So Long, Warrick Brown

So who cried at last night's season opener of CSI? Be honest!  My husband actually got sniffly in the final scene of Gil Grissom speaking at the murdered Warrick's funeral. Yes, it was very sad, but the crying puzzled me a little (and not because he's not sweet and sensitive and in touch!).

We already knew, way back in the spring, from statements by Gary Dourdan that Warrick was leaving the show, so there wasn't any question of Warrick sticking around. Being dead doesn't even necessarily mean the actor is off the show; he or she can still appear in flashbacks, dream sequences, any number of ways (although we knew this would not be the case with Dourdan). Sure, Grissom cried, but what exactly did we have to cry about?

The simple answer is: we lost someone too.
 

We knew Warrick would be gone; the question was only whether he lived (and his story stretched out a few episodes longer) or he died. I figured it didn't much matter which because, either way, Warrick was off the show. So I was unprepared for the rush of emotions that came with his death. I asked my husband to explain what exactly had gotten to us, and he had a very illuminating response.

He replied that he wasn't upset about Warrick leaving the show; he just didn't want to see him die. He likened it to a character in a book, someone you've grown attached to and don't want to read about coming to harm. He simply wanted the best for Warrick. Doesn't this say a lot about our connection to a character, as a viewer? We share something with the characters we see on television, and in many ways they are real. Sure, that person in the book may be fictional, but the character and all his actions and predicaments and pains are real.

Warrick is real. Our emotional responses to his death are real. Is there any way to put into words the connection audiences make to certain characters? It's such a personal thing. And isn't this partly why you've chosen to be an actor, not just for yourself, your personal calling, but to reach out and connect to other people watching?

And boy, am I going to cry when we lose Grissom.

--Anna Bengel