Well, that felt ... normal. It was nice to have "Grey's Anatomy" back as its own show after last week's jumpy, jumbled mess, and for the most part, I thought it felt like old-school "Grey's." While I'm dreading next week's finale, I enjoyed the setup, so to talk about it, read more

It’s test day for the interns, as well as the day before Burke and Cristina’s wedding, the day of Susan’s funeral, and the day George finds out he's gotten into the surgery program at Mercy West. Sounds like a perfect setup for disaster, huh?

Early on, Ava — who has teeth now! — slips and reveals a memory to Alex. She ultimately admits she remembers her life: She was in a lousy marriage, and she'd come to Seattle to get away. All I could think about was Alex telling her last week that some people would kill for the ability not to remember; how awful it must have been for Ava to realize she liked the blank slate better. Alex doesn't understand why she won't tell people she's alive, and she refuses to tell him her name.

A grieving, angry Thatcher shows up at the hospital and tells Meredith she's not wanted at Susan’s funeral. "She trusted you, she came to you for help, and you killed her," he shouts. Just before the interns' test begins, Richard tells Meredith she's not to blame for Susan's death. "Just because you slept with my mother does not make you my father," she says. In the test room, she stares blankly into space.

Derek asks Meredith how the test went, but she pushes past him and sits alone while the interns try to figure out how to help. George tells her that when your parents die, you make terrible decisions that you'll have to live with for a long time. Eventually, the interns convince Richard to let Meredith retake the test; she again says he’s not her father, but she cries in his arms anyway.

Meanwhile, Addison is being stalked by pregnant women. First, Joe and Walter show up with their potential surrogate mom and ask Addison to check her out. Then Adele comes in after a fender-bender and tells Addison she's pregnant — at age 50+! — with another man's baby. Addison whines to Callie that maybe she could get pregnant if she were gay, or a teenager, or a member of the AARP, and Callie admits that she's been thinking about getting pregnant herself.

Which is perfect timing, given all that’s going on with George. Bailey gives George a dressing-down, telling him he'd be a fool to transfer out of the most prestigious surgery program in the country. George says he simply can't see Izzie every day — "I'm a married man," he says, nice of him to realize — but Izzie tries a last-ditch effort to keep him from going. "I know you think I have feelings for you,” she says, “but I don't, so you can stay." Liar!

Now that we know how the interns are doing, let’s talk about the mountain climbers. This was one of the more adept medical-cases-as-metaphors this show has done. Three climbers who were tied together get injured on a mountain; they’ve left their fourth friend behind to die. The way I see it, Burke and Cristina are climbing the mountain, hoping the pain will be worth it; Izzie is the climber getting her hands amputated; and Meredith is the climber left behind to die. But the interns have saved her by getting her to take the test again, right?

Well ...

Everything explodes in the final few minutes. Callie tells Bailey — who's been almost assured of her spot as chief resident — that she's in the running, too. Burke tells Derek that he has no idea if Cristina's written her vows; Derek tells Burke he has no idea how Meredith's doing at all. Joe and Addison briefly talk babies, until Walter comes back with the surrogate mom, who faints in the bar. And Ava tells Alex her real name: Rebecca.

Richard runs into Adele, who slips into the bathroom to avoid him. He starts shouting through the door: "I've moved on! OK, I'm not actually dating, but I intend to!" Finally, he walks in — and finds Adele passed out on the floor.

Cristina attempts to write her vows, whining about how the whole "love and cherish you every moment of every day of my life" bit is stupid. Izzie says that if she couldn't be with the person she loved, hearing something like that would be all she could ever think about. "You're talking about Denny, right?" asks Meredith, while Callie gives Izzie the death stare.

Derek runs into a random woman at the bar who asks to buy him a drink. He says no, but when she says that's a shame, he wonders aloud if she's right.

And in the final scene, in comes the last hiker — with an axe in his head. "What the hell happened up on that mountain?" Bailey asks. So, girl in the bar = axe in Meredith's head?

Photos copyright 2007 ABC, Inc.

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