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What do we know about Sheldon Hawkes?

• Read Sheldon's bio on CBS

• Talk about Sheldon Hawkes

Backstory:
During season 1, Hawkes is a Medical Examiner with the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). He was a child prodigy who graduated from college at eighteen, and by 24 he was a fully board-licensed surgeon. After a tumultuous surgical career in which he was often at odds with his boss and after losing two patients on the operating table.


Work style:
Hawkes is a sympathetic soul who is willing to lend an ear to anyone who needs to talk.


What drives Dr. Hawkes?


After doing everything he could, a patient died in his arms during surgery. Hawkes decided to leave the hospital scene to become an ME (and later a CSI) and help those who've already died by bringing their killer to justice.

Relationships:

Had a relationship with Kara, she later got raped

Defining Cases (or Episodes):

Season 1
(During season 1, Hawkes is a Medical Examiner with the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner)
Ep 03 - He evidently sleeps at the morgue sometimes, as he has a cot there.

Ep 23 - Mac finds out Hawkes wants to move into the field.


Season 2
At the start of season 2, Hawkes moves from the autopsy room out into the field, much to the initial surprise of head CSI Mac Taylor.


Season 3:
Ep 04 - Hawkes is targeted by killer Shane Casey. Several years before, when Hawkes was the M.E., his testimony helped send Shane's brother, Ian, to jail for a robbery-homicide at a neighborhood pub. Ian Casey committed suicide while awaiting sentencing and Shane blamed several people, including Hawkes. Shane murders the jury foreperson and a witness to Ian's original crime before the team makes the connection to Hawkes and the previous case.

Ep 07 - He is shown in flashback to have met a girl at a party. The girl felt unhappy, so Hawkes took her out for a cup of coffee and listened to her tell him her troubles. Afterwards, he gave her his phone number if she ever felt like she needed to talk to him again. The girl is found dead two weeks later onboard a subway car following a rave party, with Hawkes' phone number still on her person. Hawkes, when he discovers his phone number in the girl's possession, neglects to tell Mac about his connection to her, which earns him a dressing-down from Mac in front of the entire lab. Later, Hawkes apologizes to Mac for not disclosing how he knew the victim and tells his story.

Ep 09 - when Mac confides about his father's lingering death from cancer, and Sheldon comforts him. This dialogue also indicates that Hawkes is opposed to euthanasia.
After a tumultuous surgical career in which he was often at odds with his boss and after losing two patients on the operating table (shown in flashback)

Ep 11 - Shane orchestrates a plot that implicates Hawkes in a robbery-homicide in deliberate imitation of Ian's case. Shane demands that the team find evidence to prove Ian's innocence in return for the evidence that will exonerate Hawkes. Though the team is assigned to a different case because of a conflict of interest, they find that the new case is, strangely enough, connected to Hawkes', and through the team's diligence, they are able to help clear Hawkes' name and secure his freedom, as well as prove Ian Casey's guilt in a twist of tragic irony and Shane was arrested. On his release, Sheldon is warmly embraced by Stella Bonasera.


Season 4
Ep 04 - While investigating the death of a diving instructor, Sheldon briefly becomes trapped underwater. Despite being injured and suffering from hypoxia, Sheldon is freed with the help of fellow CSI Danny Messer, who was diving with him. After they are safe, Hawkes admits that he envisioned coroner Sid Hammerback preparing to do an autopsy on him.


Season 5
Ep 12 - In episode 512, it was revealed that an ex-girlfriend of Hawkes' was a victim of a serial rapist years ago. The aftermath of the event led their relationship to fall apart. When the rapist strikes another victim, Hawkes becomes furious and a little obsessed with finding the rapist and putting him away, leading him to clash with Mac over the methods of obtaining evidence and over Hawkes' personal connection to one of the victims. He is removed from the case as a result. The rapist is eventually caught by Stella.

Ep 22 - Sheldon reminisces to Danny Messer about his just-deceased uncle Frank, who had witnessed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and whose dignified resilience to racism, and pride in his nephew, had been formative in Sheldon's life.

Secrets:

Trivia:

It took his parent six weeks after his birth to decide on his name (519).

Quotes:
(holding a severed finger)
"Apart from the fact of it not being attached to a person, there's nothing wrong with this finger."
"This job is never boring."