Vegas’ Season 1, Episode 5 Recap

• CBS
• Up to anything? No, we’re not up to anything ...

It struck me last night that where “Vegas” has gone right and the quickly cancelled “Pan Am” and “Playboy Club” went wrong is in the presentation of its period detail. “Vegas,” like “Mad Men,” allows the sounds and styles of the 1960s to wash over viewers in a way where the time period is obvious but isn’t directly pointed out. There aren’t winks about pregnant women smoking or comments about constant drinking (Savino does drink more or less constantly, but few others do, and there’s no attention brought to it). Most refreshingly, there are no pseudo-clever jokes made with historical hindsight. In “Vegas,” the 1960s are a backdrop, not a reason for existence.

This week, “Vegas” shook up its procedural aspect in “Solid Citizens,” which was also a relief from the last few weeks of “if Ralph looks you square in the eye you will confess all!” The twists were minimal, focusing instead on the relationship among the Lamb family (my favorite aspect of the show) and the arrival of Savino’s wife (Vinessa Shaw, who starred in Hocus Pocus — Happy Halloween!) while Savino is trying to shake Milwaukee’s scent on his murder of Cornaro.

Another high-point for “Vegas” is how elements from its Cases of the Week pop back up in latter episodes. Though we won’t hear any more about Estelle and her murder, the connection to Milwaukee, the strike, and the Tumbleweed spilled over into “Solid Citizens,” with a strange character called Jones entering the scene to follow-up on Cornaro’s murder.