CSI FAREWELL SALUTE: CAST AND CREATORS PALEYFEST NOW ON DVD

For those Marg and CSI fans who are interested, you can now purchase the CSI Farewell Salute: Cast and Creators PaleyFest on DVD from Amazon.com. Thanks to @thewpap for the head’s up!

Per Amazon: “Cast and creators of CBS’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” gather for a celebration of their show at PALEYFEST FALL TV PREVIEWS LA on September 16, 2015. Topics include: the inspiration for the show; the decision to avoid focusing on the characters’ personal lives; and William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger perceiving their characters as a platonic “old married couple,” despite fan requests for romance.

When sold by Amazon.com, this product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com’s standard return policy will apply.”

Note: If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can also watch it streaming as part of your Prime membership.

Click to purchase from Amazon…

IMMORTALITY RECAP, RATINGS, & SCREEN CAPS: FAREWELL TO CATHERINE & TO CSI

The CSI series finale ‘Immortality’ literally starts off with a bang when a suicide bomber kills three people and injures countless others at the Eclipse Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. This bombing is what brings now FBI Special Agent Catherine Willows back home to Vegas, as she is now owner of the Eclipse, thanks to Sam Braun’s legacy. With the help of Catherine and of Gil Grissom, who has also returned to Vegas once he hears that Lady Heather is the prime suspect, the CSI teams follows the evidence and catches the real killer.

It probably seems strange that I would sum up the plot of a two-hour series finale in just a few sentences, but for me, ‘Immortality’ is not really about the case. It’s about seeing the CSI family together again one last time and knowing that they’re all going to have happy endings once this show is no longer on the air. That’s what most fans cared about and I think series creator Anthony Zuiker gave us exactly what we needed so that we could say goodbye.

The biggest highlights for me were, of course, Catherine’s scenes, so that’s my focus for this recap.

Catherine and Grissom:

The scenes between Catherine and Grissom were, by far, my favorite moments of the episode. Marg and Billy Petersen have such wonderful chemistry and it was just so wonderful to see them onscreen together again. Even though they hadn’t worked together since season 9 when Billy left the series, it was like no time had passed and they were right in sync with one another.

cath grissom cath grissom 2

In my absolute favorite scene, Catherine walks outside and finds Grissom sitting on a bench sketching whales and sharks. After patiently listening to his Grissom-esque explanation of how his drawing is a metaphor for Vegas, Catherine gives him one of her patented ‘Whatever you say, Grissom’ looks, a quick “Okay” and changes the subject. She needs a favor – she wants Grissom to help process some evidence with the new girl, who has had a rough first day on the job and could use a little ‘Grissom TLC’. Grissom says he would rather not but is still curious about this new girl, who when he encountered her earlier in the day, she acted as if she knew him: “Where’d that girl come from anyway?” Catherine’s response is priceless: “My vagina. You don’t recognize her? Grissom, that’s Lindsey. That’s my daughter!” If that isn’t a classic Catherine/Grissom moment, I don’t know what is.

Catherine and Lindsey:

cath lindsey lindsey 2

Speaking of Lindsey, Katie Stevens is not who we’re used to seeing play Lindsey, but it was still wonderful that they brought Lindsey back for the finale and so fitting that she is following in her mother’s footsteps to become a criminalist. She even looked like a mini Catherine walking around in her cute leather jacket. And now that we know that Catherine will be running the lab, I love the idea of Catherine running the lab and mentoring her daughter. That’s a happy ending I can definitely live with for Catherine.

Catherine and Sara:

I have to admit that I got a little nervous in the first scene these two had together when Catherine came barging into the crime scene, flashing her FBI badge and basically daring anyone to try to stop her from working the case. When Sara walked over and started talking about the conflict of interest and Catherine started to fire back at her about being the owner of the Eclipse and that she had to work the case as long as there were bodies on the floor of her father’s casino, it brought back memories of so many tense scenes between these two. Thankfully though, this time Catherine and Sara quickly come to a meeting of the minds and there was no conflict.

cath sara cath sara 2

Not only was there no conflict between Catherine and Sara, but they even had a wonderful moment of sisterhood later in the episode as they bonded over their mutual dislike of Lady Heather. This was another of my favorite scenes. When Lady Heather comes in for questioning, she seems to focus much of her attention of Sara, intent on getting under her skin. She unfortunately succeeds and Sara ends up storming out of the room. Catherine immediately jumps up and goes after her to give her a little pep talk about not letting Heather get to her. In yet another classic moment, Catherine tells Sara: “Don’t beat yourself up. I don’t feel the way you do about Grissom and I want to kill the bitch with my bare hands.” Yes, it was a hilarious line but it was also just a great reminder of how far their friendship has come over the years.

