Gil Grissom

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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation character
Gil Grissom
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown with graying temples
City	Las Vegas
Job	CSI
Rank	CSI Level 3
Position	Night-shift Supervisor
Current status	Alive
Known relatives	Unnamed mother Herbert (uncle) Unnamed father (deceased)
Portrayed by	William Petersen
First appearance	The Pilot

Gilbert "Gil" Grissom, Ph.D. (August 17, 1956— ) is a fictional character featured on the TV crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Grissom is played by William Petersen, who is also one of the show's producers.

Grissom is the night-shift supervisor of the Clark County, Nevada CSI (forensics) team, investigating many cases in and around the city of Las Vegas. He is a forensic entomologist who earned his degree in biology from UCLA. He has a wide and varied knowledge of insects and entomology, which he applies to his investigations. This has led to his nickname, "The Bug Man". When asked why he is a CSI, he responds, "Because the dead can't speak for themselves." This is one of his favorite quotes and he uses it frequently.

Contents 1 Character 2 Background 3 Personal Life 4 Trivia 5 Quotes

[edit] Character

His dispassionate demeanor and high intellect often work to his advantage in his job and in his personal life. However, his avoidance of job politics (and paperwork) often alienates his superiors (and sometimes his subordinates), and right-hand woman Catherine Willows occasionally has to prod him to perform such menial tasks as employee evaluations. Grissom is rarely disturbed by the various subcultures with which his job brings him into contact. He hates abusive husbands, child predators, and drug dealers who "deal death to kids." He is also the least trigger-happy CSI, rarely drawing his firearm, a tendency that has brought about several scoldings from friend and cop Jim Brass. Despite this, he is an excellent marksman as seen in episode 402, "All For Our Country," when he demonstrates exceptional accuracy at the firing range. Grissom's hobbies include his work, cockroach racing, reading, solving crossword puzzles, and riding roller coasters.

Grissom keeps a variety of specimens in his office, including a radiated fetal pig and a tarantula. He also has a fish-shaped bulletin board on which unsolved cases go ("the ones that got away.") In keeping with the fish theme, he has a Big Mouth Billy Bass over the door to his office, claiming that it's "better than a watchdog."

Grissom has a more than passing similarity to Sherlock Holmes. Like Holmes, Grissom is dispassionate with a fierce devotion to logic and little regard for societal norms of behavior (Grissom once smashed mustard jars in a grocery store to illustrate a theory; similarly, Holmes once practiced spearing a pig at a market to determine how strong a man would have to be to transfix a man with a harpoon). He possesses a Moriarty-like nemesis, Paul Millander, over whom ultimately defeats him in death, a woman in whom he has taken an unusual interest, Lady Heather who is a parallel to Irene Adler in her powerful intellect, physical beauty, strong personality, ability to unsettle her opponents, and contextually unconventional lifestyle. Although Grissom does possess a John Watson, like Holmes, his "Watson", Jim Brass does not play a foil but rather a genuine assistant.

Intellectual and widely-read, Grissom during an episode often offers quotes from a variety of literary sources, particularly Shakespeare. He also works 'advanced' crossword puzzles and listens to loud classical music and opera in his office, especially when he wants to think.

[edit] Background

Little is known about Grissom's past or personal life. He grew up in Marina Del Rey, California. His father, who was in the importing/exporting business (in the season 6 episode "Still Life", Grissom tells Catherine Willows his father was a botanist) died when he was nine years old, most likely from heat stroke. His mother ran an art gallery in Venice. He says that in high school, he was a "ghost." He was raised to believe in the Roman Catholic Church, but later said, "That guilt's not a part of my life anymore." Also when speaking with a priest who heard the confession of a murderer he said "I believe in science and I believe in God but I don't believe in someone telling me how to live my life." In the season seven episode Double-Cross, he tells Sara Sidle that, while he isn't really a Catholic anymore, he is a sort of "secular Catholic" who infuses his work with more meaning than it might otherwise have. He also continues to believe in God, as he tells her he believes both science and faith are necessary. He keeps his mother's rosary beads in a box in his office. Grissom's mother is deaf; because of this, he knows sign language. He has inherited his mother's otosclerosis, a disease which is causing him to slowly go deaf, but he undergoes corrective surgery (episode 323, "Inside the Box").

