Starring: Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers,
T.R. Knight, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens, Jr, Isaiah Washington, Patrick Dempsey, Kate Walsh
Creator: Shonda Rhimes
Genre: Medical Drama, Serial DramaRating: B-
I went into rewatching Grey’s
Anatomy with the thought that at some point the character if Izzie Stevens
(Heigl) was a good one. Sure, she wasn’t
the best surgeon in our crew of interns and she could be annoying at times, but
I was certain that at some point in this show I actually liked her. I’m not certain when I stopped liking her,
but I do know for sure that by episode 19 of season two I really couldn’t stand
her.
The second season picks up pretty much exactly where the first one
left off, a trait that I always enjoy – while a lot of time has passed for the
viewers, no time at all has passed for the show. Meredith (Pompeo) has just discovered that
her dreamy boyfriend Derek (Dempsey) is in fact married, with the appearance of
his wife, Dr. Addison Montgomery Shepherd (Walsh). This love triangle becomes the primary focus
of this season, as Meredith comes to terms with Addison’s existence, Addison
fights to get her husband back, and Derek is forced to chose between the
women. While this forms the focus of the
show for much of the season it isn’t the only major plot. There’s also Izzie falling in love with a
patient (Jeffrey Dean Morgan); Alex (Chambers) grows as a character, as he develops a relationship
with Izzie; George (Knight) finally deals with his feelings for Meredith; the
relationship between Christina (Oh) and Burke (Washington) grows and finally
becomes public; Bailey (Wilson) is pregnant; we discover more about the
relationship between Meredith’s mother and Dr. Webber (Pickens); and we’re
introduced to Callie Torres (Sara Ramírez), Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith), and Mark
Sloan (Eric Dane), who each become main characters in later seasons. Oh! And there’s a bomb! In a body!
Let's start with what I liked about this season... I actually loved the triangle between Meredith, Derek, and Addison. I don't remember how I felt about it when the show first aired, but this time round I definitely liked it. I really like Addison as a character, I was disappointed to see her leave at the end of season 3 (and even more disappointed by Private Practice, but that's a whole other review). The triangle later on in the season is less great, even if it does involve Chris O'Donnell. At that point it really seems like the show runners are just trying to create drama and delay what has been set up to be the inevitable. I would love to see O'Donnell's McVet return at a later date for a random appearance just because he was a fun character - I would not like to see him return as a romantic partner for anyone.
In addition to liking the Mer/Der/Addy triangle, I also really love what they did with George this season. I actually think this might have been George's best season - as much as I loved the character, it's really all downhill for him from here. Likewise, I really loved the growth of Alex here and the development of his relationship with Izzie. While I really did not like Izzie in general, I did like what she brought out in Alex. As for Christina and Burke... I'm never really sure if I think that Burke got Christina. At one point in season 4 she comments on how much of herself she had to give up for him; in season 2 you start to really see her doing that. I always love the character, but I don't think I ever really liked the relationship here. Beyond the coure group of interns, we have the plots with Bailey (awesome!) and the Chief (less awesome, but still good). If this show became Bailey's Anatomy I would be totally okay with that. There is just something so unbelievably perfect about the way that Chandra Wilson portrays her.
The good having been established, let's now turn to the bad. Mainly Izzie Stevens and her relationship with Denny Duquette. There was nothing about this plot that was enjoyable. While I understand that the interns (and the doctors) make mistakes and aren't always able to be professional, the relationship between Izzie and Denny is just a whole new level of wrong. It's something you can really see building up overall with Izzie in general; she's never good at separating her emotions from her work. While other doctors struggle with this at times, most of them are able to balance between appearing completely unemotional and heartless (Yang is an example of this, often) and being really emotional and thus unable to properly do their job. Izzie isn't able to do this, and it just gets really annoying. The thing that really gets me about this is that I think we're supposed to be rooting for Izzie - be it when she's having an emotional affair with her patient, or when she's violating the oath that she took before becoming a doctor - notably, the do no harm bit. I really wasn't. I didn't want Denny to die... I just didn't want Izzie to succeed. Her actions really scared me - not in that I was frightened, but rather in the way that I was unnerved by the idea that a doctor might behave like that.
Let's start with what I liked about this season... I actually loved the triangle between Meredith, Derek, and Addison. I don't remember how I felt about it when the show first aired, but this time round I definitely liked it. I really like Addison as a character, I was disappointed to see her leave at the end of season 3 (and even more disappointed by Private Practice, but that's a whole other review). The triangle later on in the season is less great, even if it does involve Chris O'Donnell. At that point it really seems like the show runners are just trying to create drama and delay what has been set up to be the inevitable. I would love to see O'Donnell's McVet return at a later date for a random appearance just because he was a fun character - I would not like to see him return as a romantic partner for anyone.
In addition to liking the Mer/Der/Addy triangle, I also really love what they did with George this season. I actually think this might have been George's best season - as much as I loved the character, it's really all downhill for him from here. Likewise, I really loved the growth of Alex here and the development of his relationship with Izzie. While I really did not like Izzie in general, I did like what she brought out in Alex. As for Christina and Burke... I'm never really sure if I think that Burke got Christina. At one point in season 4 she comments on how much of herself she had to give up for him; in season 2 you start to really see her doing that. I always love the character, but I don't think I ever really liked the relationship here. Beyond the coure group of interns, we have the plots with Bailey (awesome!) and the Chief (less awesome, but still good). If this show became Bailey's Anatomy I would be totally okay with that. There is just something so unbelievably perfect about the way that Chandra Wilson portrays her.
The good having been established, let's now turn to the bad. Mainly Izzie Stevens and her relationship with Denny Duquette. There was nothing about this plot that was enjoyable. While I understand that the interns (and the doctors) make mistakes and aren't always able to be professional, the relationship between Izzie and Denny is just a whole new level of wrong. It's something you can really see building up overall with Izzie in general; she's never good at separating her emotions from her work. While other doctors struggle with this at times, most of them are able to balance between appearing completely unemotional and heartless (Yang is an example of this, often) and being really emotional and thus unable to properly do their job. Izzie isn't able to do this, and it just gets really annoying. The thing that really gets me about this is that I think we're supposed to be rooting for Izzie - be it when she's having an emotional affair with her patient, or when she's violating the oath that she took before becoming a doctor - notably, the do no harm bit. I really wasn't. I didn't want Denny to die... I just didn't want Izzie to succeed. Her actions really scared me - not in that I was frightened, but rather in the way that I was unnerved by the idea that a doctor might behave like that.
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