alex karev

(S06E19) This episode of 'Grey's Anatomy' finally gives the viewers the backstory of Alex Karev by introducing Alex's brother Aaron. They also planted the seed that Izzie won't be coming back by lightly mentioning divorce papers in the first five minutes of the show. Since Katherine Heigl is out, I wonder what will happen to Izzie's eggs?

The episode straddled the line between over the top and well executed. There were definite heart-tugging moments matched with actual interaction between Alex and Meredith and Bailey being an excited mother. To counteract this, I'm not on board with the whole "Callie wants a baby" storyline anymore, and I'm not feeling the Mark/Teddy relationship.

Two Karevs in the same room together? There's gonna be trouble and, sure enough, there was trouble on 'Grey's Anatomy' (Thu., 9PM ET on ABC). And a few headbutts and knuckle-punches, too. Leave it up to Bailey to pull the squabbling brothers off each other.

But at least the fight offered a few clues to Alex's past, including the fact that he's got daddy issues and his family's completely dysfunctional. It's no wonder Alex was a mess when he started at Seattle Grace.

Watch the video after the jump.

(S06E06) There were so many people on screen last week on Grey's Anatomy that I didn't even realize that Mark Sloan wasn't in the whole episode. Luckily for any Mark fan, he becomes an essential character when burn victims show up.

This week, one of many hotel fire victims dies because of negligence; everyone tells their side. The multiple perspectives became more and more difficult to keep up with, because the original Seattle Grace doctors defended each other, while the Mercy West doctors tried to throw any of the Seattle Grace doctors under the bus.

A lot happened in this week's Grey's Anatomy, including Meredith making the difficult decision to give her dad part of her liver. That's convenient for the real-life Ellen Pompeo, who just had her baby on Sept. 15.

And there's still the issue of the Mercy West merger, which docs will get the axe, and the usual patient drama and staff angst. But what stood out for me happened in the first few seconds of this episode, when Alex stepped outside of Derek's trailer and came face to face with a bear. Alex screamed! The bear screamed! Everyone screamed! But mostly Alex!

I wonder how many takes it took for Justin Chambers to get that awesome girly scream. Or perhaps it was dubbed in? Whatever the case, it surely is one of the best TV screams I've heard in quite some time, and Michael agreed that Alex should get more storylines with funny situations.

What did you think of Alex's scream? Are there any others in recent TV history that even come close?

(S05E24) "If you're not scared, you're not paying attention." - Bailey

I took a few hours off in between last night's two hour Grey's Anatomy finale. I knew it was going to be two posts since it was two episodes and so I sat and watched the first one, wrote it up, grabbed a few hours of sleep, and woke up trying to figure just what was going to happen in this episode before I watched it. Everything was so nicely set up (the first hour really could have served as a finale too) and once again, Grey's Anatomy caught us all off guard with what's arguably its biggest cliffhanger yet.

(S05E23) "I'm your tumor. You're talking to yourself." - Denny

Just when I was finally starting to get sucked back into Grey's Anatomy, when I had finally come to terms with the ridiculous Denny/Izzie sex, when I had finally said, "hey, I actually like where they went with this," he had to come back one more time to ruin it all. After last week, I thought we had seen the last of Denny Duquette. Izzie told him to go and he went. But it's like Denny said - he's Izzie's tumor and as long as she still has the brain lump, Denny's gonna keep getting a tan down at Izzie's imaginary beach. I think I speak collectively for the entire population of Earth when I say thank god Izzie chose to get the surgery.

(S05E12) "You're wearing an alarmingly high pony tail." - Derek

At the most simplified level, Dunn is right, you know - a doctor isn't really that different than a serial killer. They both get to choose who dies. A doctor is likely driven by science while a serial killer gets his marching orders from a little voice in his head, but they're both making choices; doing what they think is the right move. Eric Stoltz has thus far been a shining point this season. William Dunn is one of the better characters we've seen on Grey's Anatomy in a while and I'm glad he'll be around for at least one more week.

