Natalia Boa Vista

Template:In-universe/Television Template:CSI character Natalia Boa Vista (Template:PronEng) is a fictional character on the hit CBS drama show CSI: Miami. She is portrayed by actress Eva LaRue.

Background

Natalia was a victim of spousal abuse by her husband Nick Townsend (played by Rob Estes). Her association with the battered woman society helps the CSI team solve the murder of a woman who was killed by her ex-husband ("Collision"). 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 (pronounced On-ya). 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. 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.

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.

Relationships

Natalia and co-worker 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, Natalia 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 aftereffects 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 uncovered 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, with Ryan going as far as asking Eric's "permission" to date her, but it's clear she was 'not as into him as he was into her,' so they ultimately choose to keep their relationship professional.In spite of this, it is obvious that Natalia became more protective of Ryan and cares about him and being the only one who believes him when the others CSIs doubt him.