Friday, January 19, 2007

Grey's Anatomy: Break like the wind

I won't have a chance to watch 30 Rock and The O.C. until later today at the earliest, if not some time this weekend. In the meantime, spoilers for "Grey's Anatomy" coming right up...

Cue Silvio Dante: Everytime I think I'm out, they pull me back in! It's not even that "Six Days" (parts 1 & 2) was a magnificent effort on the level of "Into You Like a Train" or the Super Bowl bomb two-parter, but it managed to minimize most of the annoying tics that had me on the verge of bailing, allowing me to focus on the things that Shonda and company do so well.

Take the fart scene. Lovely little moment, and the sort of tension-breaker that anyone facing the death of a loved one has probably experienced. (For me and my sisters, there was a stupid, funny out of all proportion "Talk to the hand" joke as our father was in his final hours.)

Or the subtler little moments, like George's nod to Callie to come into the room, or the way that Bailey didn't feel compelled to admit to Izzy (and blatantly spell out for the audience) that she's just as capable of becoming too involved in her patients' lives, or Meredith finally connecting with her dad over something so minor as the snoring.

(Not that you couldn't see that one coming, or Izzy paying for Egg Veal's back surgery. I'm glad that they at least didn't try to play that one like a huge shock, since I think everyone who watched last week knew where that story was going.)

The one annoying spot: Alex and Addison. Meh. When relationship shows start playing mix-and-match with whatever characters happen to be single at the time, I grow weary. Plus, I think it's a more interesting character arc for Alex the sexist porker if he develops a strong interest in a "woman's specialty" and respect for a strong female boss without it coming down to him getting in her pants.

Still, pretty good, and a reminder of why I put up with so much of the badness. What did everybody else think?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Umm...'egg veal?'

Alan Sepinwall said...

On "Arrested Development," the actress played a character named Ann Veal, and at one point another character started referring to her as "Egg." Long story.

Anonymous said...

thanks for that veal clarification. :)

I woke up this morning and the second thing I did was... no, I did some chore-like stuff first and then I rewarded myself by reading Krista's blog
www.greyswriters.com

I did miss the voiceover in that two parter but otherwise... hey, I'm just happy I didn't have to wait till 10 (or 9:30) to see it. (Scrubs...)

It would be better if Alex and Addie didn't... as you say. And I think they are attempting now to make us like Mark. That will take a while. I don't even think he's *steamy.*

You know, I probably just posted to say "go read Krista's blog"
so I think I'll dive into the Scrubs post now :)

Anonymous said...

I mostly agree with your take on Grey's, Alan. However, I thought the snoring thing was, well--for lack of a better word--stupid. So many people snore (at least people of a certain age)--to begin to "bond" on that is a bit silly (and I know that's partly the point--but perhaps they could have come up with something a bit better).

And, althoughI tend to dislike the musical beds of these soap opera-type shows, I do like Alex and Addison together. He seems to respect her, and that's a real change for him. I agree with you about the entertainment and interest value of Macho Alex in a woman's specialty and know that his relationship with Addison puts that aspect in danger. But if Shonda treads carefully, it could be great.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed these two shows a lot. I think George's character is showing a lot of growth, along with his relationships. I loved that Meredith was able to be there for him as a caring friend in part one, when George saw his Dad for the first time after his cancer surgery. Her hand on his arm, her head on her shoulder... I love the little subtleties on this show that say so much. I, too, noticed the slight nod that George gave Callie to let her know he wanted her to join him and his family as they wrestled with the decision to remove his Dad's feeding tube. In part 1, I liked that George's Dad encouraged his relationship with Callie, understanding that Callie "gets him" in a way that (regretfully) his family never did. It was great to see Cristina's compassion for George in the "dead Dad's club" scene. It broke my heart that Izzie cleaned the bathroom floor in case George needs to lay there in his grief, as she did after Denny's death. Great shows -- I anxiously await more!