Grey's Anatomy: The Name of the Game

Sarah's up to her neck in... whatever she's doing that gets as deep as her neck. To be honest with you, I don't really know, but when she asked the Squadders for a hand in reviewing this week's Grey's Anatomy, I happily volunteered. So you have me this week instead of Sarah. I apologize in advance.

OK, right off the bat, let me say that this wasn't one of those edge-of-your-seat, high drama, emotional episodes like we've been used to seeing. Oh, don't get me wrong, there were some major revelations in this episode. It just seemed very Seinfeldian in that just about everyone who wasn't Meredith got an underdeveloped side plot, just to so viewers know they're all still around.

First the big revelation: Meredith's got two half-sisters! And she's about to be a half-aunt! What a day, huh?

Meredith's juggling a lot of negative emotions lately; her mom's illness, the affair she had (and seems to be continuing) with Webber, the doomed McDreamy relationship, and the small fact that George is ignoring her after they slept together. I mean, she's working out her sexual frustration through knitting, for crissakes! So, now what does fate bring her? A sister, who is having complications with her pregnancy. Since they know Addison is the best, Thatcher Grey and his current wife (played by Mare Winningham!) bring their daughter to Seattle Grace. God, it's all so convenient, isn't it? Because McDreamy's wife is so good at pre-natal medicine, Grey has to deal with a lost sister; she's screwing Meredith even when she doesn't know it.

Anyway, the confrontation between Thatcher and Webber was tense in an intellectual way. I wanted Thatch to hit Webber, but he's an older form of George; nice, strong to an extent, but not a violent guy. I do understand, though, why Thatch left; he was married to an unavailable woman who was having an affair. But he should have been there for Meredith; she didn't need to meet her sister while pretending to prep her for surgery, never letting on that they're related.

The scenes where George, who worked the case with Addison, unloads the info on Addison and Izzy are both great; George is still into Meredith, even though Callie -- who tells a nosy Izzie that "he makes my world stop." Way to go, George! Hope you can handle her, she's a lotta woman -- is in his life and actually pays attention to him. So he dumps the info on Izzie and says "If I tell you this, it's now your problem." But the problem falls back on him when Thatcher asks him what Meredith is like. He describes Meredith in a way only person in love can; her flaws are quirks, and her good qualities are miraculous. Thatcher thanks him, and so does Meredith, who's listening on the sly. So she may be rebuilding two relationships at the same time as we exit... let's hope.

Oh, and Meredith looks up from her knitting just long enough to lock eyes with a possible new McDreamy... the vet for the dog she owns with Derek (played by Chris O'Donnell, but I didn't realize that at first). Good. She freakin' needs to move on already. Pining gives you worry lines, and Ellen Pompeo is too beautiful to act her way to a set of worry lines...

OK, the other plots... well, there's not much to them. Cristina is kicking Webber's ass in a procedure class until he beats her by using "the basics", which she turns around and uses to get George out of her and Burke's apartment (naked much, Cristina?). Alex and Burke clash over the bedside manner he uses with a patient who doesn't want to tell her daughter she's dying (good to see Laurie Metcalf on TV again, even if it's in bed with tubes coming out of her). Izzie is also knitting, getting frustrated as she gets closer to an improving Denny (wow... Denny's a banter machine, isn't he? He doesn't even stop when his heart is failing and his lungs are filling with fluid).

Finally, Bailey tries to convince Derek that she's still a fine surgical resident despite being a new mom, but her emotions during a young spelling bee champ's brain surgery get the better of her (though it's good to see Bailey softening up some... I think the "hard-ass resident" character was done to death during the first five years of ER).

Best line of the night: when Cristina bitches to Meredith and Izzy about needing to get George out of the apartment, Meredith shoots back with, "You know, you could sleep with him, then in the middle start crying. It's painful, humiliating, and unbelievably cruel. But apparently, it works." Good to see Meredith still has a sense of humor in the midst of all the Sipowicz-esque gloom.

So, in total, an "eh" episode. At least two of the sub-plots could have been cut and the episode would have been just fine. It didn't drag the episode down, necessarily, but I do think they blunted the emotional impact of Meredith's situation a little bit. Oh, well; Shonda Rhimes and company can't crank out winners every week. Let's hope, though, we see Meredith reconnect with her father and her stepfamily. She needs something to ground her right now... hopefully McDreamy II will also help with that...