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Sara Sidle
Sara Sidle
played by Jorja Fox
Character Biography
Character Stats
Birthday: September 16, 1972
Reason for Becoming a CSI: to right the wrongs of the world
Forensic Specialty: Materials and Elements analysis
CSI Level: 3
Personality Type: committed
Signature Look: casual
Vice(s): (was) alcohol, over working
Virtue(s):
Endearing Trait(s): helpful and caring
Annoying Trait(s): easy to anger
Character Connections
Family Members:
Mother-- Laura Sidle
Father-- ? (deceased)
Brother-- ?
Romance(s): Hank Pedigrew, Gil Grissom
Friend(s): Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Greg
Enemie(s): Natalie Davis, Ecklie
...........................




Backstory:
Born 16th of September 1972, Sara Sidle is the daughter of Laura Sidle and her husband, a pair of ex-hippies who ran a B&B in Tamales Bay, California, an hour and a half outside of San Francisco. (original biography, never mentioned on screen) Sara has an older brother ("One Hit Wonder"). She was in an abusive family, with fights often occurring and trips to the hospital, and when Sara was young, her mother stabbed her father to death ("Nesting Dolls"). Sara went into a foster home for several months ("No Humans Involved") while her mother was in a psychiatric hospital ("Committed")

Sara was a science geek in high school ("Bully For You"). In 1984, the California courts heard the case of "The People vs. Laura Sidle w/2" in Modesto ("No Humans Involved"). Sara Sidle is one of the most brilliant CSI's on the team. At 16, she gained early admission to Harvard ("CSI:" board game, since refuted), where she got her Bachelor's degree in Theoretical Physics; later she received her Masters from UC Berkley (official biography). While in college, Sara started to grow as a human being, interacting with others - this included a trip to the Mile High Club with a BMoC who was "overrated in every aspect" ("Unfriendly Skies"); however, she is still socially inept enough that she talks about work while on a date ("The Finger").

After college, Sara moved to San Francisco and worked in the Coroners Office (official biography), and at some point became a CSI at the crime lab there. In 1999, she attended a Forensic Academy Conference, where she met Gil Grissom.
Vegas:
About a year after meeting, Sara is called to Las Vegas by Gil Grissom -- whom she met during a lecture of his ("Toe Tags") at the 1999 Forensic Academy Conference ("A La Cart") in San Francisco -- to solve the attack, and later death, of rookie CSI Holly Gribbs ("Cool Change"). When asked by Catherine as to why he called Sara to solve the case, he stated ,"she's a friend of mine, someone I trust. She's going to handle our internal investigation and I want to keep this in-house. I don't want I.A. Involved."

When she arrived at the lab, she was not welcomed with open arms by some of the CSIs--Catherine and Warrick. Since one of their own was shot, Catherine and Warrick did not feel that the investigation should be handled by an outsider. Following the case, at some point, Grissom convinced her to stay and replaced Holly on his team. But after some time Sara's relationship with Warrick and Catherine, along with the rest of the team, improved; they've become a family to Sara and some of her only friends ("A Bullet Runs Through It, pt.2").

Sara's relationship with her teammates is layered and contentious; she doesn't often talk to them about her personal life or her past. Not surprisingly given her history, Sara has a hatred of rape and domestic abuse cases, and can lose her objectivity to the point where she almost attacks a suspect ("Sex, Lies and Larvae"). In a later case, she berates a suspect, accurately accusing him of killing his first wife and abusing his second one, which leads to an argument with both Catherine and Ecklie, resulting in her being suspended for a week and almost fired ("Nesting Dolls"). It's at this point that she tells Grissom some of her family history; aside from a PEAP counselor, he is the only one she has ever opened up to about her past.
While Sara has always been interested in her boss - to the point where she remembers everything he says and can quote him - her pursuit of Grissom didn't really begin until she was injured in a lab explosion ("Play With Fire..."); her intimation of mortality causes her to try and arrest a suspect; later she asks Grissom out on a date (he turns her down). The complicated relationship of Sara and Grissom on CSI culminated in 2006 ("Way To Go"), where it was revealed to the audience that Grissom and Sara were more than co-workers. This scene takes place in a bedroom, where Grissom describes how he wants to die, and Sara tells him she isn't ready to say goodbye yet. In Season 7, Sara's romantic relationship with Grissom continues, sometimes playfully, and sometimes with tension-filled moments.

In Season 7's finale, the truth finally came out about Grissom and Sara's relationship when Sara was abducted by the Miniature Killer, Natalie Davis. At the end of the episode, Sara is seen under a car, her arm reaching out. She is still alive when the episode ends with "To Be Continued."

