Laurence Fishburne Exits CSI After Two Seasons

Ray Langston has endured being a hostage and getting stabbed on CSI, but it looks like his troubles will be over when the show returns for its 12th season.

Laurence Fishburne is leaving CBS' flagship forensic drama, a source confirms to TVGuide.com. He is expected to return to film acting, according to Deadline.com, which first reported the news.

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Fishburne, who plays Dr. Langston, joined CSI in its ninth season to fill the void after William Petersen's exit. Fishburne decided against renewing his deal with CSI after re-upping for only one season last year.

It remains unclear how the show will handle Fishburne's character's exit from the show. Langston figured heavily into Season 11's cliff-hanger finale, which revolved around whether or not Langston would admit that he killed serial killer Nate Haskell (Bill Irwin) out of revenge rather than self-defense.

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The news may make some TVGuide.com readers happy: Several users recently selected CSI as a show they would stop watching next season, primarily because of Langston's dominant screen time and habit of "dumbing the other characters down."

Will you miss Fishburne and Langston?