meredithgrey

(S05E10) Before I even start this review, I've got to vent about the absurd amount of commercials during this episode of Grey's Anatomy. Is it always this bad and I just haven't noticed? Are there always ads every two minutes or so? I found it extremely distracting to be constantly interrupted, especially when there were so many storylines going on tonight.

And we did have a lot to keep track of: Dr. Dixon's appearance, the Izzie / Denny / Alex love triangle, who would be awarded the first solo surgery, Callie's and Sadie's flirting, the medical cases of the week, Yang and Hunt, Sloan and Little Grey, Bailey and Sloan ... I can barely keep track of them all.

Let's break down this episode after the break and try to make some sense of "All By Myself."

"The pager is sacred. Sacred sparkle." -- Izzie

A sparkly pager, some quick-drying cement, and a field of candles all play into tonight's 2-hour episode -- the Season Four finale of Grey's Anatomy. Has it really been only four seasons? Because it seems like so much more.

Anyway, tonight we learn a little more about some of the interns' history. For one thing, via a therapy session (and why can't I have Amy Madigan as my therapist?), we learn that young Meredith saw her mom slit her wrists, then had to wait for her to pass out before calling 911.

Meredith says her mom wanted to die, but by the end of the episode, she figures out that she really didn't want to die. Being a brilliant surgeon, her mom would have known the faster road to death entailed slitting her carotid artery.

One of the reasons why I stopped reviewing Grey's Anatomy was because that it just plain tired me out. With so many characters and storylines to keep track of, it became very difficult to cover them all in my reviews. Another reason was that the increasingly soapy melodrama was wearing me down, a notion that was confirmed to me last week when George and Izzie drunkenly slept together at the end of the episode (Though it did give birth to Jonathan's clever use of the name "Gizzie").

But what also got to me about the show was its complete lack of medical realism. Yes, I know it's a TV show and it doesn't have to be hyper-real, but in the day and age of ER and reality medical shows on TLC, you need to come somewhat closer to medical realism than, say, Marcus Welby, M.D. did 35 years ago.

The last straw on this front was when I saw Meredith Grey at the beginning of last week's episode. Despite the fact that she was clinically dead for what seemed like hours, she came out of it not only OK, but prettier than ever!

It's the issue that will not die.

Torture and 24.

Newsweek is the latest to weigh in on the never-ending controversy about 24's portrayal of torture and its impact on real-life interrogators in the field. Even though the show's producers have said they're going to scale back on such scenes (you could've fooled me with the promos for next week with Jack Bauer threatening to remove a Russian official's fingers) the issue continues to be hotly debated.

(S03E12) Don't panic, folks. I'm just here to help Joel cover Grey's while he's off covering the TCA for us. I'm as shocked at you are that I, of all people, is covering this show at all, especially with what I've said about it in the past. But yes, I watch this show now and am pretty much caught up with everything, but just the same, be gentle in your comments. Please? Thanks. I'll keep it short.

The theme for this episode seemed to be all about becoming personally involved. Let's go over how this theme appeared among all the show's characters.

It's all her fault, you know. It's all because of Meredith. She threw away the juju.

Or maybe it's Cristina. After all, she said the "q" word. (That's "quiet," if you missed it, and it lasted exactly 1/2 second.)

Whoever's fault it is: all is chaos, death and destruction at Seattle Grace this week. And no amount of knocking on wood is going to remedy matters. It's not all just in the fictional lives of Meredith & team, either: it's also gotten all mixed up in the writing. This episode didn't cross a line, it jumped over a chasm from awesome to cringe-worthy. My face hurt from grimacing after the chief went to that dumb AA meeting. Please. I don't believe in 12-step programs any more than I believe in rabbit's feet or horoscopes or juju-filled hot cocoa.

Last night on Grey's Anatomy, karma was biting everyone back. And I know most of you feel so badly for George, because Meredith used him, because he's the victim. And you're feeling bad for Izzie. She's the one who walked in on Alex with Olivia, so she deserves the sympathy, right? And Addison. Everyone loves to hate Addison, who cheated on her husband, who's been approached by Sexy McSteamy, her old love interest, and you know what we're all thinking: is she going to sleep with him again?

You've got all this righteous anger, against Meredith over her treatment of George, Alex over his romp in the hospital bed with the hottie nurse, and Addison for just being there. And if you're anything like me: your anger pulled a switcheroo on you, diffusing, spreading out over the whole cast until it wasn't anger any more, really, but sympathy and sorrow and this little, sad hope.