In the Season 8 premiere, Sara survives her ordeal out in the desert. Sometime after Nick finds Sara unconcious in the desert, she wakes up -- in a helicopter on her way to Desert Palm Hospital -- and sees Grissom watching over her. In the episode "Good Bye and Good Luck", Sara says good bye to Grissom (with a kiss and a letter) and leaves the lab. When she left she went to San Francisco to see her mother who is (supposedly) curently prison for killing Sara's father.

In the Season 9 premiere, Sara returns to Vegas (and Grissom) following Warrick's shooting.




Personal Demons:
  • Her mother stabbed her father to death
  • She has used alcohol as an emotional crutch in the past, but does not have a drinking problem
  • She is often insubordinate to her superiors
  • Sara was raised in foster care and when brought up (No Humans Involved, Meet Market, Nesting Dolls...), she tends to get emotional about the fact. She often shows empathy for others that went through the same thing.
  • Sara has a tendency to believe what suspects and witnesses tell her, which sometimes leads to her getting 'played' by a suspect (such as in "The Unusual Suspect")
Defining Cases:
Cool Change - Sara’s first appearance. She is initially brought in as an independent investigator that Grissom knew from a lecture of his.
Sex, Lies and Larvae - Gives some insight into her ‘complicated’ relationship with Grissom.
The Strip Strangler - Sara’s over-sensitivity to cases involving violence towards females (which is later revealed has ties to her childhood) is displayed.
You've Got Male - The similarities in lifestyles between her and a victim forces Sara to re-evaluate her personal life.
Butterflied - Sara learns Grissom's feelings for her when the team investigates the death of a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Sara.
Bloodlines - Sara's drinking problem is brought to the forefront when receives a DUI at the end of the episode.
No Humans Involved - Sara mentions that she was in foster care and the audience learns of the court case against her mother.
Snakes - During her post-PEAP counselling session, Sara tells Grissom that he was the reason that she moved to Las Vegas. She concluded, from her sessions, that she looks for ‘validation in inappropriate places’.
Nesting Dolls - Sara is suspended for insubordination. She later reveals to Grissom she grew up in a household that was prone to domestic violence, which only ended when her mother stabbed her father
Committed - While Grissom and Sara investigate the murder of a mental hospital patient, Sara is forced to confront her demons about her mother’s own time in an institution
Way to Go- Grissom and Sara's relationship is revealed to the audience.
Living Doll - Sara's personal relationship with Grissom is revealed to the team
The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp- Grissom asks Sara to marry him (but no ring)
Goodbye and Good Luck - Sara decides to leave Las Vegas, the team, and Grissom behind to avoid sinking farther into misery. She kisses Grissom goodbye (yes, onscreen) and writes him a heartfelt letter.
Sara's Goodbye Letter to Grissom:
Gil,


You know I love you. I feel I've loved you forever.

Lately I haven't been feeling very well. Truth be told, I'm tired.

Out in the desert, under that car that night, I realized something and I haven't been able to shake it.

Since my father died, I spent almost my entire life with ghosts. We've been like close friends and out there in the desert, it occurred to me, that it was time for me to bury them. I can't do that here.

I'm so sorry.

No matter how hard I try to fight it off, I'm left with a feeling that, I have to go. I have no idea where I'm going, but I know I have to do this. If I don't, I'm afraid I'll self-destruct, and worse, you'll be there to see it happen. Be safe.

Know that I tried very hard to stay. Know that you are my one and only. I will miss you with every beat of my heart. Our life together was the only home I've ever really had. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I love you...I always will.

Goodbye.
GSR Banner
See also: Grissom and Sara
Go to the GSR photo gallery
Deep Dark Secret(s):
  • Her mother stabbed her father to death.
  • She was hiding that she was having a relationship with her boss, Gil Grissom
Trivia:
  • She once got her brother (possibly foster brother) in trouble for having weed, because she did not know that it was drugs she just thought it was dirt in a bag.
  • The background tentatively written by Jorja which has never aired, included Sara being raised by hippie parents who owned a bed and breakfast, has since been changed by the writers to an abusive home and foster care. The abusive family / father murdered / foster care background wasn't written for the character until the 5th season. Originally the character was written in as a possible love interest for Grissom.
  • Has a flower tattoo on her left ankle.
  • She once worked at a Chucky Cheese
  • Sara is "incapable of leaning on anyone for support", according to Jorja Fox in a 2006 interview; she also said that she enjoys this aspect of the character.
  • Sara sometimes sings to herself in the lab.
  • Sara is very good at processing cars and other mechanical objects, and doesn't mind doing so.
  • Is engaged to supervisor Gil Grissom

