Re: Grissom & Sara #30: Pin Me Down...But Not With a Mustan
Adz!
Gina! My Loves!
Disagreements are welcome,
Adz, firstly. That's what I love about discussion! We're all allowed to have our own opinions!
As for Gil reacting to Sara's death, I'm definitely with you,
Adz in that I do not want to see him sobbing uncontrollably while Catherine tries to hold him back from Sara's limp body.
I would really love to see him silently crying. There could even be a brilliant shot with him sitting there, tears pouring down his face, but trying to maintain his cool, and behind him the team watches, knowing they can't say anything, knowing that they're powerless.
I definitely don't want to see Grissom lying prostrate screaming "WHY!?" into the sky. But, I do want to see him feel the loss of the love of his life.
See, I don't mind setting up Sara dying for Gil to exit the show because I really hope this is the last season. I know that everyone else would love the show to go on and on as long as possible, but I'm starting to worry that topping season 7 is going to be incredibly difficult, and I wouldn't mind GSR going out with a bang.
Please, hear me out, but feel free to lay claim to a different opinion. See, I want a great story-arc for GSR rather than a drawn-out, incomplete one. On "Star Trek: Voyager," though everyone got home, Neelix had the best overall arc. We watched him come on the ship as a manipulative creature, tricking the crew into saving his two-year-old girlfriend. We watched him lose Kes. We watched him come face to face with Jetrel, the monster who carried out genocide on his people. We watched Neelix grow into a mentor, friend, and teacher... and when Voyager was starting to not need him as much, he found a home in a colony of his own kind who were struggling and in need of someone with a vision. That's the kind of story-arc I want for GSR. I want it to be something that shows depth and development and growth, and that carries a sense of permanence.
I do believe that can be achieved through Sara's death if done right, though I would rather see a complete season of Gil and Sara's relationship in the open, and watching how that changes things, as well. But, in the end, I want to feel for GSR what I just felt typing out Neelix's arc.
I mean, Neelix was my least favourite character on the show, but his legacy and his story-arc is so monumental, so well though-out, and just so incredibly beautiful that I'm unable to turn away. I want that for GSR.
I did not like Sara first season, but she grew to become my favourite character. She has had an amazing arc, thus far. We watched her come in as this exuberant youth, filled with wonder and an almost unreasonable drive to please and to accomplish great things.
We watched her sit awake for hours, pouring through missing reports, digging deeper into the rabit hole in the quest to give one poor woman her identity back. It was beautiful and poetic, but terribly draining on our dear Sara. We saw her grew powerful enough to tell Gil Grissom to his face that she wanted to be with him, and she didn't fall apart when he told her he was absolutely clueless.
We saw her grow into a woman who cared more about her friends than the job, and who finally began to let go of her past as she reached out to the man sitting across from her. (And I'll get to Gil's side of that equation in a moment).
We saw Sara move from being a student, to an equal with Gil. We saw them become friends and eventually transition into lovers. We saw her filled with glee and joy, and we saw her struggle when he tainted her perfect dream... And we saw her loving him, trying to understand him, but also carrying out her work.
She's grown so much... and as she's been growing, Gil has risen up to meet her.
When she first came, he was fun and crazy, but he didn't want that type of attachment. Then, as his ache grew inside of him, he turned away, other problems crept up, such as his hearing issues. He focused on that, turned away from Sara's offer, and got lost in his own little world.
Then, in one moment, he stepped up and things changed. When he showed up at her door in "Nesting Dolls" he was taking a stand, not only for Sara, but for their relationship. He wanted an answer, and not for professional reasons. He wanted to know about Sara. He wanted to understand, and for the first time, when she gave him and out, he didn't take it. He pressed forward, and when the time came, he closed the distance between them.
That's part of what is so gorgeous about that moment when he reaches across to grasp her hand... It's Gil closing the distance. It's always been Sara in the past. She came from San Fransisco. She tried to reach out. She tried to make the advances and to follow him around the lab. In this moment, when she needs someone, he reaches out to her and closes the distance, and whether or not they got together soon after that, it was a turning point in their relationship and his life.
He was stepping up to the plate, and as they grew into lovers, he became more obsessed with her than with the lab. Instead of picking apart bodies and sorting and sifting through evidence, he wanted to explore her and to be with her, and to love her. He never said it outright to her that we saw, but he loves her, and we know it.
Now, he's no longer work-obsessed, but solely focused on retrieving his love. The final scene in "Living Doll" showed us that. He shaked the crap out of that girl like a rag doll. He was focused only on getting his woman back, only on finding Sara. I haven't seen him that venomous since Paul Milander got away... It's this anger that wells up inside of him...
So, with all that, with all they've built to, I think they need an epic end, and I'm not closed off to that end resulting in her death and his silent tears.
However, if they get to live happily ever after, I'd love that, too. I think that's more challenging, though, and I can only hope that TPTB can rise to the occassion.
And... no more writing for me....
