While most fans count this as a great chapter in the saga of Shane Casey, this episode's most significant aspect is the end for Stella Bonasera. I watched it when it premiered never thinking for even a nanosecond that this was the final episode for Melina Kanakaredes. To think her last scene was only 33 seconds long. 33 seconds, I think it takes longer to warm up my shower water. Emptying my dishwasher has taken longer depending on how heavy the load is.
When Season 6 was released on DVD, I fast-forwarded to her last scene counting how long it was on my cell's stopwatch. After I watched it, I used the stopwatch to time how long it would take me to pee on my next trip to my bathroom, it was a near solid minute. Vanessa Ferlito getting killed off in HEROES was the most heartbreaking moment until the news of July 2nd came out. Aiden Burn died a hero, but Stella was exiled & quickly was forgotten after the next episode. Hell, even after Shannen Doherty was fired, you never went any Season from 5 to 10 of BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 without at least a mention of Brenda Walsh. Between the screwing over of Melina Kanakaredes & the resignation of Peter Lenkov to go co-create the new HAWAII 5-0, this was the last real season of CSI:NEW YORK. I treated Seasons 7-9 like 90s METALLICA records, I disavowed them. I bought the DVD to round out the collection but they are the least watched, the least to occupy my Blu-Ray player. Seasons 1-6 however have had that blue laser running underneath them multiple times. Without Stella CSI:NEW YORK was rudderless. Sela Ward was the wrong choice. Clare Forlani should have been promoted, but I'm convinced CBS was out to sabotage this show.