Very brief, bitter spoilers for"Grey's Anatomy" coming up, and if you want to use this thread to comment on "October Road," too, feel free...In the comments on last week's episode, a number of people all but urged me to give up on the show in the wake of the George/Izzie sex fiasco, and after last night's episode, I think they may be right. I've just grown to hate virtually all of these characters, except for Addison (destined to escape to the spin-off), Karev and McSteamy (who never has enough to do because he's not currently sleeping with another character, and whose love interest is leaving for said spin-off), and my tolerance for the sledgehammer parallels between the patients and their doctors is wearing thin. Glad to see Catherine Dent out of "Shield" uniform, and Michael Boatman getting a paycheck (in a weird "Arli$$" reunion w/Sandra Oh), but I don't care anymore.
I'll probably keep watching for a while for professional purposes, but I don't know that I'll be blogging at length about it anymore, barring either a massive creative turnaround or an episode even worse than this one that inspires me to swear it off altogether. Maybe I'll put in my two cents on the backdoor pilot for the spin-off, I suppose. Sigh...
What did everybody else think, of either this or episode two of the Bryan Greenberg show?
Alan, don't give up please! I wasn't sure I was behind or even okay with the whole George and Izzy mess, but them in the broom closet won me over. I even like that it seems like it is just going to be messy and difficult to resolve (although if it gets a quick resolution I reserve my right to jump on board with those who loathe the show).
ReplyDeleteI am way over the much too on the nose patient parallels. Can't someone please, please just be sick in this hospital or sick in a cool way that doesn't exactly parallel anything?
Plus, is anyone else excited that McSteamy may be on the brink of becoming McChief (yeah, I did that)?
I was actually one of the people who was ready to quit the show last week, but I actually liked this week's episode. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI think part of what I enjoyed was the fact that the characters actually realized that they had done a horrible thing. Given how selfish and obnoxious everyone has become I fully expected them to act like it was fine. But they didn't.
My big gripe with this episode was that Izzie couldn't shut the hell up. Yes she should have been upset, but could she have possibly made it any more obvious that she and George had slept together?? I might have been fine with her possibly confiding in one person to get it off her chest, but she was running around babbling to Addison about how she'd slept with someone inappropriate and talking to EVERYONE about doing things while blacked out. Given that everyone knew George and Izzie got trashed together it should have been obvious that something happened between them. Then again, everyone on this show is so self-absorbed I guess it makes sense they wouldn't put 2 and 2 together. Also, I think it would have made for better drama if Izzie had kept it to herself and the truth didn't come out for a LONG time. But now that George remembers it's only a matter of episodes before his marriage implodes.
Speaking of George remembering...that seemed really false to me. I blacked out once in college and STILL don't remember a thing years later.
I'm really done until the finale/spinoff episode now. While I think TR and KH did actually act the hell out of what they were given to work with, I find them so unlikeable that I can't watch. It's a pity too, because I really enjoyed the Meredith and Derek scenes quite a bit. And I always love Alex, but perhaps that's because the writers refuse to give him a history that will ruin his character. I dig the way he has a sister vibe with the crushed patient "Ava" and I don't want to see that ruined with a romantic turn out of nowhere.
ReplyDeleteI don't like Bailey being relegated to guest appearances. I don't like the way Addison and Alex never interact anymore because of the spinoff. I thought the scene in the supply closet was very good except for the fact that I don't believe Izzy and George are "in love." That scene should have been used last year with Derek and Meredith at some point.
This show has already done adultery once, and it was done in an interesting way. This time around, everyone just looks horrible and ugly. I don't want to see the inevitable implosion at Callie and George's party in a future episode. I'm still quick to blame Marti Noxon's presence for the suck, but the show is nearly unredeemable at this point.
Addison, Alex, Bailey, and Callie should run. They can still escape the madness.
What's beginning to fascinate me most about Grey's is the growing number of bloggers and commenters who view this show as the anti-Christ.
ReplyDeleteIt's a freaking TV show. Sure, it was the hottest thing on TV last year and subject to the typical backlash, but it's a freaking TV show.
