Petersen: It Was A New World

See Also: 'One To Go' Episode Guide

It's been a long time coming.

In the beginning, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was something exciting and different for William Petersen (Gil Grissom). "None of us knew anything about forensics or how it worked," the actor told Las Vegas Now. "Each week we got a script. It was a new world, a bizarre new twist on fate, so it was exciting each week." Nine years later, Petersen said farewell to CSI in "One to Go".

Entertainment Weekly shared their list of Petersen's 10 Best Episodes. The actor discussed his own favorite episodes with Las Vegas Now, which included the introduction of Lady Heather (Melinda Clarke, "Slaves of Las Vegas") and the miniature serial killer ("Built to Kill, Part 2"). The two-hour season five finale, Grave Danger, directed by Quentin Tarantino also made the list. "That was just a phenomenal episode. It had sort of everything. It was the everything episode. It was supposed to be one hour but Quentin couldn't stop himself," Petersen shared with CBS4.

It was during the time that the creative team was writing the miniature serial killer storyline that two executive producers, along with Petersen and Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) started to discuss Petersen's departure. "We knew at that time that Jorja's character was going to move on," executive producer Carol Mendelsohn explained to TV Barn, "and we discussed what that would mean to the relationship." That was during the 2006-2007 season.

The wheels first set in motion during that storyline ultimately led to Grissom's decision to leave the Las Vegas Crime Lab. As Mendelsohn explained, "19 Down" and "One to Go" contained clues about the "evolution" of Grissom "from a guy who would rather have breakfast with his bugs to a guy who had these great feelings for a woman." One such clue happened at the very end of "One to Go", when Grissom spotted a bug--and promptly turned away from it to continue on his way toward his reunion with Sara.

With Petersen saying goodbye, Metro Senior Crime Scene Analyst Daniel Holstein expressed his gratitude for the character and the show. CSI creator Anthony Zuiker met Holstein in Las Vegas in 1999 and based the character of Grissom on the real forensic scientist. "I got to see the pilot, and I thought, 'Wow, this is kind of interesting,'" Holstein said. Nine years after that pilot, he added, "I thanked him for everything he's done and making crime scene investigations in the public eye and see how important it really is."

The original articles are from Las Vegas Now, CBS4 and TV Barn.

Discuss this news item at Talk CSI!
 Add CSI Files RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a Desperate Housewives fan? Then visit GetDesperate.com!