| My Review of 6.19 - "Sympathy For The Parents" |
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| Written by Admin |
| Wednesday, 07 April 2010 21:12 |
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Grey's hit a series low in terms of total viewers, as did the shows on other networks (probably because of the long weekend). The good news is that it beat The Mentalist in the 18 to 49 age group, so that's somewhat of a relief. Read on for my full review.
Author's Note: In the comments, please avoid making references to spoilers so as to not ruin it for those who would prefer not to be spoiled. Thanks!
I found the episode to be all right. I would say better than last week's but definitely not as good as "Perfect Little Accident" and "Push". Mostly, I felt indifferent to it. Maybe too many storylines, which diluted the impact of each. And some just came out of the blue, like April and her case of fatal attraction (maybe not that extreme yet, but her facial expressions are really starting to creep me out). It was supposed to be an Alex-centric ep, but it didn't feel that in-depth and definitely not as engaging as the Derek-centric one (I would reference the AZ-centric one but I need to find something neutral to compare it to, heh). Plus, I'd rather see more Alex scenes in an Alex-centric ep than Huntlet scenes in an Huntlet-centric ep. And for those who expected some sort of resolution for Callie and Arizona in this episode, you were out of luck, because this storyline is moving along at a glacial pace.
First of all, it's a shame that there was no follow-up to the poignant moment in the previous episode after Arizona pulled her hands away from Callie - what a waste. What happened afterwards is left to our imagination - did Arizona flee the apartment at the mention of babies? Did she make a run for donuts? Or did Callie feel badly for dropping the bombshell and brushed it off at that moment? What was it?? Whatever happened, we can be certain they haven't talked. How do we know? Because we got to witness the most awkward conversation between Callie and Arizona to date:
At the hospital, Callie comes up from behind Mark, who is buying a coffee from the snack cart. She is surprisingly upbeat and wants the lowdown on Mark's date with Teddy. Mark plays it cool and says that he wouldn't call it a date because "a date" would imply that they actually went somewhere (which they didn't). Callie is giddy on Mark's behalf, but her smile becomes awkward and frozen as Arizona bounces over to join them. Although Arizona cheerfully greets them with a "Hi guys!", the tension is palpable as Callie sudden dries up like a well and Arizona is shifting her eyes to elude Callie's stare, until it lands on... OOH! Pound cake! AZ proceeds to take the appeal of pound cake to new heights:
Arizona: I love pound cake... <hands cashier a bill> rich, buttery pound cake. Callie: Hmm. Arizona: YUM, pound cake. <chuckles before popping a big piece into her mouth> Mmm... Callie: Hmm.. <trademark badass head tilt while continuing to stare at AZ expectantly> Arizona chomping away in an overly enthusiastic manner as Callie looks on. Arizona: <looks up at Callie and thrusts the cake in front of her> Pound cake? Callie: Oh, I'm good. Thanks. <forced smile> Arizona: <unnaturally huge smile before spinning around to walk away>
Gee, that was awkward. As amusing as that was, it was also a little sad to watch. I'd rather see them fight than avoid. It just pains me when people try to fake it like nothing's wrong. And I bet it pains Callie, too, that after she has decided to be grown up about it she put herself out there, only to have Arizona run away from it (be it subconsciously or not) rather than engage in a constructive conversation.
And as much as Mark would like it to be an innuendo, the pound cake reference is Arizona's desperate attempt to delay the dreaded baby talk, as Callie astutely notes. Mark also tries to delve into Callie and Arizona's business, but thankfully, Callie wisely deflects his attempts by talking about Teddy instead. I'm so relieved that Callie decided to keep something between just herself and Arizona (and about time, too!) . Or maybe she just didn't feel like talking about it at that time. In any case, Mark gloats that he blew Teddy's mind.
In the elevator, Arizona continues to indulge on the rich, buttery goodness that is her piece of pound cake, and may have even shared some with her new best friend, Teddy (as we see her chew momentarily). Teddy is dishing on her amazing night o' passion with Mark and hailing his life-changing, earth-shattering skills and calling him a legend. She stops short of describing the Sloan Method, which I'm sure we, along with Arizona, all appreciate. Before Arizona can process what Mark's skills means in the context of Callie's sexual history with him and now with her (as she pauses and frowns a bit), Teddy goes on to describe that it's like there was a party going on. Arizona chimes in with, "It's a party in your panties!" Teddy wrinkles her nose at the sound of that and AZ takes a second to take in her corny attempt at alliteration before bursting into laughter. If this is how AZ talks dirty, maybe she should just. not.
