'Grey's Anatomy': Can You Believe This?
We've grown up a lot since ABC aired the last original episode of "Grey's Anatomy" -- it's been a whole month, in which the Hollywood writers' strike has taught us we live in a cold, harsh world filled with evil media conglomerates and self absorbed Hollywood writers who spend their newfound free time churning out articles they assume we'll find fascinating on Why They Write. And cranking out videos to illuminate us, starring A-list actors who can't stand not to have a camera trained on them pretending to be lost without writers to tell them what to think and how to say it.
So it's hard to remember where exactly we'd left the doctors of Shagorama General -- seems like a lifetime ago.
McDreamy and Meredith apparently were back together when we saw them last, which naturally means they will now break up. This time, George, the Grade-A Chump, "accidentally" tells Meredith that McDreamy kissed Nurse Rose the day before -- when they were broken up. Meredith -- who's just been treated to McDreamy's presentation of the Victorian-but-with-open-floor-plan dream house he's decided to build for them to live in and raise their children -- decides to have a little chat with McDreamy about his Rose. McDreamy gets all "you're so damaged I can't deal with it any more" and rushes off to find Nurse Rose to ask her out. Really, the man has the attention span of a gnat.
George, the mama's boy predator, hasn't yet gotten around to telling his mother that a.) his marriage has collapsed over b.) shagging his best friend and c.) he's not a resident because he failed the exam. This comes to light when Mom O'Malley shows up with bags full of handmade baby clothes for George's ex, Calllie, putting the finishing touch on her humiliation. George reacts by asking Meredith Lite whether she'd like to rent an apartment with him, suggesting she will be his next victim. Meanwhile, his last victim, Izzie, is off whining somewhere about something.
Dr. Hahn finally confesses that she's mean to McSteamy 'cause he's too pretty and she has to leave her personal feelings outside the hospital, which can only mean she won't leave her personal feelings outside the hospital, which was no doubt carefully planned to take place during the February sweep, only then the writers' strike came along and gummed things up.
Bailey's baby boy is brought into the ER with a punctured pretty-much-everything -- the result of having a bookcase fall on him, an incident that Bailey's nasty, angry husband says was caused by her failure to close the baby gate at home. Dr. Hahn operates and throws Bailey out of the OR when she tries to crash the operation to hold her baby's hand, but Cristina agrees to hold the baby's hand, which transforms her from a robot into a Madonna - hey, it's TV.
Dr. Hahn puts the little boy back together again, but it's a faith healer who's a patient at Shag Gen who gets him to breathe on his own again.
This episode has been brought to you by the word "Believing," says Voiceover Bailey.
-- LISA DE MORAES
By Lisa de Moraes |
January 11, 2008; 10:41 AM ET
Grey's Anatomy
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Posted by: BC | January 11, 2008 11:22 AM
Okay, I have never watched this show before this season but due to a change in my workout schedule I am finding myself on the treadmill now while it's on the giant tv in front of me at the gym. And all I can say is: Has it always been this ridiculously bad???? And that Katherine Heigl character -- even watching with the sound off, I can hear her whining. It makes me want to throw a dumbbell at the screen.
Posted by: arlington | January 11, 2008 11:32 AM
Thanks for a great review! After the first trailer, I opted to finish reading a 1929 book on sheepherding and I am glad to see I didn't miss a thing. Guess this former Grey's addict is cured but I would keep reading your reviews for the entertainment value!
Posted by: willy | January 11, 2008 12:19 PM
Thank you for posting this. My decision to stop watching this AWFUL show has been validated. It's hard to remember when Grey's Anatomy was good. It has gotten so, so, excruciatingly bad.
Posted by: cathy p | January 11, 2008 12:24 PM
Can you explain what the heck happened to this show? It's heartbreaking to watch, because once-upon-a-time it was really good.
Who's to blame?
Posted by: KD | January 11, 2008 01:39 PM
Thanks for the recap. I really wish I had known you were going to watch it "so I wouldn't have to." That's an hour of my life I'll never get back. I could have been setting myself on fire and running through a gas station.
Posted by: LLL | January 11, 2008 02:07 PM
i'll tell you what happens. It is the same syndrom of daytime TV. Everybody sleeps with everybody in an ever revolving door of recycling their relationships. that is issue number 1.
issue number 2 is that too many whiny people on the show. Izzy, George, and worse of all Meredith. You can't possibly tell me that you expect the guy to wait around while you "play" with him and can't decide what is the meaning of your life. Do people really do that in real life? to that extent?
in George's case, i can see the "G" story arc already showing its root. Boy has secret crush on girl but gets reject. boy meets girl, marries, but decide she is not right for her because he prefers the company of his best friend. Best friend is just that: "just a friend" and not a sexual partner. Boy finally realizes that he is gay.
the story lines are getting so predictable. the show is missing some zing. Bailey is too docile as of late. Karev keeps deviating from an ass**ld to mr. sentimental. Cristina's is still playing her part of cold b*tch but nobody is paying attention because it was more interesting to see Isiah Washington trying to bring out a different part of her. Isiah needs to come back to bring some intrigue into the life of this hospital.
call it the longevity curse people. after a couple of years these shows are no longer fresh. and the fall into the pittfalls of recycling the same story. same people different characters.
Posted by: MDinTexas | January 11, 2008 02:20 PM
This show is just awful. And getting worse very week.
Posted by: | January 11, 2008 03:09 PM
I always found the show less than realistic because everyone was so pretty. Surgical residents are not pretty--they don't have time to worry about looks. You may have one or two along the way who are naturally pretty, but they don't ALL get residencies in the same hospital.
So I was really confused when I saw Dr. Hahn for the first time last night. When she told Dr. McWhatever he was "too pretty" for her, I thought, "Ah, no way. They can't pair those two up. She's not good-looking enough." Her face is kind of crooked, her teeth are weird, and she's not very much to look at. In other words, she's the first person to actually resemble a real doctor and my natural inclination was to wish they'd gotten someone better looking. I've become a clone. Sigh.
Posted by: LLL | January 11, 2008 04:30 PM
Lisa, that was brilliant. Because I actually saw the episode, I like your write-up all the more.
Posted by: Batocchio | January 11, 2008 05:09 PM
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I fear Grey's is going to fail us in the long run. the story lines just seem to repeat repeat repeat.