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« Grey's Anatomy
November 30, 2006: Don't Stand So Close to Me
Last season, back in April, I made a comment that I was officially old since Mare Winningham was playing a soon-to-be grandmother. That's because, even though I know she was Oscar-nominated for Georgia, I will always think of Mare as Wendy, the gal that Billy (Rob Lowe) discovered was wearing a girdle in St. Elmo's Fire. Are you with me here? But it was good to see her back tonight as Susan Grey, the current wife of Meredith's dad, Thatcher, and the timing made sense since Susan and Thatcher's daughter, Molly (Mandy Siegfried), was there for an emergency C-section. I won't refer to Susan as Meredith's stepmother since Meredith doesn't seem to want to associate herself with Susan and Molly: "You are not my family." Oh, Meredith. So harsh. But I have friends who are in the same boat they don't really want to become close with their father's new family. I did kind of want Meredith to take Susan up on her offer to become part of their family. What made things better was the poignant ending scene between Meredith and her actual mother, Ellis (Kate Burton). As soon as Meredith hugged Ellis and said "Mommy," something she obviously doesn't make a habit of doing, Ellis knew Meredith was indeed her daughter and said: "Meredith." Chills.
How many of you could relate to Bailey and most of the interns tonight and were annoyed that Burke and Cristina weren't punished for their unethical behavior? The administrators at Seattle Grace apparently do not care when their doctors or interns screw up Izzie is still there. I did enjoy Webber finally yelling at Burke: "I passed the torch to you, and you blew it out!" Webber also redeemed the situation a bit with his talk with Bailey, telling her she raised the interns like they were her children and that "some of them turn out like you, Dr. Bailey." I still don't buy it that Burke and Cristina weren't punished somehow. You could look at it this way Burke did not get to replace Webber as Webber wished (much to the frustration of Webber and, I'm sure when she finds out, his wife, Adele). Speaking of Cristina, it made perfect sense that Dr. Hahn (Brooke Smith) bonded with Cristina and said: "You remind me of me focused, intense, cold and I don't mean that in a bad way. Cold is good."
I loved how Izzie treated Mark Sloan: "I don't do coffee." Her tough demeanor and her request to Sloan to give her something more meaningful to do besides "fetch, stay and heel" really had an effect on him since he asked her to scrub in for the first time in a while. Bailey, the "common thread," was, of course, not havin' it.
Best story line was George's father surviving his risky aortic-valve replacement surgery. All this time, the only thing I've done when it comes to George Dzundza's portrayal of George's dad is list the actor's name. That's because I was never really impressed to me, it was because the Archie Bunker-like character wasn't anything to write home about. Until tonight. Can you say "Emmy nomination"? I was blown away by the scene in which Mr. O'Malley asked George why he was so angry at everyone, "especially when the person you're really angry at is me." Here I was, crying while watching a character I usually would feel nothing for. I was still beyond annoyed by George's brothers, but now I want to see more of George Dzundza as Mr. O.
Awesome scene with Burke giving George the play-by-play when George chose to look away during his father's surgery, especially when Burke told George that Cristina was performing a running whip stitch on Mr. OMalley: "She's done it before." Burke's warmth made George say, "Thank you, Dr. Burke" it was great to see the two of them get along. It just made me think of what could've been going through the minds of T.R. Knight and Isaiah Washington at the time.
Every now and then, we are greeted with over-the-top bizarre patients, like last season's man who thought he was pregnant. Tonight, we got the conjoined adult identical twins, Jake and Pete Weitzman, played by real-life identical twins Jason and Randy Sklar. I've heard of brothers who are joined at the hip, but this was ridiculous. Sorry had to say it. I'm just trying to picture Jake having sex with his girlfriend, Elena (Jennifer Aspen), while Pete "took a nap." It did not surprise me, then, that we discovered Elena was actually more in love with Pete, essentially picking him when Jake forced her to choose. Bailey cracked me up when she teased the interns with, "You still think Yang got the better case?" Just as I will always think of Mare Winningham as the girdled Wendy, Jennifer Aspen (even though I know she's played lots of roles in her career) will always be Daphne, the stripper with the heart of gold (and eventual mother of Charlie's baby daughter) on Party of Five to me. Nice moment when Jake and Pete reached over and held hands after the successful separation.