    • Quotations:
    Sara: (pissed off) I'm a woman and I have a gun, and look how he treated me! I can only IMAGINE how he treated his wife!
    ---"Sex, Lies and Larvae"
    Sara: The only reason this is your lab is because Grissom doesn't kiss ass. You couldn't hack it in the field, so you fail your way up, you break up our team, and now you just hang out in the hallways waiting for one of us to screw up.
    Ecklie: Sidle, you're on one-week suspension without pay...
    Sara: Great.
    Ecklie: ...and when you get back, you're apologizing to Catherine.
    Sara: No, I'm not."
    ---"Nesting Dolls"
    Sara: When my father died, my mother came to a place like this for a while for evaluation. It looked the same, it smelled the same. It smelled like lies.
    Grissom: You sure you're okay?
    Sara: Crazy people do make me feel crazy.
    ---"Committed"
    Sara: You know, you don't have to sleep in the same bed together to have sex or ... romance.
    ---"Bite Me"
    Sara: (voice over) Can the love be real when the flowers aren't?
    ---"Rashomama"
    Sara: I think Malibu Barbie did it.
    Grissom: Well, then there's a lot more to Barbie than just a pretty face, 'cause this is a perfect half-inch scale model of the room.
    ---"Built to Kill Part 2"
    Grissom: "Sex with out love is pointless. It Makes you sad."
    Sara: "Well, I'm pretty sure I don't make you sad."
    Grissom: "No. You make me happy"
    ---"Ending Happy"

    Grissom: "Do you believe in intelligent life on other planets?"
    Sara: "I'm not even sure there's intelligent life on this planet"
    ---"Leapin' Lizards"
    Grissom: When did you tell Ecklie we got involved?
    Sara: Two years ago. (Grissom looks surprised) Why, what did you tell him?
    Grissom: Nine years.
    Sara: (laughs) The Forensic Academy Convention?
    Grissom: Yeah... You had too many questions about anthropology for some reason.
    Sara: Well, I was stalling, I was trying to get the nerve to ask you to dinner.
    Grissom: You had a ponytail.
    ---"A La Cart"


    Latest page update: made by CSINerd4Life , Tuesday, 3:40 PM EDT (about this update About This Update CSINerd4Life fixing the font - CSINerd4Life


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    Keyword tags: CBS Characters CSI gsr Sara Sidle
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    Threads

    Anonymous  (Get credit for your thread)
    (Showing the last 5 of 93 - view all)
    Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
    Catherine-Willows Crying?!?! (page: 1 2) 22 Yesterday, 6:17 AM EDT by loweze
    Catherine-Willows
    Thread started: Jul 11 2008, 11:12 AM EDT  Watch
    I have seen a few pics and videos of the same thing
    Sara was crying...really badly and Grissom was holding her hand.
    Does anyone know the episode and what the situation was.
    I would really like to know
    2  out of 2 found this valuable. Do you?    
    Keyword tags: CBS Characters CSI gsr Sara Sidle
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    csigirl222 csi people 15 Aug 12 2008, 7:06 PM EDT by love_gsr
    Thread started: Aug 9 2008, 12:27 AM EDT  Watch
    who is your fav csi
    0  out of 3 found this valuable. Do you?    
    Keyword tags: None
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    gsriscool You know we should have a welcome back Sara page!! 11 Jul 31 2008, 10:37 AM EDT by love_gsr
    Thread started: Jul 30 2008, 9:16 PM EDT  Watch
    I think that page would be really cool!!
    0  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
    Keyword tags: CBS Characters CSI gsr Sara Sidle
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    szbeth I have kind of a silly question? 6 Jul 7 2008, 4:50 PM EDT by szbeth
    szbeth
    Thread started: May 2 2008, 3:30 AM EDT  Watch
    Do you all think that Jorja Fox and the cast are still really close friends even though she has left? I would like to think so, but I was just curious....I always felt like she had a close relationship with all the cast oh well just curious
    5  out of 5 found this valuable. Do you?    
    Keyword tags: CBS Characters CSI gsr Sara Sidle
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    CSI_maniac sara should have stayed! 2 Jul 7 2008, 9:35 AM EDT by twixrtreats
    Thread started: Jan 5 2008, 11:56 PM EST  Watch
    OMG sara sidle is AWSOME!!!! my like B.F.F looks just like her!!! and my other friend is like so scared of csi stuff!! wimp. jk. any ways who else wishes she didnt leave the show???? write back if you want her to stay! and if you liked that she left, you write back too, because someone has to talk some sence into you!!!
    3  out of 4 found this valuable. Do you?    
    Keyword tags: CBS Characters CSI gsr Sara Sidle
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