“This soup tastes funny . . .”
This week on Grey’s, Meredith’s Voiceover had her trachea accidentally eaten by a Person Who Shall Not Be Named. *cough Alex cough* And so, while Meredith’s Voiceover’s new trachea was incubating, our Grey’s writers had to come up with another Artificial Story-Framing Device to use during the episode. Their solution? This . . .
As we all know (and have been told TIME and TIME AGAIN), Seattle Grace and the doctors and nurses who work there, have all suffered, as a result of The Shooting.
As with all major tragedies, The Shooting left scars on everyone who experienced it. Some of those scars are easily seen . . .
. . . while others are more hidden.
Yet, ever the businessman, Chief Webber would like to gloss over all of those scars with a swift coat of cheery yellow paint, and put a “fresh face” on Seattle Grace — one that is shiny and new.
“Get those ugly extras in the white lab coats OUT OF MY SHOT! What do you think this is . . . a HOSPITAL?”
And so, Chief Webber invites a documentary film crew inside his hospital, to show the world what a “warm and sunshiney” place Seattle Grace can be!
“You can stand under my umbrella . . . ella . . . ella . . . hey . . . hey . . . hey . . . under my umbrella . . .”
(Speaking of “sunny” . . . you know . . . this show has been on the air for seven seasons, and, during that time, I don’t recall ONCE seeing it rain! Did I mention the show takes place in Seattle? You know, the “Rainy City?” Where it rains, on average, 158 days per year?)
One of the few times I someone got wet watching on Grey’s Anatomy . . .
Good weather notwithstanding, it is tough to paint a “happy face” on a place, where phrases like the one below are so often included in daily conversation . . .
But that doesn’t mean that Chief Webber isn’t going to try . . .
So, scrub in Grey’s fans! It’s time to take a little walk on the “Road to Recovery.”
Alex Karev’s Greatest Hits
By far, my favorite storyline of the episode went to Alex Karev. His patient-of-the-week was a nine-year old girl named Lily, who had a large tumor obstructing her trachea.
She also had an obsession with Camp Rock 2, and a terrible case of Bieber Fever . . .
It is important to note that Justin Chambers (the actor who plays Alex) has five kids, ranging in age from 8 to 17, four of whom are girls. So, when Lily couldn’t take her iPOD into the MRI machine with her, and Alex started singing Camp Rock 2’s “Wouldn’t Change a Thing” to the her, so she wouldn’t be nervous during the procedure, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the actor had done this before . . .
Lily’s MRI results show that her tumor has grown so large that she will die, if her trachea isn’t removed. Unfortunately, the removal of the trachea is, in itself, an often-fatal procedure.
Fortunately, as per usual, Alex and the Seattle Graceans have come up with a Groundbreaking Medical Procedure that could save Lily’s life. The procedure involves growing a new healthy trachea, using Lily’s own cells.
Just heat those little buggers up in a microwave and, voila! You’ve got yourself a BRAND NEW Chia Trachea!
Tra-tra-tra TRACHEA!
For a guy who can be a REAL douche when it comes to dealing with adults, our Alex sure is a softy when it comes to working with kids!
And, although Alex says he’s only sleeping at the hospital to water Lily’s Chia Trachea, it seems pretty obvious that the real reason he’s there, is so that the little girl won’t feel so alone.
All I know, is if I was in fourth grade right now, I would TOTALLY bring that Adorable Doc in for Show-and-Tell, just like Lily did . . .
I’d probably have him wear less clothes, though . . .
Lexie Grey – Renegade Outlaw
While Alex is spending all of his time in the hospital, Lexie is spending most of hers right outside of it. You see, ever since The Shooting, Chief Webber has significantly “enhanced” the security at Seattle Grace. One of these new “enhanced” security procedures requires all staff and vistors entering the hospital to submit to a full body scan and metal detector check. As for the doctors and nurses, they must also show the security guards their Picture ID Badges, upon entering the hospital.
The problem is that Lexie’s ID picture looks like this . . .
