| My Review of 6.07 |
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| Written by Admin | ||||||||
| Saturday, 31 October 2009 12:19 | ||||||||
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This week, Grey's was beaten by the World Series and CSI in number of viewers but came in 2nd in adults from 18 to 49. Read on for my full review.
I thought it was a wonderful episode that came together nicely as a whole. This is coming from someone who has never cared much for McDreamy, either. It worked really well that all the characters were interwoven into this one big storyline instead of switching back and forth between disparate ones that split the cast into groups. I think because all the characters cared about this one thing, it made me care about about it, too. Yes, Alex and Reed had their own scenes, but it was effective in this case because it just hits home how lost and devastated Alex is after Izzie's departure. I feel badly for him. That being said, I can't say that I miss Izzie's presence.
I actually liked the character-centric format. Seeing things from Derek's perspective for an entire episode has caused him to grow on me after 5 seasons of being totally indifferent. Then again, I have always enjoyed shows where they delve into the psyche of a character. It was interesting to see him struggle with his decisions and be pushed to his mental and physical limit. It was compelling to see Derek, one of the most competent doctors who always has total command in the OR go a little cuckoo under stress. It was an hour of gripping TV.
The dialogue was well written, too. The scene with everyone popping up one after the other to watch the scan was really fun to watch. Grey's has gotten a little laborious with their over-the-top writing, so this kind of light-hearted humor was refreshing. I also enjoyed the bantering going on between Callie's girlfriend and best friend throughout this ep. I can see them being a little competitive in getting Callie's attention. It's kinda cute. What's also cute is AZ's little sarcastic giggle when Mark teased her about her abilities. Oh, and I can see that their "girlfriend" status is being emphasized with these matching bump-on-top up-dos.
You know what else is fantastic about this episode? The fact that Callie and Arizona are joined at the hip AND get to interact with the other characters at the same time. If the writers can achieve this kind of balance in every episode, then I'm a happy camper.
This scene is a great example of what I mean:
McDreamy was looking all kinds of dreamy when he and Mark were talking about going rogue (or in his own interpretation, "doing a surgery he believes in") when Callie and Arizona literally bounced down the stairs at a level of giddiness never seen before. Not sure what they were running around the hospital doing, but AZ's hair sure looks a little disheveled to have been just doing paperwork. <shifty eyes> In any case, Callie cuts to the chase and asks Derek if he's going rogue. Arizona, ever the goody-two-shoe, didn't want to hear further details about this ingenious little scheme because "she + the Chief + secrets = bad idea". (whoohoo - a point for continuity!) Callie, however, offers Derek support, saying that it's "badass". As she was saying this, she herself was doing something equally "badass", as in groping and/or tugging Arizona backwards to press into her. Whatever Callie did back there, she made AZ gasp quite loudly while looking flustered/turned on. Callie then whispered with some urgency, "Come on..let's go!" Arizona gives Derek and Mark a sweet innocent smile as Callie whisks her away for another round of… Scrabble?
The banter continues between Arizona and Mark in that little scene outside the OR with the three of them. Callie playing dumb with her vehement head-shakin' denials versus AZ's deer-in-highlights look was absolutely priceless.
The scene with Owen/Callie/the Chief/Arizona was pure comedic gold - GOLD! Sara and Jessica's comedic timing was bang on, starting off with Callie's "What did I do?" expression before she realized she gave it away:
"What am I doing? What - I just heard my name." <shrug> Typical Callie.
Callie: "Bailey will stop him. She's at the door." Owen: "She's in the OR with Shepherd." Callie: "Then who's at the door? Ohhh my god..."
Bwahah! The way she said "ohhh my god", knowing how completely useless AZ would be against the Chief both cracked me up and made me warm and fuzzy inside. She knows her girlfriend well.
