Grissom and Sara #36 A Love Story

[Happy Grissom]

Symmetry (from Greek συμμετρία symmetria "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance.
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I doubt I'll ever tire of watching that end scene.

Absolutely. Simply breathtaking and heartwarming to see them together again......after what they went through, after all these times.

I am so in love with the understated and subtle way they chose to carry out the dock scene. No words, no kisses were needed. Just Grissom and Sara. Together. Finally.

 

[Happy Grissom]

No! Nick went to San Diego. I don't want Grissom back with Sara. I always thought that relationship was a joke. I couldn't see why he would want to settle down with someone with a lot of emotional problems, that's probably one of the reasons they DIVORCED.

Hindsight is always 20/20; but please bear with me. I think people was rooting for GSR because CSI dared to be different, and NOT paring Grissom with Catherine. Petersen should be lauded for being one of the biggest GSR fans of them all. Even before the casting call was sent out, he already made it be know that he wanted Sara to be Grissom's love interest. Petersen could see the unconventionality in Jorja, and the rest was history. You have to understand neither Grissom or Sara was your typical TV show characters. GSR was not mere a December-May relationship. Peterson is no dummy, no one could force him to stand by the GSR arc if he, as an actor and one of the show producers, didn't believe in it.

Of course, you have every right to call it a joke. No one can or should laugh at your choice of word/description. As for you couldn't see why Grissom want to settle down with someone with a lot of emotional problems. Well, didn't you see the character growth and changes taken place in both Grissom and Sara through the years? Actually I wouldn't call Sara as the one having lots of emotional problems. She did carry baggage because of her background; on the other hand, so did Grissom. I thought CSI writers did an excellent job to bring this arc along. They never handled it in heavy-handed way; on the contrast, it's always done with great sensitivity and subtlety. LH, I do believe, and Grissom shared a one-night stand back in Season 3. As a matter of fact, I still don't understand why Grissom always felt he needed to help her out whenever she got caught in trouble. Out of the guilty feeling he held because he called Brass to bring over the warrant after he shared her bed? Whatever it maybe, but he did form a weird and solid friendship with LH, too. If he wanted LH, why wouldn't he seek her out in One To Go? He didn't. Because women like Catherine or LH, no matter how hot or sexy they maybe, Grissom, this unconventional man knew his own heart best! He went after the woman he fell in love with when he first met her in San Francisco. So it'd be a joke if suddenly he wanted to settle down with either of these two.

In conclusion, I'd like to mention this to you if you haven't heard it before: Petersen once told a reporter that LH was the one closes to Grissom's heart; but Sara was Grissom's heart. Besides, as a long time CSI fan, I just want to see my beloved characters happy. I was glad Grissom finally could have his true happiness back. (I could tell you're hung up by their divorce thing; it's the writer's fault. No need to name name here. That writer only wrote one script for CSI, if I am not mistaken, in the beginning of S13 before he was assigned to write and handle this hot potato that GSR was. He had no idea what kind of characters Grissom and Sara were. He had no idea how to keep their long distance marriage viable without having Petersen/Grissom's presence. The easy way out was drop it. That's why and how we got the lousy FMN. Of course Zuiker needed to right the wrong. And he did. End of.)

Grissom changed and grew to be a better person because of his love for Sara and was loved in return. Same went with Sara. As for you wanting Grissom to pair with Catherine. Well, for all I know, he enjoyed such great friendship with her. But he never once showed any romantic feelings towards this great friend of his. Now let's look at it from Catherine side, knowing the way she was, do you think she wouldn't chase Grissom down the lab aisle if she were interested to have a go at it with him?

 

[jafox]

^^^
All so true.
I get that some enjoy the Grissom/Catherine/LH scenes. But, seriously, Grissom is not the type to have a long standing, romantic relationship with a polar opposite. He wants someone who gets him, understands him, AND ultimately, is most like him; which is why GSR had so many issues. But, in the end, it's the most enduring relationship, and the most understandable and satisfying one.

 

[Happy Grissom]

^^^
All so true.
I get that some enjoy the Grissom/Catherine/LH scenes. But, seriously, Grissom is not the type to have a long standing, romantic relationship with a polar opposite. He wants someone who gets him, understands him, AND ultimately, is most like him; which is why GSR had so many issues. But, in the end, it's the most enduring relationship, and the most understandable and satisfying one.

