CSI 12x12 Willows in the wind

Catherine's D-day has arrived.

That would be Catherine's "departure" day. After gracing our tv screens for 11 1/2 seasons, the sexy, sassy, strong, and sultry investigator has given up her vest, gun and Las Vegas Crime Lab ID badge on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" in favor of better & brighter opportunities - namely the FBI. Of course, she didn't leave without major life & death drama, tears and hugs.

So, here's how it all went down.


We left off at the end of “Ms Willows Regrets” with Catherine being ambushed at her house, evading the assassins, hopping into DB’s Denali as he was driving to her house, getting herself shot in the process, and them speeding away from the bullet barrage.

12x12 "Willows in the wind"

** Nick is going through the lab searching for any sign of Cath or DB. Neither are in their offices. He calls DB’s phone, but gets the voicemail. He leaves a message that he found a money trail from Mark Gabriel’s company to his ‘hit’ squad. Sara comes walking by
N: Hey Sara, you seen Catherine?
S: no. you probably won’t for a few days.
N: what do you mean?
S: You haven’t heard?
N: heard what?
S: Laura Gabriel was murdered in FBI custody
N: well how’d that happen?
S: one of Mark Gabriel’s hit squad infiltrated the protection detail, McQuaid & three other agents were killed. Catherine went off on Agent Pratt at the crime scene & Russell sent her home to cool off.

I can’t help but chuckle at that last comment. Does that make anyone else think back to Cath & Sara in “Nesting Dolls”? However, that time it was Sara going off on Catherine in the crime lab and Ecklie sending Sara home. It’s also funny to see this time that it’s Nick who’s out of the gossip loop. Usually, it’s Sara who gets left out.



** Nick asks Sara where DB is & she tells him he was at a call out at a downtown motel & she saw him high-tail it out of the lab. Nick gets a phone call about a ‘shots fired’ call.
S: what now?
N: got a 434 “Shots Fired” at the corner of Jupiter & Fairway 20 minutes ago.
S: southern Highlands? That’s Catherine’s neighborhood. I-I got a bad feeling about this.

Awww nice to know that Sara immediately recognizes that as Catherine’s neighborhood, yet it didn’t seem to ring a bell for Nick right away. Hey, give me a break – my Cath/Sara shipper heart is on its last legs, I’ll take all the shippiness that I can get in this final episode. (although, Cath’s leaving does re-ignite my Cath/Gil PureJoy ship a bit. Maybe I can turn it into a Cath/Gil/Sara ship – without the icky GSR somehow)



** Nick & Sara arrive at Catherine’s house. Officer Akers is already there as he was sent by Nick.
A: hey, why’d you guys call me over to Catherine’s house? The 434 is five blocks that way.
N: we’ve been trying to reach her, she’s MIA.
Sara finds a shell casing on the ground
S: Nick (she picks it up & looks closely at it) 5.7
N: That’s the same caliber Gabriel’s guys use.
S: what do you want to bet somebody called in the wrong address and bought themselves some time?

I love how Sara seems to be the one ahead of the others in thinking the right scenarios.



** Sara & Nick enter Catherine’s house. Sara notices that the doorknob has been wiped clean of fingerprints. We see Catherine’s house all neat & clean with no sign of any shooting that went on a short time ago. Sara does, however, notice the bullet hole that went through the pic of Catherine & Lindsey that was on the shelf – the one that was hit by the first bullet that was shot at Catherine. It seems they were able to fix the frame of the picture, but not the picture itself. Sara also sees that the wall of the bookcase was repaired too. Nick gets out the box for Cath’s backup gun. It’s empty.
N: Catherine’s backup gun is gone.
S: well, that’s good, right? I mean, that means that she had time to get it, right?
N: that she needs it, is bad.

Okay, I may need to back up on Sara being one step ahead. LOL And I’d really love to have that clean-up squad at my house someday. I mean, heck, in that short time they even replaced her broken glass walls. Sheesh.





** Nick gets a call that they found DB’s SUV abandoned near the 215, which is just a couple blocks from the call out at the motel he was to be at. Apparently the SUV is “all shot to hell”. Brass & Greg are there at the scene when Nick & Sara arrive. Greg gives them the bad news.
G: it doesn’t look good. There’s blood in the back seat, a lot of it.
B: Dispatch couldn’t get Russell on his cell phone. The walkie’s still in the car.
G: blood trail heads off that way (he shines his light)
N: well, we found a 5.7 shell casing outside of Catherine’s house. We also smelled ethanol inside. Evidence points to a shootout, but the place was all cleaned up.
S: it’s got Gabriel’s hit squad all over it.
B: there’s no Catherine. Russell’s unreachable. There’s blood in the back seat & none in front. … maybe Catherine was wounded. Russell was coming to her aid. But why didn’t they call it in?
S: on the run, guys shooting at them, maybe they didn’t have time.
N: maybe they didn’t think it was safe to use their cell phones. If this is Gabriel’s black-ops boys, they have all kinds of toys to hack our communications, listen in.
Nick dials his phone.
B: who you calling?
A cell phone beeps from the grass. Sara tracks it & finds Catherine’s phone.
S: it’s Catherine’s cell. They ditched their phones.
They hear another beep from the grass. Nick finds it
N: it’s Russell’s cell phone. Oh man, it’s his wife calling.
B: I’ll take that. This is your crime scene, but this is my call. … (answers the phone) Mrs Russell… this is Jim Brass.

Awww nice to see Brass step up. This is the wonderful Brass of old. I like how he was now the one to move ahead into the “one step ahead” club. Or at least the “on the right track” club. LOL Sara’s face, when she sees all of the blood on the seat, is kind of heartbreaking. Greg looked totally heartbroken too. This scene kind of felt like Uncle Jim Bear was watching over the young bear cubs while the news about Mama & Papa Bear kept getting more grim by the moment.



