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RSS'Grey's Anatomy': The arc ends: a fistfight and god talk
Technically, this episode of Grey's Anatomy was the end of the "crossover arc," but it was just pretty much Addison working on Derek's case and a lot of conversation about who was a god and when. Plus there's another freaky guest star.
Spoilers ahead, but I'm going in laparoscopically...
Fighting to save her: The centerpiece of the episode is Jen (Jennifer Westfeldt), the lovely pregnant patient who accidentally ran over her husband, Rob (Ben Shenkman) and turned out to have an aneurysm. Derek operated on her to repair it, nicked it, caused complications, she began having strokes and the baby got really sick. This week everything's getting fixed with a bypass, and a freaked-out Derek doesn't leave her side for days on end. Addison's there to watch the baby -- and Meredith and Karev do kind of a funny "my guy/your guy" banter. But as Jen's being wheeled away, Rob tells Addison to make no mistake: if it comes down to a choice between his wife and his baby, save Jen.
There are complications this time too, which ends up pitching Addison, who wants to deliver the baby, and Derek, who wants to save them both, against each other. Addison totally hits the nail on the head when she turns to Meredith to try to figure out what's up with Derek. Jen makes it through surgery with preeclampsia, which Derek insanely wants to hide from Jen and Rob. She suffers another brain bleed and heads back into surgery, and Derek wants to take out the temporal lobe to try to get the swelling to go down. Holy moly. Addison wants to deliver the baby, but Derek argues she'll bleed out, and now he wants to take out her frontal lobe. You don't need to be a doctor to hear that and know it's a lost cause. Derek and Addison have an angry scalpel face-off, and she tells him he doesn't get to play God here. Hey, did you know surgeons have a God complex?
They lose Jen but deliver the baby, who looks to be a strong 24 weeks. But Rob tears Derek apart, calling him a murderer. After this, Mark, who had been sucking up to Derek in preparation for telling him about dating Lexie, picks this moment of all moments to do it. Stupid. So Derek clocks him -- twice. And boy can Mark take a punch. And then we're supposed to believe that these two world-class surgeons would get into a knock-down fistfight in a public area in a hospital that would go on until one of them practically had a broken nose. No wonder Seattle Grace's ranking has fallen to 12. On the other hand, it's nice to see Derek with some frailties, and to note that it's not always Meredith who has to be the neurotic one.
Cristina v. Campbell: Callie's working with a patient who fractured his ankle because he fell down some stairs after gallbladder surgery -- surgery that basically butterflied the guy rather than deal with the problem laparoscopically. When they find out that Dr. Margaret Campbell, an Ellis Grey-style old-school chick surgeon, did the operation, Callie and Cristina fill Owen in -- Cristina a little too vocally, because she's going on and on about Campbell's incompetence when she appears. And she's Faye Dunaway. Which would be enough to intimidate anyone. Campbell has her way of doing things, and given that Hunt seems to see her point of view, she takes a shine to him and bristles at Cristina.
To her credit, though, Cristina doesn't back down, even if she takes it a little too far by going to the chief and all but accusing Ms. Crawford -- I mean, Dr. Campbell -- of being incompetent. All kidding aside, Dunaway's quite good, if intense, which is probably the mixed legacy of playing a particular part very well. In surgery to repair a mistake she made on the patient, Campbell puts Cristina through her paces to prove that there's more than one surgical technique, but in the end Cristina remains unbowed and Campbell decides to retire. After saying she was a god in the OR once. Owen, in his infinite patience with Cristina, points out her similarities to Campbell -- and throws in how he wants to be there with her 40 years from now when they're trying to pry the scalpel from her hands. Aw.
Izzie and the Interns: And here we go. When the patient Izzie thought might have cancer comes back and gives her an earful, it becomes obvious that her test results got mixed up with Izzie's. I realize Sadie was a screw-up, but seriously, did she have to mess up everything she touched? Izzie loses it to Bailey about the interns' incompetence, and Bailey's retort -- that she felt the same way about Izzie's intern class -- was priceless. Clearly, Izzie's trying to deal with a hairy problem straight on, and I applaud her turning her own case into an exercise to teach the interns how to get competent. What I don't applaud is her inability to just go and get freakin' diagnosed by someone who knows what they're doing already. From the look on the dermatology resident's face when she brought the test results, we know it ain't good.
Etc.
- Bailey chasing the chief's recommendation letter for her peds fellowship just felt like filler to me, even though it was obvious that he wasn't playing ball because he didn't want to lose his successor. Good for Bailey for telling him it's not up to her to fulfill his plans and hopes.
- George's word count: 79. Bailey was totally right to choose George to write her recommendation letter.
- I should be more frustrated with Callie, whose talking-it-out method of dealing with her issues and her adolescent search for affirmation from Mark really is pretty annoying. But I like that she's piecing it together bit by bit, and that she's feeling strong enough to get out there and make an ass of herself. And amen to Arizona for saying that it's not her job to help Callie grow up.
- Just something I noticed: Addison apparently travels with her scrub cap. I suppose there's a possibility that she might've scrubbed in on Archer's surgery, but as a gynecologist/obstetrician/pediatric surgeon, what are the odds?
What did you think? Did the cross-over make you want to watch either show more than you normally would? In what kind of hospital do fistfights between surgeons take place in the halls? And can these people slug back the booze or what?
