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Post by kaz on Apr 30, 2009 22:31:25 GMT -5
Hi all
I noticed that the episode thread isn't open and I'm sure you're champing at the bit to post your thoughts so maybe you could post them here temporarily until the thread is unlocked?
As per usual, I'll use this thread to collate recaps and reviews etc in due course.
Kaz.
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Post by kaz on Apr 30, 2009 22:34:16 GMT -5
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Post by kaz on Apr 30, 2009 22:36:47 GMT -5
From zap2it: The line between standing up for ourselves and alienating everyone around us is a difficult one. But sometimes a person just has to take that chance if they're going to be who they are. Which sounds awfully existential for a television medical drama -- but it's definitely one of the main points of tonight's "Grey's Anatomy." A child takes charge: Six-year-old Maddy has shot her father 17 times. Her mother insists she's sorry and didn't mean to hurt him. Then Maddy asks Meredith why her father won't die -- but before you worry we have a tiny sociopath here, the little girl was fighting back -- she was being abused, her mother was being abused, and she tried to stop it. As her father heads into surgery, where Owen and George nearly lose him but for some miracle substance Owen pours into the wounds, Maddy's mother wants her to go and apologize to her father. Which is more than Meredith can take. No, she will not apologize -- she's stronger than you, and she stood up to him, Meredith says. Meredith is positively Doug Ross in this story, in addition to being a walking, talking advertisement for the effectiveness of therapy. It was almost thrilling, the same way it used to be to watch George Clooney take up arms to defend helpless kids on "ER" -- great stuff. The confrontation leaves everyone's mouths hanging open, and the Chief threatens to throw Meredith out because what she just did further abused a battered woman. But he's using his Chief/Daddy tone, and Meredith calls BS, telling him he can't talk to her that way. She complains to Derek that the Chief won't respect the boundaries she's trying to set, and she doesn't want him at the wedding. Bless Derek, he sides with her and sets the Chief straight -- he may not be Meredith's father, but he behaves toward her like she's family, not an employee. After the mother learns her husband will survive, Meredith apologizes -- but pleads with her not to let this be her daughter's story. Her daughter's story shouldn't be that she shot her father 17 times to protect her mother -- who went back to him. You have to change your story while you still can, she says. In the end, the woman takes Maddy and tells her husband they're leaving. But Meredith and the Chief have the most extraordinary scene. Earlier, he'd paged her and Lexie to his office to see their father, who's newly out of rehab, sober, and wants to make amends -- and she's rightfully upset. Finally Richard apologizes for the role he played -- and didn't play -- in her life. He saw how Ellis neglected Meredith and drove Thatcher away, and he didn't stand up for her. He let himself off the hook. But now he's genuinely sorry, and she forgives him. Izzie and her mom: Izzie's about to head in for surgery, and trying to be as normal as possible, until Sharon Lawrence breezes in, (looking great, by the way) playing the proverbial trashy mom and flirting with Alex. Izzie clearly loves her mother but finds her exasperating -- particularly when she calls her psychic to make sure Izzie will be OK. It boils down to the fact that she really doesn't understand Izzie's illness, and when Izzie tries to explain, the look of panic and anguish that crosses her face is real and wrenching. Izzie goes for her scan, and tells Bailey that it's got to be good news or her mother will never leave. She also can't figure out who told her mother she was sick -- until Bailey cracks and admits she called. She's a great mom, Izzie says -- she's just...limited. Bailey comes back with the results, telling them how successful treatment has been. But Bailey's a terrible liar. Some of the mets have shrunk, but there are some new ones too. And despite that, she refuses to let Izzie give up, firmly declaring that she's going to operate and get out what she can, and they'll go from there. The rest: Up a tree: Callie and Mark's patient, "Willow," is an environmental activist who's been living up a tree until the developers bulldozed it, and she's broken every bone in her body. Her lawyer sister (Kelli Martin) has little patience for Willow's principled stand, but after Willow crashes and nearly dies, her sister files a $10 million lawsuit to go after the developers who