** Nick is on the phone asking for a tow truck to come & pick up DB’s ambushed Denali and take it to the lab. Then he gets a call from Morgan. He tells her to reroute over to Catherine’s house & Greg is already on his way there. Both Hodges & Henry are processing the Denali at the scene. He asks Hodges to wait for the tow truck to get there. Then turns to Henry, who’s quietly processing.
N: Henry, I’m gonna need you to run that blood against Catherine & Russell, okay?
Henry looks down & doesn’t respond.
N: hey, Henry. You with me?
H: yeah, I just can’t help but think…
N: well, don’t think. Man, just do it. Okay?

Awww poor Henry. I want to give him a big hug. It’s great to see both Hodges & Henry out at a crime scene. It’s definitely all hands on deck. Now if we’d only get a Xiomara sighting.


** Sara comes up to Nick after his talk with Henry
S: Hey, did Catherine say anything to you about quitting?
N: no, why?
S: (looking at DB’s phone) she sent a resignation email to Russell.
N: well if she was going to leave, she would have told us first. Right?
S: nothing’s making sense right now.
Sara walks away & Brass comes up to Nick
B: okay, I’m sticking with the plan. Radio silence. If someone’s listening in, they won’t be hearing us. Now all communication will be face to face. The sheriff has agreed to wait an hour before she calls the Feds.
N: that buys us some time. That’s good.

Ah, yes. Catherine’s resignation. I love how Sara’s all flustered now. A short time ago it seemed she had all the pieces going into place. Now it’s all scrambled. Poor Sara. Brass’ plan of no ‘electronic’ communication kind of has me chuckling as well. It reminds me just exactly how much we rely on our electronics these days.


** Doc Robbins calls Nick from the motel crime scene to ask why DB isn’t at the scene like he should be. Nick says he’s got a situation and tells Doc he’ll see if he can get Day Shift to help

Oh, the ever-elusive Day Shift. It’s been 11 ½ seasons and the only signs of Day Shift personnel was Ecklie in the very early seasons, and Sofia briefly in season 5 “formalities”, before she was demoted to Grave. It’s also funny how we never hear about Swing Shift any more, yet when Cath, Nick & Warrick were on it, we saw lots of cooperation & interaction between the two shifts. At least they could put a randomly occurring person to come in every now & then to let us know that the Day Shift really exists.

Okay, that was a random rant. Sorry. Back to the show.




** Officer Mitchell is with Doc at the motel crime scene. Doc gets a text from “unknown” with the message “D.B. Room 12”. He questions Mitch.
D: I thought you said this was the only DB here.
M: only one I know of, Doc.
Doc looks across the way to room 12. The curtains are drawn but the lights are on. He knocks on the door & it’s opened by a hooker – Miss Kitty.
MK: you must be the doctor. (she lets him in)
Doc: what the hell’s going on here?
DB comes out of a room with a blanket.
DB: hey Doc.
Doc: is that Catherine?
DB: you’re gonna have to patch her up here. We can’t take her to a hospital. She’s been shot. Luckily we ran into an old friend of hers. I’ll fill you in later. (to Miss Kitty) Kitty, Thank you.
MK: you got to be the last Doc in Vegas to make house calls. You got a card?
Doc: Honey, you don’t want me coming to your house.
DB: what do you think?
Doc: I think she’d be better off in a hospital.

First of all, I knew sooner or later they were going to do the DB=Dead Body / DB=Russell mixup joke. That was cute – and a great way to keep things under the radar, yet get Doc to their room. Secondly, Miss Kitty’s an “old friend” of Catherine? Was he joking about that? Maybe Miss Kitty was someone Catherine had busted previously? I can’t believe it’d be from her stripper days. (ETA: Okay, ep 10x6 Death & the Maiden. Like I'd actually remember something from the Ray Langston years. - thanks Shane.)



** Agent Pratt is angry at Brass & Ecklie for waiting an hour to call him.
P: you people waited an HOUR to call me? I thought we were on the same team here?
B: seems to me, Agent Pratt, every time we call the FBI somebody ends up dead.
E: Witnesses, your agents, my CSIs, all targeted, all on your watch. And now CSI Willows & Russell have gone missing.
P: okay look. You forget that my partner, McQuaid, is dead. Alright? You don’t think I care about the safety of CSI Russell & Willows as much as you do?
B: are you sure about that?
P: I’m sure of one thing. I’m pulling rank. (Ecklie chuckles, then his phone beeps) Everything. Goes. Through me. Understood?
E: Mark Gabriel’s on his way down here, demanding to see his wife’s body.
B: (to Pratt) don’t worry, we got your back. We’ll scrape you off the floor after he runs you over.

First of all, let me reiterate: I love Matt Lauria as Agent Pratt. Of the two agents, I actually liked Pratt better than McQuaid. Now I have the urge to go back & watch Matt in The Chicago Code episodes. Secondly, through the years, I loved that they moved Ecklie into the “higher up” position. First as Lab Director, then as Undersheriff. He always seems to work well these days with Brass and Catherine. That’s a wonderful departure from his early years as a non-geeky, power-hungry Day Shift CSI, where he was just mainly a foil for Grissom. They’ve finally made him more human and likeable. Thirdly, Brass’ departing line was just…so Brass. That’s the great Brass sarcasm that I’ve missed through the Ray Langston years.



** Morgan & Greg are at Catherine’s processing the street. They’re tracking the blood trail leading out into the street. There’s a large blood pool with a tire tread going through it.
M: working theory – it’s Catherine’s. She’s running from the shooters, wounded. She gets to the street, her blood’s pooling, flags down a motorist. It’s Russell. The shooters are closing in. she jumps in the back seat & they take off.
Greg looks farther down the street.
G: but if that’s the case, whose blood is this over here? (he sees another patch of blood with a trail leading into the trees) Trail leads down the embankment. Let’s see what we find on the other end.

