Season 5, Episode 10: No Humans Involved

Grissom is in the background for most of the episode, an interesting choice given how much the changes affected him. His scene with Catherine in her new office, when he tells her how bad he is at playing politics and what it cost him, is pretty sad.

Catherine Willows: Now tell me why you really stopped by. You checking up on me?
Gil Grissom: No.
Catherine Willows: What've you heard? Who talked to you?
Gil Grissom: See? You've been on the job for a week and you're already paranoid.

Catherine Willows: Did you ever play politics?
Gil Grissom: I once ran for president of the science club in junior high. Mary Hardy beat me out by one vote.
Catherine Willows: I'm going to guess that you didn't vote for yourself.
Gil Grissom: I'm not any good at politics. And it's cost me. It's how I lost Nick and Warrick.
Catherine Willows: Your loss was my gain.
Gil Grissom: Yeah. And at least they're in good hands.

Catherine isn't necessarily political (though she is more so than Grissom), but she's savvy in a way Grissom will never be. What kind of person votes for his opponent in school Science Club president election? A good person, but one ill-equipped to deal with the real world. Catherine says she was his "left hand and his right one" and it's obvious she protected him a great deal.

Grissom is a scientist first and foremost and though he's a kindly leader, he has toughened up somewhat, especially in regards to Greg and his training.

Catherine, in contrast, has always been more grounded, and I suspect she'll be able to play the politics game much better than Grissom could ever hope to. Getting Warrick to apologize to Lt. Chan was her first test, and she managed to do it without making Warrick feel like he was being dressed down too much. She also set boundaries by reminding him that she's a very different supervisor than Grissom was.

Catherine is also feeling isolated in this episode, something that comes hand-in-hand with a supervisory position. When she looks in on Warrick, Nick and Greg in the break room, laughing and relaxing, it's fairly clear that she won't be joining them. Catherine has always held her own among the boys, but now she's officially supervising several of them, and can't afford to relax with them as much as she used to. It further underlines how qualified she is as a leader.

Review provided by CSI Files.