consciously decided to bulldoze the tree her baby sister had been living in. Oh, and there's lots of discussion of a crap bucket. Small talk: Cristina's enraged that Owen's manner toward her is matter of fact and that he's giving George all the good experience in surgery. Worse, she can't understand how he can say things like "Take care now" without even acknowledging what went on between them -- until he tells her that the lame series of niceities that he's been spouting are what he and his therapist agreed he should stick to. I still feel bad for Owen, but I think Kevin McKidd's struggle with his fragile state and his humanity is wonderful to watch.Silent treatment: Callie's hurt and upset by her family's silence, having apparently taken her father's side. While both Cristina and Mark advise her to lie to them and say she and Arizona broke up, Callie just can't, and decides to live on her own terms. Greys reconcile: After their scene in the Chief's office, Lexie forgives Thatcher, and over Mark's protests that he's too old (How old is Sloan supposed to be, anyway? Eric Dane's only in his mid-30s.) and that fathers don't like him, Lexie gets him to go out to dinner and meet her father. What did you think? Did the Chief have it coming or what? Do you think Izzie did the right thing with her mom? Would you have chosen the chicken skewers for your wedding? blog.zap2it.com/ithappenedlastnight/2009/04/greys-anatomy-sorry-seems-to-be-the-hardest-word.html
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ruralstar
Kevin McKidd Online staff
website McFic
Life is a Journey of the Mind. Anything can happen....Just wait
Posts: 2,233
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Post by ruralstar on Apr 30, 2009 22:42:29 GMT -5
And Owen gets short shrift again, at least in the last review you posted. No way I'm wading through four pages on Buddytv just for a smattering about our favorite troubled doc/couple.
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Post by georgeseurat on Apr 30, 2009 23:00:33 GMT -5
Thank you, Kaz. Well, I just PM Leanna about that. Dunno whether she get that. Anyway, finally, this is a good episode. Very all round. But still, I can only write stuff about O/C. Modified : deleted Dupe post deleted as George has moved the post to the open episode thread
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Post by kaz on Apr 30, 2009 23:44:59 GMT -5
It's in the middle of the night for Leanne (or very early hours of the morning) so she won't see it for a few more hours yet.
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Post by MarryMeOwen on May 1, 2009 0:03:10 GMT -5
Ugh I hate the person that writes these Zap2it recaps. They miss the important parts of the show. Even the spoiler peeps gave props about teh OC stuff in this episode.
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Post by kaz on May 1, 2009 0:07:23 GMT -5
From the Writers' Blog:
Hi. It’s Krista. I’m saying, It’s Krista because it’s been a loooooong time since you’ve heard from me. The last time I wrote you was the second episode of the season, and now here we are, three to the end. Crazy, that’s what that is. It’s not that I don’t love you, really. It’s just that we have this staggeringly good staff now who write really, really good TV. I love this staff because they make my life and my job so much easier. Also, because they make me laugh really hard every single day. It makes me happy to have a life where people are nice and kind and funny and smart and no one is getting drunk and screaming and throwing things at my head. My life was not always this good. Which is why I love the episode you just saw, why I’m so, so proud of it.
What I just got to say to everyone watching was, “Advocate for the children in your life.” I didn’t start out with that agenda. I started out with the theme of Making Amends – can’t remember who pitched it, but I loved it. It started out with an idea about Thatcher finally getting sober and coming to make his amends. But then one of the brilliant writers pitched this story he’d read about a kid who emptied a gun into his Dad. And the episode started to take shape. And it turned into an opportunity for me to say to millions of viewers, “Advocate for the children in your life.” And that makes me really, deeply happy. Because I was a kid who could have used an advocate. And I don’t wanna get all over-sharey and uncomfortable and make you feel like you have to avert your eyes cause you came here for some bantery writer blather and ended up in an unshot episode of In Treatment, so that’s all I’m gonna say. I was a kid who could’ve used an advocate. And as an adult, I have never understood when other adults stand idly by, looking away and making excuses while people hurt children.
I LOVE what Richard says to Meredith. I wrote it, so, y’know, I should love it – but I don’t always love everything I write – and man, do I LOVE that scene. I sat on set while the brilliant Tom Verica shot that scene and while the luminous Ellen Pompeo and the wonderful Jim Pickens acted it. And I cried. Every take. I just sat there crying take after take after take. I cried for Meredith, mostly, because finally, FINALLY one of the adults in her life is taking responsibility for what happened to her. Finally, she’s hearing the words that she needed and didn’t even know she needed. People have tried to apologize before. Thatcher has tried. Richard has even tried. And it’s not that Meredith is hard-hearted. It’s not that she can’t forgive. It’s just that no one ever got it right before. She was just a baby. She was a little kid. She couldn’t stand up for herself. And here were all these adults running around acting like children and failing, every day, to fight for her. She was neglected and she was abused. Her mother, for those who may have forgotten, attempted suicide IN FRONT OF HER. This was an emotionally unstable woman, Ellis Grey. Richard saw that – and he did nothing. And Thatcher, her freaking FATHER, who not only saw it, he lived it WITH HER, did less than nothing. To make an amends is not just to apologize. It’s to make a thing right. And Thatcher’s little scripted apology can’t do that for Meredith. It can’t make it right. Her pain runs too deep. Her abandonment was too complete. And so when Richard finally truly takes responsibility? It breaks down a wall in Meredith’s heart that I truly believe she didn’t even know was there. I think she’s as shocked by her tears as anyone. And I think there is real and profound healing in that moment.
Almost as much as I love what Richard says to Meredith, I love what Meredith says to the mother of poor little Maddy, who emptied a 17 bullet clip into her abusive father. (And yes, by the way, there are 17 bullet clips. And no, 6 year old Maddy would not have been arrested and taken away from her Mom. We called the Seattle Police and asked. ) I know that what Meredith says and does is controversial, and I meant it to be. I know that there are syndromes that abuse victims go through, and that perspectives get wholly skewed. And I think Richard is absolutely right to order Meredith to stay away from that family. And I think Meredith is absolutely right – and powerful and awesome – to ignore that order. And maybe it’s just my fantasy that an over-stepping doctor could prompt a woman that damaged to finally do the right thing and take a stand to protect herself and her child. But if it’s a fantasy, it’s one I’m proud to put on TV.
There’s a lot more I could say about this episode, but I did the podcast this week, so I’m kinda sick of hearing myself talk about it. So instead, I’d just like to say, once more, with feeling, please advocate for the children in your life. With love, Krista
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Post by kaz on May 1, 2009 8:48:06 GMT -5
Family seems to factor in quite a bit this week. Thatcher Grey gets out of rehab and sparks off some drama for Meredith and Lexie. Izzie's mom shows up to drive her insane. Callie is still trying to deal with the fallout from her father's visit last week and how it's affecting her relationship with her family. And finally, there's some craziness with a father who's a patient this week. There is also some family drama for some of this week's patients. Mix in some absolutely amazing writing on the part of Shonda Rhimes and her staff, and it's no wonder that Grey's has become my favorite show on television! Somehow, I had gotten it into my head that Thatcher Grey was dead, but he shows up tonight fresh out of rehab and twenty-nine days sober. You never hear him make the request but the Chief, well-versed in the steps of recovery, pages the Grey girls to his office so that Thatcher can engage the ninth step - making amends. After she hears her father's prepared apology speech, Meredith thanks him, wishes him luck, and walks away. Lexie, probably because she has a much more recent relationship with Thatcher, tearfully accepts his apology and lets him back into her life. Later, Lexie asks Mark to come to dinner that night to meet her father. Sloane quietly freaks out and tries to explain the multitude of reasons that this would be a bad idea, including his being closer to Thatcher's age than Lexie's, before being "pulled" away to work with Callie on a hippie that fell out of a tree. Callie is upset that nobody in her family is talking to her after her fight with her father. Yang and Sloane both suggest that she tell her family that she broke up with Arizona since it's really none of their business and it's not worth her suffering. I think she should tell her family to shove it because it's none of their business, but I'm not all that close to my family. Arizona reserves comment on the idea. The hippie girl had been living in a tree for six weeks to protest a land developer wiping out a forest to put up some condo's. The land developers, for their