Exactly. I am at loss when people start saying stuff like GSR came out of nowhere, or how Grissom had rejected Sara's affection. I do wonder why can't they see loving Sara was never the problem; Grissom's problem was for him to own up the truth, and be honest with his own heart. We are talking about a man who had many issues. I, for one, never saw him as a perfect paragon. This was a deeply flawed man. For whatever the reasons that he grew to be the way he became, as far as to the world at large was concerned, he was a respected, successful and well known entomologist, he was the LV Crime Lab Night Shift Supervisor. I think his tragedy was he hid so well behind the things he did and the job he held, he forgot the man in himself.

Meeting/getting to know Sara and being thrown off his carefully cultivated and fenced path, he was forced to come to grip with the man within. And that was what terrified him. Facing his true self. Owning up the truth. But in the end, loving Sara and allowing himself to be loved by her finally set him free.

This Patrick Norman's "Only Love Sets You Free" may not be a right song for this thread, but it's such a well written one, and I would like to share it with you:

I can never get tired of talking about GSR!

 

[beachlady]

I think I was shell-shocked by "Forget Me Not"--and found it hard to watch CSI after that episode. Watched the finale and--again, the story was weak--(why didn't Zuiker have a better story for this record-breaking series than the one we got--I'll never understand that!!) But we know who had Grissom's heart even if he failed to visit, failed to return when Sara needed him, broke up with her over the phone, and then chose to return for Lady Heather, of all people! He knew he loved Sara, just afraid to admit it until--what? He thought he had truly lost her to her career? Maybe so! I like to think they are saving a little part of the world on that boat of his!

 

[Happy Grissom]

I think I was shell-shocked by "Forget Me Not"--and found it hard to watch CSI after that episode. Watched the finale and--again, the story was weak--(why didn't Zuiker have a better story for this record-breaking series than the one we got--I'll never understand that!!) But we know who had Grissom's heart even if he failed to visit, failed to return when Sara needed him, broke up with her over the phone, and then chose to return for Lady Heather, of all people! He knew he loved Sara, just afraid to admit it until--what? He thought he had truly lost her to her career? Maybe so! I like to think they are saving a little part of the world on that boat of his!

Still beats me why that particular professional writer couldn't come up with a plausible scenario to keep their marriage intact while not having Grissom on screen since Petersen wanting to explore other interests and leaving CSI behind. We know long distance marriages do exit and work. Distance is not the problem if there's love, commitment, loyalty, and trust in the relationship. (I think I can say so because I am talking from first hand experience.)

FMN was, and still is, uncalled for. It not only tore apart a great story arc the previous writers had spent 7+ years to build it up, it also tore apart Grissom's character. What an idiot way to make him a world class jackass! What an unforgivable way to smear the character who the fans all over the world came to think as Mr. CSI! I still have a hard time to accept this explanation: "....But Sara deserves someone who puts her ahead of his work. More practically we are unlikely to get Billy back ever. We have begged for years..." Well, a little bit of creative thinking could go a long way. A little bit of creative writing could have kept the marriage intact. We know Ecklie was divorced; we know Morgan is his daughter, but we didn't see Morgan's mother. We know both Doc and Super Dave were married, we didn't see their wives, either. So why not having Grissom in town doing research? Or teaching? Or holding seminars? Or writing text books? Or doing consulting works? How hard was it to work a phone call here and there? How hard was it to have Nick (or Greg, Doc, Brass, etc., etc.) asking Sara how her hubby was doing? If it was needed, I am sure TPTB could easily find some voice-impersonator to do a phone call scene. Hell, if they didn't want to spend the extra, why not having Sara to do a one-sided phone conversation? There Were/Are ways to work around it. Fans did accept the notion that they wouldn't see Grissom on screen after the One To Go episode. And we were fine with it!

Don McGill did come out to do damage control after the fiasco that FMN turned out to be; can't recall his comments word by word, but if I recall it properly, he was telling reporters that Grissom and Sara were not divorced. Only separated, he said. Only taking a break, he said, also. So what the writers did to GSR ultimately made a liar out of this man. Because, surprise! They were divorced!

So what Zuiker had to do was to fix GSR in the series finale. Unfortunately, thanks to Jerry Bruckheimer, that awful Leather Heather had to be brought in and made the finale a soapy joke! Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful we got the proper ending, I am just not happy the route it took to get there! Grissom and Sara deserved better. Fans deserved better. I just wished Grissom could have gone up to Sara and asked a chance for her to hear him out! No need to bring Leather Heather into the mix. She was merely a plot device. Let her go back to reopen her Red Room. It doesn't matter which moniker she'd chose to go by; let it be Lady Heather or Dr. Kessler, she still could crack a whip and chain her paid customers on the hooks to her heart's content!