As I’m watching these “theory flashback” scenes, I’m reminded of the early days of CSI and how their “first blush” and first re-enactments of crime scenes used to be quite different than what the final outcome used to be. I guess, considering that they’ve already had the “shot to hell” SUV to give them more visual evidence in this case, they can make coming to these “real” conclusions more believable. I like the way they still keep a somber tone to their evidence gathering & scene evaluations, considering two of their own are still “in the wind”, and at least one is gravely injured.



** Greg & Morgan continue to follow the blood trail & find another skeletal corpse with a whole lot of hungry bugs – the same ones Nick discovered that were genetically altered in the previous episode.
M: based on the timeline, it’s only been here 3 or 4 hours. Question is… who was he?

I’m really, really starting to hate bugs.



** Back at the motel room, Doc is still tending to Catherine.
C: how bad is it?
D: it’s through & through, but didn’t hit anything vital.
C: well, that’s good
D: beats the alternative. You’ve lost a lot of blood & there’s only so much I can do.
DB gives him another wet cloth
DB: you’re doing fine, Doc.
Doc: we’ve got to stop this bleeding. The wound needs to be cauterized.
DB looks over to Kitty
DB: well actually, you’ve got very beautiful hair, Miss Kitty.
MK: thanks, but I’m not doing you. You’re a cop.
DB: no, I just thought maybe you might have a curling iron in your purse.
MK: you some kind of Columbo or something? (she pulls one out of her purse)
DB (to Doc) what do you think?
Doc: yeah. (to Cath) It’s only going to hurt for a moment…once you go into shock.
MK: y’all are serious. I guess you’ll need a hand or something
Doc: you’re hired. Clean it with soap & water & warm it up.
C: (groans) you got a bullet I can bite on?

LOL Catherine’s face when they come up with the curling iron plan is priceless. It’s just a testament to how bad she really is that she’s letting them do this without so much as a protest. I also just had a flashback to season 2 “burden of proof” where Catherine was testing burn marks with a curling iron on a fake hand.


** Back at Catherine’s house, Nick & Sara are processing. Nick takes a bullet out of the wall. It’s a 40 caliber – the same that killed Laura’s cousin & husband at the farm house. Sara is processing the rug. She finds a large blood pool. She may be able to get DNA from the mat under the rug.

So, the question is – we know Catherine wouldn’t have made that large of a blood pool, so who was in her house after she left? The same one that turned into the skeleton in the trees?



** Back at the motel room, Doc’s pretty much done all he can.
DB: (to Doc) you got any cash?
Doc: a couple hundred.
DB: yeah, that’ll do.
Catherine is taking off her watch & jewelry.
DB: Miss Kitty, (gives her the money) thank you, you’ve earned that. You really, really hooked us up.
C: here, I’d like to give these to you too. (hands her the jewelry)
MK: mmmm
C: thank you. You saved my life.
DB: okay, this is a “get out of jail free” card. Don’t abuse it. And please, don’t talk to anyone.
MK: these lips are sealed. Didn’t see nothing. Don’t know nothing. You can hang me by my feet & pull out my acrylic nails with pliers.
DB: alright. Alright. Let’s go
MK: bye
(she leaves)
DB: bye
Doc: DB, Catherine’s gonna need to sleep for a while.
DB: I need you to get a message to Brass. Okay? Tell him to…tell him to bring us in.
Doc leaves. There are many spectators around the neighboring crime scene – including Mr Trenchcoat Guy. Mitch tells Doc that the other crime scene was cleared, so Doc leaves.

Miss Kitty is so great. I hope we get to see more of her as a recurring character – but not as a baddie who gets locked up - even though she has the ‘get out of jail free’ card. (now I’m in the mood to play Monopoly) It’s interesting to note that even though Catherine has had a couple major scenes so far, she’s hardly said a word. That’s SO un-Catherine like. Yes, I guess severe blood loss and having a wound cauterized with a curling iron will do that to a person. Even one as strong as Cath. It was interesting that Catherine gave Kitty her jewelry. Even more interesting that Doc keeps a couple hundred in his wallet. Oh, and before I forget – was that really two DAY SHIFT CSI’s walking past Mitch as they left. Seriously? I may need to rewind that, cap it, blow it up & frame it. Maybe one of them was the elusive “Joe” from the Crime Solve board in the lab. They looked too young, though.


** In the motel room, Catherine is trying to sleep. DB puts his coat over her to keep her warm. The phone next to the bed rings. Cath wakes. They both look at the phone.

To answer, or not to answer. That is the question.



** Ecklie, Brass & Pratt arrive in the PD interrogation room with Mark Gabriel & his attorney. Gabriel takes offense to Pratt being there, since he blames the FBI for killing his wife. Pratt leaves. Brass & Ecklie begin to ask Gabriel questions, but Doc interrupts them. He tells Brass it’s urgent. A convoy of police cars arrive at the motel. The door to room 12 has been broken open. Brass & Ecklie go in the room, but there’s no one there. They notice a large pool of blood on the bed where Catherine had been.
B: we’re too late
E: what the hell happened?

Awww I love to see Conrad getting in on some of the action. Too bad he’s always a step behind. Maybe we’ll see more of him on the show now with Catherine gone & Morgan being his daughter. It would be nice to have him more of a regular.


** Conrad is looking for answers
E: we’re still maintaining radio silence, right?
B: yeah
E: so how did the bad guys get here before we did?
B: I don’t know. Maybe they showed up late for the party too. (he walks to the bathroom) The screen’s off. Scuff marks. Maybe Catherine & Russell made a quick exit. I’m gonna talk to the manager, see if he saw something.
E: I hope they made it out of here.

Awww Conrad. I’ve already said I love you. You don’t have to keep tugging at the heart strings. One thing I’ve noticed is that everyone still calls D.B by his surname, Russell. Quite a switch from a few years ago when everyone was always calling Langston “Ray” or “Doctor Ray”. It’s still cute to hear “Catherine & Russell”. Making it seem like Catherine is family and DB isn’t quite there yet.