(S05E11) "Sexed-up stalkers." - Sloan

I thought Grey's Anatomy had gone far enough with the Izzie/Denny mess - until this episode. Why you ask? Because they introduced a doctor who gets around on Heelys!! Do you have any idea how much I hate Heelys? Nine-year-olds come whipping by on those damn things when you're walking around the mall, and as much as you hate to wish bad things upon a 9-year-old, I'm just waiting for the headline "Local Sixth Grader Wearing Heelys Cracks Skull Open in Front of Orange Julius." Oh and that doctor (Dr. Arizona Robbins) that got introduced tonight? She's a pediatric surgeon. Great message to send to the youth of America.

(S05E09) "Who's making a porno movie in Izzie's room?" - Derek

I am an unashamed Grey's Anatomy fan. I've watched it since the very beginning. At this point, it'd be hard for me stop because I feel like I've invested too much time to just say the hell with it smack in the middle of the show's fifth season. A season which I went from loving, to hating, to loving, and now to absolutely despising. So for those of you who seem to think that I shouldn't be writing weekly reviews of this show because "I don't seem to like it very much, well, I assure you that's just not the case. I complain because I love. Based on that, I really loved this episode.

(S05E08) "It's too bad - she was really talented." - Shepherd

Snap! Well that didn't take long. Thirty seconds into the episode and Shonda Rhimes made it very clear how she feels about Brooke Smith's departure from the show. Even though I didn't like the whole Callie/Hahn romance and even though I thought Hahn's exit actually made a bit of sense (it was written well), I still don't see why it was necessary to fire Smith. There had to have been a better way to fix the story without removing her. Regardless, no sense in whining. She's gone and Seattle Grace Hospital now has two new faces for everyone to gossip about.

(S05E07) "It's like a bouquet... of corpses!" - Izzie

You know, for a guy that died, Denny Duquette somehow manages to get more screen-time on Grey's Anatomy than most of the characters who are still living. Seriously, it must be incredibly frustrating to be a minor character on this show and know that two or three times a season, some dead guy who most fans are sick of will get more time in front of the camera than you will.

(S05E06) "I am so gay." - Hahn

As much as I've been annoyed with how the Hahn/Callie courtship has gone thus far, I have to say - I think they won me over here. To see Hahn cry and blubber about how she's finally discovered herself, I couldn't help but feel bad for her. Granted she flipped the bitch-switch back on at the hospital, but you can't really blame her for that. She's gay. Callie's bi. And Major Owen Hunt likes to stab live pigs.

(S05E05) "Interns - the other white meat." - Alex

I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a kidney today! The rare opportunity of being able to perform a domino procedure has finally come to Seattle Grace (thanks to Bailey's efforts), and with the bad shape that SGH has been in lately, it couldn't have come at a better time. They need some good headlines.

But as with all in-depth Grey's Anatomy plots, there is no way you're going to get 12 kidney donors/recipients together without there being some drama. Hey, people with severe renal failure still have daddy issues and engage in extramarital sex too you know.

(S05E04) "Karev! Give me a twenty!" - Derek

OK, before I dive into this episode, let's get the one thing that everyone will be talking about out of the way first: Callie and Hahn. Yes, yes - I know - Grey's Anatomy has a budding lesbian relationship. Based on everything I've read over the past few weeks, people are for or against it for a myriad of reasons and after tonight's "date," I'm ready to pick a side.

(S05E03) "Yeah yeah - the hair. It's one of the many things that makes me happy." - Meredith

This wasn't the best episode of Grey's Anatomy, but I think it got back to a lot of the core reasons that made this show good in the first place. The focus has finally returned to Meredith and Derek, which was sorely lacking last season. This show just doesn't make sense to me when the tension between those two is ignored or pushed aside for one of the bajillion other relationships going on.

Beyond that, there was plenty of humor - another thing that had been lacking. So I'm feeling good about where this season is going to take us and as I said - it starts with Mer and Der.