In This Section
TV Guide Spotlight
Also on TVGuide.com
|
« Grey's Anatomy
November 23, 2006: From a Whisper to a Scream
Hours after the effects of the tryptophan from the fabulous Thanksgiving dinner I had with friends wore off, I gave thanks for a new episode of Grey's. This episode was anything but a turkey. How many of you were screaming "yes!" to the TV as soon as you heard Sandra Oh's voice in the opening narration rather than Ellen Pompeo's? Not that I dislike Meredith Grey being the show's narrator — it is called Grey’s Anatomy. But it's a nice diversion when someone else takes over for a change. Last time this happened, it was T.R. Knight's narrative voice and I remember how most of you were thrilled and only a few of you insisted on having it be Meredith's voice. It made such good sense for Cristina to narrate at the opening and closing of the show since it was a heavily Cristina-centric episode. In fact, the entire super-sized hour and 10 minutes made such good sense, I kept thinking how satisfied I was. In fact, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'd like to send a thank you note to Shonda Rhimes, Kip Koenig (tonight's writer) and Julie Ann Robinson (tonight’s director):
— Thanks for giving George a backbone and having him request Burke's nemesis, Dr. Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith), to do his father's surgery rather than the shaky-handed Burke.
— Thanks for making Cristina be the person to tell Webber the truth about Burke and thanks for doing it tonight and not dragging it onto next week. How dare Burke treat her the way he did in that final surgery, after all the help she's been to him. Yes, they were both in the wrong, but I think Cristina did the right thing, no matter how difficult it was, in going to Webber when she did.
— Thanks for adding the irony that Webber was planning on promoting Burke to replace him as Chief of Surgery before he knew the truth.
— Thanks for the ongoing slowness of the Meredith/Derek relationship. It's turned Meredith into Cheery Spice.
— Thanks for the dialogue between Meredith and Derek at the end, after Derek complained that she should’ve told him about Burke's problem. Perfect way to shut him up: "She's my best friend — right or wrong, she was there when you weren't."
— Thanks for the special mutual-admiration-society moment between Addison and Alex when she told him he was "a decent guy," especially since he's "a Mark Sloan protégé." I predicted weeks ago that they would hook up — looks inevitable now. Hot.
— Thanks for having Callie apologize to George for her night with McSteamy, stressing that it was after they broke up (although George told her "I can't do this now").
— Thanks for making it look like there'd be a girl fight between Callie and Meredith, but thanks for not going there since Meredith set the record straight — she wasn't the one who told Alex about Callie and Sloan.
— Thanks for the closing George/Izzie scene. After their earlier war of words in front of George's parents, I was glad they were civil to each other.
— Thanks for continuing to cast terrific actors as guest stars. After just seeing Tony winner Debra Monk play Marcella, Gaby’s bitchy modeling agent on Desperate Housewives, it was great to see her as George's sweet mother Louise tonight. I loved how she was such a gossip and was thrilled to hear about George's past love lives.
— Thanks for casting (after last season's Francis Guinan, Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Perry) yet another Steppenwolf Theatre Company actor — Tony nominee Lois Smith. Lois gave her usual brilliant performance as Mrs. Dickerson, the wife of the old man who drove his car into a fish market. Such a poignant moment when she realized it was her husband's spinal stenosis that caused him to have the accident and she should've stopped him.
— Thanks for also casting Emy Coligado as Janelle, the pregnant owner of the fish market who had a shard of glass going into her heart, all thanks to Mr. Dickerson's driving. She had the perfect blend of sense of humor and seriousness and I liked that the Dickersons were two of her favorite customers. And what a bloody good entrance she made into Seattle Grace.
— Thanks for tonight's theme: betrayal ("when we betray each other, the path to recovery is less clear.")
— Thanks for the incredible final scene of Cristina coming home to Burke and having them both stare at each other without any facial expression. That final shot of Burke walking towards Cristina was awesome. You didn't know if he was going to slap her or hug her, but instead, he closed the door on her...and, I assume, their relationship.