I liked that all four patients survived their surgeries tonight, that Burke finally allowed Derek to give him medical advice (which will hopefully lead to Derek fixing Burke's hand) and Cristina got back on the elevator with Burke (even though he was with Derek). It was a pleasant way to end it for us fans of the show while we await the next new episode... in January! It's repeat central for all of December. According to my trusty ABC source, here is a listing of the episodes and their airdates:
Thursday, Dec. 7: "Sometimes a Fantasy"
Thursday, Dec. 14: "What I Am"
Thursday, Dec. 21: "Oh, The Guilt"
Thursday, Dec. 28: "Let the Angels Commit"
If you missed them the first time around, now's your chance to catch up. You can scroll down (or go here and then scroll down) to see what I had to say about these episodes when they first aired. See you in January! Until then, comment away....
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Dec 1, 2006 6:19 AM
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I loved this episode, although I wish for some Mer/Der, besides "Don't wait up". I did love how proud Burke was of Christina when he was giving George the running commentary on his dad's surgery. And it was so nice that Mer's mom finally knew who she was, if just for that moment.
What a long stretch ahead of me with no new episodes. Bah, Humbug!
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Dec 1, 2006 7:36 AM
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I agree -- Emmy nomination for George Dzundza - great scene with T.R. Knight. I shed a tear or two. Also, shed some tears at the end when Ellis realized that Meredith was hugging her -- and then she hugged back so fiercely. Great scene.....
Love this show....can't wait for January!
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Dec 1, 2006 7:43 AM
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Great episode last night.
I thought all of the ladies looked incredible with the new hair dos and it was great to see the entire surgical staff pull together for the seperation of the twins.
I still feel for George and no matter what anyone tries to say about him being an a**hole right now to everyone, he has the right. His entire life started in a tailspin and hasn't gotten any better.
Great episode. Weird to see Sloan and Sheppard getting along after the surgery...we'll see where that goes.
Can't wait for Janurary!
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Dec 1, 2006 7:47 AM
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Just wanted to add it was nice to see George civil to Callie after his Dad was in recovery.
And how heartbreaking was it for Mer to have to listen to her mother talking about wishing she had never had a daughter.
I liked that all we really got from Derek/Mer was a simple, don't wait up. Kind of nice to have them just be normal for at least an episode.
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Dec 1, 2006 9:20 AM
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I'm glad the focus has been away from Mer/Der for the last couple episodes. Haven't we had enough of their drama to hold us over for awhile? The storyline about Mer and her family was much more interesting to me...totally agree about the last scene, it was amazing. Excellent scenes with Bailey and Webber, as well.
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Dec 1, 2006 9:50 AM
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I loved last night episode (when do I not love a Grey's ep.?) and as every episode goes by I keep realizing how much in love I am with these characters, when they laugh I laugh, when they cry it makes me sad, this is amazing since I haven't been like this for a show ever since I used to watch Buffy, George's Dad was breaking my heart on that scene of why was George so angry and when his brothers started teasing him AGAIN after such an emotional moment I just wanted to go there and punch them. Oh, that scene when Meredith's mom recognized her and hugged her gave me chills as well. Now one thing that I love about these characters is that they're so flawed and NOT perfect. It does make sense that Christina and Mer are closer than the rest because they're both cold and I loved that everyone was giving Christina a hard time because YES she and Burke should've been punished somehow and I really liked the fact that the other characters agreed with me, lol, especially Dr. Bailey, I can't wait for next year and have more scenes of she giving Christina hell, lol (does that make me a bad person ?). And how much I enjoyed that scene where Meredith tried to make look Christina as all friendly and supportive and George wasn't having it: 'cuz when everybody was calling him 007 SHE was calling him 007, ooh, I'm sorry his dad doesn't like it but I think I kinda like mad George and even better when he's in a scene with Sandra Oh, and how in character was when Mer told Christina she was her sister and she couldn't say anything and they just leaned on each other, I thought that scene was perfect for them. Well, I guess I'll just have to watch me some reruns until next year, b/c I just loved this show that much. Oh, and Callie was definitely hotter with her hair like that.