JCap was equally as brilliant - the way AZ scrambled to throw herself between the door and the Chief, combined with her babbling "nononono whoa whoa whoa" was so adorable that I can't put into words. That's the funniest blockade scene I've ever seen on TV. The writers sure love giving Arizona speeches; she averages at least one per episode. I welcome it, though - JCap has the gift of delivering monologues. I liked how she appealed to the Chief's logic to deter him from barging in; that's more than what some of the others characters are capable of. And her puppy-dog eyes after the speech…awww.. there there. And how about those googly-eyes that Callie was making at AZ? I am convinced she was moving towards her to kiss her until AZ ruined it by breaking down. (Argh! A kiss attempt thwarted!) Nice touch that as the camera cuts to Bailey inside the OR, we can still hear AZ's sobs from the hallway.
In yet another scene where Callie and Arizona cannot keep their hands off each other (we're being spoiled!), you can see Callie draping her arm across AZ's thigh before it cut to the hand-holding scene, in which their clasped hands were on Callie's thigh. Wow… And it was not cut off by the camera shot. Add to that Callie rubbing AZ's back. There is hope after all… Finally, we see them acting like a couple in love. Speaking of love, I'm still waiting for their declaration of love to each other.
Ever since they confirmed their girlfriend status, they have become more physically affectionate. Let's do a quick recap of the season thus far, shall we?
Can we consider this progress? Maybe we are heading towards a kiss on the lips in episode 8? It would be an opportune time to do it.
If this is the approach the writers are taking, if this is how they want to "ease" the general audience into accepting Callie/Arizona as just another couple on Grey's, then I am all for it. It's still better than doing something abrupt (like with Callie/Hahn last season) or sensational and have the audience become adverse to it at the get go. I like these subtleties; I find them to be sexier than more explicit scenes.
Random thoughts:
Callie looks really happy these days; she seems to be back to her old badass self after Arizona put her back together. It's about time. This is the Callie I became fond of when she first showed up way back then.
I am not a Mer/Der fan, but I like that they are in a mutually supportive relationship now. It was sweet to see Derek talking it through with her at home and that they share the same passion. When they panned up to that the framed post-it note, though, I could not help but chortle. I feel for the poor shippers. I hope to see something similar in next week's episode where AZ leans on Callie.
I'm really glad that Nosedive (i.e. Charlie) was not in this episode; he really doesn't need to reappear because he serves no other function than to annoy the hell out of people.
They are really setting up Kim Raver's arrival nicely with Cristina's storyline. I sympathize with her, watching her gradual descent into the dark and twisty. Even the strongest and brightest and the best fall sometimes, especially if deprived of opportunities. At the same time, I admire that she's fighting it all the way - "This is the definition of hardcore. You are like an astronaut. This is surgery NASA-style. Put it on, right now. I'll guard the door."
Um.. why is Cristina in Peds again in next week's preview? Is there some sort of mandatory rotation that day? I know that Peds is magical and nothing is impossible there, but I hope that the writing does not take a detour into the land of sunshine and rainbows and butterflies (oh my!) . I prefer AZ's dialogue when it's more grounded.
Lexie: "I said DRINK IT!!" Hehe…you go, girl!
Hmm, they are trying to make Reed more likeable, and they may be succeeding. Plus, it's hard to be evil by yourself when her partner-in-crime has been fired.
Don't know about you, but I found the soundtrack to be especially melodramatic this episode.
I'm going to end with AZ's eyes when she looked over at Jackson in dismay after Derek called him out on his little stunt.
Comments (35)
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I thought that it was u who decided if they kiss or not, didn't know were the actresses.
who directed this episode almost essentially confirmed my suspicion. Every shot, every scene, every camera angle... she is more than knee-deep involved with it. 'Hats off to you Dr. Bailey! 
I read on Shonda's twitter something About C/A kissing. Someone asked a question about them kissing and Shonda said she's all for kissing. She would talk to the actresses about it. Like they decided when they would kiss. But isn't that kind of decision up to the writers. Because it would have to go along with the story line. And I don't think Sara and Jessica are against seeing these two characters kiss.