I've been thinking about this, and my answer is a bit weird, lol. I think for me, the major defining moment for EC comes during the locker room scene in Bad Seed. Sure, there have been tons of "defining" moments since about season five, but there was the whole "Jake or Eric" thing in S5-6, and in S7 they were really just beginning to be with each other, and to be honest, I was still a bit unsure of whether they were serious about each other or not. I mean, sure, there was the hospital scene in SGIYCSI, there was the kiss in Sink or Swim, there were the morning scenes in WISC, but things were mostly okay for them during these episodes, it was like they were still in the honeymoon part of their relationship, and everything was new and easy, and the only rough spot they'd really had was Eric's little jealousy issue over the picture of Cal with Terrance, lol.
Up until, and while Bad Seed was airing, I was not looking forward to the hug scene at all, because we'd been led to believe that it was goodbye. Just looking at the promo pics of it made me sad. But this is one of the few times that the writers have genuinely surprised me, because I came out of this episode feeling more confident than I ever have about EC. I think it took a
lot for Calleigh to stand there in front of him and ask what she asked - "what about you and me?" To me, that's almost like a "Tell me we're going to be okay" from Calleigh, and just the thought that our Calleigh would request something so deep and emotional really struck me - she wants this to work, and wanted to know that Eric still wanted it to work as well. Her following that up with "I guess CSI isn't the only game in town," to me was a roundabout way of making sure he was staying in Miami, that he was still committed to her and their relationship, and Eric's reply of "Like I said, you know me too well" to me was really saying "you know how long and hard I fought for this - there's no way I'm walking away from you and you know that."
I've likely read
just a bit
lol
too much into it, but it's definitely my second favorite EC scene of all (the first being the kiss on the cheek in Just Murdered, just for its cuteness
) and it feels like there was so much more said between them than was actually verbalized. And it was the first time I really felt like their relationship would make it, that they could survive whatever was thrown at them (and lets face it, after that point, they've had everything but the kitchen sink thrown at them :lol
. So that's my EC defining moment; while there have been so many scenes before and after between them that I've absolutely adored, this scene was the first time I could really sense that Eric was committed to her (remember, he couldn't tell her what he wanted in Head Case) and that Calleigh was just as committed to him, and was actually afraid that in leaving CSI, he would be leaving her as well. I feel like this scene was a
huge affirmation of what Eric and Calleigh both mean to each other. :adore:
