#07X24

[classic-simpsons]

THE SIMPSONS 07.24 | Homerpalooza

[hollygl125]

No, I Never Meant to Hurt You: The Good, the Bad, and the Happy Ending(s): More Encounters; A Conversation Takes Place

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Gil Grissom/Sara Sidle Characters: Gil Grissom, Sara Sidle, Hank (the Boxer Dog) Grissom Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Unless I Messed Up, Nerds in Love, the love is requited, And They're No Longer Denying It, Romance, Fluff, Only Canon Angst, i just need them to be happy, totally self-indulgent, CSI as Rom-Com, Emphasis on Rom, Don't Hold Your Breath for Com, F. Scott Would Say I'm a Sentimental Person Not a Romantic One, Science Nerds (Affectionate) Series: Part 6 of Survivors in the Night: A Las Vegas Love Story

Summary:

What happened to get our two lovely science nerds from Sara’s “It's fine—do what you need to do” (“The Good, the Bad, and the Dominatrix,” 07x23) to Grissom’s doting “It’s all yours, my dear” (“Living Doll,” 07x24) and Sara’s flirty “Hello, Gilbert” (flashback in “Dead Doll,” 08x01)?

A conversation takes place. He can’t always be speechless.*

*If you'd like Grissom to talk to Sara about his feelings for her, this may be the fic for you.

[wheelsupin-five]

JUST WATCHED THE END OF 07x24 AND IM ABT TO START TEARING THINGS APART WITH MY BARE HANDS

[murrays-wardrobe]

The Last Show (07x24) Outfit 3

[markharmonparadise]

NCIS 07x24 - Rule Fifty-One

[t4tmoreid]

spencer and emily dancing together is actually something that can be so personal.....

[silverfoxgibbs]

[ncisdirectorleonvance]

[duckymallardfan]

[classic-simpsons]

THE SIMPSONS 07.24 | Homerpalooza

[addictedtostorytelling]

hi aj! i've always wondered, after the s3 fiasco of sara's dinner invitation being turned out and then grissom's surgery, how much time passes between those and the beginning of s4? their relationship is so clearly stranded but it also feels like some time has passed already. thank you so much for all your meta, it's saved me several times ❤ (also missing your fanfiction!)

hi, anon!

thank you for your kind words! i'm so glad my meta's been helpful to you (and that you like my fic).

re: your question:

within the universe of the show, episode 03x22 "play with fire" takes place on 05.07.03.

episode 03x23 "inside the box" takes place probably between eight days to a few weeks later, from circa 05.15.03 to sometime in the end of may '03.

there is then a four-month in-universe time skip, and episode 04x01 "assume nothing" takes place from 09.23.03 to 09.28.03.

this chronology is in sequence with the dates for the episodes immediately preceding and following the episodes in question (i.e., the episodes before the season changeover all take place in late april and early may '03 and the episodes after all take place in late september and early october '03), which indicates that the internal dates for the episodes in question are indeed correct and consistent with the show's overall internal timeline.

—all of which is to say that at the beginning of s4, some significant time has indeed passed since grissom turned sara down at the end of s3.

of course, it's worth noting: while there is nothing unusual about there being a four-month time skip between one season's end and the next's beginning, this particular time skip does result in a little bit of wonkiness regarding certain story events—namely, grissom's ear surgery at the end of s3.

as i talk about here:

traditionally, on csi, there is supposed to be a four-ish month time gap between the end of one season and the beginning of the next, mirroring the real-life network television summer hiatus. the purpose of this gap is to keep the internal chronology of the csiverse roughly on track with the chronology of the real world (so that episodes that are supposedly taking place in february within the universe of the show for the most part also air in february in real life, for example). most often, this time gap takes place between the season finale of one season and the season premiere of the next; however, in some cases, as with episodes 07x24 “living doll” and 08x01 “dead doll” and episodes 08x17 “for gedda” and 09x01 “for warrick,” which are cliffhanger-and-resolution pairs, the gap is pushed back to take place between the first episode of the new season and the second episode of the new season instead. in some cases, this time gap, whether it occurs in the premiere or in episode #2, makes internal sense within the universe of the show—like with the one between s4 and s5, when it is implied that sara spends a significant portion of her summer away from the lab, following her near-dui, so that she can attend her peap sessions and get her head on straight—but in others it requires some significant suspension of disbelief—such as is the case with the gap between s3 and s4, which makes the logistics of grissom’s ear surgery, recovery, and subsequent return to work weird af.

