CSI on CBS: Goodbye Sara Sidle?

Wow! The season premiere to CSI was excellent. Sara, who had been kidnapped by the miniature killer, survives the attempt on her life. She not only was rescued at the last possible moment from heat stroke and exhaustion, but she also narrowly escaped drowning when a flash flood roared through the desert canyon where she was trapped under a car. Whew! All of that work. All of that struggle. All of that subtle romance with Grissom. And for what? Sara is leaving the show. Or should I say Jorja Fox, who plays Sara Sidle, is leaving the show.

I'm sure we will not know the full details until her character is written off, but in a nutshell, it came down to a contract. Apparently a one year extension was offered last year to the cast, with a raise, and Jorja chose not to accept the extension. So, we should know more details on this soon.

Now, the question is this, how are they going to write her out of the story line? I don't think they are going to kill her character because they had the perfect opportunity to do that in the season premiere. No, I think this may come down to an internal investigation. Now that the cat is out of the bag on Grissom and Sara's affair, it will be easy for them to say "Sara, you can't work for Grissom any more." I mean having an affair with your boss may not get you fired but could sure get you transferred. I think this is how it will likely play out. Internal affairs will get involved, and tell Grissom and Sara that the affair has to be stopped. Initially, they will attempt to keep the flame alive. But I think Sara's past, and maybe her inability to commit to a relationship will come back to haunt her. She will pack up and leave town. She will do so to allow Grissom to keep his job, but to allow her to escape from the relationship. We will likely have references to Sara in the future, but we will not see her on screen after the 4th or 5th episode.

What do you think? Is Sara gone? Is this a network ploy to keep us watching? If she is gone how will they write her out of the storyline?

CSI is an amazing show that has had a successful run as well as successful spin-offs. Maybe they will let the CSI brand live on through CSI Miami and CSI New York and let the original ride off into the sunset at the end of the season. I hope not.