"The pager is sacred. Sacred sparkle." -- IzzieA sparkly pager, some quick-drying cement, and a field of candles all play into tonight's 2-hour episode -- the Season Four finale of Grey's Anatomy. Has it really been only four seasons? Because it seems like so much more.
Anyway, tonight we learn a little more about some of the interns' history. For one thing, via a therapy session (and why can't I have Amy Madigan as my therapist?), we learn that young Meredith saw her mom slit her wrists, then had to wait for her to pass out before calling 911.
Meredith says her mom wanted to die, but by the end of the episode, she figures out that she really didn't want to die. Being a brilliant surgeon, her mom would have known the faster road to death entailed slitting her carotid artery.
Meredith decides she's not mad at her mom, but rather at the Chief, because his leaving was the cause of her mom's troubles (somehow, I think she had a few other issues). Anyway, Meredith and the Chief make peace by the end of the ep, and Meredith decides to take her mom's advice and "be extraordinary." Whatever.
A depressed Cristina perks up when Meredith tosses her the Sparkly Pager -- you know, the one with the fast-track to all the good surgeries. Her first Sparkly Pager task: save the life of a guy who arrived at the hospital encased in cement. Apparently, some moron kids dared him to lie down in fresh quick-drying cement. He did it to impress one of the morons -- a girl.
After much discussion, the docs decide to chip the cement off him (Really? Wow, I wish I'd thought of that!). But the cement does some wonky things to his body, so he ends up in surgery with Cristina and a half-dozen other docs saving his life. Cement Boy survives.
Rebecca's a mess, practically a vegetable as Alex feeds her, changes her (yes, you know what I mean), and everything else. Then she slits her wrist with a kitchen knife (Alex! How dumb can you be, leaving the room with a knife on the counter?!).
At the hospital, Izzie wants Rebecca evaluated by a psych doc, but Alex lashes out, calling Izzie a "stupid bitch!" That's harsh. Apparently, he has some experience with his own crazy mom. In the end, Izzie's right and Alex knows it. So he has Rebecca admitted to a psych facility, then goes home and has sex with Izzie. All better.
Callie decides she really is gay, and plants a wet one on Erica. Not right away, of course. First Callie has to make like she wants Sloan, but his gaydar is working at full capacity, and he ends up pushing her into Erica's arms.
Derek and Meredith are doing clinical trials on tumors, but their record sucks. I'm pretty sure the Chief told Meredith that nine of her clinical trial patients have died, and if she doesn't get the next one right, the board will shut her down. Thank God she and Derek end up with not one, but TWO trial patients -- a boy and girl who fell in love while doing chemo together at Mayo.
But before the kids go into surgery, they want to get down and dirty at least once. So Derek and Meredith put them in a room together, then guard the door while they go at it inside. Somehow, I'm sure the neurosurgeon at a big hospital would have more important things to do than guard a door for kids he's pimped out to each other. Then again, maybe not. And it's a good thing they had that time together, because the boy doesn't make it.
Lexie gets hold of the interns' files (I guess they jumped out of the Chief's file cabinet into her hands) and memorizes them with her super-photographic mind. She tells George he only failed the intern test by one measly point. He'd rather not know this, because it just confirms that he's "the almost guy."
But he comes around, talks to the Chief, and gets a second chance at the test. Oh, and Lexie knows that Alex lied about having cancer and losing a testicle. Because she's seen his testicles, and there's two there. That intel could come in handy at some point.
Bailey decides she can't be super-woman after all and hands the clinic keys over to Izzie. Makes sense to me, since Izzie built the clinic with money Denny left her. Plus, she's got the kind-hearted, people-person thing going. "You make me proud," Bailey tells her. Sheesh, are the writers on strike again?
The Chief ends up going home to his wife -- just because he's decided that's the thing to do. "It's about time!" says his wife, kissing him at the door. What, do these people never talk about this stuff?
Having no Meredith in his future, Derek decides to sell his prime real estate. (You know, the land that's had an Airstream sitting on it for years. What, he can't build a house unless he has a wife to put in it? That's so 1950.) Anyway, his plans to sell it are stopped in their tracks when he heads home and finds Meredith there, in the middle of a giant blueprint made out of candles next to the trailer. (I'd like to know where she got all those candles in the 60 minutes it must have taken him to get there.)
Could there be some happiness in the future for this dysfunctional couple? Time will tell. Derek does the honorable thing and leaves Meredith amidst the candles while he goes to find Rose -- right then and there! -- and tell her he won't be trailering up with her anymore. I guess we'll find out how that meeting went when next season rolls around.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
5-23-2008 @ 2:07AM
Jen said...
