(S04E09) "No one ever better call me Nazi again." - Bailey
Nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like white supremacy and ambulance accidents! OK... well, not really. But that's what we got as Grey's Anatomy slowly winds down to its final pre-WGA Strike episodes. There are only two more in the can and production on the show has been shut down. The resolution to this "event" airs in two weeks and S04E11 currently has no airdate scheduled, though I'm guessing that ABC will save it until after the New Year. Now you'll notice that I put quotes around event. Did it really feel like one? I know the mold for a big episode of Grey's Anatomy usually involves something that crashes or explodes, but this felt more like a regular episode to me. However, as forced and predictable as the cliffhangers were, I am excited to find out the resolutions.
Now that Bailey is chief resident, her screen time has finally gotten back to the level we were accustomed to. I loved how it all started at home in her kitchen. Her husband and kid still exist! Unfortunately, as Webber warned her about long ago, the job is destroying her marriage. Her husband isn't happy and the fact that he got stood up for their lunch date won't help I'm sure. I find it interesting that Bailey seems more dedicated to the job than her family. She really could have handed off that surgery with Mr. KKK if she had wanted. No one would have held that against her as Derek pointed out. So why didn't she? It feels a little out of character for her if you ask me. I never saw her as the type to let something like this slide, and now it's at a point where it feels like her hand is being forced simply because seeing her marriage crumble will presumably make for a good story.
Now when it comes to the racist paramedic, did anyone else consider for a second that maybe he had a hand in the accident? His partner Mary is black and it crossed my mind that maybe he slipped her something that caused the seizure. Obviously that wasn't the case, but it would have been a bit more interesting if something like that was uncovered. As far as Mary goes, Shepperd is going to have a hard time poking around in her brain if all his fancy monitors are broken. I liked that cliffhanger least. Like it was was tacked on just for the sake of having one more dramatic moment. If anything though, it'll allow Derek and Rose to bond more. Right as Meredith seems to be realizing what she wants, Derek already seems to have written her off as non-committal and picked Rose as a safe alternative. I'd like to see him go somewhere with this.
Meredith is just too wishy-washy about everything at this point. She says she knows what she wants but I'm not sure that I believe it. I think that perhaps watching Stan the paramedic die might help her see the light. Life is short. Cristina's negativity rubs off on her though. Izzie's dislike for the relationship between Mer and Yang is clouded by the fact that she wants an in with Hahn, but she's still on to something. I think that the Mer/Yang bond is corrosive to Meredith.
So besides that ambulance crash, there was one other really big thing. Ava/Rebecca came back for Alex... again. It's just awkward at this point because we know it's not going anywhere and the only reason it makes sense to have her folded in again is because Lexie is smitten. Clearly Alex will hop in the sack with anyone, but c'mon. Ava/Rebecca is a lost cause at this point. What I did find interesting is that she told Lexie that her and Alex were together. She's a little delusional in that department, huh? If that angle got played out, I'd be all for it to see the ramifications of Ava/Rebecca becoming some love obsessed stalker.
More thoughts...
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What was with all the music? I know this show is known for making slightly unknown artists or songs into the next big thing and I'm the first to admit that I've found new music as a result... but this was too much! It felt like every scene had a soundtrack.
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Seth Green was great as Nick. He's a more versatile actor than people give him credit for. I love how he developed an attachment to Lexie, but here's what I didn't like: the clock that Sloan placed on his artery by saying it could explode at any minute. It took away from the drama because you knew it was gonna pop at the end of the episode. Total "duh" moment. I would have preferred that Sloan said that everything went fine so that the artery blowing up would've been more of a surprise rather than an expectation.
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I absolutely hated that Cristina tried to use her stepfather's dead parents who were killed at Auschwitz as an excuse to get out of operating on the swastika dude. If we've learned one thing about her, it's that she's distant and disconnected to her family. To try and fake pain and attempt to evoke sympathy like that was low even for her.
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iGeorge was barely even addressed. There is a god.
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Sloan is still hitting on Hahn. Can she just say yes already? Get a drink with him! I'm already sick of him constantly trying to impress her. It became pathetic much faster than I thought it would.
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I think John Billingsley has guest-starred on every show ever made.
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Izzie v. Cristina has continued too. I'm still waiting for Cristina to really blow up though. We know she wants cardio and Hahn keeps picking Izzie. Notice how Hahn addresses everyone else as "Dr. _____" but she still calls Cristina just "Yang?" It's funny, as if she doesn't even consider her to be a surgeon. Just an annoyance.
The episode ended with Meredith putting herself in a risky situation as she attempted to stabilize Ray while climbing over Stan's body. I know we were supposed to feel attached to Ray and Stan, but they're just disposable characters on this show. The EMTs don't play a huge role like they do in ER, so I sort of didn't care. It's not about them anyway. It's about Meredith and what she wants... for once.
The Upfronts: FOX
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The Upfronts: CBS
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-23-2007 @ 12:42AM
Ryan said...
