Considering how apprehensive I was about this episode and what they had in store for Gil/Sara by bringing in her ex, it turns out to have been much ado about nothing. There was nothing in the scenes between Sara and Doug that had me worried that she might cheat on Gil. I thought they had a nice friendly rapport but I certainly didn’t see any sexual tension between them. When Sara and Doug were reenacting the scene in the plane where they were holding on to each other, all that I could think of, was the Gil/Sara ‘Pin me down’ episode. Now, that was chemistry and sexual tension. Sara and Doug - no comparison. It frankly reminded me more of a Sara and Nick/Greg scene. A couple of old friends catching up and sharing a few nice memories.
I actually felt the Sara/Doug scenes were way too contrived. It was bizarre having both Hodges and Finn make comments to Sara about her and Doug’s past. Maybe I missed it but I don’t recall one single moment in the episode where Sara or Doug actually outright said that they’d had a relationship.
Another thing that I completely missed was at which point Sara suddenly became dissatisfied with her long distance marriage. In the 3 ½ years Sara has been back in LV I don’t remember one instance where she indicated that she wasn’t happy. Even the phone call she made to Gil at the beginning of the episode didn’t hint at any trouble, yet by the end of the hour she was miserable and questioning her marriage? I’m just not buying this sudden Sara and Gil in trouble plot. Again, the writers have failed to shed any light on the state of their marriage. We still don’t know where Gil is, we still don’t know why Sara stayed on in Vegas after she was initially just helping out until their grant came through. Why is there not one writer on this show who can come up with a plausible back story for these two? It’s getting to be beyond tiresome.
If introducing Doug was an attempt by TPTB to gage how accepting viewers would be of a Sara/Grissom break up then I think the abysmal ratings may make them rethink that idea. I would not be surprised if the drastic drop in ratings is because a lot of Grissom fans stayed away. Warning to TPTB, do not underestimate the enduring popularity of Grissom and the loyalty of his fans. I expect this is the first and last time we will see Doug in Vegas. Back to the drawing board, guys!