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
Lexie and Mark have quickly become my favorite characters and couple. Chyler Leigh and Eric Dane have electric chemistry together. They are sexy together and sweet. They balance each other out. I hope we get more talking and bonding scenes between Mark and Lexie. I love them talking about each other but want more Mark and Lexie scenes. I love how smart,sexy,sweet and strong Lexie is. I also love that this year Mark has really come into his own. He is no longer a side character but a character that stands on his own. I love that Mark remains arrogant, ****y, sarcastic while growing into a multi dimensional leading man. Here's hoping for more Mark and Lexie for a long time to come.
Patrick Dempsey did a great job tonight. Derek was really losing it. Derek is generally a great guy. I've always been a Mcdreamy fan but I liked that they dealt with his ego and god complex at work. Also Derek needs to be a better friend. He talks about family and friends but he sucks at it. Derek should never throw a punch. It just looks funny and there is no way Mcdreamy could beat up Mcsteamy.
Callie and Arizona are wonderful together. I like the chemistry there.
I am glad the crossover is over and Grey's can focus on the their huge ensemble and not Private Practice characters. Although Sam is welcome for a return visit.
Was anyone else waiting for a Mommie Dearest moment from Faye Dunaway. When she was yelling at Christina to leave her OR, I was waitng for her to yell "No more wire hangers"
Good episode. Still love Lexie and Mark. Got to say, I kind of intrigued about what's going on with Izzie.
AArgh, I HATE Lexie and Sloan together. And if Izzie doesn't freaking get diagnosed and let Alex and the rest know what she is facing, I am done with this show! Okay, probably not really, but they are moving that story line at a snail's pace and it is super irritating.
I absolutely HATE that they killed Jen - she was one of the sweetest guest-stars ever and I so wanted her and her baby to be okay. Derek went way overboard to try to save her, what with wanting to completely destroy her brain. I did like the standoff with him and Addison (who should definitely come back to "Grey's" on a permanent basis!). Her husband was great in his scenes - especially when he called Derek a murderer...I feel so sorry for him.
I also liked the showdown between Cristina and Campbell...and yes, I did see the similarity to Joan Crawford : )! Like how Hunt wants to be in it for the long haul with Cristina - they are great together!
Glad to see the Izzie mystery moving along. Aside the the enormous medical/insurance bills, the misdiagnosed patient should be pretty happy to know that she only has to deal with anemia! I liked the scenes where Izzie was checking herself out so completely - she must be pretty scared about the unknown "thing" that Denny warned her about.
And I have to say that Mark's timing really sucks - in that hospital, I'm sure the rumor mill would have spread the news about Derek's patient so it makes no sense to me that Mark would pick that particular moment to tell him about his involvement with Lexie. Good for Derek for that first punch! I had to laugh at how they both kept checking their hands as they were fighting - after all, their hands are their livelihood!
And finally, I feel sorry for Calliope (love that name!). She had absolutely no clue that Arizona (hate THAT name) would back off so completely when she found out how "new" Callie is to the world of lesbians...loved the scene in the bar when Callie unwittingly interrupted the date! Good for her and for sticking up for herself!
Sorry to see Addison go...
HOW can you say this???
I applaud her turning her own case into an exercise to teach the interns how to get competent.
That's what got her into this in the first place - I'm so TIRED of her!
Callie's trolling is getting old and her increasing stupidity is getting older. It never ceases to amaze me that this woman managed to get a medical degree with the childish way her brain seems to work. Find her a woman or find her a man, but get it OVER with already!
Don't you think that Karev would have noticed that red spot on Izzie and told her she should have that checked out?? Also, Faye Dunaway has had so much plastic surgery it is distracting. I really wasn't listening to any thing she said because I was looking at how stretched out her face is and how her nostrils are pulled apart. Why do these people who get so much surgery think they actually look better? I think it is really sad that these people think they have to go to such lengths to "look" younger. They just look weird.
Can't believe no one mentioned Bailey's hair???!!! It looked SO bad and not the right style for a doctor much less a surgeon. So glad the brain woman/baby storyline is over and Derek and Sloan fighting was SO dumb.
I fell asleep about 25 minutes in but that's not because the show was boring but because of a long day. First, I want to say that I love the Grey's recaps here no matter who does them. As for the show... I am SOOOOO glad that they finally touched on Derek's God complex, which in my opinion has been there since Day One. The problem is that I believe the writers are saying that his God complex extends the OR and into those around him. Him hitting Mark was uncaused for. PERIOD! Doctors lose patients on a daily basis and when they do, no matter the difficulty of the case, they don't go and slug their colleague and/or loved one. If they do then that speaks highly of their character and not in a good way. When he even told Mark to stay away from Lexi, he was extending his rule over the two of them. Derek is a tool and I am glad they finally showed that.
There's just nothing to Mark and Lexie. She walks around all wide eyed and bewildered and he has no sincerity to him with her. Dane as Sloan has so much more depth with almost every other actress on the show except Lexie who's reduced to the worlds dumbest sceens. The show was dark, some scenes were laughable,only not in a good way and the Mark/Lexie pariing? Completely cring wothy.
I was also totally distracted by Faye Dunaway's plastic face!! Glad I wasn't the only one - she looks horrible! Good episode otherwise..