And it's a TV show I, for one, related to more last night than any in recent memory.
Nothing is ever clean. Most things are always flawed. Those two themes came out loud and clear last night.
George and Izzie in the closet? I was holding my chest the entire time.
The two of them summed up, painfully, what it's like to be in love with someone you're not supposed to be in love with.
This happens in real life more than any of us will ever care to admit.
FOr this, I'll keep enjoying the show.
As for October Road, I can't wait until it's March Over.
Funny, I was so mad with the show last week, but I thought it was really good last night.
ReplyDeleteI think the Meredith/Derek stuff is really strong. They were so annoying for a while, but now there is something very natural about them. I appreciate that the tensions in their relationship are based on emotions related to family and work and not because some new hottie doc showed up at Seattle Grace.
I still don't like George and Izzie, but I think they dealt with it the best they could. The closet scene was perfect -- I don't think it necessarily suggested they were in love. I think George is feeling mega-guilty and upset with himself, and Izzie for letting it happen. And I think Izzie is someone who has been completely evil lately, but recognizes she's gone too far now and is terrified because she actually felt something. I still think it's messed up, and I am so sad for Callie, but I think it was handled well.
The voice-overs, the on-the-nose parallels, the whole "surgeons always" crap -- the show needs to lose all that. It's not a realistic show, by any means, but in my book, Grey's is still good frothy fun.
Plus, is anyone else excited that McSteamy may be on the brink of becoming McChief (yeah, I did that)?
ReplyDelete"McChief?"
"McCloud!"
I think they just went way too far with this storyline. I guess it was too much to hope that they would both realize it was a mistake and try to move on. Clearly Izzie somehow managed to fall in love with George, so we're going to have to suffer through this arc for a while.
ReplyDeleteThere's speculation on the TWOP boards that the season finale could be Izzie finding out she's pregnant...just kill me now.
Agree that the actors did great with what they had to work with, but I think Shonda, Marti, and the rest of the writers are getting full of themselves and letting the story unravel in a way that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Addison, Alex, Bailey, and Callie should run.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about Bailey in my list of characters I don't hate, but as the only person on the show in a functional, happy marriage, the writers clearly have no idea what to do with her.
And I thought the closet scene was well-acted, too. I just hate where this story has gone, and I'm nauesated by even the slightest hint that George and Izzie could wind up together after she's been so thoroughly despicable to him and Callie.
Yikes ... I was hoping both George and Izzie could write this off as a Horrible Mistake, but now it looks like Izzie is actually in love with George. I really don't like this storyline. When Izzie finally agreed to support George's marriage I thought that finally she'd come around and would start being likeable again. Ha. Can't they give Izzie at least one storyline where she doesn't come out looking psychotic and pathetic?
ReplyDeleteBut here's the problem: I really liked the rest of the episode. Interviews for the Chief, Jane Doe's face dilemma, Meredith performing the bone-harvesting surgery, the last scene between Derek and Meredith ... all good stuff. (And I don't EVER say that about Derek and Meredith!) Jane Doe's arc alone is enough to keep me watching until the end of this season.
I don't know, Alan, I found last night to be a pleasant surprise. They actually brought the funny - snarking on McSteamy seems to bring out the comic timing in everybody. And I thought the Mime Moment in the closet was quite affecting.
ReplyDeleteI think the show is trying to bring characters back from the unlikeable and crazy direction so many were headed. It's a start at least.
But Izzie treated Callie and George that bad, because she was in love with him. Only she hadn't realized it yet, not before she managed to move on from Denny.
ReplyDeleteI didn't feel against this pairing from the get go, like most people did, and for once more the writers are handling it very good. Alan, you said last week you were afraid that Callie will look like the bad guy, but this week's episode made it clear that Izzie's love for George doesn't justify anything she's said to Callie, and George definitely feels like the villain right now, so.
The parallels and the voice over are nothing new, I've gotten used to them. I've learned to ignore them, actually. As long as the rest of the stuff is good, and this week I felt it was good.
