Grey’s Anatomy Musical Episode — It Didn’t Work

I just watched this much talked about Grey’s Anatomy episode, and I really wanted to like it — I promise I did. Unfortunately, it simply didn’t work. The plot surrounded Dr. Callie Torres, who was near death following a car accident. In the process of trying to save her, just about every doctor breaks into song, which is loosely justified by Callie’s hallucinations. There’s a few problems with this. First, in order to justify awkwardly singing in the middle of a hospital operation, each song must take place in Callie’s presence, otherwise it’s not a hallucination, and it’s instead just a crazy doctor that should be fired for singing on the job. Second, the song choices should have been somewhat thematic. It just doesn’t make sense to sing Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol and Breathe by Anna Nalick. It felt too random, as if they picked the songs out of a very large hat. I realize that Shonda Rimes has some very talented cast members whose voice she wanted to feature in her show. But if I were advising her, I’d tell her to take a note from Ally McBeal instead of Glee, and have the actors randomly sing at a bar after work instead. It would have made much more sense that way. Watch a clip of last Thursday’s episode below.

Grey’s Anatomy Finale: My Review

I confess that I’ve been picking on Shonda Rhimes a lot lately for being too dark.  But if there is anything I’m able to do, it’s admit when I’m wrong.  This Thursday’s finale was extremely dark, but still enjoyable, and it ties the series finale of ‘Six Feet Under’ as one of the best episodes of television that I’ve ever seen in my life.  I’ll also let you in on a little secret: I read the spoilers before watching the show.  Why?  Because I wanted to know who died before I saw it (I was scared of Shonda Rhimes scarring me for life).  Throughout the episode I kept asking myself who deserves an Emmy.  There were so many stand-out performances that I can’t pick just one.  Here’s my list of Emmy worthy scenes:
Sandra Oh: Cristina telling Meredith that she can’t enter the operating room while she operates on Derek. 

Ellen Pompeo: Meredith’s plea for the shooter to kill her instead of Derek, followed by her collapse to the floor when she believed that Cristina let him die (per the shooter’s wishes).
Chandra Wilson: Dr. Miranda Bailey’s freak-out realization that Percy would die, followed by the strength of pulling it together for him.

Sarah Drew: Her monologue to the shooter about being “somebody’s daughter” was gut-wrenchingly good.  She also navigated the freak-outs without getting annoyingly over the top.  She’s actually getting mixed reviews on the internet for her performance, much like Katherine Heigl did when she cut Denny’s LVAD wire.  I think she’s on her way to some very great opportunities.

Michael O’Neill: Ah, the evil shooter.  He clearly wins the entire episode.  Whoever the casting director is that found this guy and decided he’d be right for this role, deserves a huge raise and promotion.  When I first saw him on the show I knew he was a decent actor, but who knew he was capable of this?

Grey’s Anatomy Spoiler Alert: I Know Who Dies on the Finale

If you don’t want any idea about who dies on the season finale, stop reading this.  I wasn’t tipped off, and this is merely speculation.  I’d put money on it though.  Why?  Because Miranda Bailey’s love interest, Jason George or “Dr. Ben Warren,” has signed on for a new Shonda Rimes medical show that was just picked up.  That means he can’t do both shows, and I’m guessing Shonda Rimes will send him off in style.  It isn’t like her to let anyone leave happily, and I can’t imagine that she’ll lose more than one cast member in the finale.  Poor Miranda.  I feel bad for Miranda’s character and for Chandra Wilson herself, who finally got a juicy, original story-line, just to have it taken from her after a limited number of episodes.  Even if I’m wrong about the death, I’m certain he’ll leave the show – it’s just a matter of how.