Was "Immortality" a satisfying series finale?

[Mac&Adam Fan]

I think so! What I liked best was the scene between DB and Grissom and the erasure of the ray Langston years. I saw that scene as making it seem danson replaced Peterson directly.

I agree it did seem like that but I wonder if maybe they just didn't want to talk about Ray Langston and would rather forget him.

 

[byline]

But technically, Grissom is also a stranger so he should have been stopped by someone who didn't recognize him like Hodges did to Mac.

I agree. But I think the dramatic intent of that scene was to show how much the crime lab had changed since Grissom worked there. He was wandering around in a building full of strangers ... except for those few still there who recognized him.

 

[sharp52092]

I agree. But I think the dramatic intent of that scene was to show how much the crime lab had changed since Grissom worked there. He was wandering around in a building full of strangers ... except for those few still there who recognized him.

Yeah's kinda what I thought too. That the place looks the same, yet different, because he didn't see many people he knew.

 

[HoratioStalker]

Super disappointed in the last 12 minutes. The story itself was interesting, and held my attention until the meeting at the cabin between the killer and Gil, then the plot took a side turn to incredulous. Gil just "knew" it wasn't a live bomb? Seriously? He yanks the cord at the risk of blowing everyone up if he's wrong? It was a scene that belonged more in the Miami franchise where things were over the top.

As for the very ending, I found myself irritated. Then again, I was never a GSR shipper. It just felt contrived, as both Gil and Sara had moved on in their lives and Sara had gotten a significant promotion, only to leave it all behind to sail the world. What? It also irritated me in that she felt like she wasn't fulfilled without her guy, forget the career. How very 1950s!

They could have stopped at the point where DB is packing up to move to CSI:Cyber and left it all there and it would have meant a much better show.

I do have to wonder what will happen with the resolution of the Gig Harbor Killer storyline, the one plot they have left dangling. Will Seattle catch up to DB now that he's in the cybercrimes division?

 

[jafox]

^^^
If it were the 1950's, Sara wouldn't have even been considered for the job. So, yeah, we've come a long way, baby. Besides, it was a good way to bring Catherine back to Vegas.
Certainly, the world would be a better place if every human, male or female, would choose love and family over a job. I suspect this particular scenario was designed to mirror One To Go, where Grissom left his career to follow her.
And, thankfully, in the end, Sara followed her heart as well.

 

[andrew342678]

Hello all! Just joined the forum to talk some finale. Little background, I started watching in 2000 when I was 10 years old and was instantly hooked. Watched religiously every Thursday until Grissom left in '09, and trailed off after the first couple of Langston episodes(not his fault, I got busy with college and no DVR lol). I got so behind I stopped watching. When Hulu+ released the entire series in January, I started in Season 9 where I remember leaving off, and marathon'd my way through to the end of the series, just finishing this past Tuesday night.
-------

I enjoyed the finale a lot. It was great having Grissom back, and having nice callbacks to the past. Grissom even got to do an experiment!

Thought the story itself was fine, and I'm fine with the storybook ending of GSR riding off into the sunset. Although it would have been more clever to have Grissom rejoin the team with Sara(the new head of the Crime Lab) as HIS boss, ha!

My major gripe with the episode:
- Did anyone else feel like Jim Brass was pretty "meh" in this episode? I mean, the dude already left so abruptly after S14(which pissed me off in itself when he suddenly gets soft about his murderer daughter), but he was hardly in this episode. I was HYPED to see him start the episode off, and it was cool to have him as the head of security at the hotel, but after that it felt like he was just kind of "there."


Additional thoughts:
- I really grew to enjoy D.B. Russell during my marathonning the past few months. While Grissom was THE face of CSI, I think DB did a great job the past 4 years. Would have liked to see him and Grissom work in tangent a little more than we saw. Still think it's kind of cool his character will live on in CSI: Cyber(although who knows how long that show will last).

- That shot of D.B. in the middle of the crime scene and Sara and the CSI's walking around the corner into the scene....epic. Seriously, go watch that part again. Loved it.

- No Hodges/Grissom funny interaction? Just business talk. Odd. However, nothing can ever top their final true interaction in Grissom's last episode. "Watson was a genius in his own right."

