I actually also liked this episode. Well, most of it. I guess I just learned to not dwell too much on the things I didn’t like or just don’t care about. I liked a few scenes a lot, so that probably helps to ignore some of the rest.
I started to get used to or to even like April and Jackson, but in this episode I was a bit annoyed by their presence again. What is going on with Jackson all of a sudden? Or maybe not all of a sudden, but if he really is still suffering or traumatized from the shooting the writers should have started that storyline a few episodes ago. It just didn’t make any sense to me now. And I start to understand the people who are tired of all the storylines which originate from the shooting. Despite the fact that it would be realistic if they still had to deal with it, it’s getting boring for a TV show as long as they don’t start to get over it. The same goes for Bailey, who hopefully has found a new purpose with her plan to conquer the complications of pancreas surgeries. It’s a good thing she is planning to have Jackson assist her, hopefully he will get back on track with this as well.
April was…. I don’t even know what to say about her. I liked her interaction with Jackson, but her doe-eyed looks towards Alex were too much for my taste and it once again felt forced. It’s not that I would generally be against this pairing, it just doesn’t make any sense to me yet. Even I was annoyed by her naiviety and insecurities after she kissed Alex. And for heaven’s sake, woman, it’s Alex Karev and you know what kind of guy he is. You should have known better and I can’t really feel sorry for you, as much as I try. I like that Jackson came to her defense though.
I thought I really was ok with April and Jackson being around and being part of the group by now, but during the cafeteria scene I had a sudden flashback to all the wonderful, hilarious cafeteria scenes with the original FabFive: Merdith, Cristina, Alex, George and Izzie. They should have been there and had that conversation and interaction. It’s their cafeteria. The scene/dialogue itself was nice, but there just were the wrong people on the screen. *sigh*
I love Alex and he was an awesome pediatric surgeon once again, standing up to his jerkface of attending. I was always asking for more backstory on Alex Karev and now the show provided it, but I’m not sure if I really like that. I have some issues with the way these details are just suddenly presented to us and that we don’t get to know more about it. I guess, it was all of a sudden for Alex too, but it still felt… weird. I also hate that the writers put more and more crap on Alex, as if his life wasn’t messed up enough as it is. Give the guy a break, please! No wonder he is acting as a jerk, but I just hate that he has to go through all this crap. And that he naturally feels guilty about it. I’m wondering if this story was a set up for his sister moving to Seattle? More characters, just what we need. Not. But maybe it was just one of the random and solitary backstories we get to hear about in this show.
The whole storyline with VIP patient from the middle east was ok, but a bit far-fetched. What would he do in Seattle? Secret meeting with whoever or not. But the story provided some funny moments, Bailey asking if it were Bono, the security guy looking for Meredith and such but all in all… I don’t know. Almost too much Teddy again for my taste, but she wasn’t too bad in this and I liked the way she dealt with the security guy. As much as I liked all the interaction between Owen/Teddy and Meredith/Derek, it all still felt too much as if this highly unrealistic storyline was just written to actually have those four interact with each other and talk about Cristina. I know that every patient’s storyline basically just acts as the background for some interaction among the characters, but it felt so blatantly obvious to me in this one.
But I have to say, I liked the interaction itself. The way Teddy and Derek argued about Cristina and what they all should do. It was about time somebody contradicts Teddy, who seems to not have done anything wrong yet. I don’t say it was her fault, that Cristina quit, but I just liked that Derek argued with her regardless :-) I still like the Cristina storyline (especially with the latest spoiler floating around *g*), but even I found her behaviour a bit over the top. I still think it’s not out of character, because she is a person who doesn’t do things halfheartedly. It’s all or nothing for her and she wouldn’t have had the career she had so far, if she had been less than 100% concentrated on her education, her training and her profession. Now she’s totally out of the loop, but that she is 100%. Does this make any sense to anyone? Well, it did to me. But I admit they could have cut a few of the scenes with Callie at the mall and everything. It was not the most exciting too watch, because it was just telling the same thing over and over again. Cristina has absolutely no idea of what she is supposed to do.
I really liked the first scene, where Teddy talked about the patient to the large audience, and Mark heard about Cristina. I really loved Mark in this moment (and that says something!), because it showed that he is a good guy who cares. And the whole interaction between all of the doctors was just fun to watch. I might have squeed a bit,when Derek started to question Teddy’s behaviour towards Cristina, because it became obvious that he is completely on Cristina’s side. That was obvious throughout the rest of the episode and I just loved to see that. I already loved it in the earlier episode this season, when the stupid shrink and the chief had already given up on her, but there can never be enough scenes of Derek trying to protect and help Cristina. They really have come a long way.
I loved that he was not trying to push her and is able to accept that she maybe just needs to figure things out for herself. I squeeed again in delight, when he came to warn her about the intervention and I really loved their rooftop talk about random things like floors and bathroom tiles. That he doesn’t pressure her about anything work-related and just keeps the focus on what’s important to Cristina at the moment. That he accept that she needs to be in avoidance mode at the moment. And that he trusts her, that she will find a way to figure things out on her own at her own pace. He definitely lived up to the McDreamy nickname once again.