** A burnt orange pimp-mobile is driving down the road, driven by Jackory, Miss Kitty, Catherine & DB.
J: yo, that “get out of jail free” card, that work for me too?
MK: don’t ask that when my friends are running for their lives.
J: well, let me rephrase that: when y’all stop running, can a brother get one?
DB: we get out of this alive, I’ll get you one with revolving credit.
J: see now, I like the sound of that.
MK: hey, if there’s any revolving credit, it’s mine. I’m the one who spotted that guy in the rain coat. Knew his ass was up to no good.
C: yeah, thank you for that call. What tipped you off?
MK: honey, in that neighborhood, the only suit a man wears under his tranchcoat is his birthday suit.
DB: spoken like a trained observer.
C: in a couple of blocks, there’s gonna be an alley on your right.

Ah, Cath has a plan. Shot up. Major blood loss. Yet the lady is aware enough to have a plan. That’s why I love this woman. Speaking of the love. Have I mentioned I want more of Miss Kitty? Even though the name keeps making me think of “Gunsmoke”, I want more of THIS Miss Kitty. And her pimp daddy ain’t too bad, either. The “revolving credit” comment was cute too. Can I just say - the pimpmobile reminds me of the car Jane's mom bought on "Rizzoli & Isles", to which Jane & Frost took it to talk to a pimp.


** Nick comes to the morgue where Doc is looking over the skeleton that Greg & Morgan found. He asks about Catherine, saying she should be on antibiotics. Nick tells him that they’re AWOL again. Doc says the skeleton was shot three times in the back, once in the middle of the head. So the guy was killed by one of the other hitmen. Nick thinks the hitmen have been making too many mistakes.

Leave it to Doc to bring more crucial evidence to light.



** in the alley, Jackory is giving Catherine his coat as he says she needs to cover up her blood before going in. DB asks him for a cell phone. He brings out a whole bag of brand new disposable phones. Jackory takes a gun out of his pants & gives it to DB.
J: I got a feeling you’re gonna be needing this too.
DB: yeah, that’s more, uh, Annie Oakley, here. (he gives it to Catherine)
Cath checks the clip & readies the gun. Jackory is impressed.
C: you may not be getting that back.
J: darlin, the way you handling that piece, I think I will.
DB: thank you guys.
C: thank you
MK: you two take care.

I love how Jackory is impressed with Catherine. Damn. Now I really want both Miss Kitty & Jackory back again, somehow, some way. Those two are pretty cool – for being in “that” kind of business.



** Cath & DB go to a door in the alley.
DB: this is your idea of a safe place to hide out?
C: when we’re in Seattle, we can go to your coffee house.
There’s an intercom next to the door. Catherine presses the button.
Voice: yeah
C: yeah, I need to see Teddy Jr.
Voice: you got a name?
C: just, uh, tell him its…Goldilocks.
DB has a laughing smile.

Golilocks. Oooookay. Wasn’t really expecting that. I was thinking something with “Cat”, like “Wildcat”, or “Kitty Cat” or something. But wasn’t expecting Goldilocks. I guess it fits, though, right? I love her reference to Seattle, where DB previously worked. That was a cute call-back.



** Cath & DB are ushered inside by the bouncer. He brings them to the owner, Ted Beaton, Jr.
C: Hey Teddy.
T: Goldilocks. Oh God, it’s been too long (they hug)
C: it sure has
T: wish the old man was still with us, he always loved when you stopped by – even after you became a cop.
C: Teddy, listen, um… I’m in kind of a jam (she opens her coat to show him her bloody blouse)
T: you need a doctor?
C: No, I’m fine. It actually looks worse than it is, but... my friend, Russell, & I… need to disappear for a while.
T: no problem. The old man would have rolled out the red carpet for you. Sit down.
C: alright. Thanks Teddy.
T: I’ll get you some sandwiches.

Awwww it’s a recall back to “Who are you” from season 1, as well as “Felonious Monk” from season 2. I wish it had been the original Ted, but I guess Junior will do. He seems just as enamored with Cath as his father was. Cath must have really been a legend at the club back in her day. I love how they have both Ted & Teddy Jr as respectable & decent-looking bosses. I always wonder why the CSI book, “Sin City” – which takes Cath back to one of her former clubs, “dream dolls” – paints her boss as a balding, slimy, too-much-jewelry kind of boss. At least he also seemed enamored with and helpful to Catherine. I love that Catherine has never been apologetic for her former profession.



** DB is intrigued
DB: so…Goldilocks?
C: (laughs) well, there was a time when…the only thing I cared more about having fun was…getting attention. And a girl gets a lot of attention on a pole. But the thing is - (waitress brings a drink) thank you – working a pole is about working guys. Lonely guys with money, just want to forget their problems. So, one night, right here at this bar, I met a guy, had a problem but he wasn’t trying to forget it. He was trying to solve it.
DB: who was the guy?
C: Jimmy Tadero. Detective. Well, he was working a case, and we started talking. For once, someone saw me as more than just a pretty face…and a few other attributes.
DB: Jimmy sounds like a very wise man.
C: after that night – between dances – we would, uh, sit here at this bar and he’d run cases & he’d ask my opinion.
DB: so this is where you became a CSI.
C: yeah
DB: well, how about…how about you run this case with me. Right now.
C: don’t you think you should make a phone call first to your wife?
DB: oh.
C: when was the last time you went 24 hours without talking to her?
DB calls on the phone
DB: hey doll. I’m sorry, I, um…I’m okay. I just lost my phone out in the field. (he starts walking away from Cath) I’m at a strip club with Catherine. … Why-why do you always assume that I’m on a job or something, I could have come in just for myself, you know.
Cath is amused.

More points for the wonderful continuity with Jimmy T. However, major minus points for not having Bruce McGill make a reappearance (or at least in a flashback) as Jimmy. I would have at least loved to have had an update on whether Jimmy’s still in jail or if he’s out by now. It would have been great to see a Cath/Jimmy reunion. Damn. I loved Cath’s comment on DB not going 24 hours without talking to the wife. And so funny to hear Mrs Russell not believing he was there for personal reasons.