- THAT. WHALE. MONOLOGUE. Awesome. Totally Grissom.

All in all, a good send off to a show I grew up watching. It's hard not to remember a time with these characters being a part of my life.

 

[Lynx]

I liked it. Good, exciting episode with a nice ending. It was also nice to see the old favorites again, however I missed Nick.

Just sad that it's all over.

 

[Guest2U]

I finally joined because of the finale--disappointed that it centered around Lady Heather. IMO, her story was over long ago. To have Grissom return because he's an expert on Heather--how disappointing. That Sara and Grissom had to be divorced--how disappointing. That Brass was on for all of 7 minutes--how disappointing! To bring in a character--Lindsey--who had not played a major role in years (she was seen in 15 episodes, 5 the first year) and give her minutes/scenes--now I'm on to WTH!? I guess I thought Zuiker had a better closing story idea than this one. But its over--and poor Sara and Grissom will probably drown in that small boat!

 

[Happy Grissom]

I finally joined because of the finale--disappointed that it centered around Lady Heather. IMO, her story was over long ago. To have Grissom return because he's an expert on Heather--how disappointing. That Sara and Grissom had to be divorced--how disappointing. That Brass was on for all of 7 minutes--how disappointing! To bring in a character--Lindsey--who had not played a major role in years (she was seen in 15 episodes, 5 the first year) and give her minutes/scenes--now I'm on to WTH!? I guess I thought Zuiker had a better closing story idea than this one. But its over--and poor Sara and Grissom will probably drown in that small boat!

Excellent points regarding the series finale. I'd like to throw my two-cent into the ring as well:

Grisssom and Sara: Grissom had to come back because he was Mr. CSI. Will always be. GSR was one of the most unique, unconventional and against-the-Hollywood-grain parings I've ever seen. I was extremely happy that CSI/Zuiker stayed true with this story arc. This was about the only one got proper closure in every sense. For fans still quick on the draw trying to put this Sara down, they really need to move on. CSI/Zuiker/Jorja actually pretty much stayed true with this character, too. Back in 2006 when TV Guide was interviewing Jorja about the choice Sara would make --- love or her career, Jorja replied: "“Sara, by virtue of being a realist, is also very much a romantic. So I think if she really was in love with someone, and it came down to a choice between work and love, I think she’d go in the direction of love.”
I was glad to see these two could find their way back to each other, and have home in each other. After all, the break-up in FMN was just lazy writing and lack of creativity. (I still don't know why it's so hard to keep a long distance marriage intact while keeping Grissom off screen.)

Lady Heather: CSI shouldn't have made her go mainstream in the first; but she did. Now in the finale we were to get ourselves re-acquainted with LH again. Why Grissom went out of his way ---wasting so much precious screen minutes to sanitize her? (Would it be far-fetched to speculate that there might be a series character spin-off called Lady Heather's Dominion on cable?) A Dr. Kessler would be too smart to engage in any sexual activities with any of her patients; a Lady Heather might not have sex with her clients in the Red Room, but we will never know if this character would take the act somewhere else. For Heather's fragile state of mind sake, I sure hope she's not in love with Grissom or still in hope of having this man for herself. Can you imagine how sad and humiliating to sit across the table from Grissom and listen him droning on and on about what Sara meant to him? She would be dying a thousand deaths to realize Grissom would rather be alone and lonely than looking for comfort in her company. All these being said, there was absolutely no sense in killing her granddaughter, Alison, off.

All the former lab rats and Nick: I was very disappointed in not having them in flashback montage fashion. Guess Warrick, Vartann, Moreno, Sofia Curtis, Judy and even the news anchor woman deserve a brief tribute no matter how briefly it was to be.

The Willows: Well, what can we say about our dear ol' gal, Catherine? It made sense for her to be back to town. Her leaving for the East Coast felt contrived in 2012. After all, we didn't see Catherine willows work for FBI, but she found her reincarnation in Lillian Strand! Catherine could have stayed in Vegas and more engaged in running whatever left by Sam. It'd also leave the door open for her to come back and do the guest appearance on CSI. (BTW, now she's back to town, will Vartann take her back? I am extremely worried whom she may hook up with next!) As for Lindsey, if she didn't show up in 'Willows In The Winds", why CSI would have her in 'Immortality'? Her screen time and lines could have been better assigned to either Greg, Morgan or Hodges.