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Late to the game, because I stopped watching CSI after Sara left the first time and after that only watched the episode where Grissom left to be with her and then stopped again. But I did watch the final episode finally the other day and was very happy to see a happy ending for Sara and Grissom. Like many others I've shipped them since the very beginning and was very disappointed with their breakup. Now I can live happily ever after though knowing that they finally got theirs. XD

 

[JorjaFoxFan]

I'm glad you finally got a chance to watch the finale "episode". I wish I found as much closure in it as you seemed to. Grissom and Sara's relationship became almost a farce after season 9. It was a quintessential draw back to the glory days of the show and it was thrown in in inappropriate places, imo.

It still saddens me to think of how this show declined and took a bunch of original stories with it. When i re-watch and think back on the show I like to imagine that it ended with season 7. GSR was one of the best built ships on any show of the time. I wasn't too happy with the finale tv movie, even with the reunited cast but I can't deny it's better than what most shows get when they're cancelled.

 

[jafox]

In celebration...1 year ago today

 

[sharp52092]

*sighs*

I can't believe it's been a year.

 

[Happy Grissom]

I'm glad you finally got a chance to watch the finale "episode". I wish I found as much closure in it as you seemed to. Grissom and Sara's relationship became almost a farce after season 9. It was a quintessential draw back to the glory days of the show and it was thrown in in inappropriate places, imo.

It still saddens me to think of how this show declined and took a bunch of original stories with it. When i re-watch and think back on the show I like to imagine that it ended with season 7. GSR was one of the best built ships on any show of the time. I wasn't too happy with the finale tv movie, even with the reunited cast but I can't deny it's better than what most shows get when they're cancelled.

Make no mistake about it; Grissom was Mr. CSI. CSI was a Grissom's story, and GSR enhanced and enriched the story with its special spark. It was very hard to watch the show after Sara's first departure. Just felt like boom was off the rose.

BTW, I was talking to some of my CSI buddies last week, one of them lamented CSI didn't give the proper exit Sara deserved. She said making Sara run away from town and leave Grissom behind just was so out of character; in addition, CSI should have taken the chance to address the PTSD. She truly had good point there.

Looking back I do wish CSI writers could have handled some story/plot lines differently. (FMN is just painful to watch----even to this day.) I keep on asking myself if I would be so emotionally invested in this series if it were Grissom and somebody else got paired up. What was it about GSR that could have us all so mesmerized?

 

[jafox]

Make no mistake about it; Grissom was Mr. CSI. CSI was a Grissom's story, and GSR enhanced and enriched the story with its special spark.

Looking back I do wish CSI writers could have handled some story/plot lines differently. (FMN is just painful to watch----even to this day.) I keep on asking myself if I would be so emotionally invested in this series if it were Grissom and somebody else got paired up. What was it about GSR that could have us all so mesmerized?

Totally agree. Love it or hate it, GSR was special. For me to become invested in a show, I need something/someone to root for, and GSR filled that bill. Grissom with someone else or Sara with someone else would not have generated near the loyalty, IMO. Two original characters remaining together is a tough order for a long running tv show, and the writers for the first 10 seasons were creative and amazing. The new writers didn't have a clue. FMN doesn't exist in my CSI world. And never will.
I loved the series finale because it righted the wrongs of a GSR split, but I think it would have been better for everyone if the focus had been on the whole cast. The Grissom/Sara/LH triangle was a figment in the minds of tptb, and wishful thinking for some of her fans. But long term fans of the show knew where Grissom's and Sara's hearts were...and are...always.

 

[Happy Grissom]

Totally agree. Love it or hate it, GSR was special. For me to become invested in a show, I need something/someone to root for, and GSR filled that bill. Grissom with someone else or Sara with someone else would not have generated near the loyalty, IMO. Two original characters remaining together is a tough order for a long running tv show, and the writers for the first 10 seasons were creative and amazing. The new writers didn't have a clue. FMN doesn't exist in my CSI world. And never will.
I loved the series finale because it righted the wrongs of a GSR split, but I think it would have been better for everyone if the focus had been on the whole cast. The Grissom/Sara/LH triangle was a figment in the minds of tptb, and wishful thinking for some of her fans. But long term fans of the show knew where Grissom's and Sara's hearts were...and are...always.

Exactly. I think the credit should go to Wm Petersen and Jorja first; these two brought their special touch to their story arc. I just don't get why people keep on branding around the talks of no chemistry between them. Can you find one person who knows Grissom better than Petersen? Give the man a bit of credit, they should but don't. No one can ever force Petersen to do something he doesn't want to, and we all know he doesn't want to do things he doesn't believe in. So he stuck with this incredible arc from the beginning, and nurtured it and found a happy place for GSR to stay -- remember how the 'One To Go' ended?

