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When enormously popular William Petersen left CBS’s “CSI” last season, the series fumbled a couple of million viewers; toward the end of the ninth season, the procedural crime drama was clocking some of its smallest crowds ever, though it remained the country’s most watched drama series.

What to do? CBS announced Monday that Jorja Fox, who played Sara Sidle, Petersen’s employee and love interest, is returning to reprise her role for “multiple” episodes. Sidle had been a regular since the show’s unveiling but left during its eighth season to “deal with demons,” as CBS put it, then returned briefly during the ninth season, only to leave again to “do research” in Costa Rica, where Petersen’s Gil Grissom character joined her.

Still with me?

In a statement clearly intended to lure Grissom fans back to the show, exec producer Carol Mendelsohn promises “longtime ‘CSI’ fans will be excited to discover where life has taken Sara Sidle and what brings her back to the ‘CSI’ team in Las Vegas in our premiere episode.” Not coincidentally, “CSI” faces ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and Fox’s “Fringe” this coming season.