Greg, Morgan, Hodges, and Henry: So glad these little group got in at least. But they were all short changed in the series finale. All deserved to have better treatment and more screen time. Yeah, too much Lady Heather and not enough CSI regulars.

Doc and Super Dave: I sure will miss this quiet duo like hell. Both had this indescribable quiet presence and made morgue less morgue like.

Brass: It was great to have him back for the curtain call especially taking how he was cut loose back in Season 14. I was hoping for some Brass/LH scenes but none happened. Very disappointing there. I'd love to see him back with Capt. Anne Kramer of LAPD. Didn't happen, either.

Ecklie: Sorry to the Ecklie's fans; back in the summertime, I really thought it was Ecklie's death would have warranted Grissom, Brass and Catherine's return. Now I will never know if Ecklie will chase after Sofia Curtis! What a bummer.

Russell and Finley: Glad to know Russell will move over to Cyber. We all know Cyber needs all the help it can get. If it remains as is, then, it's time to say bye-bye to this one. Probably I missed it or something, did Russell mention that now he's divorced? It's one of WTHs for me. Nevertheless, it was a touching and moving moment when he said that wherever he goes, she will go too.

I so wish CBS would have given CSI an abbreviated 13-episode final season to wrap things up; or even a six-hour mini-series treatment. Alas. All we got was a two-hour movie with loads of commercials. It did feel crowded and rushed, but we can't be choosy, can we? CBS was firmly in control and guess I should be happy to know finally, finally Grissom has found his happiness in the woman he truly loves. (I loved his reference to Sara helping him with his crossword puzzles.) It was great to learn also that Sara restores Grissom's faith in the human being.

Now all Grissom needs to do is to find a better boat for himself and Sara if he wants to stray far away from the shoreline.

 

[Happy Grissom]

I voted that it was okay.

Despite all the Grissom and Sara scenes, I didn't see it as a happy ending for them. I'd appreciate it more if they went their separate ways. Tried but failed, that would be fine. But sailing off into the sunset after a divorce, I'll never understand that one. Separated would be one thing, but divorced and Sara abandoning the director's position to -maybe- sail around the world with the ex, come on. It makes a cute scene for 2 minutes, but the story was too damaged to be repaired by this.............. Anyway, I suppose they did what they could with what they had.

I think the biggest problem Zuiker had was the time constraints. There were many loose ends to be taken care of. He couldn't do them all. A lot had to be left to viewers' imagination, and that's where the problem could rise.

I have no problem to say I am a GSR fan; but I also have no problem to say I am not happy how it was dealt with in the series finale; however, I do understand the root of problem went back to that dreadful FMN episode in Season 13. The inept writing crew then simply didn't have what would take to make a long distance marriage work while keeping Grissom/Petersen off screen.

The writer, Andrew Dettamann, came up with Grissom sent Sara adrift over the phone! I mean, really. How in hell he could hope fans wouldn't be furious for making Grissom the fall guy? After the previous writers tried hard to build GSR up over the seasons, Dettamann single handedly tore it apart in such ugly fashion. That wasn't the Grissom I have come to know.

I don't agree the talks that GSR got the happy ending because its fans were the loudest. We have to go back even before the airing of the Pilot episode. CSI folks were quick to act when they realized Holly Gibbs didn't resonate with the testing and previewing groups. They told CSI folks they'd prefer to have a strong and seasoned female character to replace a rookie. I am not privy in their decision making process; from what I could gather, Petersen wanted Sara to be Grissom's love interest before the casting calls were sent out, and before Jorja Fox was chosen to play Sara. I liked how the show treated GSR back then. It was subtle, unconventional, and the writers treated Grissom/Sara non-relationship with great care and sensitivity. Neither Grissom nor Sara was typical Hollywood TV character. I, for one, am very grateful CSI gave us these two awkward science nerds. Kudos should go to Petersen and Fox. Grissom was a deeply flawed man while Sara was far, far from being an ideal woman. The age gap, the positions they held at the workplace, and their personal issues, etc., etc. all made them intriguing and interesting. GSR was one hell of pairing. It was never in-your-face type, it's quite the opposite to what Catherine would get herself into through out the series run. So it was understandable Petersen would want to fix GSR when he was brought back for the finale movie project.

