Okay, let me first point out the single, positive aspect of this Grey’s Anatomy episode: The couple’s counseling session that strongly reminded me of the infamous therapy sessions 20 years ago from thirtysomething with Elliot and Nancy Weston (who, it may be noted, separated, almost divorced, then reunited). Plus I realized that I still miss the insightful HBO gem that was In Treatment.
The devastation and betrayal Cristina and Owen felt was powerfully written all over their faces. Cristina — who believed she’d always been straight forward with Owen about her desire to put career first and foremost, and about the fact that she didn’t want children — didn’t understand what Owen didn’t understand about her decision to have an abortion several months ago. (Given all the talk in the news recently about contraception, plus the fact that Cristina and Owen are both physicians, makes me wonder why she wasn’t on birth control, especially in light of her nearly fatal, ectopic pregnancy with Burke several seasons back.)
Owen, who naively thought he’d be able to change Cristina’s mind about having a family, can’t get past his rage that the terms of their relationship appear to be dictated by Cristina’s desires while his are shunted aside. She plaintively begs him to understand that Meredith is HER person, while he wonders aloud why she isn’t his. What about him?
Unless they come up with some kind of compromise — like, for example, discuss adopting a child on the condition that Owen be the one who handles the pediatrician’s visits, parent-teacher conferences, birthday parties, etc. because he so desperately wants children — I don’t see them moving beyond this impasse, regardless of who is or isn’t whose person. This fictional couple offers a powerful lesson: Figure out where both partners stand on the issue of children before you tie the knot.
Everything else in this episode paled by comparison to Owen and Cristina’s scenes. I wanted more of them, not the lame Bailey getting taught a “lesson” by the smarmy McSteamy, not the subtle-as-an-anvil-dropping-onto-a-character’s-head Alex “lesson” about knowing a little something about his interns (haven’t we already covered this territory many times before this, namely with McSteamy?). I was also uninterested in Callie testing Meredith like she’s a first-year intern to see if she’s worthy of getting tutored by Callie for her upcoming test, even with those grisly, arm-in-the-meat-grinder shots tossed haphazardly into the mix. Seriously. Ick.
And don’t even get me started on Derek’s irritating sister Amelia, who is one of the reasons (among many) why I stopped watching Private Practice in the first place. Cross-over, smoss-over. I no longer watch Private Practice, having been driven away by the characters’ collective, repetitive odious behavior, so if there’s a story which requires me to follow its progress over onto that show, sorry, just don’t care.
Overall, this episode seemed like simply a placeholder, only advancing the Cristina and Owen story, while everyone else spun their wheels. I would’ve been entertained just watching Cristina and Owen for an hour.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Feb 17, 2012 @ 13:10 EST5EDT
That’s funny, Amelia would be one of the few reasons I’d actually tune into PP (The other being Charlotte. I love Charlotte).
I kept wondering if there was significance, in the counseling scenes, to the fact that we didn’t see the person running the session until the very end (casting significance, that is).
Meredith, give Private Practice a chance again. It’s really not bad, and to be honest, I actually prefer it over Grey’s Anatomy. Yup, I know I just said that. LOL I find Grey’s to be dull. Maybe it’s all the grays and whites. Puts me to sleep. Private Practice is sunnier and colorful, and even though Addison frequently annoys me with her, um, “hoe tactics,” I find the show rather captivating. I agree with Ivey about Charlotte. She became my favorite character after Naomi left last season.
Oh, Jaylen, and to think I was just beginning to like you.
I’m on the “Private Practice Sucks” bus. When the show was originally cast, I was a big fan.
Then I started to watch it, and was constantly disappointed. By the time we got to “cutting the baby out” storyline, I was done (and to think, that was Amanda Foreman, another one of my favorites).
They’ve taken the character of Addison Montgomery and just trashed her. She was wonderful on Grey’s, but now? Pshaw. Every time I get sucked into an episode of PP, as I said earlier, Charlotte is the only reason worth watching. Find a way to transfer her (and Cooper) to Seattle Grace, and I’m a very happy dude.
I agree with you about Private Practice. They are a bunch of fifty and fortysomethings running around acting like five year olds and musical bed-hopping because they don’t know what they really want. And the ‘medicine’ is ridiculous. The rejection of Betsey killed any interest I had in them.
For me, Charlotte and Amelia are the only reasons to watch. I’d also add Sheldon to that because he’s the one real adult in the group. Not Sheldon though, he’s right in that kindergarten scene.
I really like Amelia. I was about to ditch PrP before she arrived. I like Derek having some family and getting little pieces of backstory even if its small.