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Post by kaz on Sept 20, 2012 18:47:09 GMT -5
SEASON PREMIERE
THE DOCTORS MUST PICK UP THE PIECES AFTER A TRAGIC PLANE CRASH, ON THE SEASON 9 PREMIERE OF ABC'S "GREY'S ANATOMY"
"Going Going Gone" - The doctors of Seattle Grace are faced with the aftermath of last season's plane crash. As they try to move on with their lives, they must learn to adapt to the changes, cope with their losses and move forward with their relationships and careers, on the ninth-season premiere of "Grey's Anatomy," THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 (9:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
"Grey's Anatomy" stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd, Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang, Justin Chambers as Alex Karev, Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey, James Pickens, Jr. as Richard Webber, Sara Ramirez as Callie Torres, Eric Dane as Mark Sloan, Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt, Jessica Capshaw as Arizona Robbins, Jesse Williams as Jackson Avery and Sarah Drew as April Kepner.
Guest cast for "Going Going Gone" includes William Daniels as Dr. Thomas, Jason George as Ben, Steven Culp as Dr. Parker, Gaius Charles as Shane, Philip Casnoff as Dr. Mel Barnett, Camilla Luddington as Josephine, Tina Majorina as Heather, Jerrika Hinton as Stephanie and Tessa Ferrer as Leah.
The episode was written by Stacy McKee and directed by Rob Corn.
"Grey's Anatomy" was created and is executive produced by Shonda Rhimes ("Scandal", "Private Practice", "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge"). Betsy Beers ("Scandal", "Private Practice", "Casanova"), Mark Gordon ("Saving Private Ryan"), Rob Corn ("Chicago Hope"), Tony Phelan and Joan Rater ("Law& Order: Trial by Jury") are executive producers. "Grey's Anatomy" is an ABC Studios production. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
This thread is for your thoughts, comments, discussion and/or reviews of the episode.
Please refrain from posting until after the episode has aired.
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Post by mesilla on Sept 27, 2012 21:22:37 GMT -5
Couple thoughts...
- WOW Cristina was way harsher than normal...holy overboard!
- This was not a good season premier, this would have been a better second episode.
- Thought Owen was going to get April was sweet.
- I am not one to get annoyed by fictional characters, but Meredith annoys me. A lot.
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Post by raachel2008 on Sept 27, 2012 21:39:05 GMT -5
I can't get past the absurdity of One!Week!In!The!Woods!
That's all.
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Post by blackorchid on Sept 27, 2012 21:39:21 GMT -5
Meredith loves Cristina more than Derek and I think that will always be true for her.
To leave Derek with Mark in a coma to go see your person is a little shocking for me.
Cristina has got some serious mental issues. She is running on empty and I think she gonna have a Meredith S4 storyline.
Booty Call Bailey is pure trash
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Post by trinity on Sept 27, 2012 22:33:18 GMT -5
Couple thoughts... - WOW Cristina was way harsher than normal...holy overboard! - This was not a good season premier, this would have been a better second episode. - Thought Owen was going to get April was sweet. - I am not one to get annoyed by fictional characters, but Meredith annoys me. A lot. Summed up well.
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betinad
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Post by betinad on Sept 28, 2012 0:53:21 GMT -5
I have to say that I didnt hate the episode but I didnt love it either. It didnt feel like a SP.
Mark death was sooo sad. (I am going to miss Eric Dane, he was great with comedic timing). But after completely forced PP crossovers, the least they could do is having Addison be there. and Meredith leaving her husband in a moment like that ... I want to slap her!
I hope next episodes get better ....
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Post by oystersandco on Sept 28, 2012 4:09:54 GMT -5
This was such an empty episode, I can't believe they put it as a season premiere. It's like they are desperately trying to find a way to worsen the show.
And yes, raachel2008, one week in the woods,I totally agree, and I'm not even talking about the timeline during the episode, SR has definitely some chronological disorder.
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Post by drwyatt on Sept 28, 2012 7:33:29 GMT -5
I had such mixed feelings about this episode. It was just finally a relief to see something onscreen so that we didn't have to speculate anymore. Kevin is looking extremely thin to me, don't you think? Re:the week in the woods, I took that as just intern exaggeration and non-specificity rather than literal fact, akin to when Bailey said she was 40 months pregnant. I have to rewatch the facetime scene with C and M and A; I thought C looked kind of hopeful when A said Hunt was at the airport. Poor Mark, lots of tissues. the show may suffer without his comic timing. It was a nice sendoff for him though. What was it that O said about C when he was talking to April? that line got swallowed for me. Looking forward to chatting with you all.
