Tonight’s episode of ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ titled “Great Expectations” was full of surprises. News of Weber’s retirement reaches the staff and causes drama among the residents. The tables have turned on the Cristina-Burke drama as Cristina now refuses to speak to Burke. Bailey tries to rally support for a free clinic at Seattle Grace and by the end of the episode, two of the main characters proposed marriage to the women they love.
The episode begins with Callie desperately trying to escape George’s room after three rolls in the hay with the grief-stricken intern. Izzie finds Callie franticly trying to pull on her clothes and get out of the house before George is up and ready for another go. The look, or should I say, “looks” on Izzie’s face as Callie rambled on about legs being bent the wrong way and needing to “heal” after too much sex were priceless and could only matched by the look she gave to George when he opened the door, clearly “ready” for Callie once more.
Addison tells Callie that she kissed Alex. When Alex tries to talk to Addison about it, she blows him off. Eventually he corners her and tells her he’s not into her and the whole thing was no big deal and doesn’t have to happen again.
Izzie tries to talk to George about him being in denial about his grief and using sex as a distraction but George doesn’t want to hear it. George keeps trying to find Callie and Izzie continues to try and distract him and get him to open up. Finally the two have a heart to heart in which Izzie agrees to back off. She leaves him with a hug and tells him that life is short and to go be with Callie.
Mark was planning to leave the hospital but when he learns the Chief’s position is opening up, he decides to stay. Derek gets mad at Meredith for mentioning the Chief’s retirement to Mark. Derek, Mark and Addison are all over the Chief, trying to get information from him on who he’s recommending take over. Cristina told Derek that Weber asked Burke to do it but obviously the situation has changed since the tremor drama. Burke later tells Derek he couldn’t take the Chief position because it wouldn’t be right but Derek is openly irritated by the fact that Weber considered Burke over him to begin with.
The Chief finally confronts the residents and tells them at this point, he doesn’t want any of them as Chief and the situation wont change any time soon. In the end, he tells Bailey that it’s her that will eventually be Chief when she’s ready. Miranda’s reaction could only be described as shock. While the other residents were running around trying to get information, she was so busy working on the free clinic project that she hadn’t even heard he was retiring. Bailey goes to the other residents and demands they sign letters of support for the clinic. She tells them that she knows they have all the drama in their lives but she needs more to hold on to.
A patient, Jillian, comes in to the hospital due to a tumor on her cervix. We’re introduced to Jillian and her friend Rachel as two women who’ve known each other their whole lives. They say they do everything together, which is why Rachel stays in the room why Jillian is being examined. “Cradle to Grave” is how they describe it. After Addison, Izzie and George find a very large tumor on Jillian’s cervix, they hint at the severity of the situation to Rachel, telling her she should call Jillian’s parents. Rachel refuses and asks them not to, explaining that they left home when they were 16 and vowed never to go back there. Jillian’s parents show up anyway and its then that we learn that the two girls were Amish and left their community. Because Rachel was baptized before she left, she’s shunned by the community and Jillian’s parents wont even look at her.
Jillian on the other hand was not baptized and therefore, still has the option to return if she chooses. When her parents’ presence upsets Rachel, Jillian asks them to leave but later she admits to Izzie that she called them and told them to come a couple of days ago. She says she misses home and wants to have an Amish funeral when she dies. The doctors open her up for surgery but the cancer spread to her bladder and they cant operate.
Izzie encourages Rachel to let Jillian return home with her parents. Rachel was all prepared to try and take care of Jillian but she ends up taking Izzie’s advice in letting her friend go. She talks to Jillian and insists that she should go back to her parents. After some tears and assurances that it’s the right thing, Jillian eventually agrees but refuses to shun her friend. Rachel insists on it though and says its ok. As she leaves, Jillian’s mother acknowledges Rachel and tells her she will tell her parents that she’s well and that she’s become a fine young woman.
This little side story was actually quite touching and well written. It also gave Izzie a reason to consider Bailey’s free clinic as a good place to put all that money Denny left her. During the surgery, Bailey said that the girl could’ve gotten treatment a lot sooner if there was a clinic that would’ve helped her. Predictably, at the end of the episode when Bailey mentions the clinic, Izzie corrects her by renaming the title of the clinic “The Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic” and reminding Bailey that she does in fact have eight million dollars.
I don’t think I ever realized until tonight that Callie and Cristina never really interacted before. When they did speak to one another in tonight’s episode, their personalities clash right away. At first they were snippy to one another but the two bonded after slicing open a runner’s legs and then operating on him. During the surgery on the patient, Weber, Callie and Cristina discuss why the runner would continue the marathon when he was on the verge of collapsing. Cristina says she understands why he’d want to keep running while Callie and Weber agree that sometimes in a race, it’s a good idea to take a breather. The conversation is an obvious parallel to what Cristina is going through.
She finally decides to take a breather. At the end of the day, she tells Burke that while she believes what she did was right, she’s giving up on this fight and is going to talk to him again. She basically throws in the towel on this battle because she knows the finish line is far off for them and there will be other battles to fight down the line. Burke responds to this sincere concession with a simple “Marry me.” Cristina just looks back at him with tears in her eyes.
Burke wasn’t the only one who proposed. When George left Izzie, he went to Callie’s hotel room. He tells her that he’s not smothering his grief in sex but that being near her and just looking at her is the only thing that gives him any comfort. He finally says “I love you” to her and then tops it off with a marriage proposal. Like Cristina, Callie’s only reaction is to stare back at him with tears in her eyes. Though I have to say, while Cristina looked sort of surprised and maybe a little bit touched by the proposal, Callie looked somewhat fearful. She’s probably concerned that he’s only proposing because he’s still getting over the loss of his dad and just needs someone to cling to. That’s probably what we were all thinking, anyway. I adore George but he’s a mess right now and needs to get stuff straightened out before he makes any lifelong commitments.
Finally, when Weber returns to Adell with a bouquet of flowers and a tiny bag from Tiffany’s he receives a less than enthusiastic greeting. He explains to her that he’s going to retire and he’s happy with the decision. Adell tells him it’s been months since she left him and that she told him she wasn’t going to wait for him. Its then that Weber realizes she’s got a man upstairs. She slams the door on him and leaves him standing on the porch.
Its kind of funny but with the exception of Bailey and Burke to a degree, it seemed like the residents were the kids in this episode. Seeing Mark, Derek and Addison going after the Chief about his retirement was a bit pathetic, I thought. I mean I get that it’s a big deal but still, it didn’t surprise me at all that Weber sees Bailey as the one closest to earning the position. While the others are running around kissing his butt, she’s out trying to help people with her free clinic project.
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