Grey’s Anatomy: McDreamy to the Rescue

The doctors at Seattle Grace are egomaniacal geniuses.  The last episode demonstrates the unbelievable hubris required to be a surgeon, with Derek surreptitiously performing a complicated spinal surgery against the Chief’s wishes.  Another doctor from Mercy West named Isaac has a large tumor on his spine that will cause paralysis if removed.  For that reason, it is advisable to forego surgery, but that means Isaac will surely die.  Word quickly spreads and the residents salivate at the chance to help Derek.  Cristina has been chomping at the bit for weeks, dying to get in on a surgery.  Last week she lamented that if Burke were still around she would be getting a chance to shine.  Owen doesn’t grant her special privileges like that.

Returning to Derek and his surgery, it turns out that Isaac finagled a position at Seattle Grace in the hopes of getting Derek to perform the risky surgery.  We know Derek as McDreamy, but he is also actually a nationally-known, award-winning surgeon.  The Chief vetoes the surgery, and you will recall that he and Derek have been clashing frequently.  He decides to go rogue and operate anyway.  The Chief has been very conservative and Derek enjoys risks and challenges.  Moreover, Isaac has placed all of his hope and trust in him, and the combination of duty and notoriety proves irresistible.

Before the procedure, Derek lets the residents compete for the chance to assist him in the microsurgery with a skills lab.  If they can insert a felt pen through a hole in a Styrofoam cup without hitting the sides and mark George Washington’s nose on a dollar bill, the job is theirs.  Many try and fail, with a smug Cristina taking it all in.  The hot new Doctor Avery does it with ease, much to everyone else’s envy.  Then Cristina tries and fails, with a hush falling over the room.  Cristina has been annoying me all season, and I think she needs to come down a notch.  Meanwhile Little Grey is offended because Derek didn’t invite her to participate in the skills lab.  He tells her that he needs her to assist him in the O.R. with keeping him hydrated and relaxed (i.e. being a “gopher”).  This placates her until Avery gets in her head, telling her that’s a bitch job.  In an effort to remain in the operating room at all times, she decides to wear a diaper, thereby eliminating the need for bathroom breaks.  Fortunately when the time comes she doesn’t have the heart to use the diaper.

Of course Derek ultimately prevails and the surgery is successful, though it was questionable for a minute there.  The writers focused primarily on Derek’s surgery this episode, though we learn that Alex and Izzie’s marriage is steadily unraveling.  She’s run off and didn’t even return for a life-sustaining appointment with her oncologist.  He breaks down in front of his Mercy West nemesis, and with each episode the chasm between the two factions lessens.

I think this episode laid the foundation for the departure of either Derek or the Chief.  They can’t continue to co-exist this way.  He actually tries to fire Derek at the end of the episode, but borrowing a line from Isaac, Derek tells the Chief to “go home and sleep on it.”  Overall, this was a solid episode, but I hope the next one has a little more meat on the bones.

For another take on this episode, check out Derek’s Defiance by Allison Toner.

Season 6, Episodes 7: Give Peace a Chance (Originally aired October 29, 2009)

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Thursdays 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC, Karen Neal