(S03E09) When I first heard Sandra Oh doing the opening narration that's usually reserved for Ellen Pompeo, I thought I was delirious from the ball of food that was sitting like a rock in my stomach. But when I realized that I was fully awake, the notion of having Cristina narrate this "extended" episode (it ended at 10:08) made perfect sense, since the Yang-Burke "team" was front and center tonight, spilling their crap into just about everyone else's lives, to the point where relationships are affected, rifts are created, and jobs are lost.But it made for a pretty riveting 68 minutes; lots of drama, tension, and a little bit of fun. It was the best episode of the season; it figures Shonda Rimes would spring one of these on us at Thanksgiving, since Grey's has a knack for pulling out their best episodes on nights when the most people are watching.
You knew that Cristina wasn't going to be able to cover for Burke much longer; George knew what was going on, and he was so concerned that he called in Burke's rival Dr. Hahn to do his dad's heart valve operation. First, can I say that Hahn looked a lot better in her civillian clothes than she did in her surgical cap and gown in last year's finale? Who knew she was that cute?
Anyway, because no one can tell anyone else what's going on, things get tense around the surgical wing. Meredith has an idea because Cristina asked her about aiding a bank robbery, but she can't tell Derek; all he wants is sex, anyway, since he's not gettin' any from Mer. George's mom and dad -- you know, the guy who's actually getting the valve replacement -- are wondering why George wants Burke, who even Hahn grudgingly considers to be the best cardiothoractic surgeon out there, off the case, so they pump Izzie for information. George's mom is so sweet; she wants George to hook up so badly, she assumes he's sleeping with everyone, including Izzie. Of course, she didn't know about Callie... or Meredith, for that matter, until Izzie blabbed.
But that wasn't what led to the episode's first "ooohhh... snap!" moment: George wanted Izzie to stay out of his whole thing with Bristina (or should I call it Yurke?), so he says to his parents, "You know why Izzie's on probation? Because the last patient she got involved with ended up dead." Yowza. George can be a bitch when properly motivated, can't he? Poor Iz just wants to feel like a doctor again, and as soon as she sticks her pretty bazoo in where it doesn't belong, she gets smacked. But the two of them will be OK... George just can't mention Denny to Izzie ever again, which is just fine with me.
Callie can't even get back into George's good graces. And when he mentions her Sloan nookie session, she automatically thinks Meredith spilled and goes to beat her to a pulp. I think Callie would have squashed Meredith like a little skinny blond bug, but cooler heads -- Izzie of all people -- prevailed. "She's a tiny woman!" she yells. Mer didn't know that it was Sloan, anyway. Eh. Still would have liked to have seen Callie at least throw a punch.
For once, the medical cases didn't hold keys to the lives of the crew at SGH. Well, except for the fact that Burke had to work both major cases -- a pregnant woman with a glass shard in her heart and an elderly man who plowed into a farmer's market because he couldn't feel his feet -- and felt the need to do them on his own, even though both Mer and Der saw him flexing his hand. The unraveling of the Bristina team came when Webber told Burke that he was retiring and Burke was in line to succeed him. Now that everything he's worked for is on the line, he starts to turn on Yang, saying she "dragged" him over the line. This led to a second "ohhh... snap!" moment, when he tells her that he's had to worry about her career as well as his. Oof. Burke can be a freakin' weasel sometimes, can't he?
The third "snap" moment? Derek: "I thought you were my friend." Burke: "I thought you were my surgeon."
So it turns out Yang ratted Burke out just before Burke decides to rat himself out. Crap. They were making a pretty good couple. Guess in the world of SGH, not everyone can be happy at once. But, we may have a new couple on our hands, as Addie is starting to think of Alex a little... differently. She appreciates his suggestion to the pregnant glass-filled lady that she should tell the baby's dad about the pregnancy, because every kid needs a dad (remember, Alex's home life wasn't the best). Hm... will we be seeing a little more Alex/Addie action in the near future?
Anyway, like I said, it was the best episode of the season so far. Crackling with tension and drama, it really reminded me of why I started watching this show in the first place. I was a bit unsure Grey's could find the dynamic it had last year while it was sorting out the whole Denny thing. But now we're clear of that and the show's on the way. When is the next event episode? I can't wait...
Have any questions for Rich Sommer of Mad Men? Ask them here!
Syfy's Alice -- An early look
The TV Squad Podcast: Surprising shows, decade-end lists, and the Commenter of the Week!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-24-2006 @ 3:19AM
Liza Apper said...
My God, tonight was a bloodbath! They were casualties everywhere...Christina and Burke, Izzie and George, Meredith and Callie, Meredith and Derick, the Chief and Burke, Shepherd and Burke, George and Callie... Betrayal everywhere. This was,to use a Meredithism, a "dark and twisty" episode. Will friendship and/or relationships recover? I know in my own life betrayal has been nearly impossible to heal. Lives and relationships are changed forever. And some (dare I say most?) just don't recover from the breach.
I walked away from this episode feeling very depressed. Are there any friendships/relationships that never experience betrayal? Is there any hope out there that there are people in our lives that we can feel asfe with?
This episode was honest and painful. Once again Shondra has caused us to self examine and ask the deep questions of our lives. Thanks Shondra....even for the tears.
Liza
I could not believe George's betrayal
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 3:25AM
Alannah said...
"For once, the medical cases didn't hold keys to the lives of the crew at SGH."
Im pretty sure the man with the numb lower body and the wife who covered for him by giving him back his car keys even after their daughter took them away, was a metaphor for Christina and Burke. Eg: If Christina kept covering for Burke someone was going to get hurt.
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 8:00AM
KateG said...
cardiothoracic
just sayin'
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 9:25AM
Deborah said...
