| My Review of 6.14 - "Valentine's Day Massacre" |
 |
| Written by Admin |
| Monday, 15 February 2010 20:46 |
|
Grey's ratings took a hit this week as it went up against the 2-hour Survivor. Next week it goes up against figure skating. Hopefully, ratings will bounce back a bit in March. Read on for my full review. Overall, I felt that it was one of the weaker eps of the season. Ranks right down there with Holidaze. The disappointment of not getting to see Callie and Arizona's date certainly did not help. There were some good scenes with great performances, but aside from feeling disappointed, I mostly felt indifferent to the ep.
I am not sure why the writers bother with holiday-themed eps. Becau se frankly, they are doing a good job of sucking the festive spirit out of everything. I swear, they must have an aversion to writing something pleasant in these holiday eps for fear it would be trite and shallow. Was it not enough that they ruined Thank sgiving/Christmas/New Year's in one shot? At least the episode lived up to the massacre part of the title, because they certainly succeeded in massacring the romance. There was more of that between 2 patients who have never gone beyond a waiter-diner relationship than between the Grey's couples. I feel misled that they hyped it as a V-Day ep when there was hardly any V-Day content that we could actually enjoy. I am now officially conditioned to be fearful of any holiday-themed eps, because really, they are more like anti-holiday eps.
I will admit that I, along with many of the fans, had high expectations going into the ep, with Shonda hyping that Callie and Arizona will go on a date at 4 pm and exchange presents. Who would've thought that it be would reduced to a one-liner about going on a date at 4 pm and exchanging presents. Talk about being literal. Silly me, to actually expect that they would show that scene in a V-Day ep. What was I thinking…
We were also promised Callie/Arizona adorableness by Krista. I suppose she was not wrong; the elevator scene was indeed adorable. Our fangirl imagination just took us to a totally different level of expectation, especially having been spoiled by the last 3 episodes. Bah, the pitfalls of reading spoilers and interviews and being on Twitter.
The highlight of the episode for Callie/Arizona fans takes place within the first three minutes of the episode, and starts off with Callie wiping the surgery board clean. When Arizona and Bailey appear, Callie tells them that there has been a restaurant roof collapse and that all scheduled procedures are being pushed. As the three of them start walking down the hall, Arizona remarks that the restaurant must've been packed on Valentine's Day, and Callie says that she told her something like that was going to happen. Arizona, still fresh from her hot date with Callie, could not help sharing that with Bailey, because single people just love hearing about that kind of stuff on Valentine's Day.
Arizona: That's why we went to dinner at 4. And exchanged gifts.
Both of them promptly hold up their necklaces with heart-shaped pendants and freeze-frame themselves in synch to show Bailey. Bailey, as one would imagine, does not share their enthusiasm and lets them know as much.
Bailey: Just special, original, magical, squeals of joy. Arizona: Wow… Scrooge! Bailey: Scrooge is Christmas. That's a holiday!
Ooh, she managed to sneak in a point about the commercialization of V-Day's. Good on ya.
As if on cue, Ben the gasman catches up to the group and tells Bailey that it's a shame that their surgery got pushed. Callie and in particular, Arizona (who comically tilts her head and shuffles to catch up to get within earshot) are intrigued by this new guy who's bold (or crazy) enough to go after Bailey. Bailey, in a knee-jerk reaction, turns him down with a resounding "No!" while we could see Callie & Arizona lingering in the background to eavesdrop. Bailey awkwardly turns him down, saying that she has surgeries… that she always has surgeries. Bailey, if you talk like that, you'll be single… you'll always be single…
After they enter the elevator...
Arizona: Hawhawhawhaw…. <evil laugh at Bailey's rejection of Ben> Callie: <observes Bailey for a moment> Oh my god..she likes him~~~ <in a singsongy voice, which I suspect is as close as we'll ever get to hear Sara sing on this show> Arizona: <puffs out> Ohhhhohohoho… you like him?!?! Bailey is just thinking, Oh crap… I can't believe this is happening… can the elevator move any slower?? If I don't respond, maybe they'll disappear. Callie: Oh my god, you should totally go out with him. You have to say yes! Arizona: Oh no, it's Valentine's Day, you have to!! <grabs Bailey's arm so hard that it makes her jump> Bailey: <as Callie and Arizona continue to display all kinds of high-pitched giggling> See, see…That…this, right here. What's happening, with the giggling, the girl-talk, the OMGs.. ok, it has to stop! I am busy. <hmm… incoherence, always a good indicator of attraction>
At this, Arizona and Callie oblige Bailey and put a stop to their gossip-mongering, for about 3 seconds, as Callie bursts into laughter anew.