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Post by llindssey_CO on Sept 28, 2012 9:48:01 GMT -5
I thought Cris looked suprised or like you said hopeful.. I defiantyl didn't see her mad, or sad about it.. Just like an.."Oh he is?" Now I'd be a little freaked out when he didn't show up though.../=
I get that they were all in a plane crash, I figured it wasn't just going to be one day. Just by how Cristina was acting in that promo. So i'm goin to hold off on judging there behaviors. Because i realize they got some things to deal with..Including PTSD.....I know i wouldn't be able to fly... Cristina was mean, but I think thats part of her not being happy...If she were to actually get on that plane, she would never go back...i give it a couple more episodes..not including next weeks tho.
Owen just needs his wife..Cristina needs him. It's clear she is NOT ok.
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Post by S5fan on Sept 28, 2012 9:51:02 GMT -5
Couple thoughts... - WOW Cristina was way harsher than normal...holy overboard! - This was not a good season premier, this would have been a better second episode. - Thought Owen was going to get April was sweet. - I am not one to get annoyed by fictional characters, but Meredith annoys me. A lot. I totally agree with you! Basically what I think of the SP.
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Post by ella1967 on Sept 28, 2012 12:17:13 GMT -5
So this episode did three things: It said goodbye to Mark Sloan, it established the annoyance factor and innocence of the newbies, and it showed us how the crash and the week staff spent in the woods awaiting rescue has torn a big hole in the middle of SGHMW.
I felt a distinct hollowness at the center of the hospital amongst the existing staff and a complete lack of understanding of that hollowness from the new peeps, sort of the concept expressed in the VO about how life goes on around you, after you, when you die. Also a bit of an allusion to how some of the crash survivors are in a place of emotional death that they can't yet face, how Owen has joined them there.
There was an element of back and forth of realities throughout the episode as well, mimicking the sort of unpredictability emotional distress like PTSD combined with the weight of a traumatic incident like the crash can leave in its wake. Everyone was focused on 5 p.m. and the import of it had folks alternating between concentrating on that time and finding any excuse to avoid it, showing the differences in how people deal with, or don't deal with, pain.
And from a CO perspective we saw that each of them are deeply troubled by PTSD and they are each expressing that in different yet not entirely dissimilar ways. They have each been triggered by the losses of the crash, how those losses keep rolling out as Mark falls victim to his broken heart - no shortage of symbolism there.
Owen is shattered and guilty, trying to herd together those he can tend and fix and provide lessons for while avoiding his own heart and the depth of his pain at both the impact of the crash on his already unstable marriage and upon his friends and staff. Cristina is shattered and dead inside, hiding behind bravado, humor, and saving lives while avoiding her own heart and the depth of her pain at both the impact of the crash upon her already unstable marriage and upon her friends and colleagues. You get the drift, both are in the same place emotionally while geographically separated by their emotional reactivity.
We saw hints of how desperately they are pushing away their feelings and how they are better able to focus on tasks at hand instead of those feelings, also how their PTSD is displaying itself in controlled bouts of reactivity, bouts which I fully expect will be less controlled and more prolonged as time goes on.
Owen schooled the intern after she queried him about Meredith's meanness, after first showing us all of his emotions on his face in a few seconds worth of battle with them. Cristina hid behind blase humor and her surgical schedule yet the intensity of her gut-level reaction to her OR time being challenged by her boss and her new mentor showed us the thinness of her emotional veneer.
As bitter as I felt watching Owen get on a plane end of epi to then convince April her life can get back on track using some variation on the words he would have said to Cristina if he'd felt he could, while also watching Cristina's bravado slip a little bit when Alex tells her he just saw Hunt at the airport, I'm also more Zen about it after sleeping on it.
While as a dedicated CO fan I wanted way more hope for the stability of their relationship while watching the SP, that sort of wasn't the point of the episode. I also see these hopeful insights to how raw and ragged they are yet how they are still able to elicit emotional response from each of them even when they're not together, even when they're not interacting with each other, shows me PersonhoodIsShifting is my S.9 mantra for a reason and that they will get there after doing some of their own healing, so as to be ready to heal together.
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Post by hopew on Sept 28, 2012 12:17:56 GMT -5
I had thought the show probably hit bottom in Season 8, but apparently there is still more room for it to slide.
What a disappointing episode!
Things I liked:
Basically not much - - although as usual Kevin and Sandra do the best they can with the writing they are given. The episode was a thoughtful send-off for Eric Dane's character, which is a plus. I am intrigued by the idea of Cristina failing at Mayo - - not because of her surgical skills, but because of her inability to relate well to other people (which was really at its most apparent in this episode). She already knows how to be a surgeon; maybe her experiences at Mayo will teach her about the other life skills that she seems to be missing.