part, simply bulldozed the tree with her in it, causing the girl to break almost every bone in her body. The girl's sister - whom, it turns out, is a corporate lawyer of some sort - storms in and berates the hippie girl before telling her that she worked out a deal in which the land developers would pay her medical bills and agree not to sue or prosecute her for trespassing in return for her signing a contract not to sue them. The hippie's response falls somewhere along the line of "screw the soulless corporate bastards". The sisters fight until Callie - who had been subtly mocking the hippie - stands up for the girl and points out that no matter how stupid she may have been, she was also undeniably brave and should maybe be cut some slack. Before the lawyer can respond, her sister goes into v-tach. Callie identifies the cause as internal bleeding in the femoral artery and rushes her into surgery. After a ton of surgery, the hippie girl makes it out alive. While waiting for her to recover, her sister decides to become angry that the land developers weighed the costs of risking her sister's life versus waiting for her to come down and decided that bulldozing her was an acceptable risk. When the tree humper wakes up, her sister tells her that she filed suit against the developers for ten million dollars. Touched by the younger sister's determination to stand up for what she believes in, Callie decides not to lie to her family and insist that they accept her for who she is. Similarly inspired, Sloane decides to go to dinner with Lexie and her father. Alex greets a woman visitor and asks if he can help her. After some shameless flirting that Alex doesn't reciprocate, the woman finally tells him that she's looking for Izzie. When the woman enters Izzie's room, a shocked Izzie greets her as "mom" and you can almost see the disgust on Alex's face. Izzie's mom makes a nuisance of herself, gossipping about all the goings-on at the trailer park and not really listening to Izzie about how serious her cancer is, instead relating stories from her psychic and the Tyra Banks show as proof that Izzie will be fine. When Izzie finally make her understand how serious things are by drawing a comparison to the thyroid cancer that killer her grandmother, her mother falls apart and Izzie fears that her mother will never leave and instead will stay and drive her insane until the cancer takes her or she just kills herself. Bailey finally confesses to Izzie that she called her mom, thinking that Izzie was just protecting her and would want family close. Now understanding that Izzie was protecting herself from her mother, Bailey lies in front of Izzie's mom about the results of a scan, thus making her feel like it's okay to go home. Privately, Bailey confides that some of Izzie's "mets" (I have no idea what those are, can someone comment and help me out?) shrank, but new ones have appeared. Izzie thinks this means no surgery, but Bailey insists that they'll operate aggressively and then deal with what's left, demanding that Izzie not give up. Throughout the day, McBadass has nothing more to say to Cristina than pleasantries such as "Take care now." and "Hey there you." and it begins to bother her more and more as the day wears on. When a man comes in with multiple gunshot wounds, Owen gives most of his attention to George and only pays cursory attention to Yang, which grates on her even more. The man was shot by his roughly six-year old daughter. The mother claims that it was an accident and that the girl didn't mean to hurt her father, but the five bullets still in the man's body and evidence of 12 more shots going through him say otherwise. Gradually, the story comes out that the man has been physically abusing his wife and daughter and the girl wanted to put an end to it. When the mother tries to take her daughter to apologize to her husband before he goes into surgery that he quite possibly won't survive, Meredith lets all of her issues bubble to the surface and rips into the woman. Meredith tells her that her daughter is stronger than she is by refusing to be a victim and she will not let her make her daughter a victim like she is. When The Chief pulls Meredith aside to talk to her, Meredith rips into him about treating her differently and abusing his power to butt into her personal life. The Chief finally has enough and tells Meredith that if she wants to be treated like just another resident, then she is to stay at least 100 feet away from the woman and her daughter and, if she gets any closer than that, she will be suspended pending review of her fitness for the program. Derek, caught between the two, is obligated to take Meredith's side. In a discussion with the Chief, he points out that Richard is the most professional man that he knows except when it comes to Meredith. Derek points out all the ways in which Richard, for all of his insistence that he's neither Meredith's father nor responsible for her, treats Meredith like family. The husband pulls through the surgery and Meredith, unable to keep her mouth shut, goes to the wife and apologizes with the Chief giving warning