My favorite scene last night was Addison rehearsing in front of the mirror. She is BY FAR the best thing on this show. I'll continue to watch Grey's the rest of the season, but if the spin-off gets picked up I'll seriously consider watching that and dropping Grey's entireley.
ReplyDeleteOld Man Snap, I second the "It's a TV show."
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think the are Izzy and George in love questions are neglecting a very basic fact--they do love each other. Sometimes, in times of crisis, that line gets really, really blurry. Yeah, Izzy was being a pain in the ass, but all she wanted was for George to be her best friend again, as much as he wanted her to do the same.
Is loving someone deeply and finding them sexually attractive the same as being in love, maybe not, but it makes for interesting TV.
And Izzy was projecting major guilt, but I think there was a good case for the others not to assume she slept with George and more to assume she continued even meaner down her path to being a bitch to George about the marriage or that George said something like I wish I'd never done this, I am going to go break up with Callie and then blacked that out and went on with life. They would just let that fall into the Izzy being bitchy to George's new wife category.
I'm with you Alan, the George and Izzy thing is just creepy and wrong. These are surgeons who make the most inane decisions next to George Bush. This plot development is as dumb as Izzy inheriting millions and giving it away. And now Callie is a millionairess?? Please.
ReplyDeleteOctober Road. (ok, that period in the show's title annoys me) has the potential to be interesting because I like the characters and premise. However, I'm afraid it will be rather predictable without some strong writing. But then, I was never enjoying Men in Trees to be honest.
My husband sighs and says, "Are you really going to continue watching this crap?" everytime I say it's time to watch Grey's Anatomy. Cause it's bad. It's as subtle as a sledgehammer and as nuanced as a daytime soap. So, yes, I still watch, not sure why. Maybe because of the few moments of grace that the show can still reveal. On the whole, it's fun to roll my eyes at the crapfest of unoriginality I guess. And George and Izzie hooking up is just sad and pathetic. And gross.
ReplyDeleteI miss Taylor Townsend!
velvetcannibal, thank you for bringing up Marti. Shonda and Co are definitely in awe of her (for whatever reason) you can see how she has affected the show since she joined as a consulting producer at the beginning of the season. Marti Showkiller Noxon is slowly poising Greys, just like she did to Buffy and Brothers and Sisters. She was definitely one of the people pushing for this George/Izzie hook up.
ReplyDeleteI thought Addison was great despite her small storyline and Mark is finally becoming a more 3-dimentional character however with this the interns (our main characters) are suffering. However, that being said, no one is suffering more than Derek. Now I'm not some huge Dempsey fan, but the guy deserves some character development and as of this season he really isn't getting any.
I'm with you Alan. The hubris of the writers is also deeply infuriating. Their comments make it seem like they think they are god's gift to writing. After the ferry boat and now this, in what has already been a slow, navel gazing, parent killing season. Every character is hateable. McSteamy is what you're holding onto? The guy is as wooden as any daytime soap actor. Hate the show. The tone. The dialogue. And the characters.
ReplyDeleteI just realized that I missed this week's GA episode and find that I don't care at all. I have enough stress in my life that I don't need to watch a show that just pisses me off for its sheer stupidity all the while pretending it is something more than a crappy medical soap opera.
ReplyDeleteWe need to stop enabling the crappy writers and let them know that they are self-indulgent by not watching their shows.
Ascribing any problems with Grey's to Marti Noxon (who came on well after any season-long arcs were planned, most likely, and then only as a consultant) is sort of ridiculous. It's always been clear that the buck on this show stops with Shonda Rhimes.
ReplyDeleteAlan, I completely agree with your GREY'S thoughts. While I'm almost ready to jump off the bandwagon, I'll watch with the hopes it improves.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of OCTOBER ROAD... as much as I enjoy the two leads (Bryan Greenberg and Laura Prepon).. their talent cannot make up for some truly lackluster writing. Yet, I'm a sucker for shows where the lead returns to his small town (see: ED) so I'll probably stick around for another week or two.
all I can say is, can someone give TR Knight an Emmy already?
ReplyDeleteThe guy has been at the center of some incredibly messy, crappy story lines that could (and still may) be really soulkilling.