|
TVGuide Links:
|
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 8:21 AM
|
Hey, I wanna join you on that thank you letter, I say "thank you SOOO much for such an incredible episode", as soon as Christina started narrating it and they showed her all bloody and running we knew this was going to be an awsome night, and kept cutting to a scene of she and Burke having sex just to remind us "you're getting an intense episode tonight but don't forget we're also a hot & sexy show". Although this episode had such an intensity they still managed to make me laugh during the first half, especially with Izzie's gossiping, hey if she can't get in the surguries at least she can gossip, and then when Callie was at Mer's throat I just thought she was going to kill her, lol. I didn't relize how little Ellen Pompeo is, I laughed so hard after Dr. Torres went all cage fight on Meredith, lol. I love the addition of Dr. Hahn and hope she stays. Now onto the couple of the hour: how great it was that during the whole episode we were lead to believe that Burke was going to have a tremor during a surgury and blow everything up when it was Christina who couldn't take it and finally spoke and OMG those looks !, THOSE LOOKS !! between Christina and Burke were amazing because they just said so much I love the fact that they closed the episode with them staring at each other and not saying a word. I really care more about these characters than I thought because when George said to his parents what happend with Izzie last year I almost cried but I liked that they still shared dinner. I love the chemestry Karev and Addison have but I'm not sure if I'm going to like when/if (of course they will) hook up, I mean I really liked it on "Melroseplace" but does everybody need to sleep with eachother here ?
Can anyone tell me the name of the song that was playing when Burke and Christina were doing the bypass thing, the one sung by a guy and a girl. THIS SHOW ROCKS !!
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 9:00 AM
|
|
So sad... I didn't realize that the episode was long. I assumed it was over after Burke walked in to the Chief's office and saw Cristina. So sad.
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 9:15 AM
|
Oh, beautiful episode. The usual sense of peace and satisfaction that I feel right after the episode ends wasn't really there this time though. Not that that's a bad thing - I think I was still reeling from all the shake-ups in every relationship on the show. I mean, Cristina/Burke, Callie/Meredith, Alex/Addison, Derek/Meredith... geez! Most heartbreaking for me though was George and Izzie. I know George was stressed out and had SO much pressure on him but what he said to Izzie was incredibly hurtful. She handled it surprisingly well though - telling George he's not allowed to talk to her about Denny, and that he can't apologize now... but maybe tomorrow. I really love their friendship.
Burke was driving me crazy in this episode... if I were Cristina I would've turned him in too. First he was saying they were fine and they were a team, and then he did a complete 180 and felt horribly guilty and said there was no team. That Cristina dragged him into this. Hoo boy. I guess guilt over possibly getting the Chief of Surgery position will do that to you. But still. Burke's behavior had me all over the place last night.
Alex/Addison... I think I might like it. I dunno. Addison always gets involved with guys who are quite a handful, no? But if the writers do it right (and I'm sure they will) then I'll be on board.
Callie/Meredith fight... oh, would Callie have killed her if Izzie hadn't been there. Good for Meredith for not reacting in a bad way, though, just explaining herself and knowing Callie had a right to be angry. I wish she and Izzie would let up on Callie though - especially Izzie. Callie was incredibly nice to her during the Denny aftermath and it makes me a little sad to hear them rewind all the way back to the first Peeing Incident with her.
Derek and Meredith? They're cute, what can I say? It's lovely to see both those actors smiling again in their roles. And even little roadblocks like Derek getting upset over Burke's problem can be solved at this stage in their relationship. Excellent.
And finally, the first fifteen seconds of this one - amazing. I don't know if the episode quite lived up to that initial narration and visual, but I think it came pretty darn close!
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 9:22 AM
|
|
tomrd16: I don't know the name of the song but the singer is Damien Rice and it's on his new CD. Love this show!
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 10:34 AM
|
I am really disliking Burke right now. Christina can be a little overbearing and emotionally deficent--but she was trying to help him out of love! I am glad she turned him in, especially after how he treated her in that last surgery. I am really loving Alex this season. I think he and Addison might make a cute couple. And, thank god George FINALLY stood up for himself! GOOO George!
This ep was great!
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 10:44 AM
|
|
I really loved this episode. I was thrilled we would get something new on Thanksgiving night. Turns out they may have lured some new viewers. My sister watched her first Grey's. Her response: Holy Cow that's a great show!. That's what I've been trying to tell her all along. Can't wait to see how the Burke situation plays out.
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 11:42 AM
|
tomrd16: you may also want to check out "When The Stars Go Blue" by Ryan Adams ... that played as well, I'm not sure if it's the song you're thinking of ...
GREAT episode!
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 11:50 AM
|
The song tomrd16 is wondering about it "9 Crimes" off Damien Rice's new CD. I was practically giddy when it stared playing, since I'm such a Damien Rice fan...
Another great episode.
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 12:02 PM
|
This episode was what the execs from Lost would call a "game-changer." I mean, virtually every dynamic between every meaningful combo of characters was changed in some way, to some degree. I'm really surrpised that ABC took the risk of premiering such a resonant installment on Thanksgiving night. I hope that not too many people missed it, or forgot to ensure that their DVRs were set to run 10 minutes longer. (Amazingly, my pokey Cablevision FauxVo was wise to the 70-minute run time.)