But before we continue on with the major themes of the show I have to send out a hearty, loud, mama-rific cheer to the writers for their portrayal of Bailey. Oh how I love you, writers. You made her leak. As I'm deep in the throes of my second experience with breastfeeding, I've had those twin milky spots on my nice work shirt oh, so many times. And the way she plays it is priceless, in an especially emotional conversation with Addison: "Please don't cry! You're going to make me... (holds breasts in a motion to which I totally relate) lactate!" I would have jumped off the couch and done a little dance of joy over this realistic and funny portrayal... but I was breastfeeding my 10-month-old.

When this episode ended, I just wanted to turn off my TV. I knew that nothing coming after it could possibly approach my now-heightened television standards. This show now ranks in my top-five list, greatest hours of TV ever. Seriously.

And it wasn't just the dramatic circumstances - the bomb inside a patient, the impending birth of Bailey's son, the threatened death of her husband, the sexual tension between Alex and Izzie, the looove tension between Shepherd and Meredith, Burke and Cristina. It was the film work, the emotion, the music, the heart-stopping fear and love and agony and ... just wow. And the shower scene, my lord, that was truly great stuff. Every bit of dirt that sullied my conscience after loving the shower scene that opened last week's episode was [yes I'm conscious of my double entendre] washed away.

Thanks, ABC, for advertising the Season 1 DVD at the end of this episode! Great. 'cause all I want is the DVD of this season now.

Is that Wednesday? my babysitter asks. Are you sure that's not Wednesday?

It is Wednesday, a.k.a. Christina Ricci, with her hand inside a patient. Actually, her name is "Hannah," and maybe she's going to have a recurring role: she thinks Alex is cute.

In other news, Bailey is in labor, her husband is MIA, and that chick from Judging Amy is screaming at the top of her lungs. Oh, and Meredith has a "feeling." And this feeling, we all know it isn't good. Shivers are running up and down my spine and every word is full of import.

I mean, except for the first bit, to keep the post-Super Bowl crowd hooked - the girl-on-girl-on-girl shower scene. Oh yeah, baby. It's entirely delicious, superfluous fluff. The whole room loves it despite its salaciousness. And I have to say, although Izzie is always the most babe-ilicious, the makeup and camera people should be given kudos - all three of them are soft porn-worthy.

Despite some really good material, oh, the set-up was awkward today. "In the spirit of the new year," says Burke. Uhhh... no one talks like that. And the opening line wasn't the only awkward thing: Burke and Cristina seem to be destined for a continuing relationship rife with awkward-ocity.

The Chief is enforcing the rules for the new year: no doctors work more than 80 hours a week. Aww, shucks! That sends Meredith home to fold laundry and visit her mom. Who, it appears, is still playing intern with the Chief. Oh, and the dog is acting up. *yawn*

But all that isn't so important. For once, I'm finding the cases more fun than the inter-personal dramas. And so are the doctors. Everyone, this week, is invested.

Best:
5. The Backyardigans A preschoolers' show I'd watch if I didn't have kids. Yes, when you drove past my house the other day, that was me dancing along to "I love being a princess!"
4. Law & Order: Criminal Intent  I thought I couldn't watch the show without Vincent D'Onofrio. But Chris Noth and Annabelle Sciora have the kind of vulnerable-yet-professional chemistry that I never dreamed possible between Chris and Sarah Jessica Parker or Annabelle and James Gandolfini.
3. Grey's Anatomy  It's kooky, it's outlandish, and all the characters, I can't help but love 'em despite their annoying peccadilloes. And who knew I'd fall in love with Dr. Bailey?
2. Medium  I'd watch it just for the family drama. But the mysteries are fantastic, the writing eloquent and witty, the twists always fool me until 52 past the hour.
1. The 4400  Sci fi that transports, characters that draw me in, and it's coming back in 2006. Hurray!

Worst:

5. Saturday Night Live  My husband still gets excited about Saturday nights. Until I remind him, honey, it's just not funny!
4. ER  I'm so sad that I hate Thursdays now. I used to love Thursdays.
3. 7:30 p.m. timeslot  There's nothing good on at 7:30 p.m., not even on the Food Network. I hate 7:30 p.m.
2. Sandra Lee's Semi-homemade Cooking  Make it from scratch or buy it from the store. And either way, aren't we all old enough now to admit whether we can, or cannot, cook?
1. Out of Practice  Stockard Channing, Henry Winkler, what have ye wrought?