** back at the lab, Pratt is with Nick, Sara & Greg in the layout room going over the evidence. They come to the conclusion that the hit team is sometimes sloppy, sometimes not. Sara surmises that they may be sloppy as to make it look like Mark Gabriel is at fault.
S: maybe they aren’t mistakes. Maybe it’s all intentional
P: you think that Mark Gabriel’s guys are leaving evidence behind on purpose?
G: not just any evidence.
N: evidence that points to Mark Gabriel.
P: if what your suggesting is true, then Mark Gabriel’s not the one calling the shots. He’s being set up
S: by who… and why?

Well, Sara. If we knew that, we’d be at the end of the case by now, wouldn’t we? It’s kind of strange that in these scenes with Nick, Sara & Greg – Nick doesn’t annoy me as much as he normally does. Maybe it’s because he’s not the one figuring out everything this time. I like it.



** Cath & DB are now sitting at a table in the club
DB: how are you doing? Are you all right?
C: well, considering I’ve been shot in my side & cauterized by a hooker’s curling iron…yeah, I guess so. So you said you wanted to talk about the case?
DB: yeah, I want to talk about how Mark Gabriel is not our guy.
C: excuse me?
DB: that resignation letter, you didn’t send it, did you?
C: what resignation letter?
He pulls out a piece of paper
DB: this one. I, uh, printed it out before I drove over to see you. Ah, “effective immediately, I tender my resignation. This is a decision I’ve been considering for a while. … it’s best for the team…
C: I didn’t write that
DB: wait, it gets better. Here you go. “I’ve made the decision to go away for a while, but first I have to do something. I have one last bit of unfinished business to clear my desk. I hope you’ll understand.”
C: what the hell?
DB: listen, I think you need to read this whole email resignation you sent. I think you’ll find it’s not that far off the mark.
C: “for 19 years I’ve dedicated myself to this lab. My authority has been questioned. My professional objectivity doubted. Though I…graciously accepted an unwanted demotion, I now find my lesser role unsatisfying and untenable.”
DB: a little close to the bone, I imagine.
C: how did they know?
DB: well, if they were able to hack into your account to send you that email, I imagine they’ve been reading them all.
C: all to manufacture a resignation letter?
DB: I don’t think so. I think it’s more of a…like a cover story. Right? CSI seeks revenge for the murder of her friend, goes nuts, goes home, resigns, but not before she commits one last crazy act, and who does she direct her rage against?
C: Mark Gabriel. I mean, that’s got to be why they took my backup gun. They were planning to use it on Gabriel.
DB: to make you the patsy.
C: I go postal, I kill Gabriel, and then … get disappeared.
DB: yeah. But you screwed up their plans. You survived. All I know is that with you still alive, they’ve got no play. So, safest thing for you to do right now is to come in out of the cold.
C: well, safe for me, maybe, but then they’ll go underground and we’ll never catch them.
DB calls over to Teddy
DB: hey Teddy. (to Cath) maybe we can have it both ways. (To Teddy) I need one more favor
T: oh, no problem
DB: can you call the coroner and tell him that you’ve got two stiffs here that need picking up. Make sure to bring two body bags. One extra long.
T: you got it.
Catherine looks pleased.

Having Cath & DB together like this makes me scream in even more frustration that we had to suffer with 2 ½ seasons of dry, boring Ray Langston on this show instead of having things upbeat & fun like what DB brings. And I couldn’t help but laugh at the “two stiffs” comment. I don’t know about DB, but “stiff” is a word I don’t think I’d ever use to describe Catherine. Catherine clears up another small part of the mystery. The hitmen took her backup gun. Which makes me ask the question, how would they know where to look. And they obviously took it before the shootout, since in the last episode, she reached for the gun in the box & it wasn’t there. So that means they were in her house before? Or did McQuaid take it before?





** DB’s body bag has been rolled into the morgue. Nick & Sara open it up.
N: welcome back to the living
S: heard you’ve been hitting the strip clubs.
DB: yeah, why is that so hard for everyone to believe?
Super Dave brings in Catherine’s bag. Greg & Morgan are following
Dave: coming through
They open the bag
G: aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. For a second, we thought you were…
M: you…ran off to a Caribbean island and…left us with your case load.
C: No, I’m not running anymore.
DB: that’s ‘cause we’re on the hunt now.
Doc: I’m gonna need to redress that wound.
C: I’m gonna need to redress.

That was a cute way to bring them back. It was nice to have most of the gang there as well. You’d think that would have been freaky for Marg being zippered up in that body bag. I think I might have been a bit claustrophobic.





** Cath & Sara are in the locker room as Cath is changing shirts.
S: So that, uh, resignation letter was a fake.
C: yeah. A good one.
S: they hacked your computer, they’ve been reading your email.
C: getting inside my head.
S: so you really feel that way? Something’s missing in your life.
C: since Lindsey’s left home, yeah. I mean, I’m not sure what I’m missing. Some days, I think it’s a man to share my life with, and other days, I’m good, good to be alone. I mean, look at my friend, Laura. She had everything. Appeared to have a perfect life. And it all turned out to be a lie.
S: and then she turned out dead.
C: I thought for sure Mark Gabriel killed her, tried to kill me.
S: now we know it was all a set up.
C: who’s pulling the strings? It’s got to be someone in his operation, right?
S: I’m going with, uh, Occam’s Razor. Sometimes the simplest answer is the right answer, and the one that’s right in front of you. Until a couple of weeks ago, you didn’t even know who Mark Gabriel was. And you hadn’t seen your good friend, Laura, since you were kids.
C: what are you saying?
S: I’m saying that maybe you didn’t just run into your friend.

Okay, I’ll control my squee’ing this time around. Such a lovely scene with my two ladies. I’m still pissed at the CSI Powers That Be that they had to keep these two wonderful, strong, smart women at odds with each other for all of those years. As rare as it was to even have episodes where Cath & Sara were paired up, it was even rarer to find wonderful scenes such as this. I still wish we could have had a tiny glimpse of when they went out for a drink at the end of “Crash & Burn”. That makes me wonder – did Cath take her to the same place she just took DB? Hey, just let me dream, okay?

Oh, and the quote about sometimes feeling like needing a man and sometimes she's fine being alone - that definitely brings to light her non-committal to Vartann when he wanted them to move in together. That was her feeling about needing time alone & not always being together, coming to the fore.



** Catherine’s telling DB that she believes Sara is right in her assessment.
C: I think that Sara might be right. I see Laura, after all these years, in reception at PD, waiting for her husband. She allows me to see her in a controlling, abusive relationship. She then comes to me, says she’s got information on her husband that can put him away. She’s afraid. I send her to a lawyer.
DB: who ends up dead.
C: yes
DB: all signs pointing to her husband, Mark Gabriel, as the guy who hired the killers.
C: yes, but if it’s not Gabriel & he’s being set up to look guilty…
DB: and to die by your hand
C: who stands to benefit? The wife, who is dead & burned beyond recognition. You know, like everything else in this damn case, all is not what it seems
DB turns & goes into a lab.
DB: hey, Henry. Henry, where (Henry bangs his head on the bottom of a table) awww, I’m sorry. Did we wake you up?
H: it’s been a rough 48.
C: you think?
DB: hey, what did you use as an exemplar to identify the burned bodies in the FBI sedan.
H: well, the agents were easy, I just ran their DNA against the FBI database.
C: What about Laura Gabriel?
H: I had exemplars from the Gabriel’s condo here in Vegas.
DB: (to Cath) what do you think? Plenty of opportunity to plant someone else’s comb or toothbrush in that condo?
C: we have another exemplar. Laura’s clothes were bagged at the hospital after we found her at her cousin’s house.
DB: (to Henry) okay, so run those clothes and then compare the new exemplar to our female DB. And I want you to run all of the DNA in this case against every known database.
H: got it.

Poor Henry. Hitting his head on the table was such a Hodges thing to do. LOL As much as I loved seeing Cath & DB together when they were on the run, they’re back now, so couldn’t we at least have Sara in that hallway convo with Cath & DB since Sara was the one with the idea? I mean, the team has been split so far in this episode, so why not start bringing them back together instead of keeping the Cath/DB, Greg/Morgan, Sara/Nick pairings separated? Nitpicky, I know. But it’s becoming annoying, especially considering it’s Cath’s last episode.



** Henry & Dave are doing the DNA processing on all of the bodies, slicing through the crispy critters with power tools, extracting fluids & processing clothes. With the results completed, DB, Ecklie & Pratt are going over them. It seems that the female who was presumed to be Laura, is actually Sandra Pence, aka "Mrs Hobart", the hit-woman at the lawyer’s office, and the one who had infiltrated the FBI protection detail team. It seems it wasn’t McQuaid either. McQuaid had updated his DNA information with a new exemplar a month prior. The dead body thought to be McQuaid was actually Jeffrey Krueger, the guy who brought in the big water bottles during the hit at the lawyer’s office.
P: you’re telling me that McQuaid is…
E: dirty. … and that he & Laura are the ones behind this whole thing.
Pratt is stunned.
P: three other agents died in that ambush. Not to mention the couple from the farm house, those people from the law firm. Why would he do that?
DB: sex, money. Maybe both
E: we knew your team was compromised & to be honest, until now, I thought it was you.
P: sorry, is this supposed to make me feel better?

I figured that’s why they gave us an ‘up close & personal’ view of the charred bodies as Catherine looked at them in the car. There’s no other reason they would take the time to show the detail of having them with the same clothes both Laura & McQuaid were wearing - even Laura’s ring – if they weren’t going to come back & say it wasn’t actually them. I love that Pratt is stunned. He totally didn’t see it coming. Blindsided by his own partner. Sucks. Didn’t I say in the review of the last episode (or was it even back when he first arrived in “Zippered”) that one of the comments he made, made it seem like he wasn’t on the up & up.


** In the hallway, DB catches up with Pratt.
DB: Hey. None of us saw this coming.
P: yeah, but I worked with the guy 10 hours a day for the past year. I mean, it’s not like we were best friends, but…(sighs) you know, I shoulda known when McQuaid said he was quitting something was up, and he always had this weakness when it came to beautiful women.
DB: well, and they’re still out there. And like you said, they left a trail of bodies behind them.
P: so what do we do?
DB: when she was playing the victim, Laura Gabriel gave us her husband’s banking connection to his ‘hit’ team. She was going to use it to set him up. Why don’t we use it to set her up?
P: that sounds good.
DB: good, ‘cause the next part won’t.

LOL DB is always the optimist. Have I mentioned lately that I love Pratt? I wish he was a detective instead of FBI, then he could be on again.



** In a parking ramp, Pratt & other agents are meeting with Mark Gabriel & his body guards.
MG: so now you want my help
P: that’s right.
MG: interesting choice of venue. You’ve been watching too many movies.
P: I want to make sure your people weren’t listening.
MG: does that go for LVPD too? (he nods at the car)
Catherine gets out of Pratt’s car.
C: we’re the least of you’re problems.
MG: I understand I’m no longer a person of interest, but I’d be interested in knowing who is now. … So?
C: your wife.
P: with help from my…former partner.
MG: Laura & Agent McQuaid are dead.
C: she played you
MG: impressive. Clearly my wife learned a few things over the years.
P: she set your own dogs on you. And you know who they are
C: now to bring them to heel.
MG: She betrayed us both, but you want this bad. I assume that’s why you’re keeping company with the Boy Scout.
C: like the man said, we need your help.
P: look, someone on your payroll knows where Laura & McQuaid are.
MG: this has been a helpful conversation, but I prefer to settle my own affairs. Good evening.
Mark Gabriel leaves.
C: that went well.
P: I hope so
C: I just hope he’s not as smart as he thinks he is.

