Episode Report Card Lauren S: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Dumpsville
By Lauren S | Season 5 | Episode 12 | Aired on 01.15.2009
Cristina is sitting in her living room when Hunt starts yelling excitedly from the shower. She runs in and is annoyed to find that he jumped into the shower fully clothed. But while she nags a bit, he tells her that he remembers his best surgery ever. He describes a soldier who was nearly torn apart by an explosive device, full of holes. He tried to stop the bleeding but nothing was working until he thought to use his own body as pressure, and he lay on top of the soldier for 2 hours until help came, and that saved the guy's life. She watches him as he talks, and his voice returns more to normal as he says that the soldier wrote him a letter thanking him, and then he shot himself. "That was my best surgery," he repeats, as his face starts to crumble. Cristina seems to realize she's dealing with a lot more than a tardy man with a drink problem. She takes off her own shoes and gets into the shower with him to help him take off his tie as Meredith VO's, "We're human. We make mistakes. We mis-estimate, we call it wrong." Cristina puts her hands on Hunt's face and looks at him sympathetically.
"But when a surgeon makes a bad judgment call, it's not as simple." Izzie is at home in her room when Alex comes in. He seems happy and almost proud as he suggests that they use some of their vacation time and take a road trip together and stop in Iowa. Izzie asks if his mom lives in Iowa and Alex says she does and confidently tells her, "I think she'd like to meet you." He sits next to Izzie who still hasn't answered and says it was a bad idea, but she kisses him and grins. She then goes to get a bottle of tequila for them to celebrate and heads out. Alex is still on the end of the bed and Denny sits next to him and says, "Alex, we gotta talk." Yes! You have to talk about how Izzie is a nutjob! You have to talk about how the viewers have been made to watch a dead principle character for half a season! Please! Talk!
"People get hurt. They bleed." Mere catches Bailey as she comes out of Jackson's room, and tells her she's so sorry for what happened that day, and asks what happens now. A deflated Bailey tells her, "Now we wait for a miracle." Mere watches her go and is clearly troubled by the miracle part of it all. Her VO continues, "So we struggle, over every stitch. We agonize over every suture." Meredith takes off, her mind clearly made up about something.
She walks into Eric's room and takes a deep breath before telling him, as his doctor, that right now there is only dura matter covering part of his brain where the skull is missing. If somehow that were to be damaged, it would result in brain death, so he has to be very, very careful. She asks if he understands what she's saying, and he manages a smile and a small chuckle. She smiles ever so slightly as she turns to go but he calls after her to ask if she is doing this for him or for Jackson. While she thinks about her answer, her VO continues, "Because the snap judgments, the ones that come to us quickly and easily, without hesitation..." She tells Eric, "Whatever helps you sleep at night." He smiles as she goes and her VO finishes, "They're the ones that haunt us forever." And then comes one of the hardest scenes I've ever watched, far worse than anything the special effects department has ever been able to come up with. Eric manages to grab his pillow with his teeth and toss it aside, leaving the headboard of the bed behind him. After a moment, he sits up, and then slams his head back into the board and screams. He then repeats this, surer and surer each time. I have yet to talk to anyone that was actually able to watch it all the way through. I haven't said it often lately, but well done, Grey's. Despite how obvious the setup was about the organs, and despite having to watch yet more of Derek being a pissy-pants, this story has been a really great one. That was one of the most horrifying yet gripping scenes all season. And kudos to Eric Stoltz for being so good at portraying a creepy, charismatic serial killer.