. . . and she now looks like this . . .
So, rather than do the logical thing, and ask the Chief to have a new ID picture taken, Lexie spends most of the episode fighting with the security guards –trying desperately to convince them that she’s the same person as the blonde in the picture.
Eventually, Lexie gets fed up with arguing, and runs past the guards into the hospital. Lexie’s breach of protocol causes the ENTIRE hospital to go into lockdown. This “innocent” rebellion results in major problems for one of Lexie’s colleagues Dr. Hotness Jackson Avery.
Jackson’s Emotional Breakdown
Jackson is rolling a patient with respiratory problems into surgery, when the automatic procedures associated with the lockdown result in his being trapped in a small glass vestibule, without any medical equipment. Undoubtedly, having his own PTSD-fueled flashback to the day of The Shooting, Jackson begins to scream, pound ferociously on the glass doors, and doggedly administer CPR to his patient, who is now frantically gasping for air.
The event frightens Jackson so much, that even when the doors reopen, and other doctors are allowed into the room, Jackson, now hysterically crying continues pounding uselessly on his patient’s chest.
On camera, an embarrassed and grief-stricken Jackson admits just how hard on him The Shooting, specifically, his loss of two friends and colleagues during it has been . . .
Finally, at the end of the episode, The Chief takes his head out of his ass long enough to order the removal of Seattle Grace’s short-lived and utterly ridiculous security system from the premises. Goodbye and GOOD RIDDENS, I say!
Hello to Arms
I had literally a TON of ideas for jokes to put in the caption underneath this picture, all of which would make me look like a total douche, and none of which were the least bit appropriate. Therefore, feel free to insert your own Inappropriate Joke About People With No Arms here . . .[ ]
I’m a totally terrible person, aren’t I?
Remember that picture at the top of this recap, featuring the caption about someone’s brains being on the floor? Yeah . . . that was THIS GUY . . .
The bad news is . . . he’s dead obviously. The good news is, he’s an organ donor with pretty arms. That second part makes our Attendings pretty darn happy, because it will provide them with the opportunity to perform . . .you guessed it . . . a NEW Groundbreaking Medical Procedure.
(That’s TWO Groundbreaking Medical Procedures in one episode, for those of you keeping score . . .)
“Hey, remember when No Arm Guy’s wife stole a baby from the stomach of that chick on Private Practice? That was AWESOME!”
So, the trio of Super Docs (actually, it ends up being Callie, who does most of the work), plan to extract Dead Guy’s arms, and put them on No Arms Guy. (Dead Guy isn’t really using them, anyway. . .). There’s just one slight problem . . .
“Nicole” is not No Arms Guy’s Wife’s name . . . AWKWARD!
Honestly? I wasn’t as surprised by the couple being so cool with taking the arms, despite the tattoo, as I was by the fact that all the doctors thought that they wouldn’t be. After all, in the “What Would Rather” game, I’m pretty sure “Have a Random Tattoo” would win out over “Have No Arms” EVERY TIME . . .
Now, usually the actual “surgery” parts of Grey’s episodes bore the stuffing out of me. But I have to say, this arm surgery was pretty darn cool to watch. The way they literally sawed off Dead Guy’s arms, and wheeled them down the hospital corridor — the disembodied fingers wiggling, as the gurney lurched and bumped its way toward the OR — was like something out of a horror movie!
And then, the way the arms turned, pink, once they were reconnected to the Patient Formerly Known as No Arms Guy’s body, was so VERY Frankenstein . . .
. . . or, it would be, if the original Frankenstein movie wasn’t in black-and-white . . .
I also liked the little epilogue part, where we learned that the Patient Formerly Known As No Arms Guy tattooed the word “Thank you” next to Nicole’s name. That was sweet. It was nice of Crazy Lady from Private Practice and the Patient Formerly Known As No Arms Guy to remember that, even though the arms belonged to Dead Guy, originally, it was his wife, Nicole, who actually agreed to donate them — thereby, making this whole thing possible . . .