My only quibble is that Mer and Derek made nice so quickly at the end. How refreshing it would have been to have a meaningful, professional issue come between them for once.
But aside from that, a real wowee of an episode. I may blog about it later this holiday weekend.
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 12:04 PM
|
|
thank you Catmom and Aprilsfool6 for helping me find that song, I so love it now and Lovestv74 I'll check out that Ryan Adam's song as well, thanks.
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 12:14 PM
|
Oh my gosh!! I have been reading your blog for months, in the past, I have thought u were informative and on point.. NOT this time.. I am so shocked by what I have read. This is my first post ever, bc I am so disappointed. Are we watching the same show??? I have liked Christina in the past, but yesterday, I thought she was so wrong. Burke is not blameless in all this, but Christina only cares about Christina. The only reason she went to the Chief was bc Burke did not allow her to help him with the 2 surgeries. And why should he? She was acting like he could not do any surgery without her. She liked the fact that Burke needed her. He had to show her that he could do it on his own. And once he did not need her anymore, she went and gave him up. I do think that he is at fault for not having gone to the Chief in the first place. At the start of the episode and throughout, Christina is freaking out bc she does not want to get caught.. she is afraid that George has told the Chief. What was really telling, and did you guys not see this, was the bank robbery conversation with Meredith. Let's revisit that, Meredith asked Christina, whose idea was it to rob the bank, and we all know that it was christina's idea, yet she says, I don't know, I don't know. And then tells Meredith that it was his idea to rob the bank. She puts the blame on Burke. WRONG!! it was her idea. Burke was stupid and weak to go along with it. And let's not forget when Burke tells Christina that he may be the next Chief, and she is all excited about it, so George did not tell the Chief after all, they did not get caught and she would talk to George to get him to keep quiet. Let's also not forget her excitement at the prospect of the new surgeries that she would get to do. But Burke is feeling guilty. And after their argument, you know that Burke is going to tell the Chief, and she knew that. And when she realized that he did not need her anymore, that his hand may be tremor free after all, she betrays him. Plz watch the show again. It was all about her. I watched the cast on Oprah, at first I did not agree with Oprah, but now I do, Christina was using Burke the whole time. You guys should really watch the show again. Christina is def not the good guy here.
And sorry, Izzy was too easy on "sanctimonious, holier than thou" George.
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 12:19 PM
|
Excellent episode. I don't think the posters are saying Christina is the "good guy" in this situation. There are no winners here. Burke though did go over the line with how he treated her last night. Christina did notice he was having trouble with his hand on a few ocassions during the ep. She couldn't take the risk on him killing someone with that hand.
I applaud George tonight for being tougher. I actually didn't mind him telling off Izzy. He was probably a little too harsh, but she should not have butted in on such a sensitive subject. So good for George.
I definitely see something happening between Alex and Addison. That would be a great couple. Alex has turned into a more likable character since about midway through last season.
Good use of the Damien Rice song. Very poignant.
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 1:07 PM
|
Wow, this was an eventful episode to say the least. Something about it though didn't feel complete... I can't put my finger on why but it just felt that way. That's not to say I didn't like it, because I did. I liked it very much and even though it felt a tiny bit off, it was still great. That's amazing. It's impossible not to like an episode of Grey's Anatomy. The writing is always so sharp and the characters are so complex and flawed. It's great television... and with a cast this big, to say that they made me care about every single one and what was going on with them is a huge compliment.
Two things appalled me, the way Preston treated Cristina and the way George treated Izzie. And they were handled in very different ways. I cheered for Cristina when I saw her in Chief Webber's office... I was disappointed in Izzie when she let George off so easy.
Cristina handled everything exactly as you'd expect Cristina to. She's the consummate professional and she proved that when she went to the chief. You could tell it wasn't out of spite or anger towards Burke... it was sincere. This was the inevitable climax they had to reach and I must say, this show has impeccable timing... never dragging something out to the point where it becomes annoying and unrealistic. Kudos!
Izzie, however, let George off with a slap on the wrist and she shouldn't have. What he said to her was no small thing... it was a huge, wound-opening deal, and coming from someone who is supposed to be her good friend, someone she has always looked out for and loved, should have hurt her even more. My exact words to my boyfriend as we watched together were "I know George is living his worst nightmare right now but that wasn't even remotely okay." He was the perfect example of how these characters are flawed because I know... or at least I choose to believe, that if George had thought about it for just a minute before he said it, he wouldn't have ended up hurting Izzie.
