The Upcoming Lady Heather Mess

I think if PotTR hadn't been such a fiasco, and there hadn't been such terribly written articles in TVGuide at the time, I wouldn't be as jaded about Lady Heather, and I wouldn't be as angry about the whole situation. However, I can't help but feel like this is all for sweeps and about money and advertising dollars rather than it being about making a darn-good show. *sigh* I hope I'm just being paranoid, though, and that unlike most PTB, CSI's producers are putting the show's best interest forth... but, track records say I can't trust that.

I think most people here are reacting to TPTB's usage of Lady Heather rather than the character itself. It's just a rough time to be bringing in ex-love interests. We were just getting our footing back with GSR after the sabatical, and here we are, seeing spoilers for an episode that airs JUST before the finale... and it could be one of the most damaging ever to our ship. A lack of trust has built up in the GSR community regarding TPTB's intentions with Lady Heather, and it's a fear that's difficult to shake.

No matter how rationally I attack the subject (yep, I'm calmed down, now), I just still think it's not going to end well for us. I'm not trying to be a pessimist, but I just don't trust TPTB to handle this properly. My one hope is that someone with brains steps in and says, "Let's make this one a little more plauseable and relateable than PotTR. OK?" If it flows, if it works, it COULD be great. But, knowing TPTB's track record, it probably won't.

Some of the big factors will be: Continuity, Potential Damage to GSR, Potential destruction of Grissom's character, Which Characterization of LH they go with (Season 3 versus Season 6), Plausibility, Character Consistency, Intelligent Dialogue, Belivable Plots, Cohesiveness of Script and Intensity. This episode has to force people to watch the finale. It has to make them interested. Numbers show that LH episodes don't bring in the big viewers. So, it has to be something big.

If it IS the MCSK, that could be intriguing, showing the killer successively getting closer to Grissom and his life, showing a depth of knowledge about Grissom that can be frightening and debilitating. I actually wondered what would happen if MCSK went after Sophia, successively getting close to Grissom and his one true love, Sara. The MCSK going after Lady Heather would show an intimate knowledge of Grissom that few possess. Sure, people in the office know that Lady Heather and Grissom had a special connection, and maybe the chatter got around that they had hooked up, but it's not the sort of thing a perfect stranger would be able to discern just from looking at the case file.

Going after LH would make things more uncomfortable for Grissom. The cases were already starting to get more personal with the killer sending Grissom the last model. If the killer counted on law enforcement getting there before the intended victim was killed, and knew they'd stage a set-up, one could assume that his primary goal was to kill a law enforcement officer. That gets even closer to Grissom's terroritory. So, the next step would be to go after someone close to Grissom. The choices are limited. Going after one of the other CSI's might be too big a step at this point, and the killer likes to move in stages rather than leaps. He/she was content to stay in one mode of operation until a mistake forced him to change one of his models to better reflect the death of the victim... that started a chain of change. So, the killer got bolder, testing himself/herself by planning a murder ahead of time, staging it perfectly and delivering the box weeks before the crime happened. Going after LH would be another step.

So, if they twist this whole storyline to somehow include the MCSK, the whole "Sara in danger" storyline a lot of people have speculated about might not be that far off, though it probably wouldn't come in the way one would expect. There'd have to be a twist. If the killer goes after Grissom's ex-fling who very few people knew about, it's safe to assume the killer has some knowledge of the Grissom/Sara dynamic, if not the depth of it. That would make her a likely target at some point. Though, if the killer were merely playing with Grissom, there's always the fear factor. Grissom could get protective of Sara, worried the killer might come after her. I could picture him not wanting her home alone, and then something happening to her right in the lab... You never know.

Sorry. I'll take this whole rant over to the MCSK thread, because I really didn't intend to rant, but thinking about this in terms of MCSK makes the whole LH pill easier to swallow. So, in short, if they make it a part of the storyline in a plausible form, I can take it. Oh, but they better take out the freakin' handhold. That's just ridiculous.

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It's total CRAP is what it is. Thanks for the tidbits, but I can't help but roll my eyes at this whole scenario. Grissom doesn't take people's hands. He had to work up the courage to take Sara's hand TWICE. Come on. Yes, he's more sympathetic now than in the past, but he's not about to start touching every person near him. "Hey Nicky! Remember that hug you initiated!? Let's hug!" C'mon!

It's a last-ditch effort to top Grey's in the ratings for the finale. I wish they had just let the show run 7 years and end it on a high rather than trying to milk one last season out of the dying cash cow. This has been a great season. It should end on a high note rather than Grissom holding "poor" Lady Heather's hands. Now, I'm not bashing diabetics. I know many. I'm just sick and tired of Grissom being so affectionate with Lady Heather. I mean, we wait forever for GSR lovin', and the Lady Heather stuff is just put out there.

I think it's meant to stir up interest and intrigue, but it hasn't worked in the past. Lady Heather was once a complex and intriguing character who has now deteriorated at the hands of CSI writers/ producers eager to get a hit in the midst of sweeps. TPTB are looking for a ratings boost, for their own shot of insulin to try to bring things back up before they crash. But, the problem is, CSI isn't diabetic. A healthy person doesn't need the extra insulin. It can kill it. Stop trying to kill our show, TPTB.

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There are many ways it could go. I have thought of some fairly plausible scenarios, and I don't even work for this show. However, I doubt TPTB would ever go with anything believable where Lady Heather is concerned. Season 3, maybe, but after the trainwreck that was "Pirates of the Third Reich," I have trouble taking the character seriously.

