thoughts on the last grey's episode
Things never go the way I expect.
In her time, Shonda and co. have written a lot of complex storylines, none probably as detailed as this. Now, I am not familiar with how a hospital is run in detail. Where I'm from, yes, there is a board of directors, but the hospital is also state-owned...not private. I'm going to get into this without trying to go through all the major business details, and mainly discuss the outcomes (on the characters).
So...there's this from the last episode. Derek's photo looms across our screens and also in front of the Chief's face. A transformation, a change. For those watching, it is a healthy dose of foreshadowing for what will come in subsequent episodes, and by extension, the following season. For Richard Webber, it represents a sickly form of deja vu, or a glimpse into the future he doesn't particularly like. One might argue it's a reminder of what was once his. No doubt there's some embitterment there, considering he probably still sees himself as the Chief of Surgery - heck, the majority of the fandom and characters haven't stopped calling him 'Chief'.
The Cristina/Owen reconciliation was too good to be true.
There's this thing I've picked up when watching series like these over the years. If something good happens, always check to see how much time is left in the episode. In one way or another, the writers will find a way to annihilate your happiness. However, I never extended this to the episode number and after last night, things were put in perspective.
Is it wrong to say things were going too well? Cristina really put her all into making this work, and Owen spewed such sweet sentiments to the point where it may or may not have been overdone, only to have this?
Now, I'm not mad at Cristina either. Her career has always been important to her and at Seattle Grace is where she found her place to pursue all her dreams. In the end, it is her career that will come first. At the same time, I don't think she expected to find another person as important to her as cardiothoracic surgery. Owen Hunt took her by surprise. Their relationship was a tumultuous one from the first day - the PTSD drama, his previous engagement, the Teddy issue - I could go on. I think choosing to save the hospital was a big issue for her. Throughout the episode, her faith in Owen never strayed. The fact is, she loves him. He loves her. They want to make things work. Ultimately, she chose the hospital to help him - a fact that he will (hopefully) soon come to understand. We can all say she had a choice which is true. She could have said no and turned on the other plane crash survivors. But I don't think she'd feel as guilty about it as she does now. I can't say I'm sure she did the right thing, but to sacrifice one for the jobs of thousands was big. You have to give her some credit for that. Let's hope that Owen can see through his hurt at what Cristina did and see that she did it to help him.
Is there such a thing as too perfect a match?
After last week's episode aired, I had a bitter taste in my mouth at the sight of this pairing, especially after Matt's little speech outside of the hospital. I told a friend of mine that it was bs and she called me 'unromantic'. Why was it bs? Because he only told April what she wanted to hear. This wasn't intentional on his part, he is so earnest that it hurts me sometimes. But the fact still remains. From April's introductory episode in season five until now, the audience has a decent picture of the type of person she thinks she is, and what everyone else thinks about her. Remember that notebook she carried around when we met her? Filled with positive things about herself, so the day won't be an incredibly crappy one? Or the fact that most of the characters found her annoying, a fact which took hold of the audience and festered there for years? A few season later, we come to understand that's how she was even in high school. The perception others seem to have of her, and the one she has of herself cannot escape her. After accepting and resigning herself to this fate, she could never think any different. If there happened to be a change in opinion, it would have to be spelled out for her to believe it. In a way, she's grown sceptical. Now, for our tall, adorable paramedic to utter such words to her "You are an amazing woman.", after years of being insecure and seemingly inadequate, she eats it up and subsequently clings to him like a moth to a flame.
Like the philosopher Jagger once said, "You can't always get what you want," **
In April's eyes, Matt Taylor is all she ever wanted. Someone who accepts her, someone who doesn't mock her, someone as upbeat and cheerful as she is. You can say they're like two peas in a pod. But then, there was his revelation in Thursday night's episode. Though, I can't say it's really that, more than half the fandom saw this one coming from a mile a way. Dear old Matt is a virgin...he wants to wait. If he had met her months earlier, before that fateful night pre 'the boards', things would have been different. There would be no need for this post because things would have been fine, right? But now? Things have changed. She said it herself, sex with Jackson changed her. But enter the concept of 're-virginisation' and things are out of the window again. Even as he uttered those words, April thought this was the perfect match, but she feared rejection and lied.
I get that she wants to start over. However, it's a matter of her bending herself to fit everyone else's agenda. This is evident from past behaviour and an attempt to prevent rejection. It's all she has ever known and all she expects. Part of me thinks she did the same thing with Jackson. There was nothing wrong with her saying that while she wanted the same thing, she was in a sexual relationship before and she realised it was too much for her. That's all.
Suppose Jackson finds out she lied? How is that supposed to make him feel? He already thinks she figures their relationship was a mistake. That's what 're-virginising' says to me. She wants things back to the way they were, she wants a re-do. It says to me she hasn't really accepted what happened. People might argue she has. She was willing to go on birth control after the pregnancy scare, but in my opinion, that's only because she thought it's what Jackson wanted. If he wanted to continue a sexual relationship and she, for fear of him rejecting her if she said she didn't want this anymore, bent (or broke) her rules for his acceptance.
At the moment, she isn't sure what she really wants, but she better figure it out soon.
** - Quote taken from House M.D, Season One Episode One - Everybody Lies. By extension, it comes from The Rolling Stones' title song 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'.
