(S03E22/S03E23) "I'm just saying, it's a relief to be on a "not horny" elevator... you know?" - Addison

Well that's it. We speculated. We ooed and ahhed. We wondered what could possibly be in store for a Grey's Anatomy spin-off starring Kate Walsh's Addison Montgomery. Well now we know and based on my initial diagnosis (doctor lingo!), I have to be honest -- it feels a lot like the exact same show in a different city with different players. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so because we've got a formula that works here. Did I like it? Sure. Did I love it? Well... love is a strong word.

So Addison is in Los Angeles. She had sex with Karev, got lied to by Sloan, and now she's about 1,200 miles south with the sudden urge to have a baby. Mid-life crisis anyone? Fortunately, her best friend Naomi (Merrin Dungey) is a fertility expert who works for a well-known practice. Cue the rest of your new spin-off cast:

• Pete (Tim Daly), the laid-back new age doctor with specialties in herbs and acupuncture. He has trouble with commitment and has been a widow going on eight years now. Digs Addison.
• Sam (Taye Diggs), Naomi's ex-husband and one of the lead doctors at the Oceanside Wellness Group. He has no honest answer for why he left his wife.
• Violet (Amy Brenneman), the resident shrink who thinks her profession is becoming obsolete. She also recently found out that her anti-marriage ex-boyfriend just got married.
• Cooper (Paul Adelstein), the socially inept pediatrics doc. Has a thing for Violet.
• Dell (Chris Lowell), the hunky male receptionist who parades around the office every day at 1:05 wearing nothing but shorts and carrying his surfboard. Has a major crush on Naomi.

See what I mean though? Don't you feel like you've met all these characters already? I mean, they're new... but not quite. Everything definitely feels like it's been sewn from the same thread though. I do find it interesting that both Daly and Diggs are in the show. Did they have some kind of pending ABC contracts that needed to be held up following the cancellations of The Nine and Day Break?

Much of the spin-off followed a lot of the same conventions we've come to expert from Grey's, so it made it easy to follow. Questions about who's sleeping with who, plenty of quirky patients, and lots of emotional blabber all helped to create the same feel. Fortunately for Addison, there's an empty office... if she can ever get used to Tilly, the security guard who speaks to everyone through the elevator intercom.

The episode ended with her on her way back to Seattle Grace presumably, but I see no reason for that to come to fruition. When the series (Private Practice is the tentative title) finally premieres, it would make sense for her to change her mind and take Naomi up on the job offer. Plus there are factors pulling her in the new direction. Beyond her obvious attraction to Pete the Quack, the revelation that Addison can't conceive is going to push her to help other women do just that. The Oceanside Wellness Group is the place for that to happen. All we can do now is wait for her to turn the car around and hop in the sack with Pete.

Back in Seattle, it was a little jumpy, but a lot happened. I wasn't too drawn to the Preston/Cristina angle as the entire story of the marriage is growing tiresome for me. He wants it, she doesn't. It never gets interesting. At least with the return of both their mothers, it's planted a seed of doubt in Preston's mind. It's something I suppose. Same goes for Gizzie. They've continued their little dance and canoodled some more in the elevator, but George is still firm about transferring to Mercy West and not divorcing Callie. With only two episodes to go, I doubt very much he'll be able to keep his hands off Izzie much longer. At first I questioned if this could signal George's exit from the show. Now I'm starting to think it might be lights out for Callie.

The big bombshell was Susan Grey. After developing a bad case of the hiccups, things just went downhill fast until she went septic and died on the OR table. It was hard for Meredith because we've seen her grow close to her step-mother over the past few episodes. More importantly, we saw her get much closer to her father Thatcher in this installment, and to see him turn on his daughter so fast following Susan's death was hard to watch. This certainly doesn't bode well for the future of Derek and Meredith. We all know what happens when she gets overly emotional. Maybe she should take off for L.A. too.

All in all and considering everything that went into this monster story, I have to say I liked it. There really were a lot of positive things and I do look forward to the spin-off. Will it be earth-shattering? Far from it. But it will definitely be worth watching. 5 out of 7.