For an episode that began with an impromptu lesson for the surgical interns on how to be sensitive to a nearly 700-pound patient’s needs, Grey’s Anatomy wound up focusing on the doctors’ own personal sensitivities and their crushing sense of guilt.
Derek had to endure being called a cowardly killer by an extremely emotional grieving widower whose wife died under Derek’s care. Now the widower is suing and Derek had to sit through the deposition and not respond — the hospital’s lawyer wouldn’t let him — while the husband tearfully lashed out at him and challenged Derek’s morality.
The combination of the pressure of being chief and this wrongful death lawsuit prompted Derek to make a rash decision about the overweight patient’s surgery (a decision he later overturned) while it raised the specter of Derek heading for a Meredith-like emotional precipice similar to the one he experienced when patient after patient died during his clinical trials in season four. Think Derek can handle being chief or will he ask Richard to take the post back?
Meanwhile, Owen was hypersensitive after Meredith — who knows Owen’s carrying some kind of torch for Teddy — implied (via a knowing look) that she knew he’d tried to sabotage Teddy’s contract negotiations with Derek so she’d have to leave Seattle Grace and no longer serve as a romantic distraction. (This was information that was supposed to be kept confidential between Derek and Owen but which he shared with Meredith.) It’s just a matter of time before Owen’s obvious feelings for Teddy are revealed to Cristina, and I predict it’ll be ugly because . . .
. . . the prickly Cristina feels really safe with Owen, so safe that she was willing to sob into his shoulder, something she pointedly wasn’t willing to do with her best friend after the wound that is her father’s death was reopened by a case where a young girl whom Cristina was charged with watching, lost her mother to a heart attack. “I miss my dad,” Cristina cried, shedding her tough exterior to Owen and revealing her soft underbelly. This has ugly written all over it.
In other romantic developments, Alex signed the divorce papers ( *yawn* ) and kissed Lexie right after doing so which, I guess, is supposed to mean that he’s emotionally available right now. Or something like that. This is a coupling about which I’m none too pleased. Plus I hate Lexie’s hair.
And the you-knew-it-was-coming moment occurred at the very end of the episode where Callie and Arizona broke up because Callie wants a baby and Arizona doesn’t. So sad.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on May 07, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
