William Petersen Exits "CSI" Jungle Right and at the Top

Gil Grissom's (William Petersen's) last show on CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was written to climactic perfection. After nearly nine seasons, the head of the crime scene investigative unit for the Las Vegas Police Department simply walked away. And he did it in true Grissom form: detached and doing his job.

Part of a two-part episode that introduced Laurence Fishburne to the show, Grissom had to get inside the head of a serial killer, the Dick and Jane Murderer. A true psychopath, the killer, Nate Haskell, who has been imprisoned for years, was being studied via teleconference by Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne) and his class. Grissom got himself inserted into the class to study Haskell and perhaps find out how people are still being murdered using Haskell's methods: abducting a couple, killing the male with the female disappearing. Haskell is extremely intelligent and, through Grissom's questioning of him in the classroom, figures out that Grissom is more than just a student, which sets up an awkward situation with Langston. The two work through it, each in his own fashion contributing, with the help of the other CSI regulars, toward solving the mystery, hoping to do so to save the latest female abducted.

Throughout the episode, Grissom's co-workers and colleagues approached and expressed their fondness for him, which Grissom deflected in his usual unemotional, totally detached way.

Grissom asks Langston to join the CSI team, hinting that there was "entry level position" opening up.

Case solved, the show ends with Grissom wandering down a jungle path in Costa Rica. You see him nearing a large bug, which only slightly distracts him as he continues down the jungle path. Any fan of the show would know that whatever was ahead of Grissom would have to be of major importance for him to only give the bug, the study of which (ectymology) is his passion, a passing glance is highly unusual. But when he reaches a clearing and a figure ahead of him with their back to the camera begins to turn toward him, everyone knows it is his wife, played by Jorja Fox.

William Petersen's last show was his 192^nd episode in the long-running hit drama. And the show finished on top, as has been its normal position on Thursday night for the past nine years. Neilsen Media estimates 24.2 million viewers watched Petersen's farewell episode.

According to Entertainment Weekly, William Petersen announced in the summer of 2008 that he would be leaving but not leaving the show. Petersen remains an executive producer of the show and will make guest appearances at times in the future. Petersen said he wanted to free up some time to pursue other stage and screen opportunities.

William Petersen became a household name as Gil Grissom on "CSI" in 2000 but became a wanted commodity from the moment he was cast in 1985's "To Live And Die in L.A." Director William Friedkin ("The Exorcist", "The French Connection") saw the 32-year-old actor in a live stage performance and cast him as his lead.

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Sources:

Eonline.com

EW.com

Wikipedia.org

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS Television

Neilsen Media Research

IMDb.com