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Grey's Anatomy Rundown: Episode 22, "What a Difference a Day Makes"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:30:50 -0700

The 100th episode of Grey's Anatomy has all the elements of a classic: there's a big tragedy that brings a lot of the doctors together, a few sweeping speeches, and a wedding that makes me cry despite lots of lapses of logic. It's not my favorite Grey's of the season, but if a measure of a good episode is whether I was a weepy mess by the end, then "What a Difference a Day Makes" is certainly good. Ready to talk about it? Just read more.

I'm the first to admit I should have seen the Izzie/Alex wedding twist coming from a mile away. Meredith and Derek don't actually need a wedding, but Izzie does. She planned it to be exactly the wedding she'd want if only she'd live long enough to have a wedding, and Meredith and Derek (and Alex) ensure that she gets it. Sure, if I look too hard, there's a lot that makes no sense (like Meredith's dress fitting Izzie, or the church being full of Meredith and Derek's guests). But I don't really care, because Izzie gets a moment of happiness in an episode that's full of signs of death, and Alex gets to give that speech about becoming a man. We've watched Alex cope with so much tragedy - and watched Justin Chambers grow so much as an actor through those scenes - that his "I become accountable to you" speech rings true. Really, the biggest reason I want Izzie to live is that poor Alex deserves a break.

Meanwhile, the nice, light-hearted plotline we get to go along with Izzie's predeath wedding is . . . a car crash that kills a bunch of college kids on their way to graduation. Oof. I'm still really enjoying the whole George-as-a-trauma-surgeon story, but I think it's going to be a while before George believes he's cut out for it. Not surprising for a guy who started his career branded 007, he takes it personally when patients die. It's going to take a lot of coaching on Owen's part to get George to believe that saving some people sometimes requires losing others. Also, while it was a little too on the nose, the graduation speech - with the kids being zipped up in body bags - also made me cry. Dammit, Grey's.

I'm a little confused about why Arizona thought the middle of a huge trauma that her girlfriend was running would be the best time to confront Callie about the weirdness of their date. Her whole "So I'm not fun? You can get enough of me?" speech made me want to slap her, and I have to imagine that the only reason Callie didn't is that she was too tired from, you know, saving lives. The resolution was fine - Callie's money troubles are out in the open and she and Arizona have happy, pizza-eating naked time - but wow, Arizona was a pest.

Some other thoughts:

Denny Duquette's appearance didn't bother me much this time around, mostly because Izzie now knows what it means and can talk about it with people. (Though I keep thinking that maybe if she'd realized that hallucinating her dead ex was a Very Bad Thing from the start, we wouldn't be in this situation.) The moment when she asked Denny to please step aside so she could spend some time with her husband was sweet.
Yeah, Katherine Heigl's still pretty bald. (Or, I know, "bald.")
You know what was really making me lose it in the episode? The way Bailey kept almost losing it. When Bailey's crying, you know it's bad. Same with Derek basically giving up on Izzie with "She's one of the good ones."
Love that Derek's wedding present to Meredith is a solo surgery.
Do you think Derek and Meredith will ever actually get married now? I could see them just going to the courthouse - but would it drive you crazy to never see their day or hear their vows?

One more episode till we know better what the Grey's cast will look like next season. What are your hopes for the finale?

Grey's Anatomy Rundown: Episode 17, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:30:21 -0700

This week's Grey's Anatomy is all about the things that haunt us - not actual ghosts this time, but more the psychic wounds that follow us around. For Derek, it's the fear that his medicine is doing more harm than good. For Owen, it's the things he saw in war that make it hard to live a normal life back home. And for Izzie, it's the thing in her brain - a thing that finally gets a name in this episode. Ready to talk about it? Just read more.

