Episode Report Card Lauren S: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Shit Hits the Fan
By Lauren S | Season 3 | Episode 9 | Aired on 11.22.2006
Bailey and a team transport Janelle when Mrs. Dickerson sees them and asks where they're going. Bailey tells them they're taking her to surgery and advises her to go back to her husband's room, when she pathetically says that he's in surgery too. With her super Spidey sense, Bailey knows something is wrong; she sends the team up to the OR, and goes to help her. Mrs. Dickerson, in a tortured voice, asks, "What did I do? How could I have done this?" It turns out she knew her husband was having foot trouble, and their daughter even came and took away his keys. Bailey guesses the rest, that she gave them back to her husband. Mrs. Dickerson cries that they didn't mean any harm, and her husband loved driving and would have been so hurt if she'd sided with their daughter. Bailey is amazing, as usual, and softly comforts her, telling her that she knows they didn't mean it but that she still needs to talk to the police. She takes her hand and leads her down the hall, and though she's a few inches shorter than the older woman, she is the much larger and comforting presence. She rocks my socks.
Burke and Cristina scrub in for surgery silently.
In Janelle's surgery, Burke pulls out the absolutely ginormous piece of glass and gives the team instructions. Cristina asks about stitching her up but he sternly says he's got it, and when she presses about how she's been practicing, he sends her to the other side of the table. It's as insulting as if he actually told her she needed to sit in the corner for a time-out, and it isn't lost on the others in the room as glances are exchanged over their masks.
In the other OR, working on Mr. Dickerson, Hahn is joking about how lucky she is to be working with the famous Dr. Shepherd who saved the famous Dr. Burke. Everyone's jovial until something Hahn is working on begins to tear, and suddenly she's urgently instructing everyone to help turn Mr. Dickerson over. She's going to need help, and Meredith is sent to fetch Burke.
Burke's cool as a cucumber, telling everyone that Janelle's heart needs ten minutes to warm up and come off bypass. It's fantastically convenient that at that moment Meredith comes in and shouts the request. He and Cristina share a glance, and he leaves and orders her to stay. They've gone from a team to more of a master/lapdog relationship. It's very healthy and I'm sure it's not going to cause any problems at all. As he leaves, Cristina grabs Meredith and asks her what's going on, then, worried, runs after Burke, which he sees and shouts at her to stay. Scratch that -- it's not master/lapdog, it's master/unruly, not totally wanted puppy the kids convinced you to adopt. Meredith gently asks, "What, do you think Burke can't operate without you?" She sees the look on Cristina's face and finally gets all of the bank robber messages. "Oh my God. Cristina." She tells Mer to shut up. "He can't operate without you." Desperately, Cristina says, "If you ever gave a crap about me in any way, you'll shut your mouth and get back into that OR."