LOOOOOOOONG Distance Relationship
“Ummmm . . . what’s up with the Fugly Hat? You’re going to Africa, not the Easter Parade.”
Sometimes, spending time fixing Tiny Humans really pays off. Arizona learned this, when she won the prestigious Carter Madison grant. Said grant would allow her to go to Africa, and facilitate the process of ensuring that the children there receive top-quality medical treatment.
While some of Arizona’s colleagues were pleased to hear about the honor she received . . .
(The increasingly opportunistic Chief Webber treated Arizona like she was his prize poodle, who had just won Best in Show at the Purina Dog C0mpetition. I kept waiting for him to pat her on the head, and give her a biscuit . . .)
. . . others were less than enthused . . .
Callie, for one, couldn’t understand why ANYONE would possibly give up Earth-shattering sex with her (YAY!), in exchange for something as mundane as The Opportunity of a Lifetime (Snooze!).
Fortunately for Arizona, Callie decided, at the last minute to come to Africa with Arizona.
See? Sometimes you CAN have your pound cake, and eat it out too!
Miranda Bailey can’t win . . .
You know, everytime I see Miranda Bailey on my screen lately, I want to reach out and give her a hug. Let’s review, shall we? Her husband left her, her boyfriend ditched her for a spinoff . . .
. . . Dr. Percy died in her arms . . . and now . . . our girl is FINALLY ready to go out and have a drink with her buds . . .
. . . when she finds out that SHE KILLED MANDY MOORE!
It all started when Mary, the girl attached to the colostomy bag, who braved The Shooting with Bailey, returned to Seattle Grace, with her husband in tow.
Mary plans to have Dr. Bailey complete a medical procedure, which she had never gotten to perform during Mary’s first visit to the hospital, for obvious reasons. The procedure is a routine colostomy reversal, one that should have Mary in and out of the OR in about an hour. Dr. Bailey, having grown attached to Mary, during The Shooting, is eager to finish the procedure. She hopes that it will provide them both with some much needed closure on a difficult chapter in their lives.
While Bailey preps Mary for surgery, the two chat like old girlfriends. We learn that Mary and her husband, realizing that life is short, blew through their entire savings, and traveled the world, in the months following the shooting.
We also hear Mary tell the documentary film crew that she hopes to “have lots of babies.”
The procedure itself goes off without a hitch. We see Dr. Bailey give Mary’s adorable husband (played by Ryan Devlin) the good news. Dr. Bailey, still on a high from her friend’s successful surgery, tells the documentary crew that she is plans to treat herself to a drink after work — something, which, surely she has earned.
Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be Grey’s Anatomy if there wasn’t at least one maudlin moment in the episode. And this moment belonged to poor Mary, who, we later learn, never woke up from surgery.
After watching his wife spend months in a coma, Mary’s husband is ultimately forced to terminate her life support. In a heart-wrenching scene toward the end of the episode, we see Bailey break down and cry over Mary’s death, in an empty hospital room . . .
Well THAT was completely unnecessary, Grey’s!
“Being a Hero Has Its Price.”
Although Meredith and Cristina didn’t have their own “medical” storyline this week (Cristina, after all, is still on her way too long “I don’t do surgery” PTSD/depression kick.), we did get to see a lot of them both, during the “interview” portion of the episode. Meredith remarks to the interviewer about how close her and Cristina are — a fact which Derek readily confirms. “Dr. Yang and my wife sometimes have sleepovers . . . in my bed . . . with me in it.”
That’s HOT!
But when Meredith calls Cristina “her hero” for saving Derek’s life, during The Shooting, Cristina breaks down, and has to stop the interview. She later returns to complete the interview, after she has composed herself. “What did you take away from all of this?” The interviewer asks Cristina.
“Being a hero has its price,” replies Cristina sadly.
Indeed . . .
But, that’s kind of a depressing way to end a recap. And I always like to end my recaps on a HAPPY note. So, let’s try this ending on for size . . .
Ahhhh . . . much better!
See you next week!
[www.juliekushner.com]
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