The ‘CSI’ Series Finale Airs Tonight!

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’s two-hour series finale, “Immortality”, airs tonight at 9:00pm ET/PT. You can find a collection of videos, interviews, old episode clips, tweets and photos below. First, check out this video from Twitter, featuring several actors reading their characters’ last lines from the finale:

And here’s a short video featuring Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows):

Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) did an interview with the LA Times about the end of CSI and the uncertainty that comes next. “I think you kind of have to embrace the unknown if you’re an actor,” she said. Here’s another quote:

I’m most excited about not knowing what I am going to do next or where I am going to land. I can count the ways I’m not going to miss “CSI” on one hand. I won’t miss the early calls, the late nights, the extreme heat, the extreme cold or the plastic vest I’ve worn for more than 10 years. Other than that, I’m going to miss everything about “CSI,” but I’ve always enjoyed not knowing exactly where the road leads.

The LA Times also spoke to several other members of the cast and crew, including this comment from series creator Anthony Zuiker about why the show got so successful:

Our philosophy about what the show was always simple: On the worst day of your life, the CSI investigators would come in, solve the crime, and bring peace of mind to the survivors and/or the victim, and put the bad guy away. That translates and speaks to every language in the world.

Helgenberger talked to the Hollywood Reporter about the show coming to an end. Here’s a quote:

What was it like to inhabit this character again?

When I left the show midway through season 12, I did not miss Catherine Willows. The thing I missed about the show was obviously the people and the structure of the show that it provides. You get into a rhythm, and when that is removed, you’re like, “Wait a second!” (Laughs.) I was really looking forward to a break, which I enjoyed for the first few months, and then it was like, “Hmmm.” (Laughs.) When I actually got around to shooting [the finale], I realized I was really glad to be back in her suits and her boots and her swagger and her savvy and her sass. It was just really fun because I liked the character a great deal, and I was lucky to have played her for all those years.

TV Guide spoke to cast and crew members about the show’s beginning and the way it is coming to an end. Check out this quote from William Petersen about stepping back into Gil Grissom’s shoes for “Immortality”:

It was like sliding back into the seat of your car. It was great to be home. We’ve seen each other through the years, but it was nice to go back and act together as these characters because we like each other’s characters. I like Catherine and Sara and Ecklie and Brass. I like them as characters, and I like Grissom. It was nice to be him again and it was nice to be him with them. It was nostalgic.

Zuiker did an interview with Variety about his journey and the end of CSI. Here’s an excerpt:

Without giving too much away what is the most important bit of closure that you’ll offer your die-hard fans?

This is the Super Bowl for (Jorja Fox’s) Sara Sidle. She’s applied for the directorship of running the lab. This is the one incident that brings back Grissom, and we see her being mentored by (Ted Danson’s) D.B. Russell. This is a case that paralyzes Vegas. One of the big burning questions of the finale is where (Grissom’s) heart will lie. GSR usually stands for gunshot residue but in this episode it stands for Grissom-Sara Relationship.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal spoke to some of the real-life crime scene analysts who worked with Zuiker while he was doing research for CSI, and who ultimately inspired several of the show’s iconic characters. Here’s a comment from Zuiker himself:

They really took me in as sort of a person who really wanted to get it right and was fascinated by their job. And it was valuable research time, because a lot of those things I learned in those five weeks ended up not only shaping the pilot but shaping the course of our series.

Helgenberger talked to Zap2It about CSI coming to an end, and the impact it has had over the past 15 years. Here’s an excerpt:

Zap2it: What does it mean to you to return for the final episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”?

Marg Helgenberger: Being involved in that show for close to 12 seasons was, certainly, the highlight of my career … and it had such a huge impact on my life. Being a part of a show that becomes a cultural phenomenon, that doesn’t happen very often. The phrase “the CSI effect” was coined because of the show, and just the amount of kids who were inspired to become criminologists — that’s certainly an impact I wouldn’t have anticipated when I began the show.

Several members of the cast and crew told Zap2It about the grossest props that have appeared on CSI over the years. Here’s a quote from Jon Wellner (Henry Andrews):

I had to grind up maggots in one episode to see what they had ingested, so all day long I was just grinding up maggots and I finally said to the props department, ‘What are we using for maggots?’ And they said, ‘Maggots,’ That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, I’m glad I didn’t ask until the end of the day,’ because that would have grossed me out. I don’t like bugs.

Zap2It asked several cast members if they could commit the perfect murder, and here is Eric Szmanda’s (Greg Sanders) answer:

I don’t know if there is such a thing as the perfect murder. I think our show has done a really good job of deterring people from committing crimes. It’s one of the many positive things our show has contributed, as well as I think our show has taught jury members to be a little bit more critical of prosecutions and I know, because there are widely publicized cases today where new evidence is admitted to court that wasn’t available 15-20 years ago, that exonerated innocent people released from the death penalty and that’s one of the many things I think our show has had an effect on.

Petersen explained to Zap2It that his 1986 film Manhunter affected his decision to do CSI. “You know, it was ‘Manhunter’ that made me think ‘CSI’ would work,” he said, “because we worked with the FBI lab on that. That was some of the cool stuff in ‘Manhunter,’ the stuff we did with the lab in terms of finding the guy.”

The cast and Zuiker spoke to People about the show, and Zuiker promised the finale would provide “a lot of tears, a lot of warmth and satisfaction of our journey.” He also said:

I’ve been afforded to do things and have experiences, work with great people and actors I would have never had the chance to without the success of CSI. We’ve traveled the world together, we’ve made great motion pictures together. I think when we’re all long gone, I believe CSI will still rerun and be honored and cherished like Twilight Zone and I Love Lucy. That’s great company.

To celebrate the past 15 years of CSI, here are some memorable clips from the show. CBS shared this scene from the season five finale, “Grave Danger”:

USA Today offered this clip from the season four episode “Fur and Loathing”:

Entertainment Weekly also flashed back to “Fur and Loathing” with this scene:

E! Online reminisced about Taylor Swift’s guest stint in the season nine episode “Turn, Turn, Turn”, and you can watch a clip here.

Take a look at these two scenes that were shared on Twitter:

The LA Times took a trip down memory lane by sharing a slideshow of previous guest stars. TV Fanatic did something similar, revisiting a list of more than 80 guest stars.

Finally, check out these tweets and photos, featuring looks back at the past as well as glimpses of tonight’s finale:

Related: Take A Look Back At 15 Years Of ‘CSI’, Plus Interviews
‘Immortality’ Official Details, Plus What’s On This Week
‘CSI’ Stars Reflect On The Finale & Say Farewell
Take A Peek At The ‘CSI’ Finale
The ‘CSI’ Cast Discusses ‘The CSI: Effect’, Plus Interviews, Tweets & Photos

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