Spoilers for last night's "Grey's Anatomy" coming up just as soon as I knit a scarf... Okay, the series is on a real roll right now. I can't really forgive the ghost sex or the interns starring in their own David Cronenberg movie, but if the rest of the season is as good as the last few episodes have been, I can at least try to forget that stuff.
Start with that horrifying opening sequence with Hunt trying to strangle Cristina in his sleep. Even though I knew it was coming -- Kevin McKidd had been making the talk show rounds to promote the episode -- it was still riveting because of how dead Hunt's eyes were and how Cristina wasn't able to get a sound out or even really struggle because of his size/strength advantage. Seeing her flail around, or some sort of insane look on his face, would have made the scene feel over-the-top and cheesey; this felt disturbing. I don't know if this is how PTSD actually manifests itself, but it seemed that way. And after being stuck on the sideline for too much of this season, Kevin McKidd and Sandra Oh are killing right now. I thought Derek's proposal -- and Meredith's behavior in response to his earlier attempts -- was very grown-up and sweet, and reflected a relationship that's grown to be about more than the stupid will-they-or-won't-they drama. And the moment when Derek finally came out of his stupor and started telling off the oncologist was well-played by Patrick Dempsey, who's been doing some nice work during this arc.
Izzie's impending surgery, meanwhile, gave every member of the ensemble something good to play, whether it was Callie and George revisiting their divorce or Bailey being the only doctor who could control her emotions enough to visit Izzie, or, especially, Karev telling Meredith that he should have looked into the ghost nonsense much sooner. (You and Shonda both, buddy.) Every time I watch Justin Chambers get a showcase episode like this, I think about how lucky he is -- and we are -- that the "Cold Case" producers decided to can him after a few episodes, which allowed him to land this more demanding, high-profile gig.
"Elevator Love Letter" wasn't perfect. The storyline about the perpetually-dying old woman was way too obvious in the exact way the tone was going to shift from comedy to poignancy, and I think the time may be coming for me to write a screed about how every ABC drama is apparently required to use the same cutesy You Are Watching A Funny Scene Now music over anything even vaguely comic (which, again, is a network-wide problem, not something that's "Grey's"-specific), but overall, very, very strong.
What did everybody else think?
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