grey's: "I'm a lightening rod for that crap..."
So... since we had so much fun with the debrief after the premiere, I've decided I might make it a regular feature!
*Rejoice*
Ahem. Yeah.
So, I'm pretty sure the intention for tonight's episode was to examine the changes that occur (both in people and in circumstances) following a 'shock'. Hence the title... "Shock To The System".
BUT... the overwhelming message I got was... WE ARE ALL A BUNCH OF SELFISH ASS-HOLES!!!
Bailey? CHECK!
Mark? CHECK!
Derek? CHECK!
Owen? CHECK!
Teddy? CHECK!
Jackson? CHECK!
Arizona? (to a lesser extent) CHECK!
Lexie? (right-fully so) CHECK!
My goodness. I lost count of the amount of times Mark said "I" in his speech to Callie about Lexie...
But, let's not kid ourselves into thinking I'm here to talk about any of the characters that didn't interact with Alex tonight!
And so, with Bailey we shall start. Okay, I get it. Something terrible happened to you. BUT, it happened to A LOT MORE PEOPLE THAN JUST YOU. And your way of coping may not be EVERYONE'S way of coping and who are you to force your limitations onto them?
Also, blackmail? Really? And her final speech? The one that finally pushed Alex over the edge? I think it almost rivalled Mark's for number of self references!
The only potential saving grace I see for this scenario is the (unlikely -- simply because of the way it was scripted, but nevertheless, I live in hope) possibility that Bailey realised telling Alex to have the bullet removed for his own good was never going to work, because what's good for him isn't really high on his priorities list at the moment (more on that later...!). MAYBE she realised that by making it all about him doing a favour for her by getting the bullet removed, he was, by happenstance, also going to be able to move on with his own life. Like she knew he was hanging onto it as a dysfunctional reminder of how it was all his fault (more on that later, too!) and by having the bullet removed that tangible link would also disappear.
So... we'll give Bailey the benefit of the doubt, but only because we love her and because the scenes where she kept jabbing him in the chest were awesome (and, we all know, only thinly veiled attempts to feel him up!).
I was hoping for more in the actual bullet removal scene. It seemed cut-off somehow, and that it was only blunted so we could go and watch Owen and Cristina get back together made me even more grrrr about it!
NEXT! Alex's patient of the week, Warren. Only something quick to say there... did anyone else get the connection when he (the patient) said [paraphrased because I can't remember the exact wording] "It's all my fault and I don't even remember any of it...". HELLO!!! Warren was the lightening rod and he almost got all his friends killed and he doesn't even remember any of it...
Which leads me to...
MEREDITH AND ALEX AND THE EPIC CHAT OF EPICNESS! The rest of the episode paled into insignificance for me when compared to this scene. I am SO GLAD they (the writers) went there, they basically backed up everything we ranted and raved about last week in our post ep. discussion.
To me, the most telling line was "She doesn't need me talking to her...". Not, "I don't want to talk to her...", not, "She's not talking to me..." but "She doesn't need me talking to her..." The wording of that one sentence sums Alex Karev and where he's at at the moment up in a nutshell (and, was probably the LEAST selfish, albeit mis-guided, thing anyone said all night!).
The inference being that he can't do anything for her. He still feels helpless, just like he felt helpless every time another of the women in his life went 'crazy'. The fact that he asked Meredith says to me that he still cares, maybe even A LOT. But that he also recognises that he's not what she needs right now. I think he's probably going about it all wrong, but Alex has never really been all that good with the whole 'open lines of communication in a relationship' thing (understatement!), so it rings true to me that he'd do what he's doing...
Next week is the Alex + Chief stuff. I haven't seen the promo so I don't know if it was mentioned/shown. I shall go in search of it once I've posted this. Found it. Nothing there.
Other Characters Of Note:
Lexie: Last week you were a biatch. This week? GO YOU! Good on you for standing up for yourself. To be perfectly honest, you seem the most 'okay' out of all the main characters (Cris, Alex, Mer etc), or at least, the most 'on the road to okay'. Good luck to you, I say. I think it's about time you figured out that the most important person in your life, the STRONGEST person in your life... needs to be YOU. So. Yeah. Go Lexie.
(Also, I loved the Mark smack down. My GOD did he deserve that?! I think he took the crown for selfish douchbaggery in an episode rife with it! He clearly DOES NOT GET LEXIE. Not even close. And if the writers are heading towards a reconciliation for those two, then they're gonna need to do it right).
Anyway... those are my Alex thoughts. Feel free to ask me about my thoughts on any of the other characters, too! Trust me, I have many...
