with the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, which airs at around the same time. By killing off the sexual tension between the two characters and making them an item, the production crew were seen to be adding more personal drama to the show, increasing the appeal to some of Grey's Anatomy's younger audience. This has been denied by the writers, Carol Mendelsohn even said that she has never been able to see Grissom with someone else other than Sara and that this episode was seen by the writers as the right time to reveal the relationship, Jorja Fox and William Petersen have also admitted that the relationship is not new. Throughout season seven, the audience sees Grissom and Sara as a couple, but the relationship is kept secret from the others in the lab until Sara's abduction by The Miniature Killer in the season finale when Grissom unwittingly refers to his feelings for Sara. During season eight, they have become engaged. When Jorja Fox decided to leave the show, both she and the writers decided not to kill the character, so as to leave the doors open for a possible comeback. Consequently, Sara Sidle is submerged into depression after her kidnap in the season seven finale, and, even though she accepts Grissom's marriage proposal on the season's fourth episode, she shows signs of burnout during the subsequent episodes, breaking down on the season's seventh episode, leaving Las Vegas and the CSIs with only a goodbye letter for Grissom and a good luck note for Ronnie Lake. In the letter she claims that ever since her father's death she has been dealing with "ghosts" and that she now needs to go away and deal with them before self-destructing. After Grissom leaves CSI, he goes to Costa Rica, in hopes of finding Sara. Once they see each other, they embrace in a passionate kiss, and Sara's return to CSI in the first episode of season ten reveals that she and Grissom are now married. In "Forget Me Not", Sara reveals "he's not my husband anymore" as she and Grissom had split up. According to her, he was the one to propose an end to the relationship, saying that it was in her best interest. However, in the series finale, Gil and Sara reunite. They sail off together in the final scene of the series. Reception This fictional character has an extensive fan base.