The big news of this episode is ~~Patient X's~~ Izzie's diagnosis: stage IV metastatic melanoma, which has spread to her liver and brain, and which comes with a five percent survival rate. It's trendy to rag on Katherine Heigl for her comments about the writing - heck, I've done my share of it - but she does some great work here. Izzie's stern with the interns when they say Patient X is fine; she doesn't want her legacy to be that she didn't teach them anything. She's tender with Alex when he tells her he wants them to take over the hospital together. And with Cristina, standing on that vent and confessing her disease, she's vulnerable. But my favorite scenes were the ones with Lexie, who's actually growing into a good doctor. The way she delivers the news about Patient X, with her speech about odds being meaningless, is exactly what Izzie needs to hear.

Meanwhile, Derek's an even bigger mess than Izzie. He's traumatized by being called a murderer, and moreso after he sees how many patients he's killed. Meredith's urging him to see the big picture - of course he had a lot of deaths, he ran a clinical trial that took a long time to get positive results - but he's a messy-haired, cereal-eating wreck. And he's quitting, or so he says when he's sucking down beers in the woods. Meredith tells him not to run away; Derek thinks that's hilarious coming from the queen of running away. Of course, by that point Meredith knows about the ring. Which the Chief told her about. Which makes no sense. And the ring's just lying there in the grass now anyway. But Meredith's not leaving. Maybe our girl's growing up after all.

Alex also has some great moments in this episode - and one that goes frustratingly unexplored. He, too, is struggling with something from his past: the idea that he's a dumb wrestler who will never be great at anything. But he catches something about his teenage patient that no other doctor has ever caught, and suddenly, he's being touted as the future of Seattle Grace. But why didn't anyone talk about the apparent panic attack he had holding the paddles? We've never seen Alex freeze like that before, and it's odd to just drop it.

Some other thoughts:

Owen's suffering is so deep, and it keeps rearing its head in ugly ways these days - like when he wakes up from a nightmare and shoves Cristina so hard she gets hurt. He seems to want to protect her by keeping them far away from each other, but Cristina insists that she'll decide when she's had too much.
One of the night's more improbable plotlines is Bailey tattling on the Chief to Adele, but I like the resolution that comes of it: Bailey tells the Chief that she's tired of him getting angry at her because he's afraid of going soft; in fact, maybe being a little softer with his staff is just the thing they need.
The story of the siblings with stomach cancer didn't do much on its own for me, though it was a fine reflection of everything else that was going on, but it's worth mentioning who the three were: Michael Rady of Greek; Erin Cahill, who was Ted's baby sister on How I Met Your Mother; and Wendy Hoopes, who was Jane Lane on Daria!
Lexie and Mark get about two seconds per episode together, but they make them count: "You think you broke me, Little Grey? You're the one who put me back together."
Can you believe we got an honest-to-goodness scene with George and Izzie?

What do you make of Izzie's diagnosis? What will get Derek back in the OR? And do you like Callie and Arizona more than Callie and Erica?

Grey's Anatomy Rundown: Episode 10, "All By Myself"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:30:34 -0800

It's solo surgery time on Grey's Anatomy this week, and that feeling of being all alone - often with someone else's life in your hands - runs all through this episode. Life as a surgical resident is lonely, it seems, unless you have the ghost of your dead boyfriend to keep you company. To talk about it, just read more.

Cristina starts the episode with the ultimate reward and the ultimate punishment. She wins the solo surgery, but because she's banned thanks to the whole intern surgery cabal thing, she has to pick which of the residents will perform it in her place. The writers make a brief show of pointing out that there are other doctors at Seattle Grace (who was that blonde girl?), but it's pretty obvious that it's going to be Mere, George, Izzie, or Alex. Watching them plead their cases is hysterical: Mere claims not to want it just cause they're friends; George talks about how much he's grown; Izzie says she doesn't care because she's having great sex (about which more later); Alex hits Cristina where it counts by describing how to do the procedure. That - plus Dr. Dixon's advice that Cristina use a simple system to decide, which seems more Cristina-esque than going with her gut - makes Alex the easy winner.

