Grey’s Anatomy: Elevator Love letter

The waterworks were in full effect for the last episode of Grey’s. Izzie’s life is on the line, and all of Seattle Grace is aflutter.  Even her old nemesis Callie wishes her the best, though she admits there was a time when she wished Izzie would die. What?? Anyway, the residents try to be supportive of Izzie, but none of them visit her while she awaits surgery. They all engross themselves in their work, including George who feels slighted that Izzie confided her illness in Cristina instead of him.

One of the more interesting storylines this week involved Owen and Cristina. Owen is clearly suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and needs to get a handle on it before something tragic happens. He and Cristina lay in bed together sleeping until Owen inexplicably begins choking her. She struggles to free herself but cannot escape until Callie hears the commotion and intervenes, waking Owen up. Cristina wants to stick by him, and the two of them “seal the deal” later in the episode.  Despite having just told him she could handle it, Cristina realizes she can’t trust him. She’s afraid to fall asleep in his presence.  This spurs him into action, and he accepts the offer of help Derek extended earlier.  Speaking of Derek, he’s back on the saddle and gets Izzie through the complicated surgery with flying colors. As a matter of fact, the surgery was appreciatively anti-climactic.

Alex continues to evolve into a compassionate person and doctor, as he blames himself for not picking up on Izzie’s illness sooner.  Her hallucinations of Denny were a dead giveaway that something was wrong, and he missed it. Now he is tasked with fertilizing Izzie’s eggs for harvesting, in case she doesn’t pull through the surgery.  He is understandably upset that they are potentially forced to start their family in such a fashion.  Usually Meredith does the voice-over, but this time the narration was done from Alex’s perspective, which was different but not necessarily refreshing.  It’s hard to imagine him waxing philosophical and emotionally interpreting the storyline. I think that should be left to Meredith, who kept it all the way real in this episode.  When Derek again asks if she will stand by him if he doesn’t perform the surgery successfully, she evades the question – telling him that an affirmative answer might indicate that it’s acceptable if Izzie does not survive – and it’s not. She tells him that she loves him and encourages him to do his best. It works. Izzie lives to fight another day. We’ve got a happy ending, for now.

Season 5, Episode 19: Elevator Love letter (originally aired March 26, 2009)

For another take on this episode, read Love in an Elevator by Inisia Lewis.

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