Aw, come on. We know Catherine is going to out-smart them all. Even being shot at, cauterized with a curling iron, losing lots of blood, and having one hell of a crappy week, the lady will still come out on top. Like Jakory said – with the way she handles a gun (or in this case, it’s the way she does her job as an investigator) she’ll be around at the end when it’s all said & done.




** Trenchcoat man is checking the bank account on his phone & showing that $2 million is available. Then he receives an address – “Fern Ridge Road” in Lake Tahoe. Now he’s outside that house. We see Laura Gabriel through the window. She gets ready to turn in for the night, and goes to take a shower. Trenchcoat man gets in the house undetected, walks into the bathroom where the shower is running and puts a couple bullets through the shower curtain. He opens the shower curtain to find no one there. He shuts off the water and has a bullet go whizzy past him into the wall. It’s Catherine, with Pratt, Laura Gabriel & a couple other officers.
C: I won’t miss next time.
P: put the gun on the floor, and keep the hands where we can see them.
TM: how did you find me?
P: we just followed the money. Mark Gabriel made you a better offer. Double the money to take the contract off his head & put it on his wife’s.
C: Laura Gabriel (looks at Laura) was very cooperative.
TM: when things become personal, business always suffers.
P: well, our business isn’t concluded. Where’s McQuaid?
TM: you don’t know? You already have him.

See, Catherine just proved she’s a darn good shot. I just have to say – Trenchcoat man just seemed so over-the-top…because of the trenchcoat. He almost seemed like a farce or cartoonish and laughable because of the stupid (and ugly) trench. If they really wanted a scary hit man, they should have had someone in black clothes, black jacket, kind of more black-ops like. I guess they were going for comic instead of scary.



** Pratt, DB & Catherine are in the office. Pratt tells him that Obrecht (trenchcoat man) was right and they already do have McQuaid in the morgue. He’s the skeleton Greg & Morgan found in the trees outside Catherine’s place.
C: he was there at my house?
P: the bullet that missed you was a .40 caliber. That’s the only kind of gun McQuaid ever carried.
C: great. Not only did he set me up, he tried to take a shot at me.
DB: now wait a sec, the autopsy said he was hit in the back with 5.7’s, right? So he was running towards you. Now, maybe he didn’t miss. Maybe he was firing a warning shot. He was trying to protect you.
P: yeah, McQuaid got a lot of people killed, but maybe that night he was trying to save someone.
C: why?
DB: obviously he cared for you.

Awwww. So his was the first shot – the one that went through the pic of Cath & Lindsey. His shot did protect Catherine. It gave her a split second advanced notice for her to take cover. So, he kills many, but saves one. At least it was the most important one that he saved. He must have been a great aim as well, because by hitting the picture itself, he'd know that the 'clean up' crew wouldn't be able to cover up the hole in the pic made by the bullet, and that would give them some evidence. Nicely done - for a good guy gone bad, that is.



** Pratt follows Cath into the hallway of the lab
P: wait up. I never got a chance to say this, but…you really kicked ass last night.
C: (scoffs) thanks.
P: listen, Russell’s right. McQuaid had feelings for you, but I think there was something else too. I think that he saw in you what he used to be
C: what was that?
P: someone with integrity. Someone who wouldn’t give up. The kind of agent that the Bureau needs.
C: …are you asking me out on a date, or offering me a job?
P: no, it was-it was a job offer, but I – but it’s one that I really think that you should consider.
C: well, I’m still on this job right now…but thanks.

A date or a job offer? ROFLMAO that was classic. I love how Pratt got all flustered. That was totally adorable.




** Catherine comes into the PD interrogation room where Laura is sitting
L: I already gave my statement to the other detectives.
C: I just have one question – why me?
L: you really have to ask? Why do you think I chose you? I know you.
C: really? How do you figure that?
L: when we were kids, you always went for the boy who needed you. I always went for the boy who would give me something.
C: are you talking about your husband? … or McQuaid?
L: Both. Mark gave me a lifestyle. Worked for a while. Then it didn’t. Then I met McQuaid, Investigating the gun-running case here in Vegas.
C: and you saw an opportunity. To set your husband up. To set me up.
L: I take what I want. You put everyone else first because that’s the easier way. You’d rather accept the life you have than risk having the life you want.
C: you’re never going to see the outside world again, Laura. Tell me whose life you’d rather have now.
C: (gets up) oh, and you do know me, but not as well as you think, because when you chose me, you shoulda known it was going to end like this.
Cath walks out.

Ladies and Gentlemen: THAT is Catherine Willows. I need to say that, even though the character turned out to be a baddie, I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Annabeth Gish as Laura. She did a great turnabout from portraying a mentally abused wife and old friend of Catherine to an unapologetic killer and Catherine nemesis. Bravo AG.



** Brass is in the breakroom with Nick, Sara, Greg & Morgan giving them an update that they picked up Mark Gabriel for conspiracy to murder his wife. They all get text messages that call for a “family meeting”, so they all come to DB’s office – everyone, including Hodges, Henry, Super Dave, and Doc Robbins.





N: (to DB) did you call a family meeting?
DB: No, no. No, I didn’t. Catherine did.
Jim: So, what’s going on?
C: I just wanted to say…how brilliant I think you all are. What a great team this is. How much I respect all of you, both as co-workers and as friends. As you all know, there were a few changes made a couple months ago, which, uh, initially hurt me. But uh, ultimately, ended up being a great thing. And Nicky, I was so wrong when I said that it’s been a long 19 years here, in this lab, in this town. I mean, the truth is…it’s just gone by too fast. But, there comes a point in one’s life in which one feels compelled to make a change.
N: what are you saying?
C: that I’ve been offered another job with the FBI, and I’ve decided to take it.
S: when?
C: well, it’s effective immediately. I tendered my resignation – for real this time. You are all family, which is why this is the hardest decision I’ve ever made. I mean, how could I leave this place? How could I leave all of you? But, not only are you in great hands, but you are a rock-solid badass team of criminalists and don’t ever forget it.
N: we all just love you, Catherine. And you know, even though you’re leaving, you’ll always be here with us. Always.
C: yeah
Cath hugs Nick.
N: we love you.
C: I love you too.
Cath hugs Sara
S: go get ‘em