The Alex/Addison thing has been imminent sense she first went off on him and made him stay on the OB rounds. Girl/Guy Fight = Eventual Sexual Tension seems to be a tried and true formula for TV these days and that goes double for GA.
I had no idea until the elevator moment that Burke was blaming McDreamy for his hand problems. That was an "oh snap" moment.
I just like this episode. George can seem so passive at times. His sad pursual of Meredith, letting Callie pursue him, his casual relationship with the nurse who gave him V.D., even his friendship with Izzy all seem to blow him around like a leaf in the wind. It's good to see George stand up and finally fight for SOMEONE he loves. We finally see where George will draw the line and that he is capable of fighting dirty when he has to. Finally I see that he might be a good doctor after all. Well as far as T.V. doctors go.
It's impossible to take GA too seriously but as far as medical/romatic T.V. goes, it does a good job of honoring it's predecessors.
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 9:41AM
Joel Keller said...
Alannah, you may be right. I blame the yams.
Kate, thanks. I fixed it. Google failed me on that one, and I was too tired to keep looking. Again, yams.
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 8:30PM
krys said...
"First, can I say that Hahn looked a lot better in her civillian clothes than she did in her surgical cap and gown in last year's finale? Who knew she was that cute?"
Everytime I see Dr. Hahn I flash back to Silence of the Lambs.. "It puts the lotion on the skin or it gets the hose again!" :(
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 11:04AM
TomB said...
I agree that this was the best episode of the season. It was kinda nice not having those McCheezy moments all over the place.
Although the Burke storyline and it's fallout dominated the show, I think it was George that got the most character development. It was nice to see him finally growing some balls. I was also glad that his dorky brothers went back to work. Duh, what's cancer? You mean it can spread?
What's up with Burke, anyway? For a guy who's supposed to be the chief of surgery he sure is quick to blame the second year resident for his problems. Sure, it was her emotional unavailability that caused the mess. Uh Huh. I never like the Burke character that much to begin with - now even more so.
Who else saw the Alex/Addison thing coming a mile away?
Boy, these docs sure are frisky.
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 12:03PM
Tina said...
Good review, but "Bristina"? "Yurke"? Ugh. There's enough of that on TWOP. Can't we just take the time to reference their names?
Great episode for Sandra Oh; she did great work. And yeah, Alex and Addison has been an interesting possibility for a while now.
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 12:24PM
Dolores said...
HUH. This episode made no sense to me. Sure it was full of great tension and kept you on the edge of your seat, but in the end it did not ring true on a gut emotional level. Yes, Burke said some terrible things to Christina. He also questioned the ethics of what they were doing and was clearly torn about what to do next.
Add to that the fact that Christina has spent a lot of time and effort working on her relationship issues. Remember the "I'm sticking," vow she made to Burke only hours before she betrayed him.
Then he yells, kicks her out of her beloved OR and she marches into the Chief's office without to much as a word of warning to Burke. It made her look vindictive while making no sense in the context of their relationship or the show.
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 12:23PM
Joel Keller said...
Tina, it was just my effort to be funny late at night while full of starch, sugar, and protein. Also, it gets tiresome to refer to them the same way all the time. Don't worry, I'm not going devolve into TWOP-style snarkiness anytime soon.
Reply
11-24-2006 @ 1:23PM
Christian H. said...
"Anyway, like I said, it was the best episode of the season so far. Crackling with tension and drama, it really reminded me of why I started watching this show in the first place."
I can totally subscribe to that! I enjoyed this episode every minute and it was like I was watching a whole new show (having seen the previous eight episodes). So tense!
And exactly the right amount of serious acting and goofiness (loved Callie attacking Mere and Izzie getting in between them). Let's hope this episode was not the high-point of the season (apart from the season finale where the life of a cast-member will probably in danger. My money is on McDreamy ;) ).
Reply
3-25-2007 @ 4:27AM
MRC said...
krys, Me Too!!! I imagine her screaming for that dog.
"Precious!!!! PRECIOUS!!!"
Reply
11-25-2006 @ 3:38AM
eyedoc said...
Good episode. Did anyone else notice the continuity mistake? Near the end of the episode there is a part where Cristina is at the end of the surgery and they show a close up of her mask covered with blood. Then she turns away and her mask is still covered in blood, but it's a whole different pattern.
Reply
11-26-2006 @ 12:43PM
mac said...
The tension in this episode drove me crazy. I didn't want to watch but then again I did....I'm still kinda in a type of schock right now.
Reply
11-27-2006 @ 11:23AM
Beezus said...
Ok, love, love, loved this episode, which I think should have just been called, "Oh...Snap!!" But I think we forgot the oh-snappiest snap of them all... Burke shutting the door in Christina's face. SNAP!
Reply
11-29-2006 @ 1:05AM
San said...
What's killin me is that everyone on the show is telling Yang that she "did the right thing". No one seems to get that what she did was vindictive; it wasn't out of concern for the patients, it was out of anger at Burke and fear that George was gonna rat them out. Earlier in the episode, Burke was going to confess but it was Yang who talked him out of it. Yes he is an adult but he is also vulnerable right now and he's thinking he should be able to trust the woman he loves (he stupidly believes she loves him and not his position at the hospital. The best part of the episode was Burke slamming the door in her face. That was better than anything he could've said.
Reply
1-05-2007 @ 1:58PM
jessie said...
OMG - I didn't realize Dr. Hahn was the chick from Silence of the Lambs. Oh, when I read the lotion/hose line, I burst out laughing at work. That was rich. Thank you!
I thought the episode was good, but a bit all over the place. Too many stories going at once, but I suppose that was the point - sort of like a volcanic eruption. The Addison/Alex moment made me groan in discontent. Come one, please let these people sleep with other people other than the main cast. Pretty soon everyone will have slept with everyone and the show will be over.
Reply