overnights

‘Grey’s Anatomy’: We Sense a Pattern Here

Grey’s Anatomy

Love/Addiction
Season 4 Episode 2
Do these beautiful white people have anything to learn from this wise older black man? Suspend your disbelief.

A show in which all the doctors look like models and somehow — somehow — every patient’s problem reflects the messy love life of the resident who treats him. How convenient! And believable! Meredith’s voice-over tells us that this week’s theme is “addiction.” The hospital receives a truckload of patients who’ve been injured in a meth-lab explosion. Let the healing begin.

George gets: A drug-addicted Hispanic man who was minding his own business (and, er, buying meth) when the lab exploded. “I was just on my way to work!” he keeps repeating to George, who can’t manage to save him when his meth-filled heart suddenly stops.
What it means: George knows he has to tell his wife, Callie, that he’s in love with Izzie but is scared to do so, for obvious reasons (Callie breaks bones for a living). He’s inspired by the death of his druggie to live his life for each new day, so he resolves to be a man and tell Callie it’s over.
The outcome: Callie cries and George wimps out, yet again.

McSteamy gets: A wise older black man (is there any other kind?), injured in the blast, who’s good friends with the family whose apartment harbored the drugs. He didn’t know about the meth lab — “I babysit for drug dealers??” Aw! — and is upset that his only friends are going to jail/child services.
What it means: The patient lectures McSteamy on the loneliness of bachelorhood, and for a second, it looks like the Steam Man may give up his oh-so-slutty ways.
The outcome: McSteamy doesn’t give up his oh-so-slutty ways.
Bonus round, Izzie: The patient wonders how his friends could have been drug dealers, prompting Izzie to make a parallel to her own, cheat-y inclinations: “Just because people do horrible things doesn’t always mean they’re horrible people.”
The outcome: Izzie is still horrible. And so are drug dealers.

Christina gets: The woman who ran the meth lab with her husband, who was badly burned in the explosion. She wakes from her surgery to discover her husband’s in jail and that her baby has been taken away from her. She’s a bit upset.
What it means: Christina tells the patient that if she’s strong, she’ll get through her struggles. The doctor is clearly referring to her own life — her husband-to-be, Burke, left her at the altar at the end of last season.
The outcome: Christina sitting alone in her empty apartment. Be strong, Christina!

According to the previews, “everything changes” next week. Let’s hope! — Emma Rosenblum

‘Grey’s Anatomy’: We Sense a Pattern Here