When Grey Girls Collide: Meredith Meets Lexie
It's so great to have the Grey's Anatomy cast back, and so far, the critics seem to agree - "A Change is Gonna Come" - has been received positively by most.
We've read many reviews since the premiere aired. Here's an interesting one from Jennifer Armstrong of Entertainment Weekly that sums up the feelings of fans who really love their favorite show despite its many perceived faults.
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So here we are, back again at Seattle Grace Hospital. Our first few scenes back made it clear â" with a Shonda Rhimes-penned script, no less â" that there would be no dark Sturm und Drang to match that very emotional finale.
Shiny new interns! Happy opening music! A sunny establishing shot of Seattle! It feels like the first day of school â" a brand new day, to borrow from a certain omnipresent promo ABC has been running for a certain spin-off show on Wednesdays.
The back-to-basics vibe stuck throughout "A Change is Gonna Come," which, while not exactly life changing, did successfully deliver a very strong message right from the source: Classic Grey's Anatomy is back, viewers.
Yes, we can totally do the addictive combo of banter, soap and metaphorically resonant surgeries without Isaiah Washington and Kate Walsh, dammit!
All the trademarks of old-school Grey's Anatomy were there:
- Alex and Izzie and Cristina and Meredith traded mildly witty barbs while sitting on that one gurney in that one hallway where they like to hang out.
- A mid-level disaster (car accident) provided a variety of surgeries (pregnant lady with severed arm, dude who seemed dead but wasn't).
- A quirky twist (the deer from the car crash must be saved)!
- A string of preposterous coincidences popped up to wreak havoc on our characters' already complicated personal lives.
We might as well go ahead and talk about Little Ms. Coincidence first, as she was one of the bigger developments of the night. It so happens one of the new interns is Lexie Grey, the half sister Mer never met or saw photos of.
Of course, we've known since the penultimate episode last season that this was coming, thanks to Lexie's flirtation with Derek Shepherd in the bar.
The good news is they didn't drag it out. They just plopped her intro to big sis in the middle of getting victims out of the ambulance, actually, which was awkward but better than an annoying multi-episode arc during which everyone would have to keep it a big secret. You know that would totally happen on a lesser show.
Turns out there is a certain self-absorption that runs in the family. The first big dialogue for Lexie came when she fluttered in to deliver X-rays to Cristina.
"I met my sister for the first time," Lexie blathered, by way of apology, while a recently-dead-turned-back-alive man lay on a gurney. "So then I got lost in my head on the way to X-ray because of Meredith..."
Next, Lex was caught right in the middle of MerDer's first apparent face-to-face since their quasi-breakup at the almost wedding.
That's when Meredith learned her sister was the infamous "girl from the bar" whom Derek had flirted with!
"The girl from the bar?" Mer fumed. "I'm the girl from the bar."
And with that line alone, Grey's Anatomy was back.
September 28th, 2007 10:11 AM
So true...
September 28th, 2007 10:17 AM
I thought it was pretty good.. not absolutely incredible, but pretty good.
September 28th, 2007 10:22 AM
Loved it! I felt like I was back in the glory days of season one, with Meredith and Derek sneaking around. I also liked that Mark "confessed" why he really came to Seattle, that was priceless.
September 28th, 2007 10:25 AM
The show was ok. I think they were easing us back in. Next week they will break out the big guns (from what I could see by next week's previews). Bless George's heart!! But, it's back and I'm so happy about that. Seriously!!
September 28th, 2007 10:31 AM
Last night's first new GA episode was a guilty pleasure. And by the end of the episode, watching the chemistry of lead couple Meredith and Derek and that hot "on call room" scene, I was like "lexie who?" Completely hot. I'm so glad Shonda came to her senses with Meredith and Derek. They light up every scene they are in, which in GA case, is all too few! Great show!
September 28th, 2007 10:33 AM
i'm so glad not to see Isiah Washington on the show, that alone made it a hit for me, besides just being great tv
September 28th, 2007 10:52 AM
I was incredibly disappointed with Season 3...I was going to see where Season 4 is going and it has GONE GONE GONE. The magic is gone.
Shonda may have penned this one no less but her mojo has left her. It was all over the place and the premise was stupid. Grey's Anatomy S4 bad investment.
I hate bad writing and this was definitely schlocky.
Ba..bye...
Going back to good writing CSI FOREVER!!!
September 28th, 2007 12:47 PM
didn't love it. thought shonda could do better. but im hopeful... it wasn't a bad episode... maybe it was just all of the change (no pun inteded) it was a lot to handle! can't wait for next week!