Also I think the credit should go to those talented writers who were around the first nine or ten seasons. They never let GSR overrun the show. They never let GSR sink the show to the soap level. (Catherine's personal drama was doing a find job in that regards, if you ask me.) I think the writers recognized the unique paring in Grissom and Sara, and they tended it with uttermost care. As a fan, I will always be grateful GSR came along at all. TPTB could have killed it, but they didn't. I actually got to see Zuiker right the wrong in the finale, what else can I say?

Making a site character, Lady Heather, the focal point of the finale was disappointing. She took the focus away from the case and made the finale a cheap tale of a laughable relationship triangle that just didn't ring true. I heard from another fan that Mr. Bruckheimer wanted a Grissom/LH relationship to be implied by having LH show up in San Diego! What was he thinking? I am so glad Anthony Zuiker balked at such notion. So guess what we had on screen was a compromise of sorts.

By rewatching the old episodes, I am still thrilled to find bits and pieces that I either didn't notice before or had forgotten they're there. Like in 'Killer' episode, I caught the following exchanges:

Sara: Looks like we're dealing with a professional.
Grissom: Professional what, though? Ally Sullivan was killed over a fender bender.
Sara: You're right. He probably just loved his car and has a really bad temper.

And Grissom shot her that look ----- priceless.

I guess it's the undefinable and the intangible of touch shared by Grissom and Sara caught me and managed to hold me still ---- even after all these years.

CSI is still better than lots of current shows. GSR still beats lots of 'ships' by million miles. To my fellow GSR fans, I say this to you all: Happy watching!

 

[jafox]

^^^
WP and JF def had the chemistry to portray such a unique and enduring love story; and Billy, I agree, was probably the key to keeping GSR intact, since he had EP power. Also, he kept insisting that nothing romantic or sexual ever happened between Grissom and LH, regardless of what the writers tried to imply. So, I'm sticking with that. Lol. No doubt there was a bond, and she was some men's fantasies, just not Grissom's.

It certainly is more fun watching old episodes since we got our happy ending. I'm somewhat jealous of new viewers who can watch from beginning to end without being tainted by blogs of 'ship wars'. I think they will see it our way.

I'm also going back and reading some old (and some new) fanfic. We were/are fortunate to have so many talented ff writers in the GSR camp.

 

[Happy Grissom]

^^^
..........
It certainly is more fun watching old episodes since we got our happy ending. I'm somewhat jealous of new viewers who can watch from beginning to end without being tainted by blogs of 'ship wars'. I think they will see it our way.

I'm also going back and reading some old (and some new) fanfic. We were/are fortunate to have so many talented ff writers in the GSR camp.

I do share the same sentiment you stated above. You know, fandom is a funny business --- not in a good way-- and fans are unpredictable. I always thought fandoms were fueled by the love fans held collectively towards their chosen ones, it was utterly disappointing to realize it could also be fueled by hate the fans held towards the one(s) they didn't agree.

What I like about GSR pages, among other reasons, is the GSR fans congregate together to talk about their likes. The common appreciation they share towards this unique and unconventional pairing. I seldom see -- of course, there're exceptions, don't get me wrong -- the GSR fans go bunker attacking other 'ships'. Mostly they just talk and share their thoughts, finds, speculation centered around these two unforgettable characters. Usually, it's a gentler, kinder and friendly place to visit.

But, unfortunately, it's not quite the case for other fans. Their postings do tend to veer into the putdowns, knockabouts and whatnot, you name it, chances are you will see it. Often it went beyond the common decency line by mounting personal attacks against the actor/actress who played the characters. It's just so sad people can be weighted down by the hate they held against a fictional character and/or a fictional paring.

As for the loud anti-GSR voices popped up on various message boards, I think, roughly their reasons can be counted as the followings:

