Grey’s Anatomy

Good news Kate Walsh/Addison fans! Addison will be crossing back over to Grey’s Anatomy for a rumored three episodes in February. Since spinning off Grey’s to her own show, Private Practice, Addison has returned for one episode. The plot line is rumored to involve Addison’s brother Archer (played by Grant Show). Archer will make his first appearance on tonight’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

In other news, Private Practice will get a new timeslot beginning in January. Instead of airing on Wednesday, Private Practice will air on Thursdays, right after Grey’s Anatomy. So what do you think? Will the timeslot change help with ratings? Are you excited to see Addison back on Grey’s?

Grey’s Anatomy, Kate Walsh, Private Practice

A lot happened in this episode. So let’s get right to it. Boy, Callie is having a rough time isn’t she? First George cheats on her and divorces her, then she hooks up with Hahn only to have her break up with her and now she gets her nose broken by a patient. The patient that broke her nose was a sleepwalker with a 13 year old daughter. That storyline was one of the more touching ones of the season. The poor little girl had been staying awake to try and keep her dad safe when he sleep walks. I was so glad to see Mark Sloan have a heart and take an interest in helping her.

Meanwhile, the interns lost their collective minds. They decided to do an epidural on one intern and then Sadie volunteered to have her appendix removed. Of course the surgery goes horribly wrong and Lexie has to get help from Meredith and Cristina. While the Chief is telling Meredith and Cristina how proud he is that they handled a difficult situation well, Lexie bursts into the room to try and defend them. This causes Cristina to reveal she knew the interns were practicing on each other. Meredith exploded on Cristina and that led to a huge fight. Conflict on the Meredith Cristina front might just be some of the more interesting drama we will see.

Again, what is with George and the lack of screen time? Is it because the cast is getting too big at this point? I don’t get it. I was glad someone finally clued him to Lexie’s feelings about him. But for some reason, I don’t see that relationship really happening.

Speaking of relationships not really happening…. I really don’t know what to say about Izzie and Denny at this point. I mean, he is dead and Shonda said Izzie didn’t have a brain tumor, so he must be a ghost, or she is just going crazy. Either way, I wish they would just explain it. It would be much easier to watch (to me) if I knew what was going on. If we knew she was just dreaming about him, then I wouldn’t spend the whole time going “what the…”. But that’s just me. What did you guys think?

Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes

Fans of Grey’s Anatomy are still abuzz with the Denny/Izzie storyline. It appears that the story is far from done. EW’s Michael Ausiello reported that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is scheduled to be in at least five episodes (and he’s already been in two). From what I can tell, fans are decidedly split on the decision to have Denny appear real to Izzie. Ausiello got this quote from creator Shonda Rhimes on the topic:

“I think the love triangle with Denny, Izzie, and Alex is among the most interesting we’ve ever done. Watching the chemistry between Jeffrey and Katherine again has been really touching. I can’t wait for our viewers to see where we’re taking it. But what it won’t involve is Izzie having a brain tumor.”

Obviously I’m very curious to see where the story is going, but I’m afraid this creative turn may have alienated some fans. We’ll see. No matter what happens, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is always welcome on my screen!

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Grey’s Anatomy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Shonda Rhimes

Ok, deep breath and let’s discuss last week’s episode. But first, let me say, I love Katherine Heigl. I love Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I loved the Izzie and Denny storyline from a few seasons ago. I love that the show never lets us forget Denny and that it is allowing Izzie to still deal with her grief over him. And they had me going with him appearing to her while she was working on two heart cases. Remember, I raved about the previous episode. But this week? When she touched him? Rut roh. I think they definitely crossed over into crazy land.

Here’s my theory – Izzie has some kind of brain tumor that is causing her to have visions of Denny. It’s obvious that he isn’t real and he hasn’t actually appeared because this isn’t X-Files and because Alex saw her talking to thin air. So, if that is the case, I hope we get to the explanation quickly. Or (pardon the language) maybe she just lost her damn mind. I don’t know, but what I do know is this storyline keeps getting more ridiculous with each episode. Am I wrong? What do you guys think?

Elsewhere, Cristina got the brush off from Meredith as her former BFF showed up. It’s been reported that Melissa George’s character was originally supposed to play foil to the Erica and Callie relationship, but it is rumored that there will be no flirting with Callie now. It is interesting to see Cristina deal with not being the center of Mer’s attention. Looks like Derek isn’t the only one being pushed out of bed now.

