Natalia Boa Vista

Main Character: Miami
Name	Natalia Boa Vista
Gender	Female
Birth Date	June 17, 1972
Family	Anya (Sister) Cristine (Sister) Nick Townsend (Ex-Husband;deceased)
City	Miami
Job	CSI Level 2
Status	Living
Portrayed By	Eva LaRue
First Appearance	Season 4-10

Natalia Boa Vista is a Level Two CSI working in the Miami-Dade Crime Lab.

Upon first arriving at the lab, Natalia was a DNA analyst who was only allowed to work on cold or unsolved cases due to the restrictions of her federal grant.

Background

Before joining the department, Natalia escaped an abusive marriage when her association with a society for battered women was key to helping the team solve the murder of a woman (who had been killed by the victim's ex-husband) assuming an alias for protection. In season 5, much to her distress, she discovered her abusive ex-husband, Nick Townsend, was out of prison when he served her with a restraining order. He was working for a private company that cleans up crime scenes, forcing her to make terms with him to get the restraining order dropped. The two shared a tense professional relationship until Nick's murder, a crime for which Boa Vista was briefly considered the prime suspect.

On the Job

Natalia is a DNA analyst initially assigned only to work on unsolved or cold cases, though this is, until the end of season four, a cover for her. At the end of season four, it is revealed that Natalia is an FBI informant in the lab, assigned to help build a case against Horatio Caine and his team. However, when questioned by her co-workers, she claims to have only reported information that made the Miami-Dade Crime Lab look good. It is eventually revealed that the negative information that was soiling the lab in fact came from another source, State Attorney Monica West (episode 425, "One of Our Own"), and Natalia's claims of defending the lab's integrity were accurate. Although the CSIs and other workers treat her with suspicion and some ostracizing after she's revealed to be the mole, she is ultimately accepted as a permanent above-board member of the team.

In episode 508, "Darkroom", CSI Ryan Wolfe finds a stash of photographed girls. Natalia discovers that one of the pictures is of her sister Anya. DNA from a crime scene reveals that Anya is indeed one of the women that the CSIs are looking for. It is also revealed that, in addition to Anya, Natalia has another sister named Cristine. At the end of the episode, Horatio manages to locate and rescue Anya, and the sisters are happily reunited.

In the episode "Internal Affairs", Nick Townsend is found murdered. All the evidence is pointing to Natalia as the killer. Horatio, the night-shift lab and Calleigh's ex-boyfriend Detective Jake Berkeley must find evidence to clear Natalia. Natalia admits to Berkeley that she was outside Nick's house. She was handcuffed by Jake at the beginning of the episode. Earlier on, Nick and Valera went on a lunch date. Valera ignored Natalia's warnings about Nick being dangerous, so Natalia went there to watch over her. She sees Nick trying to force Valera into the bedroom and watches Valera push him and run out of the house. Thinking that she killed Nick, Valera tries to admit to Jake, but he denies her confession. It is later discovered that another man murdered Nick over a pair of earrings that Nick had stolen from a crime scene (which linked the man's wife to said crime). At the end of the episode, Natalia leans on Horatio's shoulder and sobs quietly as they both look at a picture of Nick and Natalia in happier days, a reminder that Nick had not always been the abusive person he had become.

In the episode "Tunnel Vision", Natalia is late to a crime scene and explains to Calleigh that she "had to add a new accessory to her wardrobe." She shows that she finally passed the firearms exam and has a gun.

In the episode "Mayday", Horatio is shot through the abdomen by Randy North, who then knocks Natalia out before she finds who did it. Randy drags her into the trunk of his car and pushed it over the pier before Horatio regains the ability to shoot Randy. Unfortunately, Horatio could not stop the car as it sinks into the water.

Natalia Boa Vista, locked in a car by Randy North, and pushed off the pier while Horatio lies on the ground, shot.

In the follow-up episode "Countermeasures", Natalia is saved by Horatio, who managed to get to his feet in time and dove into the water to save her even though he was also seriously wounded. Despite being traumatized by the event and lamenting all of the close calls she had the previous year, Natalia manages to pull herself together when Wolfe encouraged her to not give up. She continues working on the case, getting Randy to divulge a way to get in contact with his accomplice, escaped serial killer Jack Toller, which leads to his recapture.

Relationships

Natalia and coworker Eric Delko previously dated. Later on, they broke up because of a pregnancy scare (episode 415, "Skeletons"). It was also subtly suggested that Natalia had slept with Eric to get information on the lab (episode 425, "One of Our Own"). Even if that was true, Eric remains protective of Natalia when her ex-husband Nick intrudes into crime scenes and harasses her. In episode "Throwing Heat", Natalia always asks if Eric is all right and teases him. In the two-part episode "No Man's Land" and "Man Down", when Eric is shot, Natalia is very worried and mentions to Detective Frank Tripp that Eric is all she can think about now.

In season 5, Natalia is now a CSI trainee, but to her grief and misery, she discovers that her ex-husband is out of prison and he serves her a restraining order. Nick begins working for a private crime-scene cleanup company. The situation is difficult as Natalia is forced to make terms with Nick so that he would drop the restraining order. In the episode "If Looks Could Kill", Natalia tells Nick to leave when he enters the CSI office. Nick says that the restraining order that she filed against him has expired. In episode 510, "Come As You Are", Natalia is shocked to find out that Nick had asked out lab technician Maxine Valera on a date and that she had accepted. In season 6 (episode 605, "Deep Freeze") it was revealed that the after effects of Nick breaking Natalia's arm is the reason she can't use a shotgun. After she dislocated her arm, Eric Delko put it back in. This and the chain of events that occur, result in Calleigh and Jake's possible break-up. Later in the season, Natalia uncovereds a corrupt FBI agent and how an extramarital affair led to the death of a young woman, for which the FBI agent was arrested.

It is mentioned that CSI Ryan Wolfe is attracted to her. He was considering asking her out after she came to visit him at a crime scene. They had one date in Season 4, but it's clear she was not as into him as he was into her.

Trivia

• Is a fan of The Marrying Kind (episode 722)

Notes

• Eva LaRue's sister Nika was offered the role of Anya, Natalia's sister, but she declined. Instead she played a reporter. In fact, the episode was based on the real-life convicted serial killer William Richard Bradford; Nika LaRue was one of the women photographed by Bradford for his collection. She was no. 3 (out of 54 women) on the poster, created by the LAPD. Bradford would photograph women he met in bars under the guise that he would assist their modeling careers.
• Her weapon she uses is a glock 26