This is a dual purpose piece here on Cinema Static on Brusimm. I touch on the 2nd of the 2-part farewell episode, saying farewell to Marg Helgenberger who plays Catherine Willows on CSI, it’s also about how networks really need look at how they need to more carefully preview their shows.
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First up, the two-parter CSI story was the culmination of several episodes over a period of time, setting up the exit story for Helgenberger. It also brings to fruition the story of tackling Mark Gabriel (played by Titus Welliver) and his professional hit squad.
But this farewell episode seemed like it was missing something. There were a lot of convenient pieces falling into place and then there were some quick twists that brought in some unforeseen resolutions. It was a nice but quickly paced episode to close this story out.
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In the first part of this two-part story, the episode ended with Willows being shot. As the second part of this story started, Catherine Willows was bleeding out and on the run from the professional hit squad.
And I did not care one bit about all the blood and gunmen in pursuit.
That’s because CBS had marketed this episode as Helgenberger’s farewell episode, and showed her upright, walking about and hugging other cast.
So I wasn’t worried she was going to die in the episode and that was CBS’s fault for taking all the excitement out of the episode. I just bide my time and just watched the episode.
CBS is not alone in this criminal deed of spoiling potential suspenseful episodes, and I swear, I thought studios had people that check for this kind of stuff so that the TV fan cab be fully engaged in suspense.
I’d like to think…
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Aside from that, I’d like to send out a hearty thank you to Marg Helgenberger for her portrayal of Catherine Willows through these 12 seasons of CSI. Now, keep your eyes peeled, because an long-time favorite of mine, Elisabeth Shue, is stepping up and filling the void that Helgenberger is leaving behind.
We’ll see how that works out!
Interesting footnote: Did you know that Ted Danson is snagging $225k per episode of CSI? {tvguide}
