Grey Chatter: The Dreaded "C" Word

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To commit or not to commit? That's the question of the hour, the subject of last Thursday's "Let the Angels Commit," and the subject of our SeattleGirl's weekly Grey Chatter. Here's what the Insider's West Coast correspondent thought of the most recent Grey's Anatomy drama...

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The title of this episode has to do with commitment. But it seems like it’s more about avoiding commitment than actual commitment. Except in the case of Cristina and Burke, of course. It’s fairly obvious from the way the episode ended -- a light bulb going off above Bailey’s head as she watched Cristina write on the OR board -- that things are going to get very bad very quickly for Burktina.

However, you do have to admire Cristina’s resolve.

She loves and worships Burke, for both personal and professional reasons. Whether she’s out to further her career or she’s just trying to protect her boyfriend, she’s putting it all on the line and proving herself to Burke. There’s a rumor going around of a wedding in the near future, and as of Thursday night’s show, it looks like Burke and Cristina could be in the running.

Then there’s George and Callie.

It’s actually kind of painful, all the flip-flopping going on in George’s mind. He likes Callie, but doesn’t love her. He gets jealous when he thinks she’s sleeping with someone else. She dumps George and now he wants her back. Is she a safety net for him? Does he want the icing but not the cake?

It doesn’t work that way for Callie, and she’s a strong woman for figuring that out. She loves him still, so much so that she’s regretting the whole Mark Sloan fiasco and thinking about telling George about it. And she sort of gets his whole "being the pig" speech. But she’s not looking for metaphors. She’s looking for the “C” word. And he’s not sure he’ll ever be ready to give that to her. So she’s smart for standing her ground, difficult as it may be.

Izzie becomes the heroine of this episode, painfully breaking her way back into her routine at the hospital. She stands her ground in the case with the crazy hand burning girl, because she understands a little bit of her craziness. She’s afraid of failure. Of having people be disappointed in her.

Izzie gets that because Izzie feels the same way. She’s torn inside, though, because even though she wants to earn back Bailey’s and the other interns’ respect, she’s not even really sure she’s forgiven herself yet for what has happened. It seems like it’s going to be a long process to get our Izzie back the way she was. And maybe she’ll never be quite the same.

Another intern wobbling on the fence of indecision this episode was Alex. He wanted a career in plastics – he wanted to be Mark Sloan. But it didn’t click. While Alex wanted the image that comes with being a Mark Sloan, his heart couldn’t get in the game. He couldn’t stop thinking about those twins. And the softer, more genuine side of Alex is one that we’re quite ready to get to know.

Bailey seems sort of lost throughout the episode, unsure of where she stands in the other doctors’ eyes, especially when she finds her name erased from Dr. Burke’s surgery. Without her dauntless perspective and snarky voice, Miranda doesn’t seem like herself. She’s not ready to deal with Izzie being back, and she’s certainly not ready to stand up for herself against Burke, the Chief, or the other doctors that are talking behind her back. She’s lost some of her usual grouchy charm and this other, insecure version of Dr. Bailey is hard to get used to.

But the real stars of the non-commitment theme are Derek and Meredith. First taken aback by Derek’s sister, Meredith isn’t sure whether she should give Derek some space or force her way into his life. We’ve been waiting so long to see them together that maybe if it had happened this episode, it might have been too fast. She only just dumped Finn, and Derek is clearly not yet over Addison, no matter what he may say.

Addison hurt him deeply when she confessed the truth about her and Mark’s relationship. She didn’t really break things off with Mark only because of her love for Derek – she left Mark because he cheated on her. And apparently, Dr. Montgomery doesn’t like being alone.

But for the first time in quite a long time, Addison, Derek and Meredith are each alone. They’re each trying to gain some perspective and some space. They need to find out who they are without being defined by a relationship, or by another person. Derek tries to convey this to Meredith when they meet on the stairwell, and in her own way, she understands.

While it’s painful to see, we know it will make for some interesting twists and turns in the episodes to come.

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.

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Grey's Anatomy Quotes

[walking by Izzie's room]
Meredith: Hot.
Sadie: Horny.

Sexual sorbet? Hahaha! I love it.

Bailey