It was arguably the best comedic scene between Callie and Arizona to date. It was great fun to see school girl giddiness take over the attending surgeons. Unbelievable range of facial expressions and laughter, from the evil "mwahaha" type to the disbelieving "hohohohoho" to the squealing "heheheehe" to Callie's deeper "hahahaha"… The best moment was when AZ shut down her guffaw. One second she was laughing uncontrollably and the next, she's shut it down completely, like *zip*. The split second transition to poker face was unreal. Give them more comedic scenes, writers. Heck, give them more scenes, period.
Also noticed that they are very comfortable physically with each other as they walked down the hallway. Liked Callie's hand casually touching of AZ's left shoulder, which slides across her back to squeeze AZ's right arm. It's these little things that show us that they are a couple. Also enjoyed that Callie's the one who realizes that Bailey has a crush on Ben. Consistent with how she's more emotional and intuitive when it comes to these things. I feel like AZ is the more cerebral one who may not be as skillful in reading people sometimes.
As the chaos in the ER is unfolding, Arizona, seemingly with blinders on, has made spicing up Bailey's love life her single-minded objective of the evening, as she chases Chief Shepherd down to get him to sign off on reassigning some anesthesiologists to play Cupid.
Derek: I don't do that. I did that once and she yelled at me. Arizona: I'll be Cupid. You just be the Chief! Sign! <with perk to the power of 10>
Putting her plan into action, Arizona invites herself to observe Bailey's surgery, where she has conveniently switched Ben to. She then launches into full bubbly chatter mode about places to go for first dates. Arizona must've consulted a Matchmaking for Dummies book that says that blatant, unabashed hinting is the way to bring two people together, because that is not at all awkward:
Arizona: [gushes about how romantic the restaurant that collapsed was] …a little too intense on a first date, though. Bailey, where would you go on a first date? Bailey: Isn't there a dying child somewhere? Arizona: Nope! I had some time, and I wanted to observe one of…one of these.
Er… "one of these?" Oh dear…uncharacteristic ditziness in the OR… Arizona's mind and body must really be possessed by Cupid this evening.
If it does not work, try harder...
Arizona: Nice work, Dr. Bailey. Dr. Warren, can you believe Dr. Bailey almost left general surgery for Peds surgery? Did you know that? <Bailey shaking her head in disbelief> Ben: I did not. Arizona: Yeah, no, she almost said, "No!" to general surgery. Then she thought about it, and she changed her mind. She wasn't afraid to re-think her decision. She just needed to be asked again. Ben: I see! Really...
Heh… the way AZ imitated Bailey's "No!" made the scene. Jessica always manages to hit it perfectly.
If it still does not work, try, try again until you get booted out…
Arizona: How is he, Dr. Bailey? You're nearly done. Just in time for dinner! And maybe even some dancing! If the patient looks good… Bailey: He'll be just fine. He won't be dancing anytime soon. But when the time comes, and he wants to go out dancing, he will be perfectly capable of making that determination himself. Without any help from anyone. And I don't need any help here, so if you are through helping me, you can go. Arizona: Well, I just thought that - Bailey. Now. Arizona: Hm.. <wavers, turns and walks away defeatedly>
Sort of relieved that Bailey kicked her out, because at that point, her bubbly and insinuating tone was turned up another three notches and it was approaching my limit of what is tolerable. Best part of the scene was AZ retreating like a deflating balloon, after being banished from the OR.
Surprise surprise, Arizona's persistence pays off in the end. Bailey comes clean with Ben and tells him that she likes him and they make dinner plans. Of course, Arizona is there to witness all of that and smiles to herself with satisfaction.
When I first watched the ep, I found it a little disorienting that Arizona decided it would be a good idea to park herself beside Bailey and natter on about first dates and dancing while there's trauma cases galore in the ER. I know she's in Peds, but would she not help out with that? I am not sure how it works in real life and how overlapping their responsibilities are. This is reminiscent of 5.22, when she freaked out over her relationship issues in the middle of the school bus crash. I don't know… it's just a bizarre reaction to seeing trauma all around her. Plus, at the beginning of the ep, she seemed really serious when she first learned of the roof collapse, as if she was ready to spring into action. Then witnessing the Bailey/Ben exchange just kind of activated the girly, gossipy, and Clueless side of her. I suppose the writers had to inject some levity somewhere in the ep and in the process made AZ appear a little frivolous in an otherwise serious situation. In any case, I must admit that those scenes became a little less off-putting upon re-watching, because Jessica did well with the material she was given… she wins me over with her cuteness every time.
