The show I fell in love with is obviously back. The drama, the fun, and all these emotions…
Sadie, please go away. She is such a superfluous character. Why does she bare her soul to Bailey in the scrub room? I don’t care about her past! Go away! Denny seems to be going away, which makes me happy. I’m afraid he will stick around a while, even though Izzie finally, finally broke up with him. But as he is neither real nor a ghost, there has to be some other explanation for him, like some kind of brain disorder in Izzie. Until this is cleared up and fixed he will bug her and that might drive her insane, for real this time :-) Well, or at least she or Alex might realize that something serious is wrong. A diagnosis I could have made half a season ago.
The chief was barely in this episode and I didn’t really miss him. Do I have to feel bad, that I didn’t even miss George much? He was there in the first scene at Mer’s home, but otherwise… I think his half repeated intern year seperated him from the rest (at work and in their free time) and I’m not sure if they (or the writers) can set that right again. It feels weird, the way it is though.
And do I also have to feel bad, that I didn’t care at all about this short patient, with his leg lengthening? Maybe in the future the writers find a more creative way to put Mark and Callie in scenes together to talk about their love lifes, without writing boring patient storylines for that occasion.
But now on to the things I loved about this episode, which was pretty much everything else. Last week I wrote that I usually love and adore Bailey and this episode proved it once again. I love that she cares so much. Even though she is a well trained and rational thinking surgeon most of the time this compassion still lets her get involved and emotionally invested. It makes it even more painful to watch if the patient doesn’t make it, but it makes me love Bailey all the more.
I start to really like Arizona Robbins. I was determined to not like any new and maybe permanent character, because they might take away screentime from the old ones. But at least she had great scenes with Alex which obviously made Alex think about his life and his future. Even though Arizona and Bailey fought about Jackson’s treatment they both aren’t so different from each other. They care a lot. They just have found different ways of dealing with it. Well, Bailey hasn’t in this case.
I adored Alex in this episode. He has grown so much. I loved how he supported Meredith in the beginning, He probably is the only one who really got why she freaked out so much, because he is equally dark & twisty. He is a male version of her, actually. Well, kind of, at least. I liked how he respectfully interrupted Bailey and Arizona and that he also cares so much about Jackson, but also about the dead kid, whose organs they got. When he suggested the road trip in the end and almost wanted to back out again, I could have hugged him. Thank God Izzie did that already.
I actually liked Izzie well enough in this episode. She was almost being old Izzie again with all her support for Mer and her teasing of Cristina for going on a date with Owen. “You and the pig-murderer…”. I’m so so happy she finally realized that she has to let go of Denny. I wish they could have had that sad scenes (“I want to meet your mom”) in early season 3. Talking to him in her mind, without actually seeing him. It would have been a normal step of grieving and moving on. Now it’s just annoying.
Mer’s freakout in the beginning and how her friends tried to calm her down, was hilarious. I missed the interaction of the whole group and I didn’t even mind that it was Sadie instead of Cristina. Anyway, I laughed a lot: “Izzie can’t fix a feeling!” No, but she obviously can fix and ruin a hairstyle. I loved how they commented on Mer meeting Mom Shepherd for the first time all through the episode. It was fun to watch.
Equally much fun to watch was Owen asking Cristina for a date and her accepting it. She was being all girly and flirty when she blurted out the question about the best surgery and that so proved that she doesn’t know how to go on a date. Does anyone remember the first real date she and Burke went on and which would have ended in a catastrophy if there hadn’t been that emergency at the restaurant. So, Cristina doesn’t know anything about going on dates. The scenes at her apartment and in the shower were heartbreaking. Owen really really should have therapy or … I don’t know. But he is clearly not ok and I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to have him run the ER. I don’t know if I want to be treated by a doc who clearly suffers from a post traumatic stress disorder. I really hope that Cristina can and will help him to get over this. This is going to be a very very strange relationship, I guess, but an interesting one nonetheless.
I totally loved Cristina’s comment about Meredith “alarmingly high” ponytail. Because it did look ridiculous and fight or not, Cristina obviously cares enough about her friend Meredith to tell her the truth. Blunt and honest like she used to, even if they are not speaking at the moment. Those two will be ok in the end, I’m sure of that.
I usually like Mark and Callie scenes, but they are getting to get old. How many times does Mark have to tell Callie to trust her instincts, take the risk and walk tall. Although I liked that “Walk tall, Torres” because it fits her situation. I just wish the writers wouldn’t write their patient storylines so obviously as a means to mirror Callies personal life. I like that some times but it seems to be getting overhand. But maybe that’s just me…
And then there were Mark and Lexie and Meredith and Derek and his mom and of course the serial killer. I liked Mom Shepherd, although I found her visit to Seattle a bit rushed. It looked like she had to meet and interact with too many characters, even Owen Hunt, which seemed a bit forced. A bit like when Momma Burke came back after the wedding. But I liked Carolyn Shepherd much more. I loved her interaction with guilty faced Mark in the cafeteria. And how she interrogated Lexie, who clearly didn’t know what to think of that. The scene in the attic in the beginning was so funny as well. And man, does he look great without a shirt :-) I’m curious to see how Derek will react when he finds out about this relationship. I so loved Mom Shepherds asssessment “You have the emotional maturity of a horny 15-year old” So so true!
Eric Stolz did an even better job this week. His serial killer is creepy. And manipulative. But just like Mer I feel kind of bad for him. Probably because I’m anti death penalty. No matter what kind of crime someone committed I don’t think it’s up to anyone of us or any government to kill this person. “Thou shall not kill” It’s actually a really simple commandment and it might not be easy to live by in some circumstances, but I think it’s the right rule. When Meredith explained the different ways of execution I was almost feeling sick. She was just reporting the way it is handeled in the US but that still made me feel sick. It’s reduced to some routine procedure, but it’s still wrong.
It reminded me of a West Wing episode, in which the president has to deal with commuting a death sentence or not. The court denied the prisoner’s latest appeal on a Friday afternoon, so the execution was supposed to take place as soon as possible, which means shortly after midnight. I think executions always take place after midnight. So this execution was postponed till after midnight on Sunday (early Monday), because in the US no executions take place between sundown on Friday and sundown on Sunday, which lead to the wonderful comment by the wonderful Toby Ziegler: “We don’t kill people on the holy Sabbath?” The whole system is so so surreal.
Anyway back to Grey’s: I love how this whole situation creates all sort of conflicts. In Derek. And between Meredith and Derek. It’s fascinating to see how easy the killer finds ways to push Derek’s buttons. He obviously knows how to read and egg on people. And Derek is probably in a state of mind when he doesn’t want to question himself and especially not be questioned by some serial killer. But these were really intense scenes. Derek is so convinced of doing the right thing and saving this man just to hand him back to the system to have him executed. If I didn’t love Derek that much and if I didn’t know about his dad, I probably would be mad for him and his black and white view of the world. But I’m sure this view will turn a shade of grey in the end :-)
I really like that Meredith in all her dark & twistyness still is such a compassionate and caring person. Yes, she may be too easily manipulated, but she obviously is not convinced that the killer’s wish to die in the hospital shouldn’t be granted. She doesn’t even say, she doesn’t want him to die, but she clearly sees the cruelty of the system. At least I like to believe she does. And she cares about the kid. And maybe even the killer. I’m not sure, and I think she isn’t either. But she has made her decision, maybe a snap one and not an easy one and it will definitely haunt her. But she makes that decision because she cares. And I love that about her. The last scene made me feel sick again though, it was horrible to see. Oh, and I really loved her last line to the killer “Whatever helps you sleep at night”. She can play that game as well as he can.
Last but so definitely not least: Derek and his mom outside on the bench. And a ring. She gave him her ring. Derek’s got a freaking engagement ring for Meredith! Once again I so squeed in delight. This scene was so wonderful. Beautifully played out by Paddy and Tyne Daly. When she said, she still can’t sleep on his side of the bed, it broke my heart. It’s probably been 30 years since her husband was killed and still… *sobs* The whole scene was just such a sweet scene. And I’m sure the ring will be put on Meredith’s finger soon. Just thinking about that makes me squee some more :-)