This episode marks the fifth appearance by Scott Wilson as Sam Braun.

Grissom: He's wearing a wig and a fat suit. It's not Halloween, is it?
Catherine: In this town, it's always Halloween.

Catherine: "Rampart." Guess I'll go check that out.
Grissom: You can't. We found the body under the WHISKEY TOWN sign and the guy just cleaned out the Rampart Casino.
Catherine: Coincidence.
Grissom: Even if it is, they're still Sam Braun's casinos.
Catherine: Why is that a problem?
Grissom: He's your father. You can't be on this case.
Catherine: Gil ...
Grissom: Catherine, you have to go home.

Sam Braun: I'm curious. What bothers you more? The fact that you couldn't pin a murder on me or that Catherine cashed my check?
(Grissom stops what he's doing and slowly stands up to look at Sam)
Sam Braun: There were no strings on that money.
(Grissom takes off his glasses.)
Grissom: Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there.
Sam Braun: (shrugs) Believe whatever you like.

Sam Braun: You want to catch a cheater -- hire one.
Catherine: Right. He gets to work off his debt.
Sam Braun: On way or another, I always get my money's worth.

Robbins: Given the fracture pattern, I'd guess it was some sort of blunt object.
Warrick: Maybe a ball peen hammer.
Robbins: What gets you to that?
Warrick: They used to tell me back in the days, the first time you got caught cheating, they'd give you a couple whacks on the hand with a ball peen hammer.
Robbins: Ow.
Warrick: The second time, you'd lose a limb.
Robbins: Third time?
Warrick: A long walk in the desert with a shovel.

Grissom: Well, his driver's license was fake, so, this could be fake, too.
Sara: A fake ID is for scamming a casino. A baller puts his real name on a roley.
(Grissom turns and gives Sara a look, surprised by what he just heard. She shrugs it off and waves the papers in her hand toward Warrick.)
Sara: What? He rubs off.

Brass: Relax. I got it covered. Hey, Rick, remember the time you said you could get a print off of air?
Warrick: Yeah.
Brass: Check this out.
(He turns the shoe slip-in and the camera goes in for a close-up of the fingerprint on the clear plastic covering.)

Chris Bezich: So. You and Sam Braun ...
Catherine: He slept with my mother.

Nick: This is about the key CSI position. Grissom recommended me.
(The look on her face freezes. It takes a beat, then she smiles.)
Sara: Congratulations.
(Nick tucks the letter back into its envelope and stands up to get ready for his shift.)
Nick: It's not necessary. Position was cut. Budget had room for the new promotion or a new qiagen, bio robot ez-1. Greg will be thrilled.
Sara: (less than enthusiastic) Yeah.
(Nick shuts his locker door, turns and glances at SARA before heading for the door.)
Nick: Oh, well, it's just an honor to be nominated, right?

Catherine: Sam ... used to be a caddy man. He would drive a new one every year. These days, he's being driven.
Grissom: And you know this because ... ?
Catherine: I saw him. He came to me.
Grissom: And you walked away, I hope.
Catherine: I made him walk away from me. Right into a stretch limo with a big turning radius.
Grissom: That doesn't prove anything. Besides, any evidence that comes from you is tainted.
Catherine: Then have it come from you. Warrant shouldn't be hard to get. Especially if the call comes from someone whose character is above reproach.
(Grissom stops and looks at Catherine. She makes sure he meets her eyes and her meaning. She turns and leaves the office.)

Greg: Blood on the shirt is a match to Davis Mullins. Epithelials from inside the shirt belong to Seth Landers.
(Greg watches Grissom carefully. Grissom looks up from the test results and looks at Greg.)
Grissom: What?
Greg: That means Sam Braun's innocent. This time. Are you disappointed?
Grissom: It's the evidence.

Warrick: Are you trying to tell me that your own father set you up?
Seth Landers: The truth is, I just wanted him to like me. But I'm not him. You know, I'm never going to be him. Counting cards and the poker face. They say it's a skill, but it's a gift. Till Sam Braun took it away.

Catherine: What are you doing?
Gil: I'm testing my podiatric dexterity. What are you doing?

Warrick: What's in the bag, "dad"?

Word play reference to Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.

This is a great study in the relationships between Grissom/Catherine, Catherine/Sam and Sam/Grissom. The purpose of the case is solely to support this character study. The case centers around the murder of two college students who were caught cheating in one of Braun’s casinos. As the case unfolds we find out that the friend who designed the system they use is the son of a man that Braun managed to have blacklisted from the strip because of his cheating. The son sees the opportunity he’s been given by his friends as the chance to one up his own father by cheating Braun without getting caught. The father finds out and murders the two friends thinking that Braun will be the one blamed for it thereby giving him his own revenge.

The Grissom/Catherine relationship is addressed beginning with the finding of the receipt from the Rampart and Grissom’s sending Catherine home because he father is involved. This is the first time Grissom has taken a CSI off of a case since season one’s Boom when Nick was a murder suspect. The looks exchanged between the two during this scene are heartbreaking. The other moment during this episode comes when Catherine comes to the lab to give Grissom a possible lead on the case involving her father and his car. Grissom both angers and hurts Catherine by telling her that any evidence coming from her would be tainted. Catherine retaliates by telling him that it will have to come from him, telling him he is “above reproach,” and then leaves.

The Sam/Catherine relationship is addressed from the same starting point. Catherine is punished for being his daughter because Grissom feels the case could be challenged if she is involved. The confrontation between Sam and Catherine is intense. Somehow Sam found out she was sent home because he is her father. Catherine tells him she could loose her job for even talking to him. Her date tries to schmooze Sam and is rebuffed with “You aren’t impressing her.” It is when Sam leaves that Catherine makes the connection between his limo and the tracks at the crime scene. Ironically enough she is next seen giving this information to Grissom, choosing to help him over protecting her own father.

The Sam/Grissom relationship is actually the most interesting aspect of this episode. We see two alpha males battling for supremacy. The battleground? Catherine. Sam is baiting Grissom from the moment the two meet again. He feeds him a line about Grissom not being able to pin a murder on him. Grissom keeps his cool. He brings up the check that he gave to Catherine and gets both a figurative and literal rise out of him. Grissom’s reaction is quick. He doesn’t like the idea of the money, he sees the strings that must be attached to it despite Sam’s insistence that there were no strings. Round one goes to Sam.

Round two is also Sam’s. After finding blood in his limo Grissom has him brought in for questioning. Braun goes against his lawyer’s advice and spills it all. He’s an innocent man this time and he knows it. He also knows Grissom would love to lock him up.

Round three goes to Grissom when the father of the boy who designed the foot gadget is brought in and sat in a room with Braun. Brass and Grissom are observing the interaction and see that Braun knows the man.

Round four goes to Sam when the DNA from the blood sample does not match the victim. Greg asks Grissom if he’s disappointed and all he can say is “it’s the evidence.”

However, the final round (and victory) goes to Grissom in the very last scene. We see Catherine arriving at the lab for her shift. She walks over to Braun’s limo, asking him to dinner as a way of apologizing for what has happened. The young man from earlier stumbles up from inside the limo and is obviously drunk. Sam looks to Catherine and tells her he always gets his money’s worth. The limo drives away leaving a stunned Catherine realizing what she may have gotten herself in to.