September 28th, 2007 3:19 PM
The show was slow with a big bang finish. I was disappointed until the last five minutes. I miss Dr. Burke more than Cristina. Even if you don't like Isiah Washington, you have to have loved the awkwardness of Burke and Yang together. How is McSteamy really going to be in Seatle "to get Derrick back" its ridiculous for him to be there without Addison, or atleast someone else to sleep with. Izzie and George together Hell Nah WHATEVER!
September 28th, 2007 9:26 PM
Did anyone else notice that Lexie sounded like a Mini Meredith- same female woody-allenish stutters, same run-on sentences. I always thought that if it weren't for Ellen Pompeo's superb acting, I'd find her character really annoying. Seeing another actress do the "meredith tic" proved me right. How on earth can any of us find Lexie anything but annoying, even if she is nice to George? We *all* want her to just Go Away, right?
September 28th, 2007 9:35 PM
I HATE LEXIE GREY.
September 29th, 2007 3:14 AM
Great show but i don't like the idea of George and Izzie together. I think i'll like it if Izzie and Alex get together. I really think Alex likes izzie a lot. Maybe the producers should look into that possibility.
Meredith really should get it together, the world dosen't revolve around her only.
September 29th, 2007 6:25 AM
well,unlike u guys..i didn't get to see it since i'm from malaysia...but i heard it from my aunty in canada that it was great...i soooo wanna see it!!ooh..n liss,I AGREE!!!
September 29th, 2007 7:37 AM
It wasn't bad. I think Callie is headed for a breakdown?? George/Izzie the chemistry is there and you can't deny it. I think it has been all along and I don't think they can fight it and they have been best friends all along. I am one that wants something more with the two of them. Mer/Der who knows where that will go as long as we get to see some of McDreamy. Meredith has been through so much in her life and is so afraid of commitment - try and get in her mindset. And she just watched her friend get left at alter. Here she thought it was Christina who was the one who was going to panic and it was Burke who left her. Try and get in the head of her. We don't know what Shonda has in store. Yes, a Change is Gonna Come. Last season you could tell there was friction as I watched all of Season 3 in two days and it was so apparent. We are dedicated fans - right? Let's not give up - I know I am watching every Thursday and waiting for new episodes. Please don't have reruns right away like last year - that was my only downer.
September 29th, 2007 11:19 AM
I loved it- I wasn't crazy about the deer but besides that, I laughed several times, I cried when Mer/Der broke up and then cheered when they kissed. And I like George and Izzie- she's always gotten him and he's always gotten her. I'm sad for Callie though. Like many people, I got frustrated with all the sturm und drang of last season, but Thursday night, I thought to myself "GREY'S IS BACK!"
September 29th, 2007 6:22 PM
well I didn't love it, as the 3rd season opener, but THIS IS GREY'S ANATOMY!! It was pretty good, and MerDer//Lexie scene was pretty good. =D
Oh yeah, and the breakup too...
I really don't want Izzie and George to be together! They were best friends! I always thought of them as the good ones, who stick together all the time and try to bring their friends close together... But in GA, nobody can stay good friends huh?
September 29th, 2007 6:57 PM
Old school Grey's. I LOVE it that we're back :D
And Callie probably being pregnant, did you see that look of horror on George's face? I was just like "OH my GOD, you can't look like that now!"
Izzie and her interns... My God, Izzie rocked her interns. I mean, God, that deer thing was awesome, how she was trying to cure Bambi, and how she told them she was "stuck with the duds"? LIKE, TOTALLY. I was punching the air in triumph.
September 30th, 2007 4:27 AM
I don't know but i didn't feel the old grey's was back. somehow the story lines are not as interesting and fresh as season 1 and 2. I think the luster is gone. It's just different without Isaiah and Addison. It feels like there's a lot less of them even if they added all these new interns. Well, maybe it'll get better in the next episodes. Hope so, otherwise i don't think i'll watch anymore. And i was so hooked on grey's before i watched season 1 and 2 back to back, sleeping sooo late at night because i couldn't stop. This time, i didn't even realize the season was going to start already until a friend told me.
October 1st, 2007 6:53 AM
I really, really miss Burke !!! Feels like the balance is gone. Good start to the season though.
October 1st, 2007 10:08 AM
i totally loved the alex/christina moment- it seemed like they were the only two who could understand what the other was really going through... haha strangely i quite like o'mizzie as a couple but how is everyone gonna react when they find out? and what will become of callie?!