Dr. Heather Kessler, also known as Lady Heather, is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, portrayed by Melinda Clarke. This recurring character is a professional dominatrix and a potential romantic interest for then regular CSI supervisor Gil Grissom, as well as romantic rival to CSI forensic scientist Sara Sidle. The character appears in six regular episodes of CSI and the two-hour finale TV movie. Character creation Lady Heather was created by writer Jerry Stahl. He has written some of CSIs most controversial episodes, which have also sometimes been the most watched. Melinda Clarke has said that she became interested in playing Lady Heather because of the contrasts embodied within the character: a multidimensional person who hadn't been seen, a dominatrix who was much more evolved—enigmatic and empowered. As noted in The Philosophy of TV Noir, Lady Heather is an "inspired variant" on the classic film noir femme fatale, with different aspects of her personality being explored over the course of multiple episodes. Bill Keveney of USA Today nominates Lady Heather as a favorite of viewers, crediting "her ability to read the usually opaque Grissom". Steven Cohan explores in his book on the series, Lady Heather as part of the show's "questioning of identity and the status of normality". Appearances "Slaves of Las Vegas" Lady Heather is introduced in a 2001 episode as part of CSIs second season. A murder occurs at Lady Heather's fetish club which the CSI team investigates. Previously unaware of the club and curious about Lady Heather's world, Gil Grissom finds himself intrigued and attracted to her. She explains the lifestyle to him, and he admires her almost academic approach to human behavior. During a conversation with Catherine about business earnings and women never giving up their power, Lady Heather reveals she has a daughter, Zoë, who's studying at Harvard. Grissom is drawn to Heather's intellect, and both characters acknowledge an attraction to each other, and as the episode ends, some sexual tension begins to build, but neither acts on it. William Petersen has said that his character, Grissom, is attracted to Lady Heather because they are "both anthropologists. He's fascinated by her [scientific look at] the sexual psyche of human beings." "Lady Heather's Box" In 2002, a year after Lady Heather's first appearance, she appeared again in CSI in its season three. This time, two murders, apparently unrelated, lead the