DISCUSS!
*Rejoice*
Ahem. Yeah.
So, I'm pretty sure the intention for tonight's episode was to examine the changes that occur (both in people and in circumstances) following a 'shock'. Hence the title... "Shock To The System".
BUT... the overwhelming message I got was... WE ARE ALL A BUNCH OF SELFISH ASS-HOLES!!!
Bailey? CHECK!
Mark? CHECK!
Derek? CHECK!
Owen? CHECK!
Teddy? CHECK!
Jackson? CHECK!
Arizona? (to a lesser extent) CHECK!
Lexie? (right-fully so) CHECK!
My goodness. I lost count of the amount of times Mark said "I" in his speech to Callie about Lexie...
But, let's not kid ourselves into thinking I'm here to talk about any of the characters that didn't interact with Alex tonight!
And so, with Bailey we shall start. Okay, I get it. Something terrible happened to you. BUT, it happened to A LOT MORE PEOPLE THAN JUST YOU. And your way of coping may not be EVERYONE'S way of coping and who are you to force your limitations onto them?
Also, blackmail? Really? And her final speech? The one that finally pushed Alex over the edge? I think it almost rivalled Mark's for number of self references!
The only potential saving grace I see for this scenario is the (unlikely -- simply because of the way it was scripted, but nevertheless, I live in hope) possibility that Bailey realised telling Alex to have the bullet removed for his own good was never going to work, because what's good for him isn't really high on his priorities list at the moment (more on that later...!). MAYBE she realised that by making it all about him doing a favour for her by getting the bullet removed, he was, by happenstance, also going to be able to move on with his own life. Like she knew he was hanging onto it as a dysfunctional reminder of how it was all his fault (more on that later, too!) and by having the bullet removed that tangible link would also disappear.
So... we'll give Bailey the benefit of the doubt, but only because we love her and because the scenes where she kept jabbing him in the chest were awesome (and, we all know, only thinly veiled attempts to feel him up!).
I was hoping for more in the actual bullet removal scene. It seemed cut-off somehow, and that it was only blunted so we could go and watch Owen and Cristina get back together made me even more grrrr about it!
NEXT! Alex's patient of the week, Warren. Only something quick to say there... did anyone else get the connection when he (the patient) said [paraphrased because I can't remember the exact wording] "It's all my fault and I don't even remember any of it...". HELLO!!! Warren was the lightening rod and he almost got all his friends killed and he doesn't even remember any of it...
Which leads me to...
MEREDITH AND ALEX AND THE EPIC CHAT OF EPICNESS! The rest of the episode paled into insignificance for me when compared to this scene. I am SO GLAD they (the writers) went there, they basically backed up everything we ranted and raved about last week in our post ep. discussion.
To me, the most telling line was "She doesn't need me talking to her...". Not, "I don't want to talk to her...", not, "She's not talking to me..." but "She doesn't need me talking to her..." The wording of that one sentence sums Alex Karev and where he's at at the moment up in a nutshell (and, was probably the LEAST selfish, albeit mis-guided, thing anyone said all night!).
The inference being that he can't do anything for her. He still feels helpless, just like he felt helpless every time another of the women in his life went 'crazy'. The fact that he asked Meredith says to me that he still cares, maybe even A LOT. But that he also recognises that he's not what she needs right now. I think he's probably going about it all wrong, but Alex has never really been all that good with the whole 'open lines of communication in a relationship' thing (understatement!), so it rings true to me that he'd do what he's doing...
Next week is the Alex + Chief stuff. I haven't seen the promo so I don't know if it was mentioned/shown. I shall go in search of it once I've posted this. Found it. Nothing there.
Other Characters Of Note:
Lexie: Last week you were a biatch. This week? GO YOU! Good on you for standing up for yourself. To be perfectly honest, you seem the most 'okay' out of all the main characters (Cris, Alex, Mer etc), or at least, the most 'on the road to okay'. Good luck to you, I say. I think it's about time you figured out that the most important person in your life, the STRONGEST person in your life... needs to be YOU. So. Yeah. Go Lexie.
(Also, I loved the Mark smack down. My GOD did he deserve that?! I think he took the crown for selfish douchbaggery in an episode rife with it! He clearly DOES NOT GET LEXIE. Not even close. And if the writers are heading towards a reconciliation for those two, then they're gonna need to do it right).
Anyway... those are my Alex thoughts. Feel free to ask me about my thoughts on any of the other characters, too! Trust me, I have many...
DISCUSS!