Grey’s Anatomy – Who rides the big elevator to the sky?

Last year’s season finale was … you could say intense. Izzie’s season long battle with cancer looked to be coming to an end, as she was flatlining after surgery, the Chief and Bailey fighting to save her, despite the DNR she’d signed (if I continue to do Grey‘s posts here at CliqueClack, I’ll have to call Webber by his name … In my television watching world, there is only one “The Chief”). Her best friend George was also in peril, as most of the rest of the staff was working on him moments after discovering that the heroic John Doe they’d been working on was their friend.

I’ve seen the first episode of the season, and I lived to tell about it (and tell you who else may, or may not have, lived). Let me lead with a warning, because BIG HONKING SPOILERS AHEAD! I’m going to tell everything … up to and including how the world ends, so if you don’t want to know, turn back now.

I’m serious. Stop reading now.

Who was going to live or die has pretty well been spoiled on the internets most of the summer, even confirmed by the network in June, but I figured I would do my due diligence and make sure that all of our loyal CliqueClack readers were adequately prepared. Here’s the scoop: The spider dies in the end. And by spider, I mean George. Shonda Rhimes may have not always known what to do with Dr. O’Malley, but I really liked the way he left the show. 007, as he was known, didn’t always appear as the most likely hero, but jumping in front of a bus to save another’s life is exactly something George would do.

Izzie, however, lives to fight another day. Sometimes, I don’t get Heigel, and hope the things that I hear about her aren’t always true. The whole “my character wasn’t written well enough to be nominated for a Emmy” was a bit whiny, but at the same time, I understand the message if not the medium. Jane reported at TV Squad about some hi-jinks this season, which is exactly the kind of drama everyone has pretty much come to expect from the Grey‘s set.

The show handled the events with both seriousness and levity. One sequence in particular stands out as going from funny, to heartbreaking, to a little bit inspiring. It seems all of Seattle Grace questions Meredith’s identification of George, but it’s Callie that has the sad responsibility of confirming, with all of the world watching her grieve alone. Just when it seems that everyone would be paralyzed by their own grief, Webber pretty much kicks the hospital’s collective butt back into gear.

Each of the characters’ reactions to the tragedy was pitch perfect. Callie, and thus Sara Ramirez, was amazing. She loved George as completely as she could, despite the fact that she had moved on. From the scene above, to her facing George’s mother, to the instant she realizes whom she needed to turn to for the help that Mrs. O’Malley demands, it was an incredible performance. I especially liked that last scene, as she manages to subtly play the bitterness she still holds over the dissolution of her marriage without letting it overpower the other emotions at play. A brilliant piece of acting in my eyes.

Some longer running plot arcs were set up as well. I’m concerned about the total tonnage that has been placed on Bailey’s shoulders: her divorce, raising her son Tuck on her own (or should I say William George Bailey Jones), and the loss of one of her students. She doesn’t look like she’s going to make it come episode’s end. There’s also more political turmoil ahead, as forces are at work to remove Webber as Chief of Surgery, with Derek as the potential replacement (whom plays the situation with the savvy and concern of a good friend).

It was a good start for a new season. I recently said that I was looking forward to just the first few episodes back to see how they resolved the finale, but to be frank, I may have been fibbing just a little then, trying to protect the “man card” that I most likely lost quite some time ago. I think Grey’s continues to manage its “soap opera” nature well (whereas Rhimes’ Private Practice has lost that battle for good), and keeps me entertained, and coming back. With Ellen Pompeo, and now Heigel as well, limited this season for various reasons, it will be interesting to see if the show can manage to develop the same type of continuity with other characters that ER did so well.

Clacked by Ivey West
on Sep 07, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT