I read a few tweets before I watched the show this morning and most of these fans on twitter were rather disappointed with this – 100th – episode. So I thought I might be disappointed too, but I wasn’t. I absolutely loved it. Maybe I wasn’t disappointed because I didn’t really expect anything spectacular, 100th episode or not. Besides all the talking and promos and hype about it in advance, there also were a lot of spoilers about what would (possibly) happen in this episode. And I’m a spoiler whore *g*, I just can’t stay away from them, so I had a pretty solid idea what would happen. And it did and I loved it.
Was it a cruel ploy to set up the wedding website and promote this episode as the “MerDer wedding day” episode, without having actually them married by the end of it? I don’t know. It’s TV and business and of course they were trying to make as many viewers as possible tune in, so I can’t really blame them for it. Maybe I don’t mind it at all, because for a long time I already was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be THE wedding in this episode, so it was absolutely ok for me.
Anyway, this episode had all the emergency medicine and good drama and emotions and funny moments I enjoy on this show so much. To me this was a more than appropriate episode to celebrate this milestone of 100 episodes. Yes, there wasn’t that much MerDer in it, but the scenes they had were wonderful. I just love that they are in this happy, trusting and comfortable relationship. And that’s actually all I need to know. I’m not saying that I don’t want to see a lot more of them in the future, to see their future together, but I don’t mind when their story steps back every once in a while, because the show is about more than just those two. And the things Meredith and Derek did in this episode were pretty awesome, giving their wedding day away and all. Very, very sweet.
I was a bit confused with all the different college kids when I watched the episode the first time. They were just so many names and I didn’t quite get who was in a relationship (or secretly in love) with who. But it was still heartbreaking, especially the girl with this wonderful wonderful speech and the “school first / life later” plan. That was so sad. And it really should teach us to not waste our time waiting for our life to start, because it actually could end in a second and then we might have missed out on so many things. That’s what I learned from these patients. But I also liked that the surgeons themselves learned something about themselves. George and Cristina most of all.
I don’t know what to think about George in this episode. He did a great job, even though his patients died and I understand that he felt overwhelmed by it all. I still think he’d be an awesome trauma surgeon. I’m not sure though if he will stay a surgeon after all. I have to admit that I don’t think I would miss him much, at least not when he has little to zero storyline, like he did for most of this season. I felt bad for him at the wedding, when there were all these happy couples and he was sitting there all alone.
I’m not sure if I really buy the “Callie being broke” storyline. Even if her dad disowned her, how can he clean out her bankaccount? It’s her account. She also gets paid from the hospital. She’s only paying half the rent for the apartment, I don’t think she has to pay back college loans, because her dad probably paid for her education in advance. So how can she be broke? This left me a bit baffled. It made a entertaining story though and I just love Arizona. “There are women lining up for me! I’m hot!” And still she only wants the girl with the sandwiches. She is so cute and I hope this thing with Callie will last, because I really don’t want to see Arizona go. Anywhere.
Mark and Lexie were almost non-existent as a couple, but with all the other stories going on, that was to be expected. and the moment in the church was really sweet. Mark provided for quite some comic relief with his attempts to come up with a best man speech. So did Cristina in the locker room. Hilarious and creepy indeed. I like Owen and Cristina but I wish their relationship would move a step forward already. I get that they both have a lot of things to deal with, but I don’t want to another few episodes in which they longingly glance at each other. We already had that and as sweet as it was, it gets boring the second time around. So I hope Cristina demolishining her ceiling fan at the end is step in the right direction.
I didn’t dislike the chief in this episode, which surprised me a little :-) Even though he was a bit annoying during Mer’s solo surgery, it was entertaining to watch. Cheering for the way Meredith asked for the scalpel? Very funny. As usual I loved Bailey a lot. “Tell Denny Duquette I say ‘Go home!'” Oh Bailey, you are so awesome. Talking about Denny: He was back and I didn’t really mind, because by now we know what he means and why he shows up. But did he really have to be dressed in black? We already knew he was the symbol of death, did he really have to look like it too? Anyway, I didn’t mind his short appearances for once. Probably because Izzie reacted so different this time.
I’m still not a huge fan of Izzie, because she had so many crappy storylines which ruined her character for me. But she is one of the FabFive after all and she is the woman Alex loves, so I like her as well. And the more she seems to really be dying at the end of this season, the more I like her. Not for dying, really not. Maybe I jus liked her in this episode because her excitement about the big romantic wedding felt a lot like old Izzie But I honestly wouldn’t be bothered much if she died (=left the show), because her character has been ruined.
Much more than for Izzie I felt for Alex though. Oh, poor Alex. My poor, poor Alex. I think I started being close to tears the moment Meredith joined him on the bench. And I started crying when he showed up in Izzie’s room, wearing Derek’s wedding suit. And I cried throughtout the rest of the episode. Because I love Alex and I want him to be happy. And because he said the most amazing vows. Yes, he “stole” those from the college girl, but it was a beautiful speech and why shouldn’t a beautiful speech held more than once :-) ? If Izzie really dies in the end (which I consider a real possibilty) it will break his heart. And mine will break a little bit for him too. I was so happy to see Meredith and Alex as the great friends that they are. When Meredith joined him on the bench she didn’t say anything like “it’s going to be allright” because she know it probably won’t be. She was just there for him and that was all he needed. And he chose Meredith as his “best man”, which was such a awesome idea. It was wonderful to have the FabFive back together for this occasion with George walking Izzie down the aisle and all.
I wrote a lot about Meredith and Derek at the beginning of this post, so I can make this short. I really enjoyed their scenes. And I loved both of them seperately as well. Derek was trying so hard to do everything in his power for Izzie and it was obvious that he felt bad, that he couldn’t do anything about the tumor. Giving Meredith her first solo-surgery as wedding present? So awesome. And without any problem I can ignore the question, why the neuro attending can pick the surgeon for a general surgery *g*.
Anyway this gave us one of my favourite lines of this episode. Meredith freaking out to chief. “I was supposed to get him a present? That’s why weddings are so stupid.” Oh, Meredith I love how inexperienced you are in any kind of normal relationship stuff. But she was right, that the marriage and the life together should be the real present. And she was so happy about the present nonetheless. She practically beamed, which was so cute. And it was an present, which goes right along with the kidney in a jar and the brain scans in the elevator. Then there also was the non-wedding-night, which could have been a bit longer, but I take naked Meredith and Derek for any short amount of time I can get them. And they spent their “wedding night” on the living room floor. The living room floor where it all began 100 episodes ago. They really came full circle and I just loved it.