In the midst in their girlish bonding, the elevator doors open and in walks a subdued Huntlet. AZ shoots Teddy a mischievous look but Teddy does not return it, instead looks at Owen's back with concern. As Owen vacates the elevator, AZ flippantly remarks that Owen is so grumpy all the time. Teddy demeanour turns serious and says that Owen is going through something that she understands but Cristina cannot. They both mull over it as the previous giddiness was sucked up like a vacuum by Huntlet's presence.
Meredith is sitting at the computer, showing Aaron, Alex's brother, a scan of his hernia. Aaron thinks that is totally gnarly and wants a copy of that to stick on his fridge. Arizona approaches from behind and says, "Are we doing consults at the desk nowadays, 'cos I kind of need to use the computer" with a degree of snarkiness never witnessed from her before. Mhm, nope, the baby issue is not getting to her at all. Meredith introduces Aaron as Alex's brother, and upon hearing that, Arizona launches into extreme perkiness as too much information spew forth from her mouth:
Arizona: Ah, nice to meet you! How come I didn't meet you at the wedding? Meredith: Actually, Dr. Robbins... Arizona: Oh, that's right that's right <waves Meredith off> No one's family came. Last minute switcheroo and all that. <chuckle> Aaron: What wedding? Meredith: You know what? Arizona: Oh, Alex and Izzie's! (simultaneously) Arizona frowns and stares at Meredith and finally realizes... Aaron: Alex got married?
Arizona stops talking long enough to realize her verbal SNAFU and promptly excuses herself from the mess she just created: "I'm..just going to go use the computer over there. <Meredith nods repeatedly, with much relief> Byeee~~~ <wave>". Clearly, there is no antidote when you pick up on your girlfriend's bad habits in your urge to merge. She's a goner.
Arizona's quick departure is replaced by Lexie, who jumps right into the wreckage and does an even better job of muddling things for Aaron. Somebody put a muzzle on that girl!
Maybe it's me, but something's off about Arizona. She's kind of not very grounded in this ep. I suppose it's all part of her defence mechanism to avoid talking about anything serious. But the insensitive way in which she made the face and her comment about Owen was uncharacteristically insensitive, not to mention her crankiness was peeking from under her perky demeanor when she tried to boot Meredith off the computer.
Meanwhile, Callie is sitting in a stupor as Bailey comes into the room for a coffee. Callie, looking troubled and dazed, asks Bailey when a good time to have kids is. Bailey says "never" and proceeds to list off all the annoyances of having children, but then goes on to say that it's all worth it and that having kids is at least as good as a doing a whipple. WELL, it certainly helps when the joy of having children can be quantified in surgical terms.
You see, Callie is involved in a case in which the patient is Gina, a female cop, and a pretty tough chick who single-handedly took down 3 bad guys. She's so devoted to her job that she's put off the other things in her life, including leading a stable and quiet life with her husband. After she survives her injuries, and thinking that she was going to be kicked off the police force for not following protocol, she and her husband decide to settle down for a quiet life. Even though her life is intact, her uterus had to be taken out during surgery, which means that she and her husband won't be able to have kids. They are devastated, as is Callie. The heartbreak on Callie's face just cements how important having children is to her, and frankly, I can't see her changing her mind about it. At the moment, Gina's superior shows up and informs her that her job is safe, and her colleagues all barge into the room for a visit, shoving her husband aside. So much for setting down, as Gina looks ecstatic that she gets to be back on the beat while Callie looks at the husband with sympathy. It hurts to play second fiddle to someone's career. The whole storyline is one giant anvil for Callie to force Arizona to deal with the baby issue because 1) seeing that Gina won't be able to ever have a baby reminds her of how badly she wants to have a child of her own and 2) if they not on the same page about the future, she and AZ will be like the cop and her husband, with the both of them wanting different things.
At night, in Callie's bedroom, Callie is sitting on the bed with a magazine in her lap, looking subdued. A towel-clad Arizona pads out of the bathroom and grabs a bottle of lotion before climbing onto the bed. Is it really inappropriate of me to wonder, when I was first watched the ep, if that is a can of whipped cream? Alas, it is only body lotion, which Arizona squeezes onto her hand.
Callie looks at Arizona with some gravity and Arizona looks down and frowns a bit. Before Callie can say something, Arizona suddenly becomes fascinated by the ingredients in her body lotion and tries to rattle off the chemical names. Callie just stares at her for a few moments until she decides that enough is enough and cuts her off: "I want to have a baby. <Arizona looks up> And I can't talk about lotion, or pound cake, or anything else because you don't want to have a baby and I do".
