In the trilogy of Catherine's (Marg Helgenberger) departure episodes, this week was very much the "Empire Strikes Back" of the lot: lots of ground work, lots of suspense, and a delayed resolution.

Remember the FBI-assisted case with the gunrunning CEO, Mark Gabriel (Titus Welliver), his wife and long-lost friend of Catherine's, Laura (Annabeth Gish), and the witness that just happened to die before he could testify? Well, they all are back (minus the dead witness) and this time around the legal firm that Catherine suggested Laura go to for help was found out in the woods, reduced to mere skeletons.

The bodies were found in an advanced stage of decomp, giving Nick (George Eads) a few good bug jokes, as well as teasing me with the idea that perhaps he was going to call Grissom (William Petersen) to come weigh in. Nick was pretty sure that they were genetically advanced biobugs, which borders on the extreme, but sadly this point wasn't resolved.

But, there was a lot of other stuff going on, and we do have another week to tidy things. The plot only continued to simmer, and it was interesting to see the team caught up in a game way above any of their pay grades. We're talking high-level corporate, domestic, and international espionage. Not exactly local PD stuff, but it was all the more exciting for it.

The only major problem I had, at least so far in the saga, was with Catherine's attachment to Laura, which seemed to be her driving force throughout most of the episode. I can swallow the "old friend" cop-out pill just fine, writers, but why aren't we seeing her interact with some of the characters she's worked with for so long? Catherine, Nick, and Sara (Jorja Fox) have always been close, and Catherine leaving does mark the end of an era for this show. Why is she wasting so much time on someone we just met? I don't care about Laura, and frankly don't care just because Catherine does. Let's see Catherine interact with the people we've grown to care for all these years.

Of course, the characters in the show don't know that next week is Catherine's last hurrah, but we do. And that's what counts.

The episode culminated with the scene that CBS ruined with the teasers: Catherine getting gunned down in her house. She escaped with a flesh wound, but breathing and still very much alive. Right before that she apparently emailed her resignation, but I've got my bet that was a fake email sent by the assassins to try to stage it as a career-crisis-turned-suicide. Or maybe I've just been watching too much "CSI."

Anyway, the show laid the groundwork, and the answers, resolution, and Ewoks are all presumably coming next week. Catherine may not be my favorite character, but she has been an integral part of the show for so long. I'm hoping they bring the waterworks and heartstring tugging next week and give her the sendoff she deserves.