The way Meredith and Derek are going about their relationship is healthy, and that's not a word many of us would have used to describe those two just a few weeks ago. I'm even starting to like Meredith a little and that speaks volumes... my only problem with the show used to be Meredith, now she's totally bearable.
Addison and Alex... hm... the jury's still out on them and that romantic spark that flickered between them for a moment but not the professional spark... that one I already know I like. I've been waiting for Alex to beg to return to Addison's specialty since she let him leave and it seems only natural he starts realizing how much he really liked it and what a gift he has for it. Like I said, I don't know about a romance yet; we'll have to wait and see but I hope this isn't the show's answer to everything, just having everyone sleep together.
I felt a little badly or Callie today, but just a little. I'm still on the mindset that she's getting just tad what she deserves.
When I said Dr. Hahn in the lead-in clips from previous episodes, I knew exactly what would happen and why she would be there and I was happy about it. If anyone could shake Burke professionally, it'd be here. After all, she graduated second, only after him, so that was a great use of a character we barely knew but probably will get to know very well.
Dr. Mark Sloan's has to be the slowest developing character on this show but that might be a good thing. I bet they could put him to great use later on... maybe if Alex and Addison end up hooking up like they are hinting at. His lack of tact with his interns and other staffers is refreshing to watch so for now I label him eye candy and entertainment but I'm sure soon we will get more.
Dr. Bailey is and always has been a sort of moral center for the cast. She's the one I turn to in a crisis to see how she's reacting and she never lets me down. She always knows just what to say and always comes through, sooner or later. She's strong but sensitive and clearly loves what she's doing... and despite her better judgment, she loves her interns. Who knew back in the pilot episode that I'd end up loving Miranda this much? I didn't but I'm pleasantly surprised.
I think many of us overlooked a subtle but important fact. Chief Webber was passing the torch to Burke... why? Because he retiring. The Chief retiring! That's big on it's own, let alone combined with the fact that he was passing the position onto Dr. Burke. Chief Webber retiring is certainly a direct of result of him having weighed his options and having chosen his wife over his job like she wanted him to. Finally. I'm proud of you chief. I wonder how Preston being out of the running will affect the chief now though. Will he still retire? Who would he name as chief? Would it be Derek? Will he feel forced to stay and lose hope of getting Adelle back? We'll get the answers son enough.
So all in all, a good episode as is to be expected from an excellent show with a superb cast. As always, I'll be impatiently waiting for more.
The episode gets four out of five starts in my book.
On a side note, I loved that song at the end, when Meredith and Cristina were on the bench sitting together outside the hospital.
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 1:51 PM
|
Christina was TOTALLY a bitch! I'm with sandella-have we been watching the same show? That was NOT right of Christina. Frankly, Dr. Burke was just trying, for those sugeries, to get along without her. She was being overbearing and controlling, and she definitely liked having him need her, and he was saying, "Step off, I can do this on my own." And so the second he tries to stand on his own, she runs off and tells the chief! It wasn't right of her to do that. She could tell that HE felt guilty, he was trying to change and do something about it, and then we're supposed to believe 'she just couldn't do it anymore'? It wasn't even her secret to tell, and it is a huge betrayal to Burke. I feel like most people would talk to the person, say how you don't want to do this anymore. If it was a real partnership, I feel like she would talk to Burke before betraying him, let Burke be the one to tell, if he wanted. If she really cared about Burke and himself, she wouldn't have told on him-George was more stalwart than her! George wasn't willing to turn Burke in, and he was kind of in the patient's shoes. I thought it was brilliant and awesome how he was like, "Tell her Christina. Go on." and she said "Dr. Hahn's a brilliant Dr. and your father is in great hands and that's all that matters." And George was like, I don't remember exactly but it was like, anyone you hurt has a family and just b/c I own't let you hurt my Dad doesn't mean it's any more okay that you are hurting other people in the hospital." George really stepped up, he didn't betray Burke but he tried to push him to tell the truth. But it's crap that SHE doesn't want to do it anymore-That was totally how Burke was feeling, and I didn't get that from Christina at all. She was totally relieved when George didn't tell the Chief, all she felt was good that he hadn't gotten caught and nervous that he would, but the second she wasn't 'needed' anymore, she turned on him.
She better get serious reprecussions, because she does not get off scott-free in this little escapade, either, she was in it almost as deep as Burke and I feel like just because she confessed didn't (or shouldn't) make her the 'good' guy in the Webber's eyes.
|
|
Nov 24, 2006 2:37 PM
|
|
|