shouts in the background. Meredith tells the woman that she apologizes for her harsh words, but she can't let her daughter's story be that she shot her abusive father. She tells the mother that she owes it to herself and her daughter to get out of this and not let them be defined as abuse victims. Meredith then walks away and tells the Chief that she'll pack her things to leave, The Chief, though, has been soaking it all in and follows Meredith into the locker room. He starts out angry, but then calms down and tells Meredith that he saw her family fall apart after he broke off the affair with her mother, but did nothing. He says he let himself off the hook by telling himself that he wasn't Meredith's father and it was none of his business, but he was wrong. He apologizes for not standing up for her like she just did for the little girl. Meredith finally accepts his apology and gives him a half-hug and I "awwww" a little. Later, as everyone's going home, Cristina confronts Owen and demands to know what's up with his smiling and cheerful, empty pleasantries. She asks if this is some kind of "choke 'em and forget 'em" thing and I'm ashamed of myself for laughing. Owen hands her a piece of paper and explains that it's a list of three letter phrases that he put together with his therapist that he could say to Cristina instead of the three words that he really wants to say but can't because it wouldn't be fair to her. He goes into much more detail and my heart breaks both at their pain and the fact that I will never ever be able to write something as awesome as this. These people are good! The episode ends with Yang tearfully telling Owen "take care now", Mark meeting Thatcher, Izzie telling her mom goodbye, and Meredith boxing up her mother's journals because she no longer wants them but thinks the Chief may like to have them. www.cinemablend.com/television/TV-Recap-Grey-s-Anatomy-No-Good-At-Saying-Sorry-One-More-Chance-17226.html
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Post by Leanne on May 1, 2009 13:49:07 GMT -5
Sorry about the locked thread I had actually gone on (at the office) and unlocked it well I thought I did and when I logged on a few hours before the episode I didnt check again before loosing the connection.... ok well Im back up and Im in the process of moving my ADSL/broadband so might have some fun and games for a while Thanks kaz for your forward thinking and George for the pm remember if you ever want to know what time it is in my neck of the woods we have the clock at the bottom with the flags.... Marcy perhaps you would like to move your post across to the episode thread and then Ill delete it ....George Ill delete yours now .... Im still battling to dload this episode but hopefully I will get it soon so will stay away from the reviews...
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Post by MarryMeOwen on May 3, 2009 11:41:10 GMT -5
From Matt Roush Notice how most of it is about Owen and Cristina: Apology Accepted: This week’s Grey’s Anatomy was all about making amends: Thatcher with his estranged Grey daughters, the Chief with Meredith, Izzy with her over-the-top mom, and most memorably, Owen with Cristina, revealing that what looked like a brush-off was actually his way of letting her off the emotional hook. “Take care now” being a substitute for those three other words he can’t bear to say to her because it would just rub salt in her psychic (and physical) wounds. Who needs words when the looks Kevin McKidd and Sandra Oh give each other speak volumes of hurt? www.tvguidemagazine.com/matt-roush-daily-review/matts-tv-week-in-review-927.html?page=2
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ruralstar
Kevin McKidd Online staff
website McFic
Life is a Journey of the Mind. Anything can happen....Just wait
Posts: 2,233
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Post by ruralstar on May 3, 2009 17:11:20 GMT -5
Thanks for posting this bit Maya.
I loved Matt's comment. He's echoing what so many of us have been saying for months now. Good to see more public acknowledgment of what the O/C storyline and Kevin and Sandra's stellar work has done for the show this year.
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Post by MarryMeOwen on May 3, 2009 18:42:42 GMT -5
I think we can count on Emmy noms for both of them this year. They seem to be a favorite all around. I have a read a few where people think KMK is overacting but those were only bloggers not actual tv critics.
I'm planning on writing in to Matt Roush again about Grey's after this week's episode, i was thinking of at some point just asking him the Emmy-odds for SO and KMK
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ruralstar
Kevin McKidd Online staff
website McFic
Life is a Journey of the Mind. Anything can happen....Just wait
Posts: 2,233
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Post by ruralstar on May 3, 2009 20:12:40 GMT -5
Overacting? Uh..yeah...okay whatever. Kevin can and has been incredibly subtle when warranted. Some of these 'bloggers' have way too much time on their hands. I hope you're right regarding the Emmys, Maya.
