Jaron, who has five credits under her belt. Jaron’s most recent episode was the season eight premiere, “Out of Time”.

The following guest stars will appear in the episode:

Wes Ramsey as Dave Benton
Boti Bliss as Maxine Valera
Christian Clemenson as Tom Loman
Eric Jungmann as Zach Finley
Jo Champa as Adrianna Villani
Gretchen Egolf as Ellen Stafford
Denis O’Hare as Evan Talbot
Jeff Staron as Justin Porter
Rick Lieberman as Judge Norman Hillguard
Chris Warren Gilbert as Male Reporter
Judy Echavez as Female Reporter

Wes Ramsey, Boti Bliss and Christian Clemenson are reprising established recurring roles. Denis O’Hare was in “Out of Time”, and he has also guest-starred on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (“Who and What”). Eric Jungmann appeared in the CSI episode “Spellbound” during the show’s sixth season. The other actors are new to the franchise.

On Wednesday at 10:00pm ET/PT, CSI: New York gets a visit from several special guest stars in “Second Chances”:

A reformed drug addict with everything to live for is found dead in an alley. The CSI’s discover he was the victim of a premeditated plot.

This is Eric Laneuville‘s first time directing for the franchise. John Dove has nine writing credits for the show, most recently “Dead Reckoning” from earlier this season.

“Second Chances” will include the following actors and actresses in guest-starring roles:

Pat Monahan as Sam Baker
Vanessa Minnillo as Grace Chandler
Kim Kardashian as Debbie Fallon
Lala Vazquez as Lisa Williams
David Sullivan as James Manning
Chris Coy as Joe
Jonas Fisch as Sound Tech
Gino Cafarelli as Santa
James Woodrow Stafford as Guitarist
Scott Michael Underwood as Drummer

The episode features special appearances from Kim Kardashian, Vanessa Minnillo, Lala Vazquez and Pat Monahan, the lead singer of the rock band Train. Monahan’s bandmates James Woodrow Stafford and Scott Michael Underwood are also in the episode. David Sullivan guest-starred in the season premiere of CSI, “Family Affair”.

Rounding out the week on Thursday at 9:00pm ET/PT, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation tries to make a connection in “Better Off Dead”:

The CSIs dig to find the truth about how a recent shootout at a gun store might connect to a young woman who may have committed suicide.

This is the ninth time Jeffrey Hunt has directed an episode of CSI. The story for “Better Off Dead” was written by Richard Catalani and Tom Mularz. Catalani has 18 credits for the series, including this season’s “Coup de Grace”. This is the second credit for Mularz, who penned “Turn Turn Turn” last season. Mularz co-wrote the teleplay for “Better Off Dead” with Corinne Marrinan. Marrinan has written three previous episodes of CSI, including “If I Had a Hammer” during season nine.

The following actors and actresses will guest-star in “Better Off Dead”:

Jon Wellner as Henry Andrews
James Eckhouse as Paul Trent
Gerald McCullouch as Bobby Dawson
Alex Carter as Detective Vartann
Marc Menchaca as Hank Rinaldi
Sam Hennings as John Rankow
Ashton Holmes as Sam Trent
Katy Stoll as Carrie Warren
Marianne Muellerleile as Dolores Rinaldi
Mark Charran as Valet
Chad Bennett as Ed Smith

Jon Wellner and Alex Carter are reprising established recurring roles, and Gerald McCullouch is returning as Bobby Dawson for the first time since the season nine premiere, “For Warrick”. James Eckhouse previously appeared in “Face Lift” during the show’s first season. Sam Henning was in “Snuff” during season three, and he appeared on Miami (“Kill Clause”) earlier this year. Katy Stoll was also on Miami this season, when she guest-starred in “Bad Seed”. Marc Menchaca appeared in the New York episode “Manhattanhenge” last month.

“Delko for the Defense”, “Second Chances” and “Better Off Dead” begin airing December 14 on CBS.