The Rise & Fall of Catherine The Great

The Catherine Willows – CSI – ramble (spoiler talk alert)

There are just four episodes left for Marg Helgenberger as Catherine Willows on CSI – at least as a full-time regular.

You may think I’d be sad by that thought, but you’d be totally wrong because I’ve actually been hoping for Marg’s departure for a few years now.

Don’t get me wrong – I totally love being able to watch Marg on my tv screen on a regular basis. It’s the show, as a whole, and what they’ve done to her character, individually, that’s drawn the majority of my ire – and the reason I yearn for her departure.

Take a look at a promo pic from an upcoming episode: (pic courtesy of Margamania.net)



It seems that Catherine is being freed after surviving a rough ordeal – and DB’s right there ready to grab her hand and pull her into a hug. That photo looks quite similar to that of DB & Morgan from a few episodes back where Morgan was rescued from the hijacked medivac helicopter.

What does that have to do with anything, you ask?

For me, it just reiterates the fact that in the past handful of years, the writers of this show have totally forgotten who this character is.

Let me refresh your memory on “Catherine the Great”

Catherine the Great is the woman who got battered around by a murder suspect at a crime scene in Season 3’s “A little murder”, yet she shrugged it off, changed her clothes in order to preserve the evidence, and walked right back into that house to continue processing the crime scene.



Catherine the Great is the woman who knew her boss/friend well enough to go to a suspect’s house, draw her gun and kill the suspect, without hesitation, moments before he surely would have killed Grissom. (S1 Strip Strangler)



Catherine the Great is the woman who, after getting a frantic call from her young daughter, was able to track her down and pull her from a sinking car that was filling up with water, before the car went under. She then gets a call confirming that her ex-husband wasn’t as lucky in surviving that same car crash (especially when his failing health was being aided by a gunshot wound). This woman continues to work on solving her case that she had before she got the frantic phone call. Only when the day is done, the cases are all closed, and she’s at home in her bedroom does she give in to her grief – even shielding her crying face from her daughter as she comes in to console her mother. (S3 Lady Heather’s Box)



Catherine the Great is the woman who got in the car with a suspect, and took charge of what appeared to be a ransom demand for the suspect’s mistress, only to find out he was the murderer after all. She stands up to him again after he was caught and applauds his audacity. (S2 The Finger)



Catherine the Great is the woman who was roofied, woke up in motel room with no recollection of how or what happened, performed her own rape kit, then had her car blindsided by a pair of thugs, and her teenage daughter kidnapped. She then refused to have her own medical needs tended to, in order to search for clues to find the suspects. After rescuing her daughter and exchanging weepy hugs (in front of only Warrick & Brass), she goes to confront her father, who is shot & dies in her arms. (S7 Built to Kill)



Catherine the Great is the woman who used a guy’s attraction to her, a guy that they knew (but couldn’t prove) had raped & killed two women, and was able to disprove all of his fake alibis. After telling him about the main evidence that would put him away, she sits stoically in her chair as he lunges towards her when he realizes she’s beaten him. She did all of this while having to put up with Sara’s jealousy over taking “her” case, and eventually even teaches Sara a few things along the way. (S4 After the show)



Catherine the Great is the woman who calmly tends to her boyfiend/lover’s wounds as he’s been shot by nails and nicked an artery – while they’re all stuck in a warehouse that’s wired with bombs. (S11 targets of obsession)


Catherine the Great is also the woman who had everything - from her marriage and pregnancy to her credibility as a CSI – thrown into question when a case from her rookie year came back up for review. She made sure her team was thorough in reviewing the case, and not being biased in her favor. (S9 If I had a hammer)


Catherine the Great is the woman who finally let her temper flare (it’s about time) at Nick for being unwilling to take the blame for his own actions that ended with her being demoted from the supervisor position. (s12 73 seconds)



You get the picture, right? This isn’t a woman who goes down lightly, or cries at the drop of a hat. This is a woman who can stand up and look fear in the face and beat it with her head held high.

Catherine the Great is also not afraid to show her maternal side –
Remember when she had the 6th sense about Sara & Hank at the end of S3 Crash & Burn and the cute scene in the SUV where she asks Sara if she wants to get a beer? Or at the end of season 6 where she’s watching over Brass in the hospital bed. It also seems that her maternal instincts come out the most where Greg’s involved.


Yes, all wonderful memories of Catherine the Great.

The only problem is that it’s been few & very far between in the past handful of seasons (maybe since season 6) that we’ve really seen the presence of CTG. Her 2 ½ seasons as Grave Shift supervisor (seasons 9 ½ through 11) brought us more of the maternal side of Catherine (which was quite lovely), but we also lost most of the street-smart, wisecracking, fun-loving Catherine that we adored in the early seasons. I’m guessing because it was she had too many rebellious teenagers (mainly Ray & Nick) to keep a leash on during that time – and it didn’t go so well.