And speaking of guest stars, Mary McDonnell was great as heart surgeon Dr. Dixon with Asperger’s Syndrome. It seemed unlikely to me that Bailey couldn’t figure out that she wasn’t just weird, but rather had some social issues caused by a form of autism.

And one last thing – I am beyond irritated that the residents aren’t teaching the interns. No wonder the hospital fell down in the rankings. Also, where was George??? Is he being put on the back burner for any particular reason?

Thoughts?

Grey’s Anatomy, Katherine Heigl, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mary McDonnell

Well, people are still talking about the axing of Brooke Smith who played recently out of the closet Erica Hahn on Grey’s Anatomy. There has been plenty of discussion with opinions varying greatly on the topic. I’ve heard everything from “why not just end the Erica and Callie romance but leave her on the show?” to “Good riddance, those conversations were way too graphic.” Unfortunately, this is just more negative press that Grey’s Anatomy does not need. On top of the bad publicity, Grey’s ratings continue to drop. In 2006, the show was ranked number one and as of October 27, it was ranked number 9.

ABC News is investigating the firing of Brooke Smith. In an article on their website, they cite an anonymous industry insider who finds the firing very curious because it was so abrupt. The bottom line is, no one seems to know exactly why Smith was fired. It could have just been that the character didn’t click with Callie, or pressure from advertisers, or pressure from network executives.

And even though we didn’t ask, former cast member Isaiah Washington has issued a statement giving his two cents on Smith’s dismissal:

“You look at the way another consummate professional [is] being treated because her character, her story line [has] potentially made producers uncomfortable, Now that I see what they’re doing to a show that I love and I care about, I think it’s disgusting. The fact that Shonda has been put in this position is extremely unfair.” When asked what his idea of “damage control” was, he said, “Bring Burke back!”

On a sidenote, Michael Aussiello at Entertainment Weekly said today that two other “low level” castmembers have been let go, but no one has seemed to notice. He also reported that Kevin McKidd’s Dr. Owen Hunt has been promoted to series regular.

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First of all, wow, now that is what I am talking about! This was finally a Grey’s Anatomy that felt like the glory days. We had serious medical drama, relationship drama and even some humor thrown in for good measure. I feel as though we got back to the heart and soul of the show that we all love so much.

Poor George. He spent the entire day with a dummy (Insert your own joke here). Little did he know that the Chief was the voice of the dummy and controlled its activity. It was good for a couple of laughs, but I kept wondering why he was all alone in this episode.

Elsewhere, Derek is losing sleep because Meredith and Cristina stay on the phone all night. He challenges Mark to sleep with Yang and provide a good distraction. Mark says no until Derek reminds him that he slept with Addison. And speaking of Addison, I like that she was mentioned by name in another part of the episode. (More Private Practice news later…) Mark had no luck with Yang, much to his dismay.

Hunt (Major Hottie? McHottie? Does he have a McName yet?) is a welcome addition to the staff and I really hope he sticks around. After watching Alex, Lexie and Yang fight over procedures on a patient he had enough. Later he confronted Yang about her drive and ambition. Uncharacteristically, she had a quiet moment and explained about her father’s death and how it motivated her to be a surgeon. Those two are going to heat up very soon – it’s coming, y’all.

Bailey and Derek had a very emotional case with an elderly couple. The wife had a brain tumor and signed a Do Not Resuscitate order. When she began to crash, her husband did chest compressions on her. And that’s when I started to cry… Bailey took over for him and then Derek finally had to take over and let the patient go. To me, this was one of the most gut wrenching medical cases so far this season. Chandra Wilson and Patrick Dempsey were brilliant in those scenes.

Now to the most heart wrenching story of them all – Denny. Like or loathe Katherine Heigl, there is no denying that the girl is ridiculously talented. Hahn’s patient needed a heart – the heart Izzie had stolen for Denny should have been his. Wracked with guilt, she kept seeing Denny everywhere she turned. She was picked for the case to talk the patient through a procedure, but she froze. Furious, Hahn threatened to take her off her service. Hahn mentioned this to Callie and Callie explained Izzie’s engagement to Denny, etc. Hahn was outraged and went to the Chief and demanded Izzie be fired, etc. The Chief told her it had been addressed and he would not cause Izzie to lost her career over her mistake.

