Grey’s Anatomy – Under pressure

I really liked this episode of Grey’s Anatomy even though nothing really significant, plot-wise, occurred. A haircut and a housewarming party aren’t exactly giant, forward-moving storylines.

But still …

The way Callie and Cristina interacted with one another was great fun to watch. My favorite scenes: Cristina rockin’ out while wearing her iPod, then spontaneously cutting a hunk out of dumped-Callie’s hair, like something straight out of Sixteen Candles; Callie remaking Cristina’s apartment and throwing a spontaneous party. All of it was enjoyable and satisfying, a release from the pressure that the characters felt was crushing them.

Perhaps I enjoyed their improbable interlude at the mall — along with Cristina gawking at the pretzel lady — because those scenes provided a counterbalance to the uber-seriousness of Cristina’s decision to leave surgery and quit Seattle Grace (just like Arizona quit Callie). The legacy of the shooting lives on.

The blaming and finger pointing at the hospital over whose fault it was that Cristina quit was similarly serious, particularly for Derek, whose under-gunpoint surgery was the reason for Cristina’s withdrawal from everything about which she used to care, including her friendship with Meredith. However instead of miring Derek’s character in negativity, the kind he was hurling Teddy’s way during the patient presentation and during surgery (I did NOT like the Middle Eastern leader storyline, too shallow), Derek tried to urge all of Cristina’s well meaning friends and colleagues to back off and give her time and space to work through things.

The writers made a fabulous choice in having Derek dash over to Cristina’s to squire her out of her loft before those earnest people descended upon her and pressured her to return to the hospital. Up on the roof, sharing a bottle of wine and debating hardwood flooring and bathroom tiles felt just right for these twin damaged souls, united by a crisis that has changed their lives.

Cristina’s and Callie’s stories, even Derek’s response to Cristina quitting, were all easier to watch than Alex’s scenes, where he vacillated between being a good guy, an ingenious doctor and fearless patient advocate, to a downright calloused jerk. The wretched story that he dumped at Meredith’s feet after he got what he deserved for his treatment of April did not at all make up for his boorish behavior.

I’m getting tired of this version of Alex. Sure, you feel badly about his string of personal nightmares (Ava, Izzie, his mother, his brother, his little sister), but that doesn’t give him license to go play a starring role in someone else’s nightmare. Scenes like the one in the On Call Room make his character unlikable, not sympathetic. He’s no Dr. House, whose boorishness is often overlooked because he’s got a good heart and helps his patients.

Clacked by Meredith O'Brien
on Nov 12, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT