Friday, November 23, 2007

CSI : Sara’s gone, should we care?

Crime scene investigator Sara Sidle, played by Jorja Fox, took her leave of the CSI team in the episode that aired on November 15 called “Goodbye and Good Luck.” Clearly in a despondent funk, likely a carryover from her own recent run in with death, she states her reasons in a letter to Gil Grissom (William Petersen):

“Gil, You know I love you. I feel I've loved you forever. Lately, I haven't been feeling very well. Truth be told, I'm tired. Out in the desert, under that car that night, I realized something, and I haven't been able to shake it. Since my father died, I've spent almost my entire life with ghosts. We've been like close friends, and out there in the desert, it occurred to me that it was time for me to bury them. I can't do that here. I'm so sorry. No matter how hard I try to fight it off, I'm left with the feeling that I have to go. I have no idea where I'm going, but I know I have to do this. If I don't, I'm afraid I'll self destruct, and worse, you'll be there to see it happen. Be safe. Know that I tried very hard to stay. Know that you're my one and only. I will miss you with every beat of my heart. Our life together was the only home I've ever really had. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love you. I always will. Good bye”

Was I the only one who was cheering at her swan song?

I’ve always found Sara’s angst a little hard to tolerate. I don’t do well around unhappy people. I suppose that working in forensics and being around crime and death all the time can take a toll on a person’s outlook. But I think it was more than that for me.

I just never got into the Gil/Sara relationship. It seemed – wrong, like if the chemistry was lacking. Gil, was somewhat intense yet introspective, and Sara, was also somewhat intense and introspective. But, adding years of her unhappiness and conflict, both inner and departmental, I could never see what Gil, let alone anyone else saw in her. She had too much baggage. In fact, her character seemed to suck the life force out of me just watching her on screen.

Thankfully, the show followed up that episode with a delightfully funny episode on Thanksgiving evening called “You Kill Me.” Hodges (Wallace Langham), one of the resident lab geeks, treats us to hypothetical murders of other lab members, and elicits input from some of those same people to solve, in some cases, their own murders. It’s all for a board game he’s developing called “Lab Rats.” It was a great break from the show’s formula, and it came at a great time, both for viewers AND for Gil Grissom. It seemed Gil came back to life, with his concern for Sara put aside for a short time, while he played the same with Hodges.

So I won’t be one to miss Sara, or Jorja Fox for that matter. I am looking forward to maybe seeing the “old Gil” back again, and to get away from the distraction of the whole relationship.

As far as Hodges, all I can say is, keep the humor coming.



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