(S04E04) To whomever it may concern:

The problem with writing reviews within a few hours of watching an episode of a show is that very often doing so leads to hyperbole. You need to generate an opinion so quickly that minor points of contention can easily turn into "catastrophic flaws", while solidly good episodes become "masterpieces that will no doubt usher in a new golden age of television." It is incumbent upon a reviewer, then, to keep his excitement in check and guard against the urge to over-state things.

All that being said, tonight's episode was The. Best. Episode. Ever. More after the jump...

I find it amazing that the writers of a show like Grey's Anatomy, one that so had the nation's attention after its post-Super Bowl bomb scare episode, managed to squander a lot of the goodwill it had built up with its fans with a sketchily-written finale. If you read the comments from my recap post for that episode, two themes seem to emerge: 1) how could Izzie and the rest of Team Intern get such a light punishment for the Denny Debacle (if you don't know what that means, read the recap), and b) the hospital had a prom? WTF?

To me, it seems like Shonda Rhimes and her writing staff are treading on very thin ice here; the more they stretch the limits of credibility, the less number of viewers are going to want to go along for the ride. The same thing happened to Amy Sherman-Palladino of Gilmore Girls, and you can see how many viewers are now happy to see her go.

So if you're of the mind that the Grey's writers blew it this week, don't go and read the writing staff's blog.