Alyssa, I must say you are a true genius in your perception and description of GSR moments. Your comments on "Butterflied" and "Blood Drops" are some of the most insightful I've read; I couldn't have put it any better about "Butterflied" in particular myself. It may be hard to believe, but I didn't really like that episode when I first watched it; only after many re-watchings (and readings of people's postings on this topic
) did I learn to appreciate the subtlety and symbolism that make it such a terrific piece of TV filmmaking (and GSR-ness).
As far as the "when-did-you-first-notice-it?" question, I'm pretty darn clueless when it comes to picking up on romantic feelings between TV characters, so it took me a while to pick up on the GSR hints. To further complicate matters, I first experienced CSI by going to my local movie store and renting part of the first season on DVD, but only got through "Unfriendly Skies" before I had to return the DVDs. (I know, I know...I just missed "Sex, Lies, and Larvae.") When I went back, whether it was because the rest of the DVDs through season 3 weren't there or because of my own monumental stupidity, I checked out the first half of season 4. Therefore, my first real lightbulb moment came when I watched the infamous "Pin Me Down" scene. After I heard what Sara said, I thought she meant that they'd already dated and it hadn't worked out, so I made a mental note to check out the second and third seasons as soon as I could. Before I did that, though, I watched "Butterflied," and like I said, I didn't like it, probably because I'd missed out on most of the buildup of the first three seasons. I was also accustomed to more sensational, melodramatic romantic plots on TV shows, so it took me pretty much the whole episode to realize that Debbie wasn't Sara's third-cousin-twice-removed or secret twin sister, just her lookalike, and that Grissom was "just now" beginning to deal with his feelings for Sara. (Seriously, I'm surprised my thought process even got as far as, "Oh, he DOES like her."
) When I watched "Playing with Fire," the first words out of my mouth were, "That's ALL that happened between them?"
Since then, however, I am happy to report that I have watched every CSI episode from the pilot onward and have also learned to appreciate subtlety, rather than being annoyed by it. Which is a good thing, I suppose, since I have also slowly developed into a fan of one of the most subtlely, uniquely developed relationships in TV history. At one time, I was almost an anti-GSR shipper, really -- I shipped Grissom/Catherine and Sara/Nick until the end of season 6 -- but every time I watch and re-watch the subtle glances, the cryptic exchanges, and the barely-there-but-loaded flirtations between Grissom and Sara, I become more convinced that they were perfect for each other from the get-go. They may not have been
ready for each other at the beginning, but they were always
right for each other...and always will be, so there!
Oh, and as long as we're forming facial-hair teams, put me down for "Team Bearded." I generally don't like guys with beards, but William Petersen is one of the few who can pull it off (although he looks great clean-shaven as well.) So there, too.
*ETA: On the baby question, I am firmly on "Team Babies"...with the caveat that it would probably be most effective if said babies did not appear on the show (although a pregnancy announcement near or during the show finale might work if done right). The thought of little tiny entomologists-and-physicists-to-be running around causing mayhem in Grissom and Sara's house is just too cute NOT to happen, IMO.
-- geekprincess