When last we saw actress Jorja Fox on CSI, her alter ego Sara Sidle was deep in the Costa Rican jungle, happily reunited with the love of her life, Gil Grissom. Well, apparently Sara's going to have some very good reason to leave that romantic idyll because come this fall, Jorja Fox is returning to CSI for five episodes.

There's no indication that William Petersen's Gil is joining her, although since Petersen is still connected to the show as an executive producer, he could decide to pop in for a show or two.

(S09E10) "It feels like Grissom's last big game. I want to win it for him." -- Nick to Catherine

If you're a fan of closure, if you like solutions and results and answers, here was the episode for you. Grissom's exit gave the writers and producers of CSI a chance to present a show which encompassed most of the elements that characterize what makes this show so popular.

It was sort of a greatest hits episode, if you will, topped with the one scene that kept viewers glued to the set till the end credits. If you missed it by turning away after Grissom's nostalgic stroll through the offices, I'll tell you all about what happened...after the jump.

Just because William Petersen signed a contract in May that said he was going to stay on CSI, doesn't mean that he's going to, you know, stay on CSI. As it turns out, Petersen, who does double-duty as Gil Grissom and executive producer of the long-running procedural, had a clause in his contract that is allowing him to leave the show after this season's tenth episode. Both Petersen and CBS are quick to point out, however, that we will not be seeing the last of Gil Grissom.

Petersen plans to remain actively involved in CSI and is maintaining his role as executive producer. Although he will no longer be a series regular, he's definitely not planning on leaving for good, saying, "I'm in a great place in terms of knowing that I'll be more free to make choices. And I'm responsible enough to not do it in a way that would hurt [the show]."

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP

When Sara left CSI, driving out of Las Vegas on her way to who knows what, he left behind a brokenhearted Gil Grissom. The producers of CSI were wise to keep the door open for the character to return, and that's just what's happening -- at least for one show. According to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello, Jorja Fox will be in the season premiere of CSI. Oh, and she won't be the only former cast mate on the show; so will Gary Dourdan as Warrick.

I know, I know -- I can hear you now, how is that possible? Didn't he die in the CSI finale? When we last saw Warrick, he'd been shot twice and left to die in his car. Could the CSI have survived a bullet through the neck? He was slumped over the steering wheel, so he looked dead. And the sheriff shot him a second time -- presumably a death shot to the head since it was an execution.

Every time he thinks he's out, they pull him back in again! No, just kidding. It's not like that. This isn't Michael in Godfather 3. Nobody's forcing anyone.

However, it is true that William Petersen is returning to CBS's CSI for the ninth season. This is great news for fans of the show -- and the star -- because for years now he's been yelping about leaving the hit series to do other things. Last year, for example, he was written off the show for a brief hiatus in which Liev Schreiber was cast as a temporary replacement for Gil Grissom in the Las Vegas crime lab.

For the past week, CBS has been running a sad preview for tonight's episode of CSI, the last one for star William Petersen (for a while anwyay). Liev Schreiber joins the cast soon.

Hey, I'll admit I don't watch this show (even though it's the MOST IMPORTANT SHOW IN THE UNIVERSE). So I ask fans: is this departure as big as they're making it out to be. Yes, yes, I know he's the star of the show and he's the leader of the team and all that. But the commercials make it sound, with the "you never thought he'd leave" voiceover and the tinkling piano and the emotion, you'd think that Lucy Ricardo was just hit by a bus or maybe Petersen had died in real life and this was his last show.

Why is Petersen leaving temporarily anyway? To star in a play? Burnt out? Contract negotiations? The episode preview should get into that: "People come and go...but you never thought he'd leave...but due to other commitments and just a feeling that he had to get away for a while, our star has to leave and will be replaced by another actor...tonight, on a very special CSI."