If someone's interested in CSI for Sara x Grissom, but they'd prefer to skip (most of) the build-up...which season should they start with?

To quote another fave, “I wish the answer were as simple as the question seems”, anon. But this is not your typical ‘ship, as in lot of the juicy stuff is actually in the build-up which is scattered across multiple seasons.

As the showrunners used to say, “we don’t go home with the characters”, i.e. we see them at work 99% of the time, so when Sara and Griss finally become an item somewhere btw S5 and S6, there is no 180 in their attitude or an onslaught of typical couple behavior w/ extra doses of domesticity, esp bc for two years they actively try to hide the relationship from friends and co-workers.

But I do realize watching the whole thing is a giant commitment, so I think the best approach here is probably to watch some key episodes from the “build-up block” of S1-S5: 102 - Cool Change, 110 - Sex, Lies, and Larvae, 116 - Too Tough to Die, 205 - Scuba Doobie-Doo, 215 - Burden of Proof, 216 - Primum Non Nocere, 223 - The Hunger Artist, 302 - The Accused Is Entitled, 322 - Play with Fire, 403 - Homebodies, 407 - Invisible Evidence, 412 - Butterflied, 423 - Bloodlines, 513 - Nesting Dolls, 521 - Committed,

then binge the “couple block” of S6-S9E10 + watch 1113 - The Two Mrs. Grissoms, and then the 2parter finale “Immortality” which is sometimes listed as eps 1601 and 1602.