Seth Green has made this show 1000x better. Even though his arteries exploding was expected it was still very cool and will have me biting my nails until I find out what happens in TWO (!!!) weeks.
The Nazi thing was... random. That's all I have to say about that.
Also fellow Buffyverse alum, Eliza Dushku, was on Ugly Betty. How fantastic was that?!
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11-23-2007 @ 12:04PM
Fred Mertz said...
All of your criticisms are on target -- and can be easily explained. Grey's Anatomy is on auto-pilot. We've gotten about as much as we can out of these characters. It would be even worse if burke were still around.
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11-23-2007 @ 12:04PM
Guido said...
I'm not sure if it was the same in the USA, but in Canada they showed the ambulance crash in the preview last week.. kind of kills the reaction.
They need to learn from ER on how to create surprise. Other than that it was a typical Grey.
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11-23-2007 @ 12:05PM
Alicia said...
I was worried that this was the last pre-strike episode. Even though you know that certaint hings will happen, they still make you jump when it happens.
I don't think that Bailey's "commitment" to the surgery with Nazi guy was all that out of char. for her. She is ABOVE all that... (as she kept saying) and well... I think that with the stuff from last week with the guy from High School.... she needed to prove something... if only to herself.
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11-23-2007 @ 12:05PM
Nola said...
Please leave Cristina and Meredith's relationship alone. It's the only functioning relationship on this show and the best relationship. Meredith doesn't need Cristina's to rub off on her, because she's already dark and twisty herself. If anything Cristina shows Meredith, as she did tonight, how to let go of the drama and just go with it.
And finally, Cristina wasn't using her stepfather's being Jewish as an excuse.
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11-23-2007 @ 12:06PM
SJ said...
I thought it was Christina's disgust was clear and genuine, not an attempt to get out off of that case and back onto Hahn's service. I hardly think she's THAT cold and detached as to use her stepfather's (and hers by extension) pain as an excuse.
Jonathan your suggestion to the contrary is what I find disgusting.
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11-23-2007 @ 12:10PM
Jonathan Toomey said...
I think you guys are all way off here. Cristina was totally looking for an excuse to get back on Hahn's service. Once she realized that Bailey wanted her to help with the paramedic's surgery and not just his consult, she busted out the one thing she had hoping to sway Bailey to let her go. If her stepfather's religion were as near and dear to her as you're all suggesting, then she wouldn't have waited to the last second to bring it up. She would have made a big deal out of it the second she saw the swastika on the guy's stomach if she had truly been offended.
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11-23-2007 @ 1:36PM
Joe said...
It was a great episode, IMHO. I enjoyed it and thought it was WAY better than last week's, which was the first Grey's in over a year and a half that I did not watch online immediately upon post (I still haven't streamed it, although I will probably stream last night's today). One thing: I thought it was a very timely episode, in that, right before the show began, a guy began loudly complaining that he, no longer, desired to, "get out of the way of *those* people." The guy, a caucasian, was referring to a group of African-Americans who were staying at a hotel in Hollywood and walking from the front of the hotel to the parking lot in back. He had no idea that he said that right in front of my open window. His companion, who sounded like his father (the guy was probably about 35), replied, "Well, they're behind you now," to the son's (?) dismay. Less than an hour later, this episode of "Grey's" aired. Strange, huh? One question for you all: do you think it changed anything, in that some of the 35 million viewers had to have confronted their own racism upon watching this program?
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11-23-2007 @ 2:12PM
Joe said...
It was a great episode, IMHO. I enjoyed it and thought it was WAY better than last week's, which was the first Grey's in over a year and a half that I did not watch online immediately upon post (I still haven't streamed it, although I will probably stream last night's today). One thing: I thought it was a very timely episode, in that, right before the show began, a guy began loudly complaining that he, no longer, desired to, "get out of the way of *those* people." The guy, a caucasian, was referring to a group of African-Americans who were staying at a hotel in Hollywood and walking from the front of the hotel to the parking lot in back. He had no idea that he said that right in front of my open window. His companion, who sounded like his father (the guy was probably about 35), replied, "Well, they're behind you now," to the son's (?) dismay. Less than an hour later, this episode of "Grey's" aired. Strange, huh? One question for you all: do you think it changed anything, in that some of the 35 million viewers had to have confronted their own racism upon watching this program?
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11-23-2007 @ 2:35PM
iuqiddis said...
I don't think Christiana was looking for an excuse. I thought she stayed in the surgery with Bailey.
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11-23-2007 @ 6:46PM
Lora said...
"I didn't understand why the ambulance crashed in the first place, does anyone know?"
The driver of the second ambulance--the one that caused the crash--had a seizure. She's the one Derek is working on.
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11-23-2007 @ 6:47PM
nattyff said...
Jonathan, i completly agree with you, christina is that cold and that oportunistic, and if the resto of the people thinks otherwise, they have not seen GA from the beginnig.
i heard somwhere that Han is supousted to be gay, it's that true??
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11-23-2007 @ 6:47PM
M2B said...