You must have truly hated the show. Probably one of the worst reviews I've read so far on this site, to be totally honest. I usually enjoy reviews on here because it's analysis along with a review...this is just a (poorly done) recap with some dissing thrown in. I had to check my address bar to make sure I wasn't reading televisionwithoutpity. Seriously? Let someone who actually likes the show review it next season.
It wasn't the greatest season finale that Grey's has had, it was a bit predictable, but it was sweet. *shrugs* Only problem I had was that i wanted Rebecca/Ava to die when she slit her wrists. I guess I'm evil, but I hate that story line. Hopefully it's over now that she's going to psych.
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5-23-2008 @ 2:13AM
jmt said...
Solid season finale. Justine Chambers and Katherine Heigl really brought their A game. Oh yeah, wasn't it awesome when Yang told Erica to shut-up and let her work! I'm not the biggest Yang fan, but Erica had it comming!
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5-23-2008 @ 2:14AM
Ryan said...
I really liked this finale. I mean REALLY liked it. It was like one big EXHALE from the labor pains that we've been through all season though more accurately the pre-strike episodes which were bordering on heinous.
I think the show really improved post-strike and delivered a finale that was just very cathartic for a lot of the characters and in so doing was very cathartic for the fans of the characters.
No big cliffhangery ending. Instead we got one that just let everyone end in a relatively okay place which is what we needed after the rollercoaster ride of the season which was on the brink of free falling.
And as much as I don't usually criticize TVSquad episode reviews/recaps, yours was just a bit... nonchalant about it all. Not sure if that's the right word I wanted to use, but there it is. All you did was pretty much list what happened in the episode in this matter-of-factly kind of way event which I thought did a disservice to the emotions and the relationships that were deftly displayed tonight.
Again I say this as a person who hated (HATED!) the pre-strike episodes this season *and* who still don't really give a crap about Meredith/Derek. Whew.
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5-23-2008 @ 3:20AM
Aaron said...
YOUR REVEIW IS CRAP AND YOU SHOULD EITHER QUIT OR STOP REVEIWING THIS PARTICULAR SHOW...
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5-23-2008 @ 4:39AM
Bash said...
Stop yelling and check your spelling you child.
5-23-2008 @ 3:23AM
Mykal Bloom said...
Can you perhaps remove the stick from your ass before sitting down to write these "reviews". Kthanks.
That being said, I really enjoyed this episode. The cement boy thing was weird, but ended all mushy which made me all warm and fuzzy inside. Sure, Lola's a bitch, and more than likely she won't go out with poor cementy in public, but at least he got a little something.
Oh, and Miranda, a Star Wars nerd? Loved it! I couldn't stop laughing. Probably the most memorable moment of the season.
I love new Yang, and watching Webber but Hahn in her place was orgasmic. There's just no other word for it.
I also love that Lexie knows everything about everybody. I just hope they make it a continuing thing (a lá "we were on a break" on "Friends")
The Ava/Rebecca/Alex thing was ... odd. It was like last week she's Acute Stress Disorder, now she's Borderline? Ehh. I really was hoping that she would have just died right there in Meredith's kitchen. Which I know is a terrible thing to say about a person, but it's not like she's real so whatevs.
The Callie/Hahn thing was just weird. I mean, Callie married O'Malley, so that was probably indicative of some underlying lesbianism right there, but seriously, it just feels gimmicky.
And lastly, I about wet myself when Meredith and Derek kissed, and he did his whole spiel about "wanting to do more than kiss you" (they were naughty in this episode, pimping out their patients!) that was just fantastic. And her candle thing? Adorable.
Was is predictable? To an extent. Extraordinary? Eh. But all in all a fitting end to the fourth season. But here's to hoping season five lightens up. I'm sick of "event television" as ABC so fondly refers to it!
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5-23-2008 @ 5:01AM
calli said...
I think Alex found out from her husband when he called him that she was diagnosed as Borderline even before she had her accident. That's how she went from Acute Stress to Borderline in such a short time. They didn't know how ill she was last week.
5-23-2008 @ 3:40AM
Matt said...
I normally get defensive when people rag on the tvsquad reviewers, 'cause you all do so well, but you were just a wee bit negative in this, and I don't think it was warranted.
I think the show needed this episode, it was quite cathardic...we got answers to Callie, George, Yang, Meredith, Dreamy & Steamy, Izzie, Alex, O'Malley, Lexie, Miranda and the Cheif. It closed some doors and opened new.
