(S05E17) "There's no fixing you. You're a lemon." - Derek

It's official: I'm an emotional loser. After two weeks without my weekly Medical/High School drama, Grey's is back and even more dramatic than I remember. Has Grey's Anatomy been this good in a while? I always thought that with such a big ensemble cast, the show was bound to have loose ends. With this episode, it seems as though each character is what I remember from the first two seasons.

With no big guest stars this week, the characters developed amongst themselves. I appreciate the return of the Meredith/Christina friendship, now back at full strength, but why does it seem like when Meredith solves one thing, another falls apart? She suffers from the Chaos theory.

I've never been that keen on either Lexie or Arizona. Somehow, both characters in this episode miraculously become genuine individuals. Arizona just needed to be knocked down a peg and she became human all of the sudden. Her whisper to Alex -- "You Go, Karev" -- maintains that chipper attitude, but it's not as in your face. Lexie, although really a Little Meredith with parallel problems as her older sister, has benefited from not having Sadie around. She is a smart girl who can diagnose problems, unlike all those really idiotic interns.

Speaking of Arizona, Callie tends to get these horrible storylines. I don't get why her character gets so messed up. She's a great surgeon and a good person. After the whole George and Hahn situation, she is definitely rebounding and happily not too fast. I still appreciate the time she has with Mark, because it helps focus both characters.

I'm still not sure how I feel about Owen's situation. The whole post traumatic stress syndrome is definitely going to get worse before it gets fixed. If anyone watches this season of The Real World, Ryan has had the same PTSS problems and it doesn't go away. I applaud Christina for trying her best to deal with the situation, but she's going to go through a lot.

There was definitely a standout patient of the week: Beth, band girl with seizures. Not only do we get to learn that Alex was a high school wrestler (kinda hot), but he also uses his instincts and believes in himself. The seizure squad is horribly mean, and it's funny that even with the geeks and dorks, there's a pecking order. Alex emerged a stronger, more confident person. It's a shame that he probably won't be able to celebrate it with Izzie.

As the main character of the show, Meredith didn't get much airtime, but it was just right for the episode. I think she dealt with the whole Derek situation correctly, and she's invested too much time and passion in Derek to just fall into his drunken trap. There's a part of me that can't believe that the Chief told Meredith about Derek proposing; was it really his place to tell Meredith? I'm sure they just used that to set up the ending tiff between Meredith and Derek. Statistically, I couldn't hit a ring with a baseball bat in the dark.

Then there are the people we saw for two minutes. I have loved Loretta Devine since the show Boston Public, so whenever Adele shows up, it's all good in my book. She comes in as a mother to fix the whole Bailey/Chief situation, in both a funny and strict parental way. It's a shame that George was only on the show for a few minutes, especially with those rumors of him and Izzie walking. Granted, George has gone through a lot, but that doesn't give writers the right to write him out when he's still working.

Finally, why was Dr. Nelson mentioned on this show? I understand that there are always "other" doctors in the hospital, but why mention Shadow Sheppard? I guess we'll have to watch and find out.

And then there's Izzie. If this isn't the oddest way of writing off a character, I don't know what is. This whole episode had this passive/aggressive nature. Izzie gets upset at the interns for not being able to diagnose "Patient X," but she laughs at Meredith and Christina when they talk on top of each other.

With that said, I have two hopes: I hope they keep the cast the same after Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight walk. You can't just add two characters and have life be all hunky-dory. Also, I hope to find a boiler room where wind puffs up my hair and I miraculously get to tell people what's on my mind.

Next week seems to have a lot of Christina in it. I'd better have a box of tissues ready.