Zuiker made a mistake for letting Grissom reverted back to his old self. The tongue-tied and not-sure-what-to-say and not-wanting-to-say-because-can't-take-the-risk-of-saying-something-wrong bloke from the early season. Yes. He and Sara were divorced (thanks to the later crop of inept writers). But we all know the love between these two was there. Loving each other was never the problem. Zuiker could have ''rehabilitated" Grissom first. Let him have a face-to-face talk with Sara, to clear the air by righting the wrong brought on in FMN. Instead, the finale was centered Lady Heather's case, all other characters suffered. Too much Lady Heather, and it did make it feel like a Grissom/Sara/Lady Heather story.

Talking about Lady Heather, I also don't like how she was portrayed by Zuiker. Zuiker grossly mistreated both Sara and LH in the interrogation room scene. He made Sara bitter and LH cold and calculating. Grissom's little speech with LH was just a pale imitation to what he did in Butterflied. Very disappointing.

Back in the summertime, I was thinking Ecklie's death would be the 'pivotal death' they were talking about since Finn's demise was pretty much a forgone conclusion; back then I was also thinking the bombings might be carried out by the anti-government militia group(s), terrorists or some drug-smuggling cartels. These would be the scenarios warranting the return of Grissom, Brass and Catherine. Alas, all we got was a disgruntled client of LH's Red Room!

Lots fans said they didn't care about the characters stories, they were only interested in cases and how they were solved. I don't agree. To me it's always the human elements keep me coming back to watch a show. I'd love to find out why a certain character would react a certain way towards a certain situation. This, too, was what went wrong with the show in later seasons. There was no continuity in characters growth and development.

Could the finale be better? Yes. Should the finale be better? Yes. Was I disappointed with the plotlines? Yes. Was the script having too many holes? Yes. But we really don't have any say since CBS had all the cards and my purse is empty.

 

[Criminalist]

I liked the episode up until the ending.
I think they should have ended the episode with Sara taking the job as Lab Director, and Grissom getting
on to his boat a sailing off. It didn't make sense to me that after being divorced for so many years, that
they would go off together like that.

 

[Happy Grissom]

I liked the episode up until the ending.
I think they should have ended the episode with Sara taking the job as Lab Director, and Grissom getting
on to his boat a sailing off. It didn't make sense to me that after being divorced for so many years, that
they would go off together like that.

Hi, there. I am not an articulate person, but I'll try to answer your query a bit here.

As a CSI fan, I want closure. There's no deny about it. Of all the arcs CSI had, GSR got it while many others didn't. It was disappointing not to see Sofia Curtis. It was disappointing not to know if Brass would have Anne Kramer with him in his retirement. It was disappointing not to know what happened to 'Sqweegel'. But like what stated in my previous posting, Zuiker didn't have enough time to tie up ALL the loose ends. And he had a two-hour movie to make in order to bring an end to a series. Like it or not, GSR was an important subplot of the series from the get go. It was subtle, not flashy, and definitely not showy. Lots of people don't get it. Because they were hung up with the notion that only the leading woman should get the leading man. CSI dared to be different. Petersen made it very clear that he wanted Sara to be Grissom's love interest back then. He made it clear at the Paley Center event held on Sept.16th by telling Jorja - and the fans in large - that Grissom fell for Sara because Sara got Grissom.

Sara Got Grissom was the key to understand GSR. She let him be. We all know Grissom was a hard man to love. He was not perfect. But Sara loved him for what he was. Or I should say in spite of what he was. The same can be said about how Grissom looked Sara. We also know Sara was not perfect. But Grissom could understand and see Sara for what she was. And appreciated what he saw. Two socially inept, awkward science nerds had the good fortune meeting up and falling in love. It's unconventional. Both were unconventional characters.

