Re: The Great Ship Debate
really enjoyed reading your post, even though I have a slightly different perspective.
I am a GSR shipper, but I agree that Sara's character could be fairly pathetic at times when it came to Grissom (seasons 2-4). Sara is my absolute favorite character, I think mostly because she seems very real to me. I rooted for her, and it was painful to watch her make a spectacle of herself at times when it came to Grissom. I kept wishing the writers would let her have a "Grissom isn't the sole source of my happiness" moment so that she could reclaim some of the independence she had in earlier seasons. (We do get to see this happen in season 5 when she is most often paired with Greg).
I think I allow a certain amount of leeway when it comes to Grissom, just because he is such an introverted and socially unaware guy. I don't think his intention was ever to hurt Sara, but protect himself. He is an idiot, and acted like a jerk, but its not like he was trying to toy with her - at least consciously.
My take on it is that even the strongest women can falter and let something (or someone) interefere with their happiness. I guess you could also make a case for her being "strong" (or at least strong-willed) in that she didn't give up on what she wanted - she really pushed the issue
(sometimes to a painful point).
I think she felt jilted by her friend (possible prior lover, if you ask CM). She came to Vegas because he asked her to. She uprooted her entire life to help him out. And then he gave her the cold shoulder, and here she is in Vegas with few friends, a job that occupies all of her time, and a former good friend/boss who doesn't want to be in a room with her. If this were me I'd be depressed.
I will admit that I wish the storyline portrayed Sara's "dark period" as something more than feeling slighted by Grissom. I think that may be the cause for Nesting Dolls, as the episode by itself sucked but served to give an alternate reason why Sara was so sad and angry all the time.
I also think the conversation in 'Snakes' between G and S showed that Sara was done having their non-relationship affect her so much. She basically laid everything on the table and said "This is how I feel, I guess you don't feel that same way, and that's OK. Bye." This scene really made me think that independent Sara was back and, even though she still had feelings for him, she wasn't going to allow it to affect her negatively. I think at this point she was now ready to be in a relationship with him, because she was putting herself first and getting over her depression over their non-relationship.
I like this pairing because we get to explore different aspects of Grissom and Sara's character. Think about it - everything we see about Grissom (for the most part) is about him knowing everything, understanding everything, and mastering everything. He is social dud. It is not an area that he exceeds in, and this relationship allows us to witness emotional growth on his part.
And, Sara deserves happiness. I think Grissom has been in love with her for some time, and now that he is allowing himself to show it, the relationship has become much more healthy. She is stronger now than in season one, because she learned that she can't allow herself to gauge her self worth based on the affections of another. She loves Grissom, but if he were to leave her tomorrow she could pull through it much better than the Sara in season 1. She values herself as a person much more now.
I guess my concern now is that TPTB don't allow Sara to take any of his bulls***, and show that she has learned that she shouldn't compromise herself if someone isn't going to meet her halfway. She forgave him for a lot of things - sometimes you can't keep forgiving if it repeatedly hurts you.
That's my two cents!