Arizona, backed into a corner, looks decidedly uncomfortable but acknowledges that she has no choice but to face the issue: "So...we're going to talk about it."
Callie responds with seriousness, "Yeah... we are going to talk about it" as they look at one another.
Wow. We waited an entire ep for them to agree to talk. Will we ever get to see the actual conversation? I think things may blow up before they actually get to talk, though, with Sloan Sloan returning. At this point, I hope Arizona actually finds out that Callie volunteered to raise the baby so at least they have a fight and get it out. Heck, if Sloan Sloan is going to occupy my screen and suck up precious minutes, her return had better move the Callie Arizona storyline along.
We have never seen this side of Arizona, who's terrified to such an extent and desperate enough to avoid talking about an issue by substituting it with just about anything in sight. We're used to seeing her run after Callie (particularly in season 5) to get her to open up about why she ran off after the expensive dinner, George joining the army... She even opened up about her brother's death. It's so much easier to go after people to talk about their problems than to talk about her own. She really has put up quite a few walls; I'll only consider it progress when Callie can break some of them down.
All right, so we've had two eps in a row pretty much from Callie's perspective - her struggle over telling Arizona that she wanted children and now reinforcing her need to have children and forcing Arizona to have a talk. Given the writers are dragging this storyline out, it is now imperative for us to get Arizona's perspective. At the moment, it feels very unbalanced as it's been all about Callie and her feelings and they have yet to give Arizona a chance to articulate her perspective. Since we haven't seen it on screen, I'm going to go out on a limb here and theorize a bit.
To me, Arizona's fear is three-fold: i) Fear of loss of control - she is always perceived to be someone who's pulled together and someone who is a fixer rather than a person who needs to be fixed. She regularly represses her issues and is usually in control of her emotions. ii) Fear of actually having kids - this would be her main fear, possibly borne from her experience from working with sick kids and being up close and personal with how real their mortality is. iii) Fear of losing Callie if they don't work it out - by putting off the issue, Arizona is irrationally hoping that it will magically disappear, thereby not threatening their relationship anymore.
I'm more curious than ever to see what Sloan Sloan's return will bring.
Random thoughts:
We continue to see substantial screen time devoted to Owen/Teddy/Cristina, despite practically a whole ep doing just that last week. Much of the storyline is reminiscent of last season, with the only difference being the presence of Teddy. Cristina is once again scared of Owen's behavior and Owen says he will return to therapy. It really does feel like a repeat, and when you do something the 2nd time, it is a little less poignant. Just feels like their relationship is not going anywhere. It annoyed me a little bit that because Owen "is a man", says Teddy, Cristina should not tell him what to do because he won't listen to her. I mean, if she feels that her life is in danger, she's supposed to coax him into therapy by letting him know how she feels? Luckily, it's Grey's, and the writing conveniently works it out so that Owen finally gets it and volunteers to return to therapy. But what if he had continued to be in denial?
The April storyline took many by surprise. I just didn't see the obsession with Derek coming. I thought the looks she was giving Derek in the OR was as a result of her lack of confidence that she could be a surgeon (flowing from when she was rehired by Derek), and afterwards, all of those freaked out expressions could have been attributed to the patient going brain dead after she took her off the ventilator. I don't know if it's bad acting or bad writing, but I had no idea she was infatuated with Derek until Lexie said something. The storyline of that particular patient case didn't help because her demeanor could've been construed as one of guilt and/or distress. Anyway, so out of the blue, she's in love with Derek. Is she going to do something psychotic in the coming eps? She seems slightly unbalanced right now. A bizarre turn of events for sure.
Bailey beating Alex over the head with some folders was one of the funnier moments of the episode that didn't have much humor.
Could've done without the Mark/Teddy love scene. With them being such a new couple and therefore so few shippers (if any), I doubt too many people enjoyed watching them go at it. I'd trade a 2 minute love scene between these two for just 3 more seconds of Callie and Arizona.
Necklace update: Both Callie and Arizona (you could see her chain at the pastry cart) wore it at the hospital. Callie wore it to bed but AZ didn't have hers on coming out of the shower.
Comments (46)
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Who cares about them!!!
thought might work for while
)
I just keep reading them over and over again but never get bored 
Great review as always, Meg.
I did notice the lovesick puppy act that April put on, but only in this episode.
I am very interested in what we will learn about Arizona. I think that we will learn a lot more in the next few eps. Just wondering if we will learn enough and have some resolution before the finale. I don't look forward to having a queasy stomach and itchy palm for the entire summer.