Screencaps taken from here
In her time, Shonda and co. have written a lot of complex storylines, none probably as detailed as this. Now, I am not familiar with how a hospital is run in detail. Where I'm from, yes, there is a board of directors, but the hospital is also state-owned...not private. I'm going to get into this without trying to go through all the major business details, and mainly discuss the outcomes (on the characters).
So...there's this from the last episode. Derek's photo looms across our screens and also in front of the Chief's face. A transformation, a change. For those watching, it is a healthy dose of foreshadowing for what will come in subsequent episodes, and by extension, the following season. For Richard Webber, it represents a sickly form of deja vu, or a glimpse into the future he doesn't particularly like. One might argue it's a reminder of what was once his. No doubt there's some embitterment there, considering he probably still sees himself as the Chief of Surgery - heck, the majority of the fandom and characters haven't stopped calling him 'Chief'.
The Cristina/Owen reconciliation was too good to be true.
There's this thing I've picked up when watching series like these over the years. If something good happens, always check to see how much time is left in the episode. In one way or another, the writers will find a way to annihilate your happiness. However, I never extended this to the episode number and after last night, things were put in perspective.
Is it wrong to say things were going too well? Cristina really put her all into making this work, and Owen spewed such sweet sentiments to the point where it may or may not have been overdone, only to have this?
Now, I'm not mad at Cristina either. Her career has always been important to her and at Seattle Grace is where she found her place to pursue all her dreams. In the end, it is her career that will come first. At the same time, I don't think she expected to find another person as important to her as cardiothoracic surgery. Owen Hunt took her by surprise. Their relationship was a tumultuous one from the first day - the PTSD drama, his previous engagement, the Teddy issue - I could go on. I think choosing to save the hospital was a big issue for her. Throughout the episode, her faith in Owen never strayed. The fact is, she loves him. He loves her. They want to make things work. Ultimately, she chose the hospital to help him - a fact that he will (hopefully) soon come to understand. We can all say she had a choice which is true. She could have said no and turned on the other plane crash survivors. But I don't think she'd feel as guilty about it as she does now. I can't say I'm sure she did the right thing, but to sacrifice one for the jobs of thousands was big. You have to give her some credit for that. Let's hope that Owen can see through his hurt at what Cristina did and see that she did it to help him.
Is there such a thing as too perfect a match?
After last week's episode aired, I had a bitter taste in my mouth at the sight of this pairing, especially after Matt's little speech outside of the hospital. I told a friend of mine that it was bs and she called me 'unromantic'. Why was it bs? Because he only told April what she wanted to hear. This wasn't intentional on his part, he is so earnest that it hurts me sometimes. But the fact still remains. From April's introductory episode in season five until now, the audience has a decent picture of the type of person she thinks she is, and what everyone else thinks about her. Remember that notebook she carried around when we met her? Filled with positive things about herself, so the day won't be an incredibly crappy one? Or the fact that most of the characters found her annoying, a fact which took hold of the audience and festered there for years? A few season later, we come to understand that's how she was even in high school. The perception others seem to have of her, and the one she has of herself cannot escape her. After accepting and resigning herself to this fate, she could never think any different. If there happened to be a change in opinion, it would have to be spelled out for her to believe it. In a way, she's grown sceptical. Now, for our tall, adorable paramedic to utter such words to her "You are an amazing woman.", after years of being insecure and seemingly inadequate, she eats it up and subsequently clings to him like a moth to a flame.
Like the philosopher Jagger once said, "You can't always get what you want," **
In April's eyes, Matt Taylor is all she ever wanted. Someone who accepts her, someone who doesn't mock her, someone as upbeat and cheerful as she is. You can say they're like two peas in a pod. But then, there was his revelation in Thursday night's episode. Though, I can't say it's really that, more than half the fandom saw this one coming from a mile a way. Dear old Matt is a virgin...he wants to wait. If he had met her months earlier, before that fateful night pre 'the boards', things would have been different. There would be no need for this post because things would have been fine, right? But now? Things have changed. She said it herself, sex with Jackson changed her. But enter the concept of 're-virginisation' and things are out of the window again. Even as he uttered those words, April thought this was the perfect match, but she feared rejection and lied.
I get that she wants to start over. However, it's a matter of her bending herself to fit everyone else's agenda. This is evident from past behaviour and an attempt to prevent rejection. It's all she has ever known and all she expects. Part of me thinks she did the same thing with Jackson. There was nothing wrong with her saying that while she wanted the same thing, she was in a sexual relationship before and she realised it was too much for her. That's all.
Suppose Jackson finds out she lied? How is that supposed to make him feel? He already thinks she figures their relationship was a mistake. That's what 're-virginising' says to me. She wants things back to the way they were, she wants a re-do. It says to me she hasn't really accepted what happened. People might argue she has. She was willing to go on birth control after the pregnancy scare, but in my opinion, that's only because she thought it's what Jackson wanted. If he wanted to continue a sexual relationship and she, for fear of him rejecting her if she said she didn't want this anymore, bent (or broke) her rules for his acceptance.
At the moment, she isn't sure what she really wants, but she better figure it out soon.
** - Quote taken from House M.D, Season One Episode One - Everybody Lies. By extension, it comes from The Rolling Stones' title song 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'.
Screencaps taken from here