- No chemistry. (I say 'phooey' to it. If Petersen said he and Jorja had it. That was it. Give Petersen some credit as an actor.)
- Sara had serious 'daddy' issue. (You can't help who you fall for. No one can tell me you've got no right to be loved once you reach a certain age! )
- Grissom was a hypocrite. (Don't they see his relationship with Sara added the drama and broaden the scope of what this character was about? Of course they broke the workplace policy; but how do you choose what to do when it comes to your livelihood and love? I, for one, do tend to root for the underdog. Everybody deserves to be happy, even Grissom and Sara. Besides, it's only a TV show, FFS.)
- It's a police procedural drama; it's a crime show based on how forensic evidences gathered and what made case solvable. They shouted that personal relationship has no place in it. (Pure baloney! Just look around, how many fans are still talking about the cases now, or how the cases were figured out in the series? At the end of the day, characters did count. Fans needed to care about the characters in order for them to come back week after week. Besides, how could they explain the existences of those other ships' threads and pages? Talking about being a hypocrite!)
- They hated Sara. (Liking/disliking or loving/hating a character is an individual choice and preference. But in Sara's case, no one can deny there were extra element added to the pot because other 'ships' came into play. Sara was the one captured Grissom's heart. So lo and behold! Catherine/LH/Sofia/Teri's fans all jumped up and down and directed their ire, disappointment and hate towards this fictional character. Besides, weren't they the hypocrites when they wrote about how they wanted Grissom to be paired up with Catherine/LH/Sofia/Teri, etc., etc? We, the fans, are all guilty of talking from both sides of our collective mouth.)
- The writers sold out. They caved in to cater to certain fandom when GSR became canon in S6. (Didn't they read any of the CSI creator, producers, actors' interview? Petersen wanted the new character, Sara, to be Grissom's love interest when they realized a rookie character wasn't received well by the prescreening/testing groups. Sara came on board before Jorja went auditioning for the role.)
- William Petersen was forced to go along with the GSR story arc. (Again, they didn't pay attention to the various interviews Petersen had with various reporters. Petersen was an actor known for daring to go against the grain and bucking the trend. If he didn't believe in GSR, no CSI writers and TPTB could force him to play along. All those nay-sayers need to do is just to watch the CSI Tribute Event held at the Paley Center last year. Petersen said to Jorja Grissom fell for Sara because Sara got Grissom, and he fell for her because she got him. Nothing else is needed to add to it.)
- Jorja is not pretty enough for Grissom. (Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Personally I think Jorja is an unconventional beauty in her own right. She doesn't need the Botox, nip-and-tuck for enhancement. Some fans made fun of her Diastema (Gap Between Teeth) condition. I say give the woman a medal for feeling comfortable to present herself to the world ''as is'. It's good proof for feeing comfortable in her own skin, and her inner strength. She is neither a phony or a fake.)
-Sara is a cold, whiny and depressing character. (Excuse me, were we even watching the same show? She brought so much humanity and empathy to the series. For someone went through a traumatic childhood, for someone came out of the foster care system, I said she was a damn good role model for the kids to know where you came from didn't hinter the dream of where you wanted to be. Attending two Ivy League universities was nothing to be snickered at. Having the best solving rate was nothing to be looked down. What she did in 'Dead Doll' showed a resourceful, strong and resilient character she was.)

All I can say is Sara is the most authentic character among all the CSI --yes, all three of them-- female characters. So, yes. Give me a Sara if I am involved in a case. Let Catherine bend forward to risk the chance of having her breasts popping out of her skimpy top. Let LH deal with the possible health issues brought on by years of corset/high heel boots wearing when the old age comes. Let Sofia stay behind from carrying out her detective duty like chasing the MSK down the fire-escape stairs because she was, dear me, in her customary two-inch high ankle boots. (It's funny I never caught that until a fellow CSI fan pointed it out to me couple of weeks ago.)

GSR did bring forward many a talented writers. How about let's compare what stories have caught our fancy? Let me list out some of stories I fell in love with here:

- Living Dead Girl by kosmickway (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1178592)
- CSI Redux series by Insomnfreak (http://insomnfreak.livejournal.com/13706.html)
-Rollercoaster by VR Trakowski (FanFiction)
-Travel Light - by kerlin (FF) *I always thought if you want to kill GSR, you have to kill one of them. This story proved how wrong I was. IMHO, this is THE best GSR character death story that was ever told. Poor Sara.
-The Holiday Assignment by hazeleyes517 (FF)
-The Diner by KleeNut214 (FF)
-Summerhouse by Vplasgirl (FF)
-Equal and Opposite/The Second Chance/The Lipstick Trick and Treat by Minsmommy (FF)
-The whole collection of CSI fanfiction by KADH (https://kadhmercer.wordpress.com or FF site)
-All stories (minus the 3 LH ones) by SylvieT (FF)
-All stories by SaraPals with past 50 (https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1419661/sarapals-with-past50) *I am following their current story called 'Gil Grissom's Romance Part 2.
-All stories by Kalsan (FF) *Updates and new story are in the works.

So from one GSR fan to another: Happy reading. Happy re-watching.