It's mainly due to his talent that they're not. I'm kind of in awe of his ability to rescue gloppy material.
I thought McSteamy wasn't as wooden this week, miraculously.
And word to Kate Walsh being the best part of this show.
Remember the days when Bailey was, yknow, teaching them? And in more than 2 scenes per show, if that?
Having said all that, I expected to really hate this episode yet didn't. I'm liking Alex, MerDer are not bothering me, Callie didn't bug me, and they also put drugs in my food that makes me not able to stop watching this show. That's my story, anyway.
It is challenging (not ground-breaking, not radical) to have a lead character that does despicable things. _Grey_'s committed to having such a character, and even though things didn't work out all that well I was genuinely interested in how the writers dug the hole and then tried to climb out of it.
ReplyDeleteBut I also believe it is just as challenging to have male and female characters be friends -- close, supportive, indispensible friends -- without having to make them lovers (see for example Veronica Mars and Wallace Fennel, _VM_ seasons one and two). Katherine Heigl and TR Knight seem like good friends on and off the show, and this new affair storyline seems like a clunky way to give them (and the suddenly fabulous wealthy Callie) something to do. How many episodes has it taken for George to go from marriage to affair? I'll agree with everyone that the wordless scene was compelling, but I doubt the whole story arc will be.
It's similar to what Alan said about Bailey being sidelined because she's in a good marriage. I recognize soaps thrive on conflict, but I dislike the constant weakening of strong characters. The race-for-the-chief/Sloan-takes-the-lead storyline showed that one can create a conflict that (in theory) forces everybody to rise to the occasion, not fall apart. I even thought it was appropriate that Sloan, in attempting to rise to the occasion, would turn to Bailey. A right now plan. Damn straight.
Anon
I think the best thing is just to avoid all the GIzzie stuff and watch for those characters that don't irritate the heck out of me! Let's see ... that brings it back to Addison .. Yep its all about Addison, who was fantastic as per usual. And Alex, but you know its disturbing to think about what they are going to do with him once Addison leaves.
ReplyDeleteI seriously, seriously think McSteamy gets a bad wrap, I don't think Eric Dane is winning any acting awards, but his (non) acting style suits the character. Mark is like an ogre, he has layers, and he's like Alex in his honesty and its working for him, I hope he wins the Chief race, and Derek sees him for the person he was prior to the affair, because according to GA Lore they were best friends for the majority of their lifetime .. er Derek, adjust your bra, man up, and get over yourself.
I do feel like I'm watching DOOL: Seattle most weeks.
Rhimes is very quickly turning into the black female version of Aaron Sorkin, and not in a good way.
ReplyDeleteBailey I don't mind having a small role now. She's so self-rightous that even the little bit of screen time she has feels excessive. Her singing earlier in the season was the crux of her Hallmarkisation, and it's just going downhill. Would anyone know even think of calling her a Nazi?
Gah, now I'm just hoping for This American Life to show up on iTunes/Amazon so I can watch some good television for a change.
Scott Rosenberg is such a hack!
ReplyDeleteI gave up watching GA several weeks ago and I haven't missed it at all. I never liked Meredith to begin with, but all the characters became increasingly unlikable intolerable to the point where I found the show unwatchable. I know it's not trying to be remotely plausible or "realistic" but the premise that these imbeciles are supposed to be actual doctors just pushed me over the edge. They act like they are fifth graders.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think October Road. was as bad at the internet thinks it is. But with that said, I only watched the first episode. Maybe it gets worse.
ReplyDeleteAnd the period in the title confuses me. Are they trying to be smart? Witty? Clever? I don't get it.
keep the voice-overs. keep everything just the way it is. This show is amazing! The captivity that it gives off is stunning. The best show on the network. In fact, the best show.
ReplyDeleteTo Alan and the rest of you, here is a hint, if you dont like a show, dont watch it. I dont watch a show to comment on how bad it is the next day I watch greys anatomy because I like it. So Alan dont talk about how bad a show is and then say your about to give up on the show. just give up and spare us (the people who actually like the show).
ReplyDelete