You couldn't let go the 'divorce' part, so let's look at it here. Well, to put in a nutshell, the FMN scriptwriter mucked it up. After Petersen's departure, he steadily refused to do guest appearances while CSI folks asked Jorja to rejoin the cast in S10 and as one of the regulars in S11 . I don't think the writing crop they had then was equipped to handle a long-distance marriage, and the bigger problem was they had no idea about the GSR history. When Grissom fans kept on asking for his return, the best CSI could get out of Petersen was the ending scene in TWMG. But fans wanted more. (Can you blame them? After all, Grissom did promise his mother and Sara that he'd be back and take them to lunch when he returned.) So what did the show folks do? They came up with the idea to have Grissom cut Sara off, via phone! Personally I think it was unforgivable. The Grissom I know would never have done this to Sara. The writer, Andrew Dettamann, not only took knife to GSR but also demolished Grissom's character in the same breath.

Their love for each other was never the problem. So, dealing with what scriptwriter gave us, I think it's fair to say they were divorced because of their communication break-down, the physical distance, and their weird sense of wanting the best for each other so he did what he did because he 'thought' it's what she wanted. If you want to know how Sara looked at the love she shared with Grissom, just go back and re-watch the 'Girls Gone Wilder' episode in S15.

Petersen and Zuiker were two of the biggest GSR fans you can find anywhere. (Sorry to burst your bubble since it looks like your are a Catherine fan.) Now given the chance to bring the series to an end, both wanted to set GSR straight as the way it should be. Alas. It came back to the time constrain matter again. there was simply not enough time to spell out everything for the fans. A lot of scenes were left off screen and for the fans to fill in the blanks. I think that's why you would say it didn't make sense to you that after being divorced for so many years, that they would go off together like that.

Well, let's get technical here now. We have no choice but to deal with the hands the inept scriptwriter gave us. They were divorced in S13, so you can't really say it's been so many years since they were divorced. Don't forget the Executive Producer, Don McGill, after the airing of FMN, came out to tell the fans that they were not divorced, they were only taking a break. So, it's possible they were only divorced for a year. But it's neither here or there. (But consequently they made Sara tell Nick that Grissom was not her husband any more.) So, my deal CSI fellow fan, can you see what was the problem everybody having? How about lack of creativity? How about lazy writing? How about ignoring the character integrity? How about lack of knowledge about the character history? How about ignoring the character continuity?

Then we have to look at the series finale plotline. Here's another part of the problem we had, too. Why bringing Lady Heather back and made her the center of the finale? I don't think she should be brought back at all, let alone to have the whole case built around her. But, hey. Jerry Bruckheimer wanted her. So Zuiker had to have her included. Not sure if I am allowed to post a link here, but go ahead read it and it should give you a better idea how Zuiker went about writing the series finale: (http://deadline.com/2015/09/csi-ser...ene-future-creator-anthony-zuiker-1201553754/) It was unfortunate that Lady Heather ate up so much screen time and lines, and everybody else was shortchanged. It would have been nice to let Grissom tell Sara to her face why he acted like an arse in FMN; a heart to heart talk would have cleared a lot of questions, right?

As for Sara walking away from the top post at the lab, actually I wasn't surprised at all. Here is the reason why: back in 2006 Jorja and Petersen did a joint interview with TV Guide, I believe the reporter asked Jorja if they were forced to choose their jobs or love, what would be Sara's choice. Jorja said Sara "....by virtue of being a realist, is also very much a romantic. So I think if she really was in love with someone, and it came down to a choice between work and love, I think she’d go in the direction of love.” That, my fellow CSI fan, is one fine example showing how a performer could and would read and understand the role she's assigned to play. (A fine example for character continuity, too. That's why I think what Dettamann did to Grissom was unforgivable.)

Don't you love Grissom's lonely whale song scene? Also, his little confession scene with Lady Heather should tell all of us his truly feeling about Sara. If he couldn't have her back, he'd rather be alone and lonely and 'miss her for the rest of my life' than with someone else. I both liked and disliked this scene. I liked it because Grissom came clean with his love for the only one he ever loved; I disliked this scene, because it's not fair to this Lady Heather character. I know Grissom shared a strong and solid friendship with her, just like the one he had with Catherine. But LH was a bit more than just a friend. I believe he had a one-night stand with her in LHB. Their encounter in LOAR was ambiguous. She did come off as if she were offering herself to him. I can't tell if she loved Grissom, or if she wanted Grissom. Either way, it's rather cruel and humiliating for her to sit there listening to Grissom confessing the love he had for another woman. Lady Heather shouldn't come back imho; but since she did come back, I think she deserved better treatment than this.

