Goodbye, Grissom

Come Thursday, January 15, it will be the end of an era.

For CSI fans (of the original series set in Las Vegas, and not of the spinoffs), it will be Gil Grissom's last episode as a series regular. It will be William Petersen's last. As a fan for all of its nine seasons, it came as a sad surprise.


I remember the first time I got hooked on this show. My older sister had beaten me to the TV and I was forced to wait it out by watching along with her. I felt that if I waited long enough, she would tire eventually and hand me the remote. It turned out to be a CSI episode

To me, it was a procedural unlike any other. It presented science and technology, forensics and psychology. It was all about the CASES. It was very different from any other procedural that I grew up with – although, looking back now, I don't think I remember any procedurals like this on television. Early procedural dramas such as Homicide and the Law & Order series were not heavily immersed in the science lab like CSI was. Those TV shows that did – Cold Case, NCIS – were based off of CSI's success. CSI made science and pathology cool again.

In CSI, the regular characters were secondary only to the killer and the victims. The science was explained, and helped unravel storylines such that it became a mystery-thriller, a kind of old-school whodunit bathed in blue light. It was like a Discovery Channel show with actors. The mysteries intrigued me enough to capture my attention, and to make me a fan for life.

It is a wonderfully different show in that its cast of characters took a backseat to the mystery of the week. But each episode brought out a subtle quirk, an emotional story, a little backstory of what that character was like. Warrick's gambling history, Gil's predilection for insects, Catherine's Vegas stripper roots, Sara's childhood abuse, Nick's empathy, and Greg's eagerness to impress. Little by little, as the years went by, we were able to look at the character with a little more depth. Continuity and surprises abound for the regular viewer – and the honest truth was, to truly appreciate this, the show and its characters (down to even the lab rats and police detectives!), you had to have been a fan, a regular viewer. So that, as the series progressed, when the characters started getting their own story arcs, you were immensely invested.

No other show, save for "House MD", has created characters with so much depth to them. Of course, the long history on the air helps, but I think the show has got a formula that works, that allows fans to continue to watch. There is more to CSI that just intriguing storylines, good writing, and great directors. The action on the screen progresses quickly, but the character story that unfolds is a whole lot slower. As a result, the viewers' investment is not only with the show itself (whose quality is superb), but also with the characters themselves (whose lives are just as flawed and imperfect as ours are).

Eventually, the show brought the characters to the fore. They were no longer secondary to the cases. Sometimes, they were involved with the cases. Catherine falls in love with a suspect. Warrick threatens a corrupt judge. Grissom stresses out over his team's internal politicking – a plot point that was played very very subtly by the writers (e.g., Sara's disappointment over Nick's promotion, or Catherine being upset when Gil bypasses her). Sara's credibility getting shredded in court. Greg getting beaten to near-death by a drugged-out mob. And Nick being buried alive. And heck, even I got upset when Detective Lockwood got killed during a bank robbery episode!

Every character got a story arc that was faithful to how they were initially portrayed at the beginning. And that went on for many years, seeming to reward fans who stayed with them.

A very good example was Sara and Grissom's relationship. It started out in Season 1 and took baby steps – steps so small that even I wasn’t sure whether the writers were toying with us. Until an episode where Sara was called to the stand and the defense drilled her as to the status of her relationship with Grissom – listing those instances in previous episodes that seemed vague to me at first but was made fully clear by then. To me, it was a reveal that was both surprising and organic, a sort of a prize for sticking it out with the show. It was only five seasons later when their coupling became official – and even that was implied. No passionate kiss, or romantic conversations. It just happened.

I loved how the writers didn't need to put Sara and Grissom in acts of intimacy just to clarify their relationship. The same goes for the other characters. Even the downspiral that was Warrick's marriage was relegated to a background phone conversation here, a throwaway line there. I appreciate that the writers know that the power of the show is in its implied meanings – no sap or cheese like in "CSI Miami", and none of that brutish mentality that permeated "CSI New York". The original CSI was built on implications and subtlety, which was more often than not provided by its fearless leader, Grissom.

To me, Gil Grissom – William Petersen – was the anchor of the show. He provided it with a gravitas, a snark, and an intelligence that pretty much shaped CSI and distinguished it from its other spin offs. And now he is leaving it. After nine years of hard investigative work, he leaves behind an era of procedurals that were founded on science, a hip locale, and an edgy soundtrack.

In actuality, the era started its end when Warrick died. Poor Warrick and his gorgeously intense eyes – the tormented CSI who lived hard and found no solace outside of work. He was loved by fans, and so his death signaled a passing of sorts. Nick lost a friend to banter with, Catherine lost a colleague to flirt alongside with, and Greg lost a colleague who would call him out on his odd predilections. There was a new girl, Riley, but it will probably take me ages to accept her character. One might think that the end actually began with Sara's leaving – but her gloomy disposition and prickly demeanor lost her a lot of points with the viewing audience. And so her leaving wasn't as difficult to consider as when Warrick was suddenly shot by the Undersheriff. Warrick had just been exonerated, and had left a cheery team breakfast when tragedy befell him. So it was more painful.

But Grissom leaving will be even more painful. The first parter already left me with a genuine sadness. And the varied reactions to his leaving were very telling of that person's character. And seemingly real, too. They also seemed to mirror us viewers' feelings. David's literal sadness. Doc Robbins' subtle desire to know why. Hodges' moping. And, next episode, we will see Nick's and Greg's farewells in the form of sincere gratitude. But I think the best kind of moment I have seen so far was between Grissom and Catherine. Those two have been like a Mulder and Scully but without the sexual tension. The moment Catherine appeared prior to Grissom's ear surgery in Season 3 was when I realized that these two have a great friendship that went beyond the lab. And it was the best – and realistic – relationship ever depicted on the show, I think. Catherine's beautifully rueful smile when she told Grissom that she "knew before he did" broke my heart a little. Here was a friend who was happy and sad for him at the same time. And we all felt that sort of mixed feelings at one point in our lives, and Marg Helgenberger did just the right amount of perfect. I also felt the same way for William Petersen – happy and sad at the same time.

The figurehead and father figure of the CSI team will leave behind a huge void – that even an Oscar nominee will find difficult to fill. But I am happy that he is leaving to pursue something that only a true actor would find more fulfilling than a lucrative TV career. Theater is that one branch of entertainment that has stood the test of the ages, and I respect so much those actors who continually succumb to the pull of the stage. (So few TV actors I know of do this on a regular basis, such as Robert Sean Leonard.) I only wish William Petersen the best, albeit with a heavy heart. And here's hoping that Gil Grissom pops into the lab from time to time.