Catherine Willows

Catherine Willows (Born March 26, 1963) is a fictional person in the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She is a very close friend to Gil Grissom. She handles her daughter, Lindsey, her job, and her love life roughly at times (such as in the episode "Weeping Willows"), but otherwise is a very talented person, and can handle those things very well. She is played by Marg Helgenberger

Biography and Personal

Catherine was born on a ranch in western Montana. She was the eldest daughter of fourth-generation ranchers, but the rural life was never for her. Catherine could ride before she could walk, but horses were always for taking her away from work. She left home for the first time as a sixteen-year-old. She lived in Seattle for a year with her would-be rock-star boyfriend, eking out a living as a waitress. When he left her for an older woman, she went home…to find home wasn’t there anymore. Her parents had been forced to sell their ranch and moved to town. They made it clear that Catherine was on her own. The next stop for Catherine was Las Vegas. She waited tables until she discovered a much more lucrative line of work: exotic dancing. The men loved her and the money poured in. Catherine spent it all on school and the aspiring career of her music-producing boyfriend, Eddie. Dating turned to engagement which turned to marriage. When their turbulent quasi-romance ended, Eddie left her with ten dollars in the bank, a coke habit, and a small child, Lindsey (born 1992). Catherine pulled it together for her own sake and for the sake of her daughter.

Even after the divorce, Eddie continues to reappear. He appears in several episodes, including once as a suspected rapist ("Who are you?"). When he files for a second mortgage on their home, without Catherine's knowledge, she is furious when she finds out. They have a fight while Catherine is at work, and Grissom steps in because it appears Eddie is going to hit her. Eddie accuses them of having "something going on." Later, he files a complaint with Child Services, complaining that Catherine is neglecting Lindsay for her work. Finally, in "Lady Heather's Box," Eddie is killed and Catherine receives a distraught call from her daughter who is alone in a sinking car. Catherine manages to find Lindsay and pull her from the car before she drowns. Eddie's body is found later. In more recent episodes, Catherine seems to be having some trouble with Lindsay. In the episode "Harvest" she is caught hitchhiking and Catherine is furious, and brings her in to the lab to see a body, so that she would know the world isn't a safe place.

It is later revealed that she is the illegitimate daughter of Sam Braun ("Inside the Box"), one of the top hotel moguls in Las Vegas. Catherine is later removed from a case in which he is a suspect because of conflict of interests. ("No More Bets")

Catherine dates in several episodes, including "Weeping Willows" when a man with whom she had a brief encounter becomes a suspect in a murder at the bar where she had been.

Work

Catherine earned a B.S. in Medical Technology from the University of Las Vegas, and is currently a CSI Level 3.* She is the second most senior (after Grissom) CSI at the night shift at the Las Vegas Criminalists Bureau.

She doesn't believe that forensics is just pure science; she likes to know the 'why' of cases, not just the 'how.' However, she doesn't worry that technology will make their jobs obsolete. She's active in keeping up education-wise with her job, and attended a seminar/conference at the American Academy in Chicago. She was offered Grissom's job after he'd ticked off the Sheriff during the Strip Strangler case, but she prefers that any promotion she receives be on merit, not because Grissom is "politically tone-deaf."

In 2005 Catherine was promoted to Swing Shift supervisor, with Nick and Warrick to work under her, but the team was reunited under Grissom the next season. Catherine and her best friend [Gil Grissom] have a very close relationship, even though there is an occasional rough patch. He once likened her to "his wife," but there does not seem to be any physical attraction between the two. There does seem to have been some attraction between Catherine and [Warrick Brown], and she reacts badly when she finds out he got married. Catherine has little tolerence for [Sara Sidle], which has caused disagreements with Grissom. Catherine also also a sort of mother figure to the other guys.

Catherine has had to pull her gun twice, and use it once to shoot Syd Goggle who was attempting to kill Grissom. ("Strip Strangler")