After 15 years of murderous rampages and grisly crime scenes — not to mention a number of spin-offs — CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was finally laid to rest this past weekend. For a show that came to be CBS’s most important drama for the past two decades, it’s surprising that many backers of the show, and even the network itself, had little faith in the series’ success during its 2000 premiere season. While enduring multiple cast changes and various leads, dedicated fans of the show should be happy to have finally seen the old gang reunited. In the two hour movie finale, meant to give a sense of closure, we saw former stars return for one last case.
[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Season 15, streaming on Amazon]
Starting off with a casino bomb and ending with Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle’s happy ending (they literally sail off into the sunset), the finale provided the cheesy closure many fans end up longing for with other long running shows. In fact, CSI has had such an impact on viewers that many lawyers have had to contend with what jury members are expecting based on having seen the TV show. Hint: it is not realistic in the slightest (commonly referred to as the “CSI Effect”). With CSI available for easy streaming on Hulu, DTV, and CBS it doesn’t appear like we’ll be getting a reprieve from the show’s side effects for a while. Some of the characters will live on in CSI: Cyber, but for now it’s time to say goodbye to a staple series that gave viewers a (mostly) great 15 years.