What happens in the aftermath is even more dramatic: Alex tells Izzie he ("frickin'") loves her! Which would probably mean a lot more had Izzie not been sleeping with Denny at that very moment. Apparently, the new status quo is that Denny hangs around Izzie at the hospital and makes wisecracks, and sometimes she talks to him, and nobody really notices except for George. So anyway, Denny's especially fond of making gagging noises or weird faces when Alex is around, and he definitely does not like Alex telling Izzie he loves her, but Izzie eventually pulls herself together and goes to assist on the surgery. Because, you know, Denny's not real. Cristina, meanwhile, yells at everyone for not taking any responsibility for the intern-surgery disaster and Meredith specifically for making it personal, and then she gets whisked away by Owen Hunt to . . . a vent. That spews air and apparently makes you happy again.

Meanwhile, so much other stuff happens:

Lexie and Mark work on a patient who hasn't spoken in years, and when she finally gets the courage to say "hi," Lexie gets the courage to go to Mark's and take all her clothes off. His restraint lasts until she's at the tank top phase.
The second Meredith's patient yells that she wishes her sister would die, it's pretty obvious where that's going. Don't text and drive, kids.
Sadie and Callie are maybe flirting, but Callie can't really tell, because she doesn't know how flirting with girls works. Also, is ABC really going to let Grey's start up another lesbian relationship right now? Doubtful.
Bailey won the solo surgery of her class - no big shock there - but now that she's bored with her work, she gets all cute and gushy in Mark's surgery.
I liked the throwback to the very first episode with all the residents taking bets on how long Alex would go without making a mistake.
Speaking of which, at one point George points out that he did heart surgery in an elevator, and Alex says that was more than a year ago, and he's 007. Except . . . 007 was longer ago. Bad logic, Alex.

So: Lexie and Mark get sexy, George thinks there's something up with Izzie, Cristina and Hunt are all kissy on the vent, and McDreamy is almost nowhere to be seen. (Now I kind of think he's the one in those blind items.) What did you all make of this one?

Grey's Anatomy Rundown: Episode Six, "Life During Wartime"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:30:56 -0700

This week's Grey's Anatomy is intense, and I blame it all on Wilbur and three other pigs (fake pigs - totally fake) in need of some medical intervention. Why can I watch these doctors cut people open all day, but I get emotional over pigs? That's a good question for Izzie, too, cause that's where she is in this episode. Meanwhile, Owen Hunt is back, Erica gets "sex glasses," and Meredith plays with dolls. To chat about it, read more.

So Meredith's still going through her mom's things, and she finds Anatomy Jane, a horrid-looking doll with removable organs that was her favorite toy as a child. She takes it to work, where Bailey's own Anatomy Jane nostalgia gets Meredith a job on a surgery but sends Richard into a funk because it's a reminder of how much he screwed up Meredith's childhood. Apparently, Mere's young life consisted of running around Seattle Grace with Anatomy Jane . . . and not much else.

Meanwhile, Owen Hunt is back! And not only does he not remember Cristina's name, but he's the instigator of the pig incident. As the new head of trauma surgery, his message is that trauma doctors work quick and dirty to keep their patients alive. OK, fine . . . but stabbing four pigs (even under anesthesia) seems a bit harsh, no? It made me want to vomit, and - I'm not a surgeon, so what do I know? - I generally side with Izzie: If there's technology to practice surgery without hurting living things, why hurt living things? Hunt's point, though, is that without scalpel to flesh, none of it is real, and I get that, too. Cristina's team gets assigned to keep the pigs alive, which means multiple surgeries and even getting a little attached to her porky friends. She's so proud when she tells Hunt how she kept the pigs alive that when he tells her essentially, "That's great, now kill them," it's a slap in the face. Even worse than him not knowing her name. Later, though, he explains that he saw more than a dozen of his friends die in a single day in Iraq. Now, he says, everything is different.

