Spoiler Alert!
Lighthearted moments were sparse on the two-hour season six premier Thursday night of “Grey’s Anatomy.” Life and death were hanging in the air since the close of last season, and with the start of this season it was obvious that one of the main characters was to die.
What did it come down to? Izzie (Katherine Heigl) made it out alive and George (T.R. Knight) did not.
The remainder of the two-hour premier had a hovering cloud of sadness after George’s death. Each of the characters grieved in their own way at their own pace. Because of this, as characters began to show emotion in spaced out intervals the viewer couldn’t go ten minutes without being reminded of his death. This was annoying as a viewer because I had to wait for all of the characters to reach the same point of grievance. I didn’t enjoy crying seven separate times, one for each character’s grievance.
Callie (Sara Ramirez) made Izzie decide whether or not to donate George’s organs since she had a closer connection with him. She decided to donate all of his organs because she believed George would have given everything. This was bittersweet in that it meant George was definitely gone for good, but he’s going to live on in other people, literally. I’m glad Izzie was the one to make the decision. It helped put an end to their semi-love saga.
At George’s funeral, Izzie walked away and once joined by the other main characters she started cracking up. It was an awkward moment, meant to make light of the situation. I was uncomfortable just watching them laugh at a funeral. They soon became somber and the mood was cut back to sadness. I’m not sure if I preferred the awkward laughter over the constant state of depression. After all, there was definitely too much sadness in the episodes to handle for one night.
The interim character, Clara the speedboat victim, helped take attention away from George’s death. (Although, George’s death was used as a convincing mechanism for why she should be happy she’s alive). She shined light whether life is better than death. She wished the doctors hadn’t saved her life because of the limb she lost and temporary numbness in her arms after having them re-attached. She was in a tragic situation and it made me think about how I would handle the emotions if I were in her place. Leave it to “Grey’s Anatomy” to make a character completely believable.
Izzie was finally released from the hospital. She is not free of cancer but is stable to go home. Finally. For storyline purposes, her character was becoming stagnant as a patient. I want to see her break free and be herself again. I’d say her shining moment in these episodes was when she yelled at Amanda, the woman who George saved from the bus, and told her to go home and enjoy her life. After all, she has a life, unlike George. (Yet again, George’s death became the basis of reasoning). It was impressive to watch and I momentarily felt like the real Izzie character was back in action. I want to see more of that in her.
Apart from death, it seemed like The Chief’s (James Pickens, Jr.) job was on the line. I was hoping the writers weren’t going to cut him out of the show. When Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) was offered the position I thought it was a big joke. Why would they give his character all that power? With such personal connections with the other doctors, I think all that power would get into his head and the show would spiral into severed relationships.
In other words, I’m glad the writers didn’t take that approach. Instead they kept Dr. Webber as The Chief and announced that Seattle Grace will merge with Mercy West. His job is no longer on the line, but many of the other characters’ are. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
The premier episodes answered questions and attempted to set up a new storyline because of the hospital merge. But I can’t shake the feeling that “Grey’s Anatomy” is at the end of its run. Where can the storyline honestly go from here? Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek are “post-it” married, Izzie is healthier and with Alex (Justin Chambers), The Chief has his job, Cristina (Sandra Oh) and Owen (Kevin McKidd) are in counseling and Dr. Bailey (Chandra Wilson) is on her own. I’m interested in where they may take things, but if I were the writer I would feel like everything has been played out. They will need to surprise me to retain my viewership.
Cast: Justin Chambers (as Alex Karev); Jessica Capshaw (as Arizona Robbins); Sara Ramirez (as Callie Torres); Sandra Oh (as Cristina Yang); Patrick Dempsey (as Derek Shepherd); Katherine Heigl (as Izzie Stevens); Chyler Leigh (as Lexie Grey); Eric Dane (as Mark Sloan); Ellen Pompeo (as Meredith Grey); Chandra Wilson (as Miranda Bailey); Kevin McKidd (as Owen Hunt); and James Pickens, Jr. (as Richard Webber)
Lyndsey Powers
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