 

[CSI_Forever]

Overall I enjoyed the episode if only for the sake of nostalgia. Satisfying enough for me, and there is always fan fic if I want to fill in the gaps. With only a two hour finale (and commercials) they could only do so much.

Likes:

- Sara's sassy lines to Grissom about cell phone service and putting on game faces
- Grissom visualizing the bomb components in the layout room
- Gil/Cath interactions...the hug, the "where did that girl come from, anyways" convo
- Hodges wedging himself between Sara and Grissom in the lab. Classic awkwardness!
- Gil's face when he says "Who's DB??" to Sara. I'm sure that was a Billy ad-lib to mimic how some of the older viewers feel if they haven't been tuning in lately.
- Shippers got their literal ship at the end. It was a little cheeky but I'm not going to complain about it basically being GSR: The Movie because honestly after 15 years that's what a majority of loyal fans wanted and it was a love letter/going away present to them.

Dislikes:

- The science got a little sketchy and they made some major stretches with the evidence to move things along. Oh, a generic piece of metal with LHK on it??? And mind control flowers? Sure, okay.
- No mention of Nick. Would have been cool and believable if he got a shout-out when Grissom was in town with his boat. No mention of Warrick, either. In Nick's last ep we got a music montage flashback of his moments over the years. Would've been nice to get one of those again for the finale but it would have been an awkward transition with the GSR sailing scene.
- Brass gets blown up and then we never see him again. I realize a hospital scene would have been a time-suck...so in my mind, he's all healed up, livin life at his cushy casino job where the bar gives him free drinks after shift and he gets four weeks of vacay to go to Fiji. With Annie.
- And finally, they never explained where is Hank Grissom??? I know he is but a dog and a minor character, but who's been taking care of him?

 

[sharp52092]

Overall I enjoyed the episode if only for the sake of nostalgia. Satisfying enough for me, and there is always fan fic if I want to fill in the gaps. With only a two hour finale (and commercials) they could only do so much.

Likes:

- Sara's sassy lines to Grissom about cell phone service and putting on game faces
- Grissom visualizing the bomb components in the layout room
- Gil/Cath interactions...the hug, the "where did that girl come from, anyways" convo
- Hodges wedging himself between Sara and Grissom in the lab. Classic awkwardness!
- Gil's face when he says "Who's DB??" to Sara. I'm sure that was a Billy ad-lib to mimic how some of the older viewers feel if they haven't been tuning in lately.
- Shippers got their literal ship at the end. It was a little cheeky but I'm not going to complain about it basically being GSR: The Movie because honestly after 15 years that's what a majority of loyal fans wanted and it was a love letter/going away present to them.

Dislikes:

- The science got a little sketchy and they made some major stretches with the evidence to move things along. Oh, a generic piece of metal with LHK on it??? And mind control flowers? Sure, okay.
- No mention of Nick. Would have been cool and believable if he got a shout-out when Grissom was in town with his boat. No mention of Warrick, either. In Nick's last ep we got a music montage flashback of his moments over the years. Would've been nice to get one of those again for the finale but it would have been an awkward transition with the GSR sailing scene.
- Brass gets blown up and then we never see him again. I realize a hospital scene would have been a time-suck...so in my mind, he's all healed up, livin life at his cushy casino job where the bar gives him free drinks after shift and he gets four weeks of vacay to go to Fiji. With Annie.
- And finally, they never explained where is Hank Grissom??? I know he is but a dog and a minor character, but who's been taking care of him?

Hank was portrayed by William Petersen's real life dog, Bruno, and I think he passed away a few years ago.

 

[CSI_Forever]

Hank was portrayed by William Petersen's real life dog, Bruno, and I think he passed away a few years ago.

Thanks for the info! I figured as much. In my mind, Hank is enjoying his time on the Ishmael.