Speaking of different, that's what Erica realizes sex with Callie is. It's like when she got glasses: She didn't even know how things were supposed to look before. Callie, though, thinks it's basically the same as sex with Mark (which, incidentally, she keeps having), and that freaks her out. Eventually, Mark tells her that whatever else she is, she shouldn't be a cheater.

A few other thoughts:

One of the best moments in this episode comes when Derek and Mark confront Hunt about his methods and Hunt asks honestly for their medical advice. It not only makes his character more sympathetic, but it also drives Alex to ask Izzie what he can do better relationship-wise.
I loved the family of the girl with the tumor - they're intrusive and demanding, but mostly they're just looking out for Tori. It's sweet of Richard to tell them never to stop caring for her like that.
Meredith's kiddie nicknames for organs cracked me up: "The twosh was next to the chubble, and that was connected to the slibby . . . "
Did anyone else crack up at Mere saying she doesn't reject George? 'Cause, um, she did. In bed.

Who felt squeamish this whole episode (other than me)? If you found a box of your mom's journals, would you read them all? And are you happy with McArmy's return?

Grey's Anatomy Rundown: Episode 5, "There's No 'I' in Team"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:31:03 -0700

Is it too early to say Grey's Anatomy is on a roll? I've said that before and regretted it later, but for the second week in a row, I thought the episode felt like the Grey's I came to know and love. A big ol' dramatic medical story, a whole lot of Bailey being awesome, and a touch too much awkward sex - it's like the olden days! To talk about this episode, just read more.

Growing up, I always hated group projects in school. They just never felt fair. And I think there's a little bit of that feeling going on this week at Seattle Grace: Derek's gotten his face on the cover of a national medical journal for his clinical trial and procedure - "The Shepherd Method" - without even a mention of Meredith, who came up with the whole idea. Sure, I understand the thought that it's just not time for Mere to get credit for something like that yet. But it's also a shame that Derek needs Bailey to tell him that Mere's not just being all emotional about it and at least deserves a "thank you."

Meanwhile, the 12-patient kidney swap is my favorite kind of surgery, because it brings everyone together. Naturally, there's drama with the donors, but that just gives Bailey a chance to be awesome and coerce-without-coercing the reluctant donor to save other lives, even if she doesn't care about her husband's. Alex and Izzie get patients whose story touches a little close to Alex's heart: an estranged son who agrees to give his father a kidney only because he'll get cash for doing it, who finally realizes (with the help of some screaming from Alex) that he should talk to his father before it's too late. And Meredith drops a kidney ("and don't say 'It happens," cause it doesn't"). I mean, I'm guessing this was unrealistic - but Bailey screaming "Five-second rule!" is classic.

Over in subplot-land, Cristina wants a man, decides to seek out an intern, and then realizes (after a cattle-call scene in which the residents try to pick which interns to pawn off to George) that none of them are worth her time. Good thing Owen Hunt turns up at the bar, huh? And Callie and Erica have bad sex - well, only bad for Callie - that leads to such an awkward plot (Callie begging Mark for oral sex advice) that I'll just drop it.

Some other thoughts:

I'm glad Alex and Izzie kiss, but I don't expect things to be all fine and dandy for them after this, because Alex still can't talk about his feelings, and Izzie is all about feelings.
Meredith's still reading her mom's diary and feeling inadequate. And yet, it doesn't seem to be getting her down the way it would have a couple of years ago. Progress?
Also, Meredith and Derek drifting off to sleep by the light of a kidney in a jar is hilarious. Kidneys glow?
Lexie (sorta) grows a backbone and tells George she's tired of being ignored. The girl does go over the top (balloons on the locker? Yeah, that's going to get him respect from his new interns), but she so desperately wants George to notice her.
I loved Bailey's snide remark to Izzie: "Well, as someone who stole an organ herself not that long ago, you should know . . . "

Your thoughts? Glad to see McArmy back in the picture, about to start work and raise hell in Seattle? And did anyone else think this episode's soundtrack rocked?

