Posted by Dustin on 11.06.2009 at 7:40 pm

Once again, doing a recap with my thoughts all mixed in for the Thursday night dramas.

Grey’s Anatomy
Alex got another slap in the face from Izzie, because she ran and he’s her husband, her medical bills now fall to him. He worked with Bailey on a case involving a baby. He had to hold the baby next to his skin, so she demanded he take his shirt off, so the baby survived. It was some method about human contact and giving strength to the baby (I missed some of this story). In the end, Alex refused to walk away from the kid because this he could do, even when the rest of his world was falling apart. Bailey also told him that he would make a good pediatric specialist.

Okay I have to say, I just can’t see Alex as a pedes person. He’s always so cold and impersonal! I think it might be interesting if he did go that route though. I got the feeling from this episode, and the previews that Izzie might be pregnant, that he will. I also get the feeling with her cancer, the baby could be an at risk pregnancy, and that might push Alex further into this specialty.

A girl who jumped off her roof while tweaking on shrooms was brought in. Callie had to rebuild her bones, and later when she started coding in the OR, Christina jumped in to save her. She knew what had to be done, but Owen wanted to wait for the heart surgeon to arrive or what not. Christina knew they didn’t have time, and with the help of one of the Mercy Westers took over and did what was needed. Owen was furious with her, but the Mercy Wester turned on by her. They almost hooked up, but she stopped him and said she was involved.

With this story it was great to see Christina back to being the bad-ass she is and not the suck up she’s become lately. I loved her telling Owen off that she didn’t do this to prove a point, but because it was who she was. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of her and the Mercy Wester. With Kim Raver showing up next week to take Burke/Hahns place and be Christina’s new “mentor” oh yeah . . . a huge war is on. She’s also Owen’s ex BTW, so I think there is some serious jealousy and sleeping around about to happen!

Finally Arizona was dealing with a terminally ill child and his parents. She basically told them that the fight they’ve been putting up for 2 years, the thing they’ve dreaded, is here. She said it was time to say goodbye. The father wanted more surgery, but Arizona said honestly she didn’t think he’d survive, and if he did it would only buy him 2 more months at the most. The Chief however pushed her to do the surgery, because this couple was leaving 25 million dollars (or some equally insane amount) to the hospital. Arizona did the surgery, the kid died, and the Chief demanded she stay away from the parents . . . because basically she just killed their kid with this surgery and set the hospital up for a lawsuit. In the end though, she went to them, and they agreed to give the 25 million anyways. Why? As the father put it, not because The Chief and his lawyer were ass kissers, but because Arizona really knew their son and was more than just his doctor, she was his friend and was just as heartbroken as they were over his death.

This story was yet another kick in the ass for The Chief. The hospital got the money, but not because of him. I really think by the end of this season Derek is going to replace the Chief given the way things are going. Also this story, Arizona’s heartbreak and all, brought her and Callie closer. They finally uttered those three words . . . “I love you.” A final note . . . if Wallace’s mother looked familiar it’s because she is! The bad news, she’s familiar cause you either have a great childhood memory or are old 🙂 She was Cocoa on the TV version of “Fame.”

Private Practice
Over all I felt like this was a serious filler episode, odd since it’s November Sweeps!

Addison basically became a crazy cat lady. A cancer patient of hers who decided to go into hospice rather than fight anymore asked her to look after her cat. A cousin came forth to take responsibility, but in the end Addison kept the cat.

Okay, while seeing Addison with a pet is cute and all, and while I personally think everyone should have a pet because relating to an animal makes you a better person in many ways . . . Addison needs a MAN. Us fans don’t want to see her become a crazy cat lady, we want to see her with a MAN.

Naomi was furious when William (the guy who owns the practice she heads up) hired, without her knowing, a genetic specialist to help engineer babies. Naomi felt this was crossing the line. The first couple sent to them were little people who wanted to make sure their child was a little person. The argument they gave was that they wanted a baby like them, not a tall person who people would always wonder “is that your kid?” This went against Naomi’s belief system, as well as the fact that to do so they’d have to implant a sick embryo (the genetic selection to make sure it was a dwarf basically had a side effect that the baby would be at risk). She had to convince the couple she could give them a healthy baby, but there was a 50/50 chance it would be a little person like them. She also told off the genetic guy saying he had no moral compass, and she would be his moral compass as long as he worked here.

I actually really liked this story, because it was important given the way society and medicine is headed. We are quickly approaching the ability to have designer babies as Naomi put it, to select what we want and what we don’t want. The issue of diseases in children was given by the genetic specialist as a reason for doing this. Basically they can already determine if children are going to have the genetic disposition for a certain disease and work to eliminate that, so what is the difference between selecting for that and other traits? As Naomi put it, it’s one thing to make your way down a slippery slope carefully, it’s another to go skiing down it full blast. I feel what the “little people” wanted was a dangerous allegory that spoke to everyone watching in some way, probably different for all given your situation. We want a light skin black baby. We want a dark skin black baby. We want a child with Asian features. We want a child with a more American look. We want a child who will be tall. We want a child who will be short. We want a child that is straight. We want a child that is gay. Basically it’s one thing to weed out disease and have a healthy baby, it’s another thing to have a healthy “designer” baby. When you start messing with mother nature and designing babies for your likes, you’re screwing with mother nature and selection big time.

The final story dealt with a patient of Pete and Violet’s who was severely depressed after her father’s passing. She made the choice that all the alternative therapy and psycho babble wasn’t working, she wanted Electro Shock Therapy. They gave it to her, and it helped her in the end. She was happy again. She felt a weight was off her shoulders. However she didn’t seem to remember the man she was engaged to at all. Violet felt something deeper had gone on here, something they needed to get to the root of. In the end, the woman knew her fiance, she just didn’t want him anymore! She felt pretending like she forgot him was easier than saying he was a downer in her life and she had moved on. Pete and Violet played along as to not hurt this guy, letting him think he had been erased and should move on with his own life, accepting his former bride-to-be was happy again.

This story was a let down for me. The commercials made it out to be a shocking secret that would floor you. Okay sure, I didn’t guess she was faking it. On the other hand, the explanation the patient gave was that he was a good guy, completely dependable, who never hurt anyone and she just couldn’t do this to him. Basically she didn’t have the guts to say “I want someone less boring” or “I need a little more excitement from you.” Frankly I thought the patient was a #$#$@#$%@$%. Also the storyline seemed to serve the purpose to point out that Violet was healing from Katie’s attack, while Pete wasn’t and the two were drifting apart.