to elaborate, then, from another post:

the most common surgical treatments for otosclerosis are stapedectomy (i.e., the complete removal of the stapes bones of the inner ear) and stapedotomy (i.e., the drilling of a small hole in the stapes bones of the inner ear).  both procedures are designed to allow for movement of the tympanic membrane (which is typically impeded by otosclerosis). the risks of both procedures include potential permanent hearing loss. stapedotomy is usually considered the safer of the two surgeries and is the more frequently recommended surgery for patients with otosclerosis. based on this information, it seems likely that the surgery grissom undergoes at the end of s3 is a stapedotomy. but in either case? both stapedectomies and stapedotomies can be performed in less than an hour and require little hospitalization; though mileage may vary, patients are typically released from the hospital within only hours or days after having the procedure performed. in cases where the procedures are successful, hearing may improve immediately or may take up to four weeks to improve, after swelling and residual bleeding subside. so theoretically? grissom takes off early from shift to have his surgery, gets it done within a single afternoon, and is back to work within a day or two after the procedure, having had no complications. his hearing improves within the week, and no one who didn’t know about his hearing loss prior to his surgery ever has any reason to learn about it after his surgery unless he elects to tell them about it for personal reasons... but here’s the thing: the csiverse isn’t exactly playing by “real world” rules. it’s fudging. i don’t have an exact in-universe date for when the events of episode 03x23 “inside the box” take place, but considering that the events of episode 03x22 “play with fire” take place on 05.07.03 in-universe and that episode 03x23 “inside the box” originally aired on 05.15.03, it seems likely that they are supposed to take place sometime in mid- to late may 2003, and especially considering that they seem to happen just a few weeks after the explosion at the lab (as greg is still recovering from his injuries, and the dna lab is still under renovation). that’s all well and good, but here’s the monkey wrench: the events of episode 04x01 “assume nothing” are set between 09.23.03 and 09.28.03 within the universe of the show, meaning that about four-odd months elapse between the events of episode 03x23 “inside the box” and the events of episode 04x01 “assume nothing.” and why is that problematic?  because catherine mentions grissom’s restored hearing in episode 04x01 “assume nothing” as if it is a brand new thing that she’s just noticing for the first time—i.e., as if he is back to work for the first time since his surgery [or at least as if the recovery of his hearing is still something of a novel development]. even if grissom’s hearing didn’t improve until four weeks after his surgery, there is no reason why his improved hearing would be news to catherine by late september. obviously, outside the universe of the show, there are two good reasons why catherine brings up grissom’s improved hearing in episode 04x01 “assume nothing”: i.e., to remind the casual viewing audience of the “will the surgery help or won’t it?” cliffhanger after the summer hiatus and to resolve said cliffhanger once and for all. but within the universe of the show, it’s just kind of this weird thing that strains credulity and makes it hard to figure out how much time grissom actually spends away from work following his surgery.

anyway, tl;dr: the in-universe dates i have for episodes 03x22 "play with fire" and 04x01 "assume nothing" fit within the overall timeline of the show, but the weird treatment of grissom's recovery from surgery does not.

as for the gsr of it all, i've got some more protracted thoughts about how things develop between grissom and sara from the time that he declines her date offer at the end of s3 to when we first see them, with some palpable awkwardness and tension between them, at the beginning of s4 here, if you're interested.

but suffice it to say: i think those four months are ones filled with hedging and weirdness on both of their parts, and as more time passes, grissom adopts his s4 mo of trying (and failing) to establish some relational distance between himself and sara, while meanwhile sara just becomes increasingly bewildered by his behavior.

—and that's what i've got.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[capsceneinvestigation]

[perccyderolo]

have you ever been in love? you have 90 minutes to complete

[murrays-wardrobe]

The Last Show (07x24) Outfit 2

[markharmonparadise]

NCIS 07x24 || Rule Fifty-One

[tony-x-ziva-is-tiva]