Another week, another pressing question that seems to encompass the lives of every surgeon at Seattle Grace. When it comes down to it, what would they choose, love or surgery? Out of the original interns (obviously minus George) I think it’s glaringly obvious that all bar Izzie would choose surgery over love. Each of them is fiercely ambitious, and even though their busy love lives often complicate matters – there is no way that they would choose the joy of love over the joy of cutting.
The great thing about the patients that come to Seattle Grace, is their life stories often make the surgeons question their own lives – handy, isn’t it?
This week we saw a larger than life character, who sung. His whole life was singing, without giving much regard to his partner. This of course parallels pretty much every relationship we have seen on Grey’s Anatomy thus far – commitment to the job over commitment to the person. Another metaphor, on top of this, is the patient explaining that singing is his release from all he finds bad in the world, more or less. And of course, this is a running theme through the show. We constantly see the surgeons antsy when they haven’t operated for awhile. Surgery is their release. They need it in order to be at peace. With themselves, and the world.
First of all, we see it in Meredith And Derek. Derek has found out that Richard has relapsed, and is in fact drinking again. This is a secret that Meredith has been closely guarding, and as soon as Derek does find out, he starts talking about going to the board to tell the truth. Although this is probably the right thing to do, in light of there are actual lives at risk here, it doesn’t erase the fact that Derek is the most likely candidate to be the next chief. In this case, there is a very fine line between being noble and ambitious. And let’s not forget, that the chief and Derek are supposedly very good friends. There are two ways to go about it, either trying to help him – or giving him up. And it does seem as though one of the options reaps a much greater reward for McDreamy.....
The problem for Der/Mer’s relationship stems from the fact Meredith specifically asks him not to go to the board. The chief has always been a mentor for her, and especially over the last few episodes, has been educating her on the finer points of surgery – and it could be said, giving the least likable character (in my eyes at least) a distinct advantage over her fellow residents.
Another relationship that examines the question is that of Izzie and Alex. She is back, however briefly – giving viewers just enough ingormation to know that this relationship is most certainly doomed. Of course we already know that Alex has attempted to move on, after several episodes of pining for her. He slept with Lexie, or ‘Little Grey’ and literally the next morning, his wife shows up. Now that’s timing. Izzie, the one character who would choose love over her job, is the one that broke her husband’s heart in an uncharacteristically cruel way. She battled cancer, with Alex by her side the entire time, and then .... she just left. So while she would most likely put Alex before her job, she put herself and her needs miles ahead of Alex’s feelings – and in the end, Alex couldn’t handle it. He knew he deserved better than what she put him through, and he’s right. Even though her intentions are of working on the relationship, moving back and being there for her husband – it just seems as though it’s too little too late for this relationship. She has been given a clear bill of health however, and Alex wishes her well, but makes it very clear that it is over. Stating her wants her to go away, and be happy, and to not come back. And off she goes again. Forever running away from her problems, something I suspect she will do for good around say ... the season finale.
Alex is probably the most interesting character on the show. Although not much is known about his childhood, there are some snippets letting us know that is fundamentally pretty dark, which echoes through on his personality today. And while Izzie, on paper at least, is probably the most likable character on the show, I can’t help rooting for Alex.
The other relationship that looked at this paradigm, was Christina and Owen. Her over enthusiastic love of her career is nothing new. In fact, it may be one of her most endearing/annoying qualities. She has made no secret to anyone, from the word go, how important her career is. And she continued to prove this last week, when she finally found a mentor that measured up to her very high expectations. The last person that actually taught her, was Burke. And we all know how long ago that was, so it is understandable that she would want Teddy to stay. But to actually let the words ‘take him’ escape her mouth, is a little strange. In that brief moment, she wanted a mentor so much, that she was willing to trade her boyfriend for it? She made her choice about career over love long ago, and she’s sticking to it.
That’s the crux of this weeks episode. There was some added background issues with Callie coming down with the chicken pox and Arizona lying to her, saying she’s never had them. Although her reasoning was explained as not wanting to lose the ‘sexy part’ of the relationship, the move did seem a little shallow. The return of Mark Sloane also graced our screens, and he went to Callie’s aid. I actually find their friendship one of the greatest part of Grey’s Anatomy, I really think the two characters balance each other out. And of course the return of Mark, brought up the issues between himself and Lexie. He admitted sleeping to Addison, and she admitted to sleeping with Alex. He, however, seems quite hurt by the news, that she would do that to him while his daughter was sick, and he was hurting etc etc. However, if you watched Private Practice last week, it’s not like he only slept with Addison once. He did it several times, and even floated the idea about moving to California to be with her – all the while calling Lexie a child ..... so does he really have any right at all, to be mad?
No, he does not.
FURTHER THOUGHTS
- Bailey was almost mourning the loss of the chief, before he got called up by the board. His sacking, or whatever is in store for him, will certainly affect her greatly, as those two characters seemed to share a special bond on some level. I think the question of a relationship a few weeks back by the chiefs ex wife, Adele, was a tongue in cheek reference to this.
- It’s been made relatively clear that Katherine Heigl is leaving the series, and while I love her as actress – I honestly think that the show is suffering with her reappearances, and continued leaving.
- There was one other doctor we saw tonight that came over from Mercy West – have they sort’ve forgotten this whole merger story??
QUOTABLE QUOTES
“Alex and I have done it before, that was recycling, it was like good for the environment.” Lexie
“I know that I’m good enough not to deserve this. Not to have to feel like this. Not to love you so much, I almost hate you.” Alex
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