Grey’s Anatomy – The one with the lion

Seriously, a lion?

Sure, we’ve all read stories about people who’ve kept exotic pets in their homes only to have those pets turn on their owners because wild animals weren’t meant to be confined in a house, apartment or condo. But to see a rogue lion walk across the Seattle streets, pass in front of Meredith and Derek’s car, that seemed, what’s the word … dare I say, shark-like, as in “jumping the”?

The lion was a metaphor for a lot of elements of this episode: It was Owen waiting for Cristina to react to the news that he had cheated on her because he’s still angry about the abortion. It was Teddy who was still unable to accept the fact that she’s a widow. It was Alex hiding from a needy colleague who was roaring at him via text. It was Lexie wanting to bound out of that elevator to claim Mark for herself.

Other than watching Bailey, who was quite droll in her incredulity that some “crazy lady” would keep a lion as a pet (she gave me my only chuckles during the episode), the most moving moments did not involve the show’s regular characters, but with two guest stars, namely the sweet old couple who wanted to celebrate their anniversary with a long-awaited cruise when the husband saw that lion and then began experiencing chest pains. It was truly poignant to watch the man, who survived a rocky heart operation and was spared by the lion, be told by Teddy that his wife — who’d begged Teddy not to make her a widow — had died in the waiting room.

By contrast, I felt nothing as I watched Owen and Cristina deal with their ongoing marital tumult, with Cristina literally cleaning out hearts and trying to grow new ones. (We get it. Another metaphor.) Even though I was surprised when Cristina hurled her cereal at Owen’s face during their silent standoff at the end of the episode, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this muted reaction, coupled with the monastic, non-verbal behavior she’d been exhibiting, seemed out of character. But perhaps, considering all we’ve seen from Cristina over these past eight years — including the bizarre chunk of time when she quit medicine and behaved oddly in the wake of the hospital shooting — I don’t know who this character is anymore. Even worse, I’m not sure if I care what happens to this couple. This Grey’s Anatomy fan from day one is starting to detach, which isn’t a good sign for the Grey’s folks.

I’m getting Grey’s fatigue, no matter how many lions are thrown into the mix to liven things up. I, quite frankly, could care less about who Mark sleeps with. I don’t care about Arizona’s past love affairs. I’m disinterested in almost everything (thank goodness for Bailey’s jokes) with the exception  of Richard and Adele. Their ongoing story is powerful and feels fresh. I can’t think of another TV show which has depicted a character developing Alzheimer’s over the course of multiple seasons and portrayed the impact of the disease on that patient’s family. I want to see more of these two. As for the insipid love triangles, Alex deciding whether he’s going to be a jerk today, Owen and Cristina fighting … yawn.

Clacked by Meredith O'Brien
on Apr 06, 2012 @ 09:57 EST5EDT