The Denny and Izzie stuff was great. Even though he was just standing there, the emotion on his face was so good – and her reactions were also. Oh how I loved Denny. Anyway, at the end she told Denny she needed to let go and move on and she was relieved to see Alex next to her. I love Alex and Izzie together – I’m so glad they are going that route. I’m pretty sure Katherine does indeed have material for the Emmy reel this year… We’ll see if she submits it.

And the “Callica” romance imploded as Callie defended Izzie and begged Hahn not to report the incident. Hahn told Callie she had to make a choice, and when Callie said the Chief was right, Hahn ended their relationship and left. We all know that is the end of Hahn on the show, but I am curious to see what the fall out is.

Thoughts?

Grey’s Anatomy, Patrick Dempsey, Chandra Wilson, Katherine Heigl

I loved the Burke and Cristina relationship. Loved, loved, loved it. It showed Yang’s vulnerable side and Burke’s too. All that mess with Isaiah Washington that resulted in his firing was unfortunate for the story. I wanted these two to work, even though it seemed she wasn’t ready.

So here we are, a full season after the Burke debacle and Cristina has finally met someone. What is his official Mc Name? Anyone know? I’ve seen McHottie, but I’m not sure. Anyway, McHottie is an Army doctor Cristina meets and stitches up. They share a passionate kiss after he pulls an icicle out of her (only on TV, folks) and then he turned back up this past week as the new Trauma doctor at Seattle Grace.

His first move was to have the residents and interns save pigs that he stabbed and after that whole debacle, he ordered Cristina to euthanize them to put them out of their suffering. To top it off, he didn’t even remember her name. He’s an interesting new character to the show and I’m very interested in seeing where their relationship will go. It’s time Cristina got her groove back, don’t you think?

Grey’s Anatomy

So, I’ve gotten behind on recapping the episodes for you guys and for that I apologize. It doesn’t even matter what the reasons are at this point, but I’m anxious to start the conversation again with fellow Grey’s lovers and see what you think of this season. For the rest of the week I’ll be featuring character commentaries and then we’ll discuss this week’s new episode. It’s November, which means sweeps month – so it should be exciting!

Let’s start with the core couple of Grey’s Anatomy – Meredith and Derek. Look how far they have come….Meredith asked Derek to move in and he agreed. He’s even willing to compromise and allow Izzie and Alex to temporarily live there, too. While moving his stuff into his new office in the house, he stumbled on Ellis Grey’s old diary. Of course, this put Meredith in a tailspin, but she handled it fairly well. Meanwhile, Derek was featured in a national journal on his medical trail of brain tumor treatments that he developed with Meredith. But she wasn’t mentioned in the article. She was upset and he said he would call the journal and give her credit. Elsewhere, Derek, Izzie and Alex struggled with the roommates/working together issue.

All in all, I think it is great to finally see Meredith and Derek in a pretty happy relationship. For MerDer fans it has been a long time coming. But will we get bored without the back and forth, will they won’t they? Guess we’ll see…

Grey’s Anatomy

Huge news today for Grey’s Anatomy fans. Actress Brooke Smith, who plays Dr. Erica Hahn has been fired from the series. Dr. Hahn’s last show will air this Thursday. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Smith says she feels as though it was not Grey’s creator Shonda Rhimes’ decision to let her go, but rather the ABC brass that demanded it.

“She (Rhimes) did seem upset. I wasn’t having a very good week that week. I was like, ‘Oh, God, what is it with this business?!’ And she said, ‘No, no, no. You are such a great actress. We love you.’ It seemed like some decision came down from above. It didn’t feel like it was her.”

Rhimes issued the following statement to address the firing:

“Brooke Smith was obviously not fired for playing a lesbian. Clearly it’s not an issue as we have a lesbian character on the show – Calliope Torres. Sara Ramirez is an incredible comedic and dramatic actress and we wanted to be able to play up her magic. Unfortunately, we did not find that the magic and chemistry with Brooke’s character would sustain in the long run. The impact of the Callie/Erica relationship will be felt and played out in a story for Callie. I believe it belittles the relationship to simply replace Erica with ‘another lesbian.’ If you’ll remember, Cristina mourned the loss of Burke for a full season.”

So what do you guys think? I think it had to do with the explicit way they were handling the storyline. All of those euphemisms and conversations with Sloan, etc. may have made many fans uncomfortable. I know around my office we have all discussed that we felt they were pushing the envelope too far and for no reason. Smith herself called some of the story “icky.”

Happy or sad to see Hahn go?

Read the full interview with Brooke Smith

Grey’s Anatomy, Brooke Smith