I hate the idea that TPTB are doing this for ratings, but, I'm almost positive that's all this is about. Money. Cash. It's not about quality and it's not about pleasing long-time fans, because as far as TPTB are concerned, we're brainwashed to the point of maintaining loyalty even after a few terrible episodes. Obviously, TPTB don't realize just how bad season 6 really was, overall. I can remember plenty of season 1-5 episodes by name and number, but I struggle to remember most Season 6 episodes. So, the obvious remedy in TPTB's mind is to bring in a "fan favourite." They're going to stir the pot a bit. And, they're burning it.

I'm definitely watching through this season. I've already sorta committed in my head to it. But, beyond that, I'm not sure I can do it. GSR is wonderful, and people like it because it's a breath of fresh air. People who hate it canon probably hated it non-canon. Nothing I can do about other peoples' opinions. However, I wish someone would get through to TPTB and let them know that we're more intelligent than they think, and we're more aware of their tactics than they'd like to believe. We don't blindly worship TPTB as the leaders of all that is good in television. Ultimately, they want cash. We get that.

Nevertheless, being forced to endure another episode of Lady Heather/Gil Grissom soulmate crap is nauseating. I've wanted Sara and Lady Heather to meet for ages, but only so that Lady Heather could expose the deeply set emotions between Grissom and Sara. Now that the two are canon, I could enjoy Lady Heather accidentally completely exposing their relationship to the rest of the lab. Something like that works for me. Grissom gripping Lady Heather's shaking hand as she reacts to a drop in blood sugar because she chose not to alert the doctors to her diabetes is not a heart-wrenching moment in my mind.

We're supposed to view Grissom's rememberance of her diabetes as a sign that he still cares, as a sign that he still regrets what happened between them, that he feels thinking she was a murder suspect so many years ago was wrong. Well, hello, last time you saw the woman she had a man tied up and was whipping him to death. That whole, "She could be a killer thing" doesn't seem as far-fetched now, right? Now, I'm not saying the girl deserves to die, but she doesn't deserve Grissom's comfort, either. I mean, Sara had to hold a person while they died before she got any comfort from her freakin' boyfriend.

Oh, but wait! Lady Heather and Grissom are soulmates! Remember? He'll reach out to his soulmate.

Gag. Me. Now.

It's all about buzz and creating an interest in the show. I'm not interested in Lady Heather unless the MCSK kills her. Then, she becomes interesting, again. But, her character has been so badly butchered in the past that I can't feel too much if she dies.

Grissom loves Sara, TPTB. Get ahold of yourselves and realize that there's something deeper between Gil and Sara than Lady Heather and Grissom. Grissom didn't put his job on the line for Lady Heather. On the contrary, he turned her in as a murder suspect rather than hiding the incriminating evidence to protect his "soulmate." Grissom put his job on the line for Sara after finding out where her constant battle with domestic abuse cases came from. He was willing to take on the responsibility. More than that, Grissom risks losing his job every day by being with Sara. It's a decision that took years for him to make.

I agree with Danie that bringing Lady Heather in and insinuating that Grissom still has some strange attachment to her beyond a simple kinship is uncharacteristic and purely for ratings and show. I'll acknowledge the two have a connection, but he's not about to lose everything for her. He could lose everything for Sara. He's put it all on the line for her. The relationship between him and Lady Heather can't even begin to compare to the blossomed romance, understanding and devotion he has for Sara. He trusts Sara intimately. He loves her. He let her hold a straight-razor against his skin, dragging it gently. That could have gone badly for a man who just got home from abandoning his love for a month. One false move and Grissom would be on the floor while the triumphant jilted love stood above him. But, TPTB didn't go that route.

I think the problem is that TPTB are easily confused. Grissom loves Sara. Ok? Yes, he has a kindship to Lady Heather, but that's all it is. Grissom can not be closer to a dominatrix he's spent a few weeks with out of seven years versus the woman he shares a bed and his heart with. TPTB want to create a triangle that should not logically exist. I can see Sara being a little wary of Lady Heather, but if LH has a brain, she'll not try to mess things up between Gil and Sara. We saw in PotTR that the bond between Grissom and LH was breaking because she was going off the deep end. Their trust was destroyed on many levels. Sure, he'll feel bad she got hurt, but he didn't hold freakin' Brass' hand when the poor man was lying in a hospital bed reaching out to anyone near him! He didn't hug Nicky when they pulled him out of the grave he was stuck in! He's not going to hold hands with Heather. Plain and simple.

Characters matter, TPTB. Characterization matters, and we are not the simpletons you presume us to be just because we enjoy watching the magical box for a few hours a week. There needs to be consistency in a show and its characters, especially in the final hours of an incredible season. We need this to flow and make sense in the context of everything that has happened up until this point, and Lady Heather being a threat to GSR in any way simply isn't plausible. It's a device used to create an unbelievable scenario, and I just can't wrap my head around it.

If played right, this could be awesome, because Lady Heather was once a very interesting character. However, throwing her into the "triangle" role is demeaning both to LH and the GSR relationship. Grissom and Sara are strong in their love for one another. No leather-clad dominatrix can split them apart, or even hope to dent the trust that has built between them. Maybe if the shaving scene had never occurred I wouldn't be as adamant about this, but Sara and Grissom trust one another. Triangles usually require all three having mixed emotions... Grissom loves Sara. Sara loves Grissom. Lady Heather is a third wheel rather than a point on a triangle.

Drop the crap, TPTB. Stick to the CSI we know and love.