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Dec 1, 2006 9:56 AM
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I loved this show. Great recap.
My only complaint is with ABC. I was watching "All My Children", when a "Grey's Anatomy" plug started playing. It showed Bailey saying "You want to see what's behind this door", opening the door and showing the conjoined twins sitting on the bed. It would have been a bigger "aha" moment if ABC would have kept this little clip under wraps.
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Dec 1, 2006 10:03 AM
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Didn't watch Grey's Anatomy last night and can honestly say I didn't miss it. I gave the show a try because of all the hoopla, but it's really nothing more than a soap opera with all the accompanying ridiculous situations. The on-again/off-again Mer and Der. Izzy being allowed back after mucking around with a heart transplant. The subtrefuge of Burke and Cristina -- if you can even call it subtrefuge, Cristina was jumping around so much with furtive glances, walking out of operating rooms to rush to Burke while he's in another operating room, a person would have to be brain-dead not to know something was going on. It's all just gotten a little too silly for me. Beautiful cast, but not pretty enough to sustain such weak storylines.
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Dec 1, 2006 10:16 AM
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I don't think Dr. Bailey needs to worry about Burke and Cristina not getting punished. They're both already suffering enough as it is. Burke is facing a career crisis, because if McDreamy can't fix the tremor, he's done. And Cristina has to deal with a soiled reputation at work, plus the demise of her relationship with Burke. At the end of the day, there's nothing the Chief can do that's worse than the personal demons they're already fighting. But since Cristina jumped on the elevator with Bruke and McDreamy, hopefully she can prove to Burke that she's still on his side and has his support. Maybe they'll find a way back to each other.
I was Meredith last night. I've been in her shoes, confronted with a stepfamily that you don't know and who certainly don't know you. Some may think it was harsh for her to tell her "stepmother", Molly, "You are not my family" but it's true. Meredith is dealing with enough drama taking care of her real mother, there certainly isn't time or space to care about some people she just met and a sister who doesn't even know she exists. My favorite scene came at the very end, when Meredith told Cristina, "you're my sister, you're all I've got." Yes, even though she may have a sister linked by blood, that doesn't mean anything. You can't choose your family, but you can certainly choose your friends. And more often than not, your friends know you better than your own family.
Funniest moment from last night: Alex calling Izzy a "candy striper."
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Dec 1, 2006 10:42 AM
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Who ever knew that George could be such a jerk? And rightfully so! Not only is his father critically ill, but his brothers are complete nuts! I swear, he needed to punch one of those two out! Truthfully, he's like the only sane child in the family. I'm glad that everything turned out okay for his father (yes, to the Emmy nomination!) and that nothing went wrong with Cristina in the OR. Heaven knows he's mad enough at her already. Talk about holding a grudge.
I was in agreement with Meredith tonight, for a change. The others did need to let Cristina off the hook. What she and Burke did was oh so wrong, and she really was in over her head as far as that situation is concerned. But, I feel like she really, really showed her human side and how much she really loved him. Not since her miscarriage has she shown that much emotion. She's not a robot, and she is allowed to mess up. Her moments of seemingly constant perfection made her friends a little too hard on her when she finally failed. I've loved her story line so far this season.