Grey's Anatomy Rundown: Episode 10, "Crash Into Me (Part Two)"

BuzzSugar — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:39:14 -0800

Sometimes, thanks to the ferry boat disaster, it's easy to forget that Grey's Anatomy does big episodes well. The show made its name with a live bomb inside a patient's chest; big episodes were once its forte. "Crash Into Me," thankfully, felt more like an old-school disaster episode. It was bloody and medically intense, almost ER-style. But there were some solid emotional stories, as well - and though they were predictable, that didn't make them unsatisfying. To talk about the episode, just read more

Most of the doctors had key realizations in this episode: Derek confirmed that Meredith may never be enough for him; Izzie accepted that she'll never be hardcore in the Christina/Hahn way; George and Izzie decided they could never make their relationship work; Bailey faced the fact that she puts the hospital ahead of her home.

Even Lexie learned a couple of things: that she can actually be a good doctor when the situation calls for it, and that medicine doesn't always help people. If Izzie is idealistic, Lexie has practically been Pollyanna; she really believes the best about everyone and thinks every situation will have some good. But being splattered with a patient's blood, doing everything right, and still failing to save him is the sort of thing that will cause your idealism to take a hit.

If there's any good news for Lexie, it's that she might finally have a chance to get to know Meredith. Mere learned some things, too - though with Meredith, I'm never sure how long these lessons will stick - about just having someone to get you through. The best she can do right now is telling Derek not to date other people - after he's already kissed someone else, not that she knows that yet - but it's a start.

Speaking of Derek: The sudden attraction to Rose has confused me a little because I can't tell what it's based on (the way she gets nervous around him and isn't afraid to say so?). I knew it had to be coming, and yet their kiss still took me by surprise. Don't they usually have supply closets for that sort of thing?

Maybe the closets were occupied by Alex and Ava. What are these two doing? I'm glad Alex got caught - and Mark recognizing the face he built was the perfect way to do it - and I'm glad he seems to realize that Ava is just there to play dress-up and escape her actual life. It's not stopping him from kissing her, though.

Izzie was playing dress-up in these episodes as well, being a mini-Hahn instead of her usual, compassionate self. It earned her praise but no satisfaction; she would have rather been with the patients' families than in the toughest surgery. I liked this story, and not just because it signaled the end of Gizzie - though boy, they just slipped that in there, huh? George chalked the problem up to timing and not chemistry; whatever the reason, I'm glad we're done.

Some other thoughts:

Bailey was clearly never going to make it out of surgery to meet her husband. Did the whole bit about telling him he'd be grateful for a good surgeon if he were wounded feel like foreshadowing to anyone else?
I loved the structure of this episode, with the flash forwards at the beginning - especially when the one of Cristina and Meredith dancing panned out to reveal Lexie there, too, at the end.
The drinking and dancing scene, in general, reminded me of the first two seasons of the show - and that's not a bad thing.

Is there a Mark/Hahn hookup in our future? Do you feel anything for Derek and Rose? And how are you going to make it through the Grey's hiatus?

"Grey's" Actors Get Pay Raises, We Get a Preview of the Next Episode

BuzzSugar — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:56:06 -0800

Despite all the handwringing over Katherine Heigl's salary, things are apparently going just fine for several other "Grey's Anatomy" cast members. Ellen Pompeo, James Pickens Jr., Chandra Wilson, T.R. Knight and Justin Chambers all have agreed to new contracts - including pay raises. Does that mean the Chief isn't going anywhere?

ABC also just aired a juicy new promo for next Thursday's episode, which shows George and Callie bickering about Izzie - and George and Izzie sharing a long, soulful look that some might describe as "sex eyes." That's gotta be a tease, right? The two of them can't hook up. That would be almost as bad as if "Grey's" killed off its main character but then brought her back to life. Oh, wait ...

To see the preview, read more