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“‘THE GIL FACTOR:”’ As rumored, the much-missed William Petersen is heard (over the phone), then seen (in a Skype computer chat) - but always from an aggravating distance - for the first time since leaving “CSI”, during this week’s above-par mystery on the campus of the college for the deaf where Sara tangles with Grissom’s mother (Phyllis Frelich) and ex-girlfriend (Marlee Matlin, who won an Oscar for the “Children of a Lesser God” role that previously won Frelich a Tony). “This is awkward,” mutters Brass as Sara’s “conflict of interest” becomes evident regarding the case’s principal suspect - who’s later the target of an office bombing. But what’s really awkward is mother-in-law Grissom prying into the nature of Gil and Sara’s long-distance marriage and sex life. Sara’s on the defensive: “It’s unconventional, but what Gil and I have works.” And we’re buying it, as Mama Grissom butts in on their Skype conversation at episode’s end, and a nonplussed and grizzled Gil (currently consulting with the Peruvian government) responds to Mom’s nagging by giving us the anthropological derivation of the phrase “sex pot.” He signs off, literally, by signing, “I love you both.” Fans love you too, Gil. Don’t be such a stranger. And come back for real next time. “CSI” hasn’t been the same without you.

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