Grey's Anatomy: Season 3
Episode 8

Synopsis:

The O'Malley family visits George at the hospital; Meredith determines to have a more positive outlook on life; Derek and Addison strive for a civil relationship; Richard endeavors to reunite with his wife, Adele.

(From ABC)
The O'Malley Family visits George at the hospital, Meredith is determined to have a more positive outlook on life, Derek and Addison strive for a civil relationship, and Richard endeavors to reunite with his wife, Adele.

Writers of television drama occasionally attempt to gather several brewing plotlines into a perfect storm of misery and romance. It's a tricky move: Contrived synergy can easily irritate viewers.

But part of the success of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" lies in its writers' ability to brew up just such a storm, which they pulled off neatly this week. (Spoiler alert: Stop reading now if you've saved the episode for later viewing.)

George's father was diagnosed with cancer and a damaged heart, so George asked that Dr. Burke handle the heart surgery. But upon discovering that Cristina now performs Burke's surgeries, he begged her to 'fess up. "Try to be a human being," he pleaded.

George's crisis also drew Callie closer: He bristled as she bonded with his roughneck brothers (who still don't take him seriously), but Callie didn't give up. George is still her McDreamy.

Meanwhile, the Meredith-Derek-Addison story line connected with the Dr. Webber-Ellis Grey romance, and even Bailey was drawn into the mix.

Derek and Meredith began the episode determined to be happy, but reality intervened. Both were saddened by the plight of little girl with brain damage, who was totally bonded with her nanny and not her parents. Meredith questioned whether people with consuming careers should have children (which hit a nerve with Bailey).

But a conversation with her mother about Dr. Webber (who has decided to stop seeing Ellis and try to repair his marriage), left her feeling compassion for the complicated, workaholic woman who raised her. "You did the best you could," she told her mom softly. Meredith ended the episode agreeing with Derek that they're not meant to be "bright and shiny" people, but they're glad to be together.

On the periphery was Addison, who finally removed her wedding rings and tossed them overboard while riding the ferry.

That brings us to Alex, Izzie and Mark Sloan, who is apparently sticking around. (Has every doctor in New York moved to Seattle?) After sending them on mindless errands, Mark reluctantly assigned Alex and Izzie to monitor Frank, a guy with pectoral implants who only speaks of himself in the third person (yet another deliciously quirky patient in the "Grey's" pantheon).

Izzie was elated when Alex allowed her to remove tubes from Frank's chest (in clear violation of Izzie's probation) and the warmth between them resurfaced. But when Alex attempted a passionate kiss, Izzie froze. Their friendship is back on track, but she's still mourning Denny.

Her announcement to the other interns that she's now "bright and shiny" because of getting back together with Derek takes a bit of a setback when she finds out that George's dad is in the hospital. He passed out and broke his clavicle in a fall.

When George and Bailey check on Mr. O'Malley, Callie is in the room, having popped his bone back into place. George's brothers are also there and they won't take George's word for anything, but only listen to Bailey. Bailey forbids George from working on his own father's case. She tells him he can pick one of the other interns for the case, and he picks Cristina.

When George goes to find Cristina, he observes her performing a complicated procedure by herself as Burke looks on. Later, she insists she merely assisted. He tells her he saw Burke having a hand spasm but she brushes off his concerns. He asks Burke if he's doing okay and Burke tells him everything is fine.

Callie and George's brothers are debating the merits of various cars when George checks back in on his father and he tells her he can handle his family on his own.

George has trouble breaking the diagnosis to his father, so Cristina tells him he has cancer in his esophagus and stomach and that he needs surgery to remove it.

George confides to Izzie and Meredith that he can't handle the news, or the way his brothers are treating him, or that Callie slept with Mark. He also says he's been worried about Burke.

A scan reveals that Mr. O'Malley needs an aortic valve replacement before he can undergo the cancer surgery. George tells Cristina he wants Burke to do it but demands to know if Burke is really okay. She says he is, but he knows she's lying.

George's brothers argue with him when he tells them they need to do the heart surgery before the cancer surgery. Callie steps in and compares their dad to a vintage car, talking engines instead of hearts, and they suddenly get it.

Addison is surprised that Derek is being so friendly. Because they're getting along so well, she asks him if he'll come talk to Richard with her because she thinks he's depressed. He says Adele wants him to step down as Chief of Surgery. Instead of listening to what he's saying, they're soon bickering about their own issues.

Richard calls Meredith in to tell her that he can't keep seeing her mother anymore since he's going to try to make his marriage work. He tells her that she's an extraordinary woman who worked very hard and sacrificed a lot.

Bailey assigns Izzie to shadow Alex and reminds her of the rules of her probation, which includes no talking to or touching patients. Alex is still assisting Mark, who tells him and Izzie to pick up his dry cleaning and to get him a sandwich. Addison finds out and and reminds him that Seattle Grace is a teaching hospital. So he brings them in to see Frank, a pec implant surgery patient who needs to be monitored after some swelling.

Frank, who refers to himself in the third person, says he got the implants because his girlfriend started seeing a physical trainer. He invites Izzie to feel the implants. She does and then he says she should compare them to real ones. Mark walks in to find her with one hand on Frank's chest and one on Alex's and sighs in disgust, "This is why I don't work with interns."

To the annoyance of the other interns, Alex and Izzie start talking about themselves in the third person. Frank senses the "vibes" between Alex and Izzie and tells him to go for her, even though Alex says it's complicated. To make a grand gesture like Frank did, he lets Izzie take out Frank's drainage tube. Izzie is so happy after the procedure, Alex goes in for a kiss. She freezes and tells him she can't.

They both end up at Joe's, where she says she didn't know that he still felt that way about her. But she asks, "Can Izzie buy Alex a drink?" A little girl, Mia Hanson, is brought in after being run over with an SUV by her devoted nanny, Anna. Mrs. Hanson, a high powered attorney, and her husband argue who's to blame for the accident. When Anna says she just didn't see Mia in the SUV's blind spot, Mrs. Hanson fires her. Mia won't stay still during a head scan and her mother's attempts to soothe her don't work. "I want Anna," she keeps saying.

Bailey and Meredith operate on Mia and Meredith thinks that the Hansons are lousy parents because they don't know their child's blood type or her favorite song, the way the nanny does. Bailey tells her that all parents just do the best they can.

After the surgery, they tell her Mia is doing fine, but keeps asking for Anna. Mrs. Hanson says she that she's good at her job, but not at the "mom stuff." So they bring Anna back.

Miranda sees Anna singing to Mia and calls home and insists her husband wake the baby up so she can sing to him over the phone.

Meredith tells her mother Richard isn't coming to visit anymore and, in her Alzheimer's confusion, laments having to raise her daughter alone. Meredith tells her she did the best she could.

Meredith and Derek decide that they can't keep up "bright and shiny" but that just being together is enough.