[edit] Personal Life

Inasmuch as Grissom confides to anyone, he confides in Catherine Willows. He once likened her to being "his wife" though the two have never been more than very good friends. Of all of his fellow investigators, he is most similar to Sara Sidle. Both are self-described "science nerds" and are the most socially awkward pair on the team. While at times both have expressed more than a hint of interest in the other romantically, it is not until the sixth season finale that they are definitely shown to be involved. In seventh season episodes, he continues to be involved with Sara Sidle, but is keeping the relationship a secret from others in the lab, probably because of the repercussions it could have for his career and Sara's. Grissom has also been involved with forensic anthropologist Terri Miller (Pamela Gidley) and S&M parlor operator Lady Heather. He has supported Warrick Brown through several brushes with the law and has a fatherly bond with Nick Stokes. He shares a good friendship with Dr. Al Robbins. Most people refer to him as "Grissom." He is also often called "Griss", usually by Warrick Brown; Catherine Willows and coroner Dr. Al Robbins regularly refer to him as "Gil". Can also be known as "Bugman".

[edit] Trivia

• The character was originally intended to be named Gil Scheinbaum. William Petersen changed the surname because of his admiration for astronaut Gus Grissom.
• Despite the Grissom character being from the West Coast, he has a somewhat noticeable Chicago accent. (Petersen is from the Chicago area.)
• Grissom is extremely knowledgeable about literature, in particular the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels. He occasionally quotes Shakespeare and has a weakness for wordplay and slightly off-color puns.
• Grissom has extensive knowledge about entomology. The character of Will Graham whom William Petersen played in the film Manhunter (based upon the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon), wrote "the standard monograph on determining time of death by insect activity".
• Grissom is based loosely on real life Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department criminalist Daniel Holstein.
• At the start of season seven, Grissom shaves his beard for the first time in three seasons.
• His health not only consists of the otosclerosis (for which he undergoes corrective surgery in episode 323 "Inside the Box"), but the occasional migraine (which he claims he gets about once a year), for which he has prescription medication.
• Enjoys riding roller coasters every year when he completes his evaluations of the CSI staff.

[edit] Quotes

• (to Al Robbins) "Albert, dead men don't ride roller coasters."
• (to Warrick) "Concentrate on what cannot lie. The evidence..."
• (to Hodges) "Could you close the door, please?...No, from the other side."
• (to a victim's mother) "There is always a clue."
• (to Greg) "A little more absorbing, Greg, a little less rock and roll."
• (to Catherine) "You can be wrong, I can be wrong, the evidence is just the evidence."
• (to Hodges) "So you're saying our killer has metal balls?"
• (to Greg) "If only the 'who' was as easy as the 'how'."
• (to Dr. Jenna Williams) "A, B, C, D, or all of the above. Standoff with the police-- guy gets shot in the chest, runs back into his burning house, inhaling smoke as he goes. The roof collapses and the air conditioning unit falls on his head. He dies. What killed him?"
• (to Warrick) "I can't be everywhere, Warrick, and they banned human cloning."
• (to Sara) "Crazy or not, here we come."
• (to Catherine) "We all live in glass houses, Catherine. You gotta be careful where you take your shower."
• (to Greg) "Did you ever hear a dog say 'woof-woof,' Greg? I mean, what is the origin of that? And what do we sound like to them, I wonder."
• (to Sara) "The courts are like dice. They have no memory. What works one week doesn't work the next."
• (to Brass) "Everything that starts with a faulty premise is bound to fail."
• (to Albert) "Well, organized sports is the paradigmatic model of a just society. Everyone knows the same language everyone knows the rules. And there's a specific punishment handed out the moment someone tries to cheat. Instant morality."
• (to Nick) "Don't insult the pigs, Nick. They're actually very clean."
• (to Albert) "Amazing the advances we make in science and the primitive uses we find for them."
• (to Sara) "The best intentions are fraught with disappointment."
• (to Sara) "If you try and chase two rabbits you end up losing them both."
• (to Mimosa) "Beauty is a societal construction."
• (to Sara) "I don't know. Most people want to die in their sleep, I suppose. Never know that it's happening. Like a crime scene. Surprise, you're dead. I'd prefer to know in advance that I was going to die. I'd like to be diagnosed with cancer, actually. Have some time to prepare."
• (to Catherine) "The breadth of your social experiences never ceases to amaze me."
• (to Warrick) "Every death has at least two stories."
• (to Warrick) "It's human nature, we continue to perform the routine motions of our life until the moment of our death."

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Episodes | Characters | Airdates | Official website
Characters	Gil Grissom | Catherine Willows | Nick Stokes | Warrick Brown Sara Sidle | Jim Brass | Greg Sanders | Al Robbins Sofia Curtis | Conrad Ecklie
Former Characters	Holly Gribbs | Paul Millander | Lady Heather
Creator(s)	Anthony E. Zuiker
Computer Games	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | CSI: Dark Motives CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder
Related Series	CSI: New York | CSI: Miami