I too, wish Ava would die. Hopefully now that she's locked away she'll be totally off the show!
I'm excited to see what happens with Derek's trip, as I'm certain it's not as simple as it's being made out to think. Perhaps Rose is preggers, perhaps there's an accident, I dunno, but putting the main love interest together forever in a show can kill it (moonlighting).
The Callie/Lesbian thing, I think it totally makes sense. Her sexual interactions were extremely distructive. It's as though she was searching for something and wasn't finding it. She wasn't making any emotional connections with people, and when we think she did with O'Malley it seemed more of something that she was making herself believe that there was something there, when we all kinda knew there wasn't. Callie could be like many who don't realize they have gay tendencies until it hits them in the face...Hahn hit her in the face.
If you really think the episode was as bad as you made it seem, disprove some of these comments posted!
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5-23-2008 @ 8:54PM
chris said...
I had same thought as you regarding Derek's return next season. It will be complicated somehow. Him repeating "the room where our kids will play", led me to think Rose is pregnant also. Trust me, he will not returned unscathed to Meredith.
5-23-2008 @ 3:45AM
SJ said...
Haha I liked this review.
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5-23-2008 @ 4:40AM
Bash said...
Me too. I love it when Grey's gets trashed because it has become so god awful after the end of season 2.
5-23-2008 @ 8:43AM
Ryan said...
I don't mind a show/episode getting trashed if it's warranted like a lot of the pre-strike episodes. For last night's episode though, I don't think it deserved the flack it got in this review.
5-23-2008 @ 10:07AM
Alicia said...
I agree with Ryan... this episode was not nearly as bad as the reviewer tried to make it out to be.
5-23-2008 @ 5:01AM
calli said...
I don't think Callie decided she was gay, I think she just finally admitted that she was attracted to women, too. Or maybe attracted to a woman for the first time.
It's not as if someone has to be gay or straight with no middle ground. Perhaps the writers have decided to explore bisexuality. After all, it's not as if she wasn't having a good time with McSteamy. :-)
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5-23-2008 @ 5:18AM
Phish said...
this review reflected the writing on the show. its a crap show now, and it has jumped the shark in so many ways.
watch the ratings sink next season.
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5-23-2008 @ 5:50AM
Shane said...
I enjoyed this episode, as always, and like always...I wonder why the reviewer seems to dislike/mock the show so much! As for the negative remarks in the comments section - if you already know you don't like the show, then don't read the reviews and leave mean-spirited comments!!
Anyway, good ep.
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5-23-2008 @ 7:44AM
lizzy said...
$50 says that on his way to talk to Rose, Derek gets into some kind of car accident and either ends up in a coma for a couple of episodes or has memory loss and doesn't remember that he and Meredith decided to be together.
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5-23-2008 @ 8:58AM
ani said...
lizzy!!!!! last night when he said im leaving to tell rose, i told my boyfriend, watch him crash now on his way to tell her because all seasons always end with this huge cliffhanger!! i bet thats gonna happen!!
5-23-2008 @ 7:59AM
Susan Burns said...
Grey's Anatomy is a dramady (sp?) not House. I loved House's season finale, but I didn't expect anything of the sort from Grey's. That being said. The review was dialed in. I felt like the reviewer tivoed the episode and fast forwarded through the episode just so he/she could get the review in by the deadline. It was a good episode. It was not the Denny D. "start a heart attack to get a new heart episode season finale", but there was closure. We viewers needed to have Meredith/Derek get back together and since Meredith has a million other issues, I am sure there will be plenty of drama in that direction next season.
Good episode, but lame review!!!!
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5-23-2008 @ 8:15AM
laura said...
what a horrible Recap of a good show, Jane you might want to either actually pay attention to the show your reviewing or go review something you care about because its obvious you could give a rip.
First you tell of merediths "discovery" of the truth behind her mothers suicide attempt at the beginning, when clearly its a plot point that belongs at the end. But in reading the entire hot mess its clear you dont know how to set up a precise timeline if it killed you, i guess they pay you by the word not by the quality or professionalism.
Second We dont know if izzie and karev have sex, she is not into it and the point is that we will wait and see on that one.
Third Callie isnt Gay, if anything she is Bisexual, but from an immature standpoint like yours i understand how you got to that.
"the cement does some wonky things to him" wow thats such a great description of half the shows drama, methinks you are calling the wrong person a moron.
"I guess they jumped out of the Chief's file cabinet into her hands" or it could be that george told her they were in there and we see her go in and get them.
Again for the millionth time I am commenting on a reviewer on tv squad that is cleary too negative and immature to do it correctly.
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