At the same time, I can imagine that this is a normal situation for them at work, in that there's always going to be trauma and surgeries. And one can get wrapped up in endless trauma and surgeries while life passes you by. I can see the merits of seizing the opportunity (or have someone like AZ who cares enough to seize it for you) to find love. In any case, not going to look too deeply into it.
So this V-Day ep was good for Mark/Callie fans. We saw Callie make at least an 18-year commitment to Mark, pretty much in a split second, by offering to help Mark with Sloan the Third. As much as it pains my Callie/Arizona shipper heart, I'm not surprised that Callie did that. It's pretty in character, actually; that's classic Callie, the type to plunge herself into the water and then test the water temperature later. For her, there is little thought process between what she feels and what she says or does. Sometimes we love her for the things she throws herself into, other times her pigheadedness drives us mad. But that's Callie. In this case, she's so caught up in feeling Mark's pain that she would do anything to make the situation better.
Don't get me wrong; it doesn't mean that wasn't cringe-worthy to watch. My stomach dropped when Callie volunteered to help take care of the baby. And it gets worse when Mark took her hand. Ugh! That's not a picture I want in my head. It's one thing to be there of your BFF; it's a whole other level of responsibility when you commit to raising a child with somebody. And where exactly does she think that leaves Arizona? The whole thing left a bitter taste in my mouth. I understand why Callie did it, and she'll always be impulsive and emotional like that. I only hope that if Sloan Sloan had not left, she would have taken a moment afterwards and thought of the ramifications and how that would affect her relationship with Arizona. Guess we'll never know now.. unless Sloan Sloan comes back.
But I suppose it was somewhat of an urgent situation and one where Callie couldn't exactly have told them to hang on while she goes and have a 3-hour discussion with Arizona to debate the merits of helping to raise Mark's child. Callie just sort of had to throw her support in there... like a last ditch effort to keep Sloan Sloan and the baby around. I don't like it, but I can understand it. And who knows how it would've gone down had Sloan Sloan decided to stick around. She might've gone to face Arizona's wrath afterwards.
The writers' really highlighted the BFFness of their relationship in this ep, which is fine. It's too soon to tell whether that's all that is or they are building up to something near the end of the season. I can picture them creating some issues between Callie/Arizona surrounding a perceived threat arising from Mark/Callie closeness and not necessarily an actual triangle. Anyway, not going to stress over it at this point.
Good work from Eric Dane (and as usual, Sara) in this ep, especially in the scene when he goes home and sees Callie taking apart the crib. Quite a heart-wrenching scene.
And so I will continue to wait for an episode where Callie gets the opportunity to offer the same level of support to Arizona.
Random thoughts:
Everyone's "re-inventing" themselves this episode - Teddy, Meredith, Lexie, Derek, Mark, even April, who re-invented herself into the Chief's overeager admin assistant. The question is, will they revert to their previous selves come the next ep? Especially curious about Lexie's hair color after this… Also, is April officially a recurring character again? Slightly annoyed that she April got just as much (if not more) screentime than Arizona did.
Wonder if Callie and Arizona's necklaces will become permanent accessories in future eps?
Teddy's bordering on being emotionally unstable. Good for her for trying to move on (i.e. by deluding herself), but I feel like she might have a breakdown sooner or later.
Jackson graduated to getting a speech this ep, about him being "the pretty one" <roll eyes>. They really are trying hard to integrate him into the cast. Meh.
Mark's squawk upon realizing that it's Lexie with the blond hair was probably the most enjoyable scene ever between the two of them to me.
I was hoping that this was one of those eps that have reverse timelines, where we flash back to the date from earlier in the date. Alas, it was wishful thinking.
Comments (11)
Powered by Compojoom comment 4.1.7 stable
|
I think I would have had a heart attack if Sloan Sloan hadn't left. Also...maybe I'm crazy thinking this/alone, but why were they discouraging her from adoption? I thought that was a very intelligent decision considering the circumstances. I want to see Sloan happy, but, it's ultimately his daughter's choice. Once again, that could be just me who thinks that.
thank you sooo much for the review! you just made this whole episode much better than it was!