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
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.The secret is out, folks. Well, actually a lot of secrets are out, but the big one is that Burke has been hiding a tremor ever since he came back to work. George calls in Dr. Hahn of the Denny-LVAD-two transplant patients-Burke shooting day to consult on his dad's surgery and decides to have her do the operation. Izzie is assigned to watch Mr. O'Malley, and manages to spill the beans about nearly every major detail of George's life to his parents, and then to make the gravest mistake of telling them that Burke is the best heart surgeon they could have. They decide, then, to switch the surgery back to Burke, so George retaliates by telling them about Izzie's probation. The reason Izzie was there in the first place is that all of the other surgeons were busy taking care of a ton of extra-bloody patients from a giant car accident. Cristina is separated from Burke, and between that and the arrival of Dr. Hahn, she is freaking out that George told the Chief all that has been going on. As it turns out, this wasn't the case at all: the Chief wants to retire, hire Dr. Hahn in Burke's place, and recommend Burke to the board to become the new Chief of Surgery. Unfortunately, Burke feels guilty, and he and Cristina do a lot of yelling that they're sure to regret, each blaming the other for the surgery situation. By the time they are performing a surgery later that day, he sends her to the other side of the table and eventually dismisses her. That's all she can handle and, covered in her bloody surgical scrubs, she goes to meet with the Chief and spill all the beans. Although Burke shows up later himself to talk to the Chief, it's too late: Burke seems to be in a lot of hot water, and Cristina is out a place to live. Thank goodness, then, that we get some Thanksgiving happiness when Meredith and Derek make it through a blame fight about who knew what with Burke and Cristina and make up by finally having sex again. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously on Grey's Anatomy, George's dad was admitted for surgery, and George wanted Burke to be his surgeon, which made Cristina tense. We met Dr. Hahn. Adele wanted the Chief to retire, Derek and Meredith were having bubble bath time but no sex, Cristina was denying that Burke has a problem but George saw his tremor, Callie slept with Sloane and confided (sort of) in Meredith, Cristina reiterated to George that everything will be fine with his dad but later told Burke that "George knows." Seriously, if these get any longer they're going to have to double the length of each episode, not just add ten minutes on holidays.
The episode starts with the sound of a heartbeat, then a flash to white, then a horrified-looking Cristina. Things must be in chaos, since she's got voice-over duties this week. "As doctors, we know everybody's secrets. Their medical histories, sexual histories, confidential information that is as essential to a surgeon as a ten blade." Over her voice are flashes of her and Burke having hot sex, but then another flash and the camera pulls back to Present Cristina, showing her covered in blood. "And every bit as dangerous. We keep secrets. We have to. But not all secrets can be kept." The heartbeat is building, the scenes are flashing faster and faster into a muddle, and finally she begins to sprint down the hall as a beeping machine joins in with the heartbeat. The scenery then rewinds to a shot of Seattle.
Derek and Meredith are hanging out in bed, and he does a crossword while she's munching on dry cereal. He comments, "Oh, this is good. No sex, crossword puzzles... When's the knitting start?" Jovial, hanging out, sexually frustrated Derek is SO CUTE. I want him doing crossword puzzles in my bed, and I actually mean that literally. Meredith giggles and tells him that good things come to those who wait. At that he turns and grabs her and there's some kind of adorable canoodling. I'm not made of stone, nor have I had any good making out in a while, so I'm susceptible to this kind of affection on television. There's a knock at the door and Cristina comes in, bundled up in sweats and a scarf and breathing heavily. Once she establishes that she's not interrupting sex, she orders Derek out of the room. He's surprised, but Meredith enforces the order. Cristina gets immediately under the covers, tennis shoes and all, as Mer asks why she's all sweaty, and Cristina says she jogged. Meredith's worried, telling her, "We don't jog. You don't jog." When Meredith says her name quietly, Cristina asks her what she would do in a scenario where Derek robbed a bank, she was the getaway driver, but then only Derek got caught. Would she turn herself in or let Derek take the fall? Meredith is totally confused and having a hard time following, and wonders whose idea it was. "I don't know. His. But you helped! I mean, could you live with yourself? If you just walked away, and let the man you love take the fall?" Meredith just says that if Cristina tells her what's going on, she might be able to help. She gently prods her friend, but Cristina has had as much sharing as she can handle and leaps out of bed to leave, adding, "I jog. Sometimes. Without you."
At the bottom of the stairs, she comes face-to-face with George and asks about his dad, then assures him he has nothing to worry about. George tells her, stone-faced, that he isn't worried "anymore." To hear his voice, you'd think he contacted his Godfather, or something. It's ominous. Cristina asks what he means, but before she can find out that he just sacrificed his soul, Izzie butts in to bitterly bitch about Cristina and Meredith having cool best friend time. She's oblivious to the tension, acting every bit as blonde as her hair looks today, and no one answers. She finally picks up on something, but instead of asking what's going on, she just mutters that probation makes her cranky. Derek walks in, George announces Cristina's imminent departure, and Derek runs off to more canoodling. There's giggling from upstairs and Izzie looks nearly murderous. Again, Izzie -- things to think about before you cut a patient's LVAD wire to move him up the donor list so that he's a healthier shade of pink and wearing more than a hospital gown to your wedding.