"Grey's Anatomy" Rundown: Episode 1, "A Change is Gonna Come"

Oh, how I wish I could say "Grey's Anatomy" came roaring back from the summer break with an episode that would erase all my doubts about the show. Sadly, "A Change is Gonna Come" was not that episode. It had some good moments, but for the most part, I'm still left wondering if I'm ever going to get my old "Grey's" back. To read more of my thoughts and share your own, just read more

The episode picks up about two weeks after the third-season finale. Cristina and Meredith have gone on Cristina's honeymoon, Alex has grown some questionable facial hair and taken a road trip vaguely in the direction of Ava/Rebecca, and Izzie doesn't seem to have done much of anything besides mope around and wonder why George isn't speaking to her. For his part, George is back with the new interns, hoping to keep his status as the repeat intern a secret.

Among those interns, of course, is Lexie Grey. I'm going to put all my cards on the table here and say that I really like the introduction of Lexie. It shows that no matter how much Meredith tries to separate from her family now that her mommy and fake mommy have both died and Thatcher won't speak to her, she can never really cut the cord. Lexie seems to share Meredith's proclivity for discussing her personal life right in the middle of medical procedures (introducing herself as Meredith's sister while Meredith is dealing with an incoming trauma?), but I think she adds an interesting element to the show — as long as they don't have her start going after Derek.

Where this episode lost me completely was Izzie's case. The other residents and their teams are dealing with trauma victims from a car crash; Izzie lets a little kid talk her into saving a deer. In the parking lot. Using equipment from the ER that's meant for people. I get that there was this whole Bambi metaphor going (George is Bambi, Izzie's Bambi, everyone wants to save Bambi), and it led to a decent-enough payoff — Izzie finally giving her interns the what-for — but that doesn't make up for it being dumb.

Speaking of which: George and Izzie. You know, I really thought that was supposed to be over, but George ending the first episode by saying "I love you, too" doesn't give me much hope.

A couple of other thoughts:

• Did anyone else crack up when Meredith's voiceover said "change" just as Alex handed a bag of change to Cristina? It was so egregiously bad that I wondered if it was accidental.
• The man who ate everything was pretty awesome, though.
• Callie is not going to be a good chief resident. I wonder if she'll toughen up — or give up.
• Loved the residents giving their interns the Bailey speech from the pilot (and failing miserably).
• I liked the way Lexie cheered George up and volunteered to keep his secret. But I still doubt his status will be secret for long; I'd say he's going to have a pretty tough time explaining why he's married to the chief resident if he's never set foot in the hospital before, for one thing.
• Poor Cristina really thought Burke would be back. She's going to have a tough road ahead.
• Meredith and Derek? So not broken up.
• Quote of the night: "I came to Seattle to get you back." — Mark to Derek.

What about you? Were you glad to see Seattle Grace back? Or were you too annoyed with the deer scenes to care?

Photos copyright 2007 ABC, Inc.