I am also in agreement with Meredith about her father's new family. Not that they aren't nice people, but hey, she's got a lot of baggage. There are some things that she needs to work out with her mother and her father individually before she brings in the the "outsiders." I feel that her acceptance of her father's wife and her half-sister (and subsequently, her niece) will come with time, and she'll be all the better for it.
Kudos to Izzie for standing up to Dr. Sloan. It's about time because he's such a jerk! Hot, yes. But, a jerk nonetheless.
This was a brilliant episode, and I cannot wait until January!!!
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Dec 1, 2006 10:44 AM
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I will always think of Mare as Wendy, the gal that Billy (Rob Lowe) discovered was wearing a girdle in St. Elmo's Fire. Are you with me here?
I'm TOTALLY with you, Dave! I feel older than dirt. A GRANDMOTHER? "Seriously?" 
"It was the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I ever had."
Ah, I LOVE that movie!
I also loved that episode! Gotta adore Mad George. Gotta adore Izzy standing up to McSteamy and the cute banter between she and Alex! Gotta adore McDreamy and McSteamy actually sharing a laugh after the surgery!
I agree about George Dzundza.
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Dec 1, 2006 10:59 AM
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loved the episode, and loved izzy standing up to doctor sloane. I also thought it was a poignant moment when George's dad was crashing and Dr. Burke allowed George to give the injection instead of him.
My only quibble is that separation surgeries like those are supposed to take hours and hours, like whole days, and teams of 22 surgeons and the like, and I thought it seemed just a little to easy. but, i was glad they both survived. I also think of Daphne from POF whenever I see that actress...
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Dec 1, 2006 11:16 AM
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YAY for Izzie for standing up to McSteamy! She's finally doing what Addison couldn't, what Callie couldn't, what Derek's sister couldn't, and what Meredith came so close to doing. Good for her. I just hope that they don't turn it into McSteamy&Izzie Sex. That would completely refute the glorious action that is Standing Up to Sloan.
George in this episode was very frustrating. I mean, I know his life is in total chaos now, but he's not handling it well at ALL. I'm glad Cristina still operated on his dad, and that what she learned with Burke helped save him. I SO unexpectedly cried, though, at George's dad's speech about anger. All of a sudden, I realized I was crying as Mr. O'Malley lamented over his son's uncharacteristic behavior.
Now for Bailey - hoo goodness, she is on the warpath. Good for her though. Burke and Cristina should receive some sort of probation. Regardless of whether or not they killed anyone, they were abusing the privelege of being surgeons and betraying the trust of all those around them. They should receive some sort of punishment.
At the same time, Izzie should not be giving Cristina a hard time for her actions. Cristina and Izzie, in their actions, are strikingly similar. I mean, Izzie was inadvertently the cause of Cristina being so committed to Burke, and consequently to his secret. Cristina watched Izzie do anything for Denny and realized that true love was solidarity in a crisis. If anything, Izzie should be sticking up for Cristina.
Meredith was both ends of the spectrum for me in this episode - both frustrating and heartbreaking. I mean, how can you not feel for her as her mother finally recognizes Meredith as her daughter? Dave is absolutely right - Ellen Pompeo runs with the best of them in reaction shots. But at the same time, I thought she was almost acting as if she wanted Molly and Co. to be her new family. Perhaps that was me misinterpreting, but I thought she was going to come around and actually show some affection towards them. But, it does make sense given the situation with Cristina in this episode. Love their companionship, always symbolized by one of them leaning her head on the other's shoulder. Even though Meredith is persecuted for being disastrously flawed and for her unkempt hair, the girl knows how to be a Best Friend.
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Dec 1, 2006 11:19 AM
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I do understand George's anger at this family. They don't show any respect for what he has accomplised as a doctor. I thought his best line was "There is no Georgie in this hospital, it's Dr. O'Malley." It is hard to be the baby of the family and yes, the brothers are beyond annoying.
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Dec 1, 2006 11:40 AM
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