I was done with the school assignment earlier than expected. I think it turned out ok, at least I hope it did. I had such a hard time writing it, even decided to willingly fail it once (in May), so now I’m just glad it’s over. Sent off to be graded and hopefully I’ve done ok. I know somebody probably could have done it better, but that somebody isn’t me ;-) The next assignment is already lined up and I should start reading the course work for the third class I signed up for a while ago. (The up- and downsides of flexible distance edcuation *g*). But not tonight.Tonight will be “Me Time” and it starts with writing my Grey’s review. It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, but I absolutely, totally, freaking loved that episode. I loved the good stuff so so much, that I could easily overlook the bad stuff. Which I still start this review with… :-)
My dislike hate for Richard Webber should be known by now and this episode just fuelled it some more. He is such a douche! (I heard that phrase so often now it kind of stuck). It’s amazing how he managed to make me like him even less with every new episode.Derek was right to question Webber’s authority to his face (and behind his back). It was about time somebody did tha. I really can’t imagine that we end this season with a chief Webber. I definitely hope we don’t.
I don’t know if I became hypercritical over the last few years. But there were a couple of smaller things that made me roll my eyes, because it was so typical for fictional televison and would never happen like that in real life. I guess a lot of the storylines and events that had happened on Grey’s before would never happen in real life either, but it never bothered me before. And it didn’t really bother me now, but I thought I’d mention it anyway…
All the doctors seem to know and love Isaac, so how come we’ve never met him before? And I’d bet anything that we will never see him again after this episode. Just like Lexie obviously didn’t have to take care of a father, who had a very complicated surgery just a few weeks ago. And why did mysterious Isaac have to have such a tragic background story? And why did he have to be such a patient and zen-like person? It was kind of over the top, wasn’t it?
Another thing that slightly bothered me: Lexie talked about this surgery and rotating assistents and everything and it sounded huge, but Derek managed to pull off this surgery with basically just one resident for 10 + 26 hours? Come on show, you can do better than that. Talking about pulling off: Why didn’t Derek just pull of the mask himself? Why did he ordered Lexie to do it? Yes, I know totally insignifcant detail… ;-)
I have to admit this time I wasn’t annoyed that much by presence of the Mercy Wester namend Jackson Avery. With Mer and Izzie gone for the moment SGH is indeed short on residents we know and care about and Avery fit into the whole tumor storyline. In the scene with Lexie at the vending machines he reminded me a lot of the old Alex Karev.
I really dislike that Reed was the one who cared about Alex and offered some kind of support though. I don’t want them bonding. About anything. I just still don’t like that we have to deal with additional characters. Why couldn’t anyone of the ones we already know be the person to talk to Alex?. Alex isn’t close to anyone except Mer and maybe Cristina and Derek (former roommates and all). Any other of the old characters could have served the same purpose for the Alex storyline. Callie, Arizona, Owen, anyone. Maybe there would have been less hostility, but it would have been awkward anyway, because Alex doesn’t breakdown in front of other people. So I hated that it was Reed who was there for him!
But I have to say: My heart keeps breaking,when I see Alex these days. He’s trying so hard to hold it together and he breaks down in the end anyway. But who wouldn’t. No wonder that there are rumors/spoilers that this marriage might not last. It certainly didn’t help that Izzie just took off and doesn’t stay in touch and everything. Oh poor, poor Alex. I just hope he doesn’t do anything stupid, like turning into the guy he was in the earlier seasons, sleeping around and all.
The rest of the episode: So, so awesome. The best episode of this season so far. Not just because it was Derek-centered, even though that certainly didn’t hurt :-) But because it was so much more like the old Grey’s than the recent episodes. It was about medicine. And the surgeons were hardcore surgeons. I just loved how excited they all got because of that extraordinary tumor. Sometimes it might seem that they are cold and unemotional jerks, who don’t care about their patients, when they talk about a lethal tumor like it’s the highlight of their day. But you actually want them to be this excited and ambitious and try to achieve the best. Work and fight like hell to get that tumor out of you and then it doesn’t matter if they enjoy doing it. In fact it is essential that they enjoy doing it, because otherwise they wouldn’t stand the downsides of that job. 10 + 26 hours of surgery without bathroom breaks , that’s all I’m saying.
I loved how the attendings all supported Derek in his decision. From Bailey saying that she’d definitely try to operate, to Callie, Arizona and Owen guarding the door and everything. Lexie was once again acting kind of crazy and over the top, but the whole diaper issue was so much comic relief, especially in the scenes with Cristina. And the fact that Cristina wants to have to pee in a diaper. Owen’s face when they talked about that in the gallery was priceless. It’s so nice to see how much he cares for her: wanting to get her a long surgery, because that’s just what she needs and to teach her in the skills lab. I feel sorry for Cristina, that she can’t be the surgeon she wants to be at the moment, but I love watching her be a surgical junkie. The way she her eyes lit up when she saw Isaacs scans and how she even complimented Derek – “Of course he will try. He’s Shepherd”, patting his shoulder.
The whole skills lab contest was very entertaining as well. Ok, maybe it was just that it was so much Derek in it, that I loved it. Well, there was a lot of Derek over all, which made me enjoy this episode so much. I loved to hear him do the voice-over, I loved that he tried to take care of Cristina and of course I totally loved the way he disobeyed Richard Webber. Somebody has to start the mutiny and I’m glad it was Derek who did it. I’m just curious to see how that conflict will continue. I never would have expected that Webber would sink so low as to fire his best surgeon, so my jaw dropped during that scene. Thank God Derek was so calm and patient and zen about it. I’m still curious how the conflict will be resolved in the next episode
My alltime favourite of this episode? The bedroom scene of course. I have said it before, but I’m so happy to see Meredith and Derek in a normal, healthy, stable relationship. I loved Derek’s giddiness to talk about the tumor and that she is dying to hear all about it as well. I squeed when he turned the bed around and started a Neuro lecture on the bedroom wall. And it was so wonderful to see the transformation Meredith’s face in the end: From bewilderment to total awe, because she shares his this passion for everything neuro. And they framed the Post-It! I thought it’s a very neat idea. Still wouldn’t mind to see a legal marriage take place though :-)
I could probably find a lot more moments and scenes I loved in this episode, but I really should get away from the computer now. I spend too much time sitting here in the last few days working on the assignment. So I’ll spend the rest of the night watching the new “Sea-Wolf” movie on TV and trying to recognize the movie set, I’ve been around in Halifax last year.
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