Catherine and Brass:

cath brass cath brass 2

They didn’t have much screen time together but I was thrilled to hear that Brass is now working for Catherine at the Eclipse. It’s nice to know that she has someone in her corner who will always have her back.

Catherine and the children:

One final scene that really stood out for me, even though it pertained more to the case and not so much to any kind of CSI reunion, was the scene where Catherine has to go tell the two little girls that their mom was killed in the bombing. Seeing how gut wrenching it was for her and knowing how much she wanted to protect them took me all the way back to the scene in the pilot episode when Catherine had to interview a little girl who had been molested.

cath girls 2 cath girls

Catherine’s big heart and those fierce maternal instincts were the essence of her character and what made me fall in love with her in the first place, even more so than the fact she’s such a badass, so it was nice to be reminded of that side of her in the final episode of the show. I felt like we came full circle there.

As much as I’m going to miss Catherine Willows, I feel like this finale has given me the happy ending that I would want for her. She’s home, she’s with her daughter, and we know the crime lab will be in good hands with her. Maybe it’s not sailing off into the sunset on a boat with the love of your life, but it will do quite nicely so thank you to Anthony Zuiker for writing it, thank you to Marg for coming back and giving us the opportunity to say goodbye one last time, and thank you to CBS for allowing the show to have a proper sendoff.

"Never doubt, never look back. That's how I live my life." - Catherine Willows

“Never doubt, never look back. That’s how I live my life.” – Catherine Willows

Since this is the last time I’ll have the opportunity to make screencaptures of Catherine Willows, I probably went a little overboard. You can view those HERE

The complete series finale is also online now at CBS.com.

And courtesy of CBSPressExpress.com, we also now have the ratings for the CSI series finale. Marg fans will recognize that the series finale audience was the largest audience since Marg’s final episode “Willows in the Wind” back on January 25, 2012:

With an average of 12.12 million viewers, “CSI” is Sunday’s top scripted broadcast in viewers. The series finale of CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION delivered its largest audience since January 2012 and ranked as Sunday’s top scripted broadcast in viewers, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for Sept. 27. From 9:00-11:00 PM, CSI averaged 12.12 million viewers, its biggest audience since Jan. 25, 2012, and scored 1.8/05 in adults 18-49 and 2.7/07 in adults 25-54, its best deliveries in those demographics since May 7, 2014.

MARG & ET REMEMBER TAYLOR SWIFT’S & JUSTIN BIEBER’S CSI APPEARANCES

In addition to her Facebook Q&A with Entertainment Tonight’s Cameron Mathison yesterday, Marg also took time to sit down for a more formal interview with him and reminisce over CSI’s triumphant run. She talked about how emotional it was to say goodbye but about how all of the cast members will stay in touch. She also discussed some of CSI’s most memorable guest stars, including Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber.

Source: ETnow.com

AXN ESPANA SAYS GOODBYE TO CATHERINE WILLOWS

Marg’s final episode of CSI, “Willows in the Wind”, aired on AXN España this week. As part of their farewell to Catherine Willows, the Spanish television website teleprograma.tv posted the following interview with Marg. In some respects, it is similar in content to what we have seen in other ‘farewell’ interviews, but it is still definitely worth a read, especially for her comments regarding her former castmates.

Any errors in translation from Spanish to English are my own.

The Final Case for Willows

After 12 seasons, Marg Helgenberger wants to focus on his family and the theater.
By Juan Silvestre

It was not an easy decision and took months to make, but Marg Helgenberger felt it was time to turn the page, and so, after 11 ½ years, she decided to leave ‘CSI: Las Vegas’. Tonight AXN airs the emotional farewell of criminalist Catherine Willows.

Do you miss her [Catherine]?

Very much. I feel that I was more her than me, that I know her better than I know myself.

Why did you leave?

It was the right time. People all over the world recognize me and I found myself wondering what would become of me when I stopped playing the role of Catherine.

What was the first thing you did after you left [the show]?

I went on a two week holiday to the beach. Then I did many things that I had not been able to do while working on the show — normal, mundane things like cleaning the house, being with my family and friends, and with my pets. And returning to the theater.

Are you still in contact with your former castmates?

With the ones I was closest to. But I’m not dead, you know?

How was working with William Petersen?

Incredible. We have shared many things, both on and off the set. I would love to work with him again.

Is there any project in sight for the two of you?

No, but it would be great to play Catherine and Gil again.

Is there a scene [with Petersen] that you remember most fondly?

The last scene I recorded with him. We had very little dialogue. I had to stop after the line “I knew before you that you were going to follow your path” because I got so emotional.
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