Okay, forget the box of tissues, I need a damn big tear bucket. Well, maybe just because I'm watching this a little bit at a time as I type this and seeing Marg (and even George) try to hold it all together without bursting into tears was almost heartbreaking. When I watched the scene the first time all the way through, I got a little misty-eyed, but not blubbery. However, All I could see in that scene, wasn’t Catherine & her team, it was Marg and her co-workers. As Marg has said in interviews, there was really no acting required for that scene. I wish they wouldn’t have skipped out on the hugs so soon, though. I mean, seriously, no Cath/Brass or Cath/Doc love? Hey, at least I got another Cath/Sara hug. That makes two, in what? Three years? I guess I won’t complain much on that. I still think it would have been more plausible to have Catherine go into the casino world and take over the casino that Sam left her. That would have made it easier to come back occasionally, kind of like Lady Heather. Now, with Cath going to the FBI, it will probably need to be an over-blown high-profile case that she’ll turn up for, and it’ll be more about the case than her returning. Plus, if she went back to the casino world, the CSIs could show up for brunch or breakfast or gambling at her casino any time they wanted. I still think TPTB missed the boat on that one.

So, that’s the perfect ending, right? But, we’re not done yet, unfortunately.




** Cath & Morgan are sitting at a restaurant
C: I sat here a very long time ago, and talked about how solving a case can make you feel like King Kong on cocaine. But just like any drug, it’s got a dark side, and the rush is fleeting. Just like life.
M: this is the only thing I’m good at.
C: then hang on to that, but not so tight that you let the rest slip away. I know your dad would tell you the same thing.
Morgan’s phone buzzes. She looks a bit embarrassed.
M: back to work.
C: go ahead, I got this one (she grabs the check)
M: I got the next one.
C: you got it.
Morgan leaves.
We pan out on Catherine sitting in the booth with the lights of Fremont street behind her.

Let’s just call this scene Cath/Holly “the pilot” redux. This scene actually makes me think – has Catherine been doing the ‘Mama Bear’ thing with Morgan since she moved to Vegas? Especially now that Lindsey is out on her own. This almost feels like not the first time they’ve done this with just the two of them. The scene is a nice call back to the pilot, but I’m still a bit disappointed that we didn’t end with Catherine, Sara, Nick, Greg, & Brass – all of whom have been together from the beginning. Alas, I guess the theme of the episode is “moving on”.


final notes:

** I'm not really pleased with the rushed feel of the ending. I mean, seriously? Catherine goes from a conversation with her former childhood friend-turned killer to making a life-altering decision, giving up her job, packing up & moving across country - all at the drop of a hat? Seriously, this is Catherine we're talking about. I know she gets impulsive sometimes at crime scenes or with witnesses, but come on. Laura's comments wouldn't have made her just make that decision in an hour or less.

I also feel a bit underwhelmed with the final scene. Yes, it's a great scene and a nice recall back to the pilot, but... her FINAL scene ends up being her & Morgan? Seriously? They could have ended with the Cath/Morgan scene and instead of having Morgan leaving, make her the first one there for a get together, have Cath give her "King Kong on Cocaine" speech, and then have the others arrive in a group to join in with having dinner together with everyone.

Then again, I would really have rather had her go the route of Sam's casino rather than the job with the FBI. I mean, come on. Catherine IS Vegas. She's got the old mob connections, she's got the LVPD connections, she's got the casino connections, she's got the strip club connections. They all add up to a much more interesting way to bring her back.

Yep, the writers totally dropped the ball on that ending.


** I love Catherine's conflict about feeling that she's missing something, yet really enjoying her freedom and her time alone. As Laura mentioned, Catherine is a person who is usually the "mama bear", the one watching over people and being there for those that need her. Therefore, I think it's hard for her to be in an 'equal' relationship with anybody. With Eddie, it seemed that he always "needed" her for something; Lindsey needs her as a mother & confidant; looking back on her string of boyfriends through the years - none of them really needed anything from her except companionship (and most of them turned out to be asses as well); And looking back on Vartann as well - he seemed to be in need of her companionship and company to cure his loneliness. He didn't really need her to help him with anything else. He's a cop, so he can take care of himself. He didn't need her to protect him. He didn't need her to be the bread winner in the relationship. However, when he did get too needy and clingy in a personal way (wanting her to tell him things - like her casino involvement), she pulled back immediately, because that really wasn't 'needy' so much as 'sharing'. And Cath really doesn't do 'sharing' very well, I think.

** I love when shows can incorporate character continuity into episodes – even if it’s from almost a dozen seasons ago. In this case, we get to revisit Catherine’s pre-CSI past as we find re-telling the story of how she got interested in being a CSI with the help of her mentor, Jimmy Tadero. I loved bringing back Catherine’s past with Teddy Jr as well. I loved Rod Rowland in that role.

** For some reason, I was really dragging my heels to begin writing this review. Maybe it has to do with the fact that, with Marg’s departure, this is the last full CSI review to come from me - At least until she returns for a guest appearance. But I’m guessing the main reason is that I don’t want to let go of Catherine Willows just yet. At least there are 257 episodes with Catherine to look back on and replay whenever I want.

** Because people are searching for who's playing certain characters on the episode, here's the credit list:

Marc Vann as Conrad Ecklie
Larry Mitchell as Officer Mitchell
Jon Wellner as Henry Andrews
Larry Sullivan as Officer Akers
Tangie Ambrose as Miss Kitty
Matt Lauria as Agent Pratt
Titus Welliver as Mark Gabriel
Annabeth Gish as Laura Gabriel
James Black as Jackory
Jess Allen as Bouncer
Rod Rowland as Ted Jr
Jack Dimich as Paul Obrecht
Louise Griffiths as Mrs Hobart/Sandra Pence