Grey's Anatomy: Love/Addiction

(S04E02) "Simple question Lexie. Are you an idiot or a stalker?" - Meredith

Well that certainly made up for last week's crappy excuse for a season premiere. It actually felt like old school Grey's Anatomy. The pacing was frantic, the dialogue was snappy, and nothing was overly dramatic or cheesy. Everything was just even for a change. Well... almost everything. I can't stand George and Izzie. Yes folks, Gizzie makes me sick. It's awkward and makes me cringe. I see Gizzie getting all kissy-kissy and I make the same face that I make when I see an overweight person at the mall food-court, shoving fries into their mouth. It disturbs me, but at the same time, I accept it because I know they can't help it. George and Izzie just can't help it either and now they're evolving. George wants to tell Callie! It's like watching a new technology develop. I've seen the future. Gizzie is dead. Behold: iGeorge.

Yes, that's right. From now on, I'm calling them iGeorge. Much like Apple's ubiquitous mp3 player, they're everywhere on my TV. George and Izzie's little tryst took up far too much of this episode and if you consider the fact that they blush every time they see each other, then I suppose that counts as coming in different colors too. I actually feel bad for Callie at this point. Last season I didn't like her too much and we saw some of her old bitchiness in this episode, but what's happening isn't fair to her. She's been thrust into a new position that I don't think she honestly wanted but took anyway because she had to and now she even suspects that George is having an affair. She's no fool, although spilling her guts to Sloan might have been a mistake. I was praying George wouldn't respect her wish for him to keep quiet at the end. Just get it out, get it over with, and stop giving into Izzie's selfish motives for keeping mum. Once iGeorge is common knowledge, it'll fall apart. I hope. Please.

OK, moving on. If possible, I actually feel bad for Cristina now too. When she looked at Mama Burke and asked if Preston was ever coming back? C'mon, that was sad. Look at her! She may not be showing it, but she's a wreck. She was trading her wedding gifts for inside info on surgeries around Seattle Grace! I think seeing Mama helped though. The whole episode, I think we were assuming that it was going to be this huge verbal lashing and instead, Burke's mother was quite nice to Cristina, even complementing her as a strong woman who would get through this. Although, she gave Meredith hell for her selfish and inappropriate display at the wedding.

Mama did help clean some of Preston's stuff out of the apartment and when Cristina got home, it definitely looked empty. All she has left now is her job and Mama did make one point that stung a little. Will Cristina be as good a heart surgeon as she would have become with Burke still by her side? I say yes. She's too determined to let anything get in the way of her success.

Now Meredith is a different story. She could drop out of the program and it wouldn't phase faze me. Her pseudo-relationship with Derek is reaching the point of oddity though. S&M? Sex and mockery only? OK, weird. It was great to finally hear her acknowledge (much like Derek did last week) that she has Daddy issues and that's why she can't commit to Derek. I will say that I'm already getting sick of the "I don't want to know you" routine with Lexie. I hope that doesn't keep up because it's already getting old. Meredith just needs to get over her issues and get to know her sister. It's the only way she'll ever get to know her dad.

The theme for this episode was addiction. The medical cases were all victims of a meth lab explosion and that tied in well with the "love as a drug" motif that ran throughout as well. Some of the better moments included Cristina telling Mommy Meth that even though it sucks, you can get through it and Mama Burke explaining to Derek what makes an honorable man. He has to know when to walk away if he's not getting what he deserves. Clearly, he doesn't but the man is an idealist. He'll fight for Meredith's love no matter what and I'm honestly not sure what it would take for him to turn that switch off. If it ever does happen though, I'm glad he's rekindled his friendship with Sloan. Seeing them crack up like a couple of frat boys is a nice dynamic we haven't really had between those two yet.

Other thoughts:

• I liked how Alex took an immediate interest in the well-being of Baby Meth. It's nice to know that Addison left some permanent marks in Seattle.
• Speaking of Alex, I loved how Bailey flipped out on him for running his with mouth with Daddy Meth before the cops showed up. And speaking of Bailey... wow. It's been a while, but the Nazi is back. She was in top form in this episode, yelling at everyone and scheming to get what she wants. I love the little feud she has going with Callie, even if it is making things more difficult for Dr. Torres.
• Weber and his new love of delegating had me a little angry. He wants to start doing it more but then did nothing but get frustrated when other people were delegating. It was very unlike him because it was so hypocritical.
• While sitting and waiting for Cristina, Mama Burke was giving out advice to everyone as I mentioned but I liked what she said to George best. The thing about not doing something out of obligation. I think what I liked even better was that George already knew that. Even though I'm against iGeorge, I do like that the whole scenario has given him this new found confidence.

So with all that in mind, what's next? Well, I sort of hope Derek comes to his senses and does kick his "addiction." I'd like to see him actually single again and on the prowl with Sloan. Grey's always was at its best when he and Meredith weren't together. As far as George and Callie go, it sucks but I do wish it would just come to an end. Let's not forget that she slept with Sloan, so she may have a rebound close by. I think I'm most interested in seeing where Cristina goes next though. This was definitely a turning point for her. Maybe she'll actually learn the names of her interns? Yeah right.