Grey’s Anatomy: Season 9 Episode 10

Things We Said Today

Let’s be honest with each other, we were expecting this return-from-break “Grey’s Anatomy”episode to be one for the history books. Ferry explosions, plane crashes and even icicles through the chest were used, but a motorcycle accident caused by a minivan? How surprisingly uncreative! No, this past Thursday wasn’t about the shock factor, it wasn’t about the gore, it wasn’t even about the hard-to-pronounce medical phenomenon that just so happens to occur all the time at Seattle Grace. Hemangioblastomas, anyone? Instead, the episode centered on relationships, and some pretty heavy stuff, might I add.

The writers did a spectacular job pairing off every single character before reaching the mid-season break. It makes sense that they did this, since most real-world hospitals have just the right ratio of attractive men to women and just the right amount of sexual tension to steer soul mates toward each other. But it seems like these setups were meant to serve a greater purpose this week. Each relationship was put to the test, their squirmy situations held under the microscope to see if they would pull through or completely tank.

April and Jackson’s flirtatious-turned-true love situation came to an abrupt halt when the two decided separation was a must. In an effort to prevent the seemingly unavoidable chemistry between the two, the lovebirds used their innocent interns, Shane and Stephanie, as physical and emotional buffers. The problem was, April was just using Shane, as we find out she’s not interested in him despite giving the poor guy obvious signals. Meanwhile, Jackson’s feelings for Stephanie became more intense than he could handle. The two were going at it in the back of Jackson’s car instead of attending Bailey’s wedding party (rude). Sucks to suck, April. You should have married Jackson when you had the chance.

Pull-throughs: zero. Break-ups: one.

While Jackson and April are trying to break apart, Callie and Arizona are trying to put the pieces back together. It seems like they’re heading in the right direction. This is the first time in months Arizona feels comfortable being intimate with Callie. Despite the slight hiccup when Arizona is too ashamed of her prosthetic leg to have sex with Callie, Callie shrugs her shoulders and settles for a good old-fashioned junior high make-out session. It looks like they’re going to make it, folks. This was actually a pretty powerful scene with some interesting Callie character development. Despite telling Bailey to run in the previous episode, Callie chooses to remain with Arizona. This proves that Callie’s moral fiber is still intact. I really thought she was going to heed her own advice and leave Arizona. Good thing I was wrong. Looks like Callie truly is a good wife after all.

So the score is now tied: one breakup and one pull-through. Let’s see how the others settle the score.

Meredith and Derek are still going strong. Karev and his new foster-care buddy, Jo, seem to be developing some sort of twisted yet oddly cute relationship. Bailey and Ben were on the rocks at the beginning of the episode but pull through and get married. Chief Webber’s wife passes away (a scene that should have been more depressing than it was).

And then there’s Christina and Owen, who end up signing the divorce papers, yet start kissing as soon as they put the pen down. What was the logic of having the two kiss after signing the papers? The writers made excellent use of the bikers when one of them told Owen he was a “cager” and stuck in a metal box. This conversation was absolutely necessary because it finally convinced Owen he needed to separate himself from his marriage. By having the new divorcees kiss after signing the papers, the writers do not accomplish what they set out to do: sever the ties completely. Instead of a clean break, there is now only confusion that will need to be cleared up next Thursday.

After a final count, it looks like the pull-throughs win. It was a smart move on the writers’ part; there was just the right amount of optimism to go with the heartbreak. Now that there’s enough relationship drama to last the rest of the season, let’s hope next week our Grey’swriters get back to a ratio of relationship-to-medical drama we’re used to. Save that over-the-top relationship drama for “Married to Jonas.”

Published on January 13, 2013 at 10:57 pm

Contact Jackie: jigrossm@syr.edu