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Post by kaz on May 3, 2009 20:32:24 GMT -5
I think we can count on Emmy noms for both of them this year. They seem to be a favorite all around. I have a read a few where people think KMK is overacting but those were only bloggers not actual tv critics. Maya, I am fairly certain I have read some of the comments you are talking about on other boards and have to say that I don't place too much stock in them. Official reviewers and people who actually know what they're talking about agree that the acting is stellar.
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Post by MarryMeOwen on May 3, 2009 20:38:46 GMT -5
Yeah I think people are just not used to seeing really good actors on this show working together, not to say that the others aren't good, but KMK and SO bring a whole different ballgame. And yes, the official reviewers are always complementing them.
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Post by Geeze on May 3, 2009 21:34:50 GMT -5
I'm just glad that KMcK had the foresight to realize what a 1-2 punch he and SO would be. He said he really wanted to act with someone of her caliber or something like. When you're right, you're right.
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Post by kaz on May 3, 2009 22:08:22 GMT -5
Transcript from the recent podcast (courtesy of sandraoh.blogspot.com):
Krista Vernoff: There are these sliding door things and we live the sliding doors in the writers' room. "What if we do this? What if we go this way?" There are these moments when a lot in your day is really tortured and difficult, or you're tormented by the decisions that you make in the writers' room. "What is right? What is wrong?"
And then there are these moments of just utter victory. And then we came up with the three words thing. I don't know if it was me, I think it might have been one of the other writers. I wish I could remember. It all mixes together. They're all brilliant.
Ed Ornelas: I love the three word thing.
Krista: Somehow on that day we came up with this three word thing and it was like... We all sent up a cheer. We were so excited by this notion that he's saying these three words because he can't say...'cause he's not allowing himself to say "I love you", which I think is a actually a true act of generosity which Cristina finally gets when she says it back to him.
Ed Ornelas: She says it though and then she walks away. I think that is so cold.
Krista Vernoff: But she's doing this for him-
Ed Ornelas: I know, I know.
Krista Vernoff: - what he's doing for her. She doesn't want to walk away. When she says "Take care now" she is saying "I love you". He has just established that "Take care now" means "I love you". And she says it back and then she walks away because that's what he's saying. He's saying "I'm no good for you. We need to protect each other. This is horrible for me."
Ed Ornelas: I'm really bitter about that by the way. That you wrote it that way. I mean I love it, it's just that it was a dagger in the heart. Well, I mean, I think she has to walk away but it just...
Krista Vernoff: You know, until the table read her line was "I love you too".
Ed Ornelas: Ahh...You see, that's such a huge difference.
Krista Vernoff: Such a huge difference.
Ed Ornelas: You can interpret it as, she's basically throwing it right back in his face and just storming off. If she says "I love you too" and walks away then at least it's more clearer about what her feelings are.
Krista Vernoff: Well, I was surprised by Sandra's performance.
Ed Ornelas: She's so hurt.
Krista Vernoff: She's so hurt and that is what's amazing when you write a thing. I never, not in a million years - and this is what I love about Sandra Oh - never did I expect Cristina to come into that scene basically crying. She is so hurt. She is so mad and when she is saying to him "What am I to you?"...
Ed Ornelas: And she's mad because she's hurt.
Krista Vernoff: Because she is hurt. And in my head she was mad because she had been thwarted medically all day. But what Sandra brings is always so much more than you picture or intend. She comes in and she is so hurt because she is so in love with him and that he's been ignoring her all day. And to me, I didn't expect the tears so what they brought - what Sandra and Kevin brought - was art. It just broke my heart. I unexpectedly was in tears watching them shoot that scene.
So when you talk about that moment at the end, initially I thought that it was a much softer "take care now". I pictured her touching his face. I pictured an "I love you" back. But her pain at the loss of him, I think that she played the truth, which is that the pain overwhelms everything.
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Post by MarryMeOwen on May 3, 2009 22:13:18 GMT -5
I love that line "What Sandra and Kevin brought-was art" That is so true beyond words
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