Synopsis  

Catherine tries to track down a sexual predator who breaks into single women’s apartments and terrorizes them. Meanwhile, Sara reopens a cold case in which a colleague’s husband was murdered, but the killer was never caught. Sara is troubled with personal ties, as her colleague has a potentially fatal affliction. Grissom’s hearing further deteriorates.

Review  

Sara stops by court to visit a wheelchair-bound prosecutor friend of hers, Melissa Winters – who tells Sara that she’ll be dead soon. Winters was crippled when someone broke into her home, killed her husband and shot her. Sara talks with Doc Robbins about the upcoming operation, and doesn’t like what she hears – however, the operation is a success, and Sara gets the bullet recovered from Winters. Ballistics finds a match (Dawson doesn’t quite believe her when she says that she has Grissom’s permission to reopen the case), and Sara tracks it to a convict serving time. He claims he found the gun in Winter’s house when he broke in to trash it. Sara is upset by the lack of evidence in the old case file, and is shocked when she discovers that Winters lied… she shot her husband, and he managed to shoot her before he died. Sara confronts Winters, and is almost in tears as she leaves the hospital room. Later in the CSI locker room, she tells Grissom about her older brother, and disappointments.

_Note: this is the only time that Sara’s older brother is mentioned during the series.

Notes  

• Sara feels a close kinship with Winters, a tough prosecutor who has overcome adversity.
• Sara mentions her older brother smoked pot.
• Sara feels betrayed by her friend; to quote Jorja Fox, Sara is “so sure she knows everything about someone” that it’s an emotional shock when she finds out different.
• This is Sara’s first (but not last big emotional shock of the season.

Quotes  

Sara: Melissa, we’ve been building this case together for six months. What’s going on?
Winters I’ll be dead.

Dawson Hang on a second. You get approval from Grissom? I don’t want him walking in on me.
Sara: Yeah.
Dawson (he smiles at her, teasing tone) Sara …?
Sara: (smiles back) Yeah, I did.
Dawson All right, just checking. Let’s go.

Sara: All your closing arguments, all your big talk about Justice. I fell for all of it.
Winters I’ve always believed in Justice. I still do.
Sara: (quietly) You never expected to live, did you?
Winters No. Out of all the CSIs, I knew I could depend on you.
Sara: (very emotional) I guess I’ll be seeing you in court. (short pause) Good-bye, Melissa.

Sara: The cop read Melissa her rights right there in the hospital room. You think you know somebody.
Grissom: I never think that.
Sara: (looks up at Grissom) Ever?
Sara: (turns away and stares at her locker, speaking in almost a monotone) When I was a kid I was playing hide-and-seek one day and I found this plastic bag under my big brother’s bed. I thought it was a bag of dirt so I took it to my mom. Turned out it was his bag of weed. He was grounded for a year.
Grissom: ‘The best intentions are fraught with disappointment’.
Sara: Emerson?
Grissom: (closes locker door) Grissom.
Sara: (stares after him as he leaves)