Grey’s Anatomy – Crash Into Me (Part One)

Oh brother. Grey’s Anatomy made me furious last night. The first part of the two-part event was melodramatic and just dumb. The writers are on strike. Production on the show has been officially shut down. They have only two more episodes in the can before Thursday night television will be riddled with repeats. But for now, another Grey’s event is what we must endure. We have watched enough of these cliffhanger two-part episodes to prepare for the predictions, the melodrama, and the deaths. Grey’s + Event = Crashes, Explosions, and Big Bang Traumas. But come on, this event was a DUD. It was over-the-top dramatic, they played intense music before almost every commercial break, and there were too many disposable characters that I didn’t know or care about. It paled in comparison to last year’s ferry fiasco when Meredith almost drowned. In fact, it paled in comparison to a regular (non-sweeps, non-event) Grey’s episode.

At first, I thought they were onto something good. I cheered when the episode opened in Bailey’s kitchen. At long last, we were invited into her home, we were able to bear witness to her family life, and we experienced the toll that her dedication to her job has taken on her family. Her husband is a stay-at-home dad and is resentful about losing his wife to Seattle Grace. We learn that Bailey is home only 6 hours a day. She barely sees her son. And her husband feels that he is running the home alone. She is Chief Resident and he is loading the dishwasher. Bailey tried to make amends by asking her husband to meet her for lunch at the hospital. But then, oddly enough, she missed the lunch to perform surgery on some injured racist EMT with a swastika tattooed on his stomach. Her choice was ridiculous to me. She could have handed the surgery to someone else. Instead, she sacrificed her family to save the life of an ignorant fool. Bailey needs to shift her priorities. Otherwise, she risks losing her family and living the empty life that Richard feared for her. Aside from the insight into Bailey’s home life, nothing else of interest happened throughout the episode.

Meredith was her normal, weepy, whiney, and confused self. She stayed close to the men who were injured (and stuck) inside the crashed ambulance. She cried along with them. Encouraged them to fight for life. And then crawled inside to save one of the surviving men. Aside from that act of courage, she continued to walk the line with Derek. She wants him, she doesn’t. She needs him, she doesn’t. With the introduction of Rose, Derek’s potential new love interest, I trust that Meredith will be making a decision in no time. Undoubtedly, she will be too late. Any moment now, Rose and Derek will be smooching their way through the hospital and Meredith will be crying in the supply closet (or maybe dancing wildly with the cardio-obsessed, brown-nosed Cristina).

The final kicker of the episode was the reappearance of Ava/Rebecca. Who cares about this girl? Where are her husband and child? And why did she tell Lexie that she was “with Alex?” I am thinking that she might have a little Glenn Close running through her veins. When that pillar fell on her face it might have done more damage to her brain than we know. There is something weird, awkward, and wacky about her. Someone should get rid of her.

This much is clear: I have a low opinion of this Grey’s two-part event. Perhaps, my tryptophan-induced coma negatively influenced my Grey’s experience. Maybe after next week’s conclusion, I will be singing the praises of all melodramatic event episodes. I doubt it. But a little optimism never hurt anyone…