I told myself I wouldn't comment again. This is the last time. J. Toomey is snarky, nasty and just unpleasant about this show. If you find it so distasteful, PLEASE get your bosses to reassign you. #1 - just because Cristina is emotionally distant does not mean she was not sincere in her distaste for this man and the suffering of her stepfather's family. She has also discussed her stepfather w/ the shiva for Denny Duquette.
#2 - Izzie is insane. People like some people better than others and that's okay. She's had: Denny, Alex, George ... it's not like her cupboard has been bare. she's the immature diva who is basically always operating under the poor me, I was the trailer park girl. she's the poor girl who jealous of Meredith and Cristina, who were not!
#3 - Meredith consistently holds up well in horrible situations; remember the bomb in season 2?
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11-23-2007 @ 6:48PM
Natalie said...
The author of this review is not free from discrimination himself, because doctors and angels save people regardless of their political or any other believes. that was the point of Bailey' 'rising above'.
The Nick's cliffhanger was great - as the vote on the same page shows.
Also, it was not the END of the episode. Seems like the author forgot about it.
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11-23-2007 @ 6:49PM
Nola said...
"If her stepfather's religion were as near and dear to her as you're all suggesting, then she wouldn't have waited to the last second to bring it up. She would have made a big deal out of it the second she saw the swastika on the guy's stomach if she had truly been offended."
Actually that's just your take on it. Cristina's being Jewish has come up several times in the past on the show. Last year when Burke wanted to put up a tree she said she doesn't celebrate Christmas that she's Jewish. When Izzie was stuck on the bathroom floor after Denny and they were all trying to figure out how to help her, Cristina mentioned that she didn't know what to do in situations like this because all she knows was sitting Shiva.
So her reaction wasn't convenient or opportunistic. Just like Derek mentioned to Bailey that she could give the surgery to someone else and that people would understand, if Cristina really wanted to get back to cardio she could have made more of a fuss if she wanted based on her own beliefs, her race and religion to get out of it, regardless of how much Bailey wanted them both to rise above it.
Like you're pointing out in your recap, Cristina is opportunistic when it comes to surgeries. No way she'd just give up on that great cardio surgery just cause Bailey talked about rising above.
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11-23-2007 @ 6:49PM
eugene said...
Dr. Yang DOES bring up her religion with the patient, as she's working on him and he says he's in pain, she rebuffs him and says something to the effect of: come'on, it's not like you're in a concentration camp."
If she didn't care, why would she bring it up with the nazi boy?
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11-23-2007 @ 6:52PM
Jonathan Toomey said...
I hear what you're all saying about Cristina's past religious comments and I'm not disagreeing. But in this instance, I still think Cristina pulled out the "my stepfather is Jewish card" not because she was offended by the guy's tatoo, but because she wanted to work on Hahn's surgery instead.
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11-23-2007 @ 11:05PM
iamhoff said...
Great episode. I loved it when Eva told Lexie that she was with Alex...it will be interesting to see whichever of the two "isn't" with Alex goes all stalker and vindictive. And FWIW, yes we all agree that Christina has mentioned her Jewish upbringing several times in the past, but I'm with Jonathan: this was about her wanting to get out of Bailey's surgery and back to Cardio. Think about it. Anytime a patient has disagreed with Yang, or talked some sort of smack or whatever, she's gotten cold and calculating on them. When she's in the surgical mode, emotions beyond cold and calculating don't happen. If Nazi-boy was a Cardio case, I think she would've gotten uppity and commanding and she would've berated his stupidity and the irony that a Jew was going to save his stupid Nazi a**. She just wants back on Cardio.
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11-23-2007 @ 11:05PM
dara said...
Yeah, J.T. It's not that I want some recapper to fawn all over the show, but do you have to be so negative?
Seriously, if you dislike the show that much, get reassigned.
You just sucked all the good parts out of this episode for me....
Did you have some bad cranberries this Thanksgiving?
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11-23-2007 @ 11:06PM
Nola said...
Which is why if she really wanted to get out of it, she could have based on playing that card if she wished. Like I said, Shepherd told Bailey everyone would understand if she didn't do it, so if Cristina really was trying to play the Jewish card, she could have used it far better than just to mention it to Bailey once and then going along with Bailey's rising above it crap.
This is Cristina after all. She isn't a pushover. Bailey's rising above speech wasn't that stirring that she'd forgo her precious cardio if she didn't really want to.
It just does not make any sense that if she's as calculating as you say she is, which I agree with to some extent, that she'd pass up the opportunity to get back on cardio, when she had an obvious playing card. Better yet if she really wanted to get out of it by playing that card, she could have gone to the chief and recommended the uberblonde Izzie. Tall blonde and white of skinned. Who better to make a supposed neo nazi feel better?
It's just hard to believe this "Jewish card" stuff when Cristina barely put up a fight. Cristina never brings up her family unless it's a very serious situation to her. We've seen her fight harder to win that hot dog eating contest in season two.
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