Things I really, really disliked:
I truly HATED Mer's abandonment of her husband while his best friend was dying, to try to go off to see Cristina. I hope we're supposed to see that as pathological behavior. Who does that? I wouldn't leave my husband alone to deal with putting down a pet, let alone pulling the plug on his closest, oldest friend. Alex reduced to his old frat boy, horn dog prior self was pretty offensive too. And I really felt manipulated by all the "bait and switch" tricks in the episode. Will Shonda ever, ever outgrow that? Making it look like Arizona is dead, only to reveal the amputation at the end. Making it look like Owen is rushing off to see Cristina, only to reveal that it's April he went to see. These are old tricks, pulled from the bottom of Shonda's bag of tricks, and as a viewer I'm getting tired of her games.
I'll keep following the show as long as Kevin in still on it, but IMO this was a pretty discouraging start to the season!
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Post by browncoatwhit on Sept 28, 2012 12:22:11 GMT -5
Actually -- I really enjoyed last night's episode! There were elements I didn't like much, but overall, I thought it was very effective! (EDITED: I apparently crossposted with Ella & Hope...) What I liked: * I thought the relatively quiet, undramatic death for Sloan was MARVELOUSLY handled, given that GA is usually Melodrama Central. (I LOVED Callie's dirty-talk attempt to wake Sloan... funny but also poignant, because you know that if the promise of bare boobs wasn't going to bring him out of his coma, nothing could...) Sloan's death was given a great more dignity that I was expecting, and I was impressed with how Sloan's primarily relationships were handled. * I was skeptical of the "jump forward" structure of the premiere at first -- but in effect, it was a great way to spoonfeed us with what's essentially a radically different environment -- beloved characters gone, characters in radically new roles, new characters to meet and absorb... I thought it was VERY effective, once I could step past my visceral desire for the ep to be ONLY C/O. But seriously -- the more I think about it, the more I like the creative choice to skip over the plane rescue drama for a later episode. The non-linear structure only adds to the drama and anticipation, while allowing us to absorb what's important for us to know about the "Now" of the new season. * Meredith the Medusa and Booty Call Bailey... I'm still giggling over those new titles, and how they've been earned. Glad Bailey is having some happy time! And we all know Meredith is a heartless b***ch with icky hair anyway ;D I'm just glad the interns are seeing her for her true self, instead of apparently thinking she walks on water like everyone else at Seattle Mercy West Death Hall Grace does... * Cristina's remaining in close face-chat contact with Meredith solves the whole "I hate phones" issue, and I thought that was an effective way to technically show their interactions... plus, it seemed completely in character for them both! (The moment when Owen walks up on Meredith's chat session with Cristina, and wistfully asks about her flight plans... my heart just broke a little bit more, but the moment felt very consistent character-wise as well) * Arizona ain't dead, but merely crippled and in a terrible depression. Glad not to lose Arizona, and this does give them somewhere to be that doesn't have me singing Shiny Happy People. * I really liked Avery in this episode, and am looking forward to Avery getting more character development and screen time! * Owen's flying out to rescue... April. Successful fake-out! d**n GA writers can just play my like strings, I guess! Bastards. What I didn't like: * Owen's flying out to rescue... April. It was a successful fake-out, but it left me feeling cheated! April remains the weakest character on the show, and GA's writers have NO FREAKING CLUE what life on a real farm is like, apparently. (April is about as realistic a farm girl as she is a trauma surgeon! WTF was she gonna do with a hog on a leash? Take him to County Fair, maybe?) * The "stuck in the woods for a week" was jarring -- I hope that the intern proves to be exaggerating the time frame... hope hope hope, but again, GA is Melodrama Central, so it's a weak hope... * The hokey, stereotypical "so mild & friendly!" trope for the ENTIRE staff of the Mayo clinic... ::vomitting a little:: Granted, Cristina HAS to be given reason enough to eventually fly home again, but really? Really? The entire May Clinic??? ::sigh:: Seriously. I'm never going to be100% happy with an episode, until the Happy Happy Day when they finally give me something that's 90% C/O! But as an opening episode for a new season, this gave me what I needed to stay engaged and invested emotionally in the show, and actually bought me back in some ways as well. I definitely enjoyed it FAR more than I did the last ep of last season!
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Post by ella1967 on Sept 28, 2012 12:32:12 GMT -5
One P.S. as a Midwestern farmgirl who currently lives in MN in close proximity to the Mayo Clinic - first off they could have hired me as a technical consultant. I could have told them that the MN weather they depicted is appropriate to end of November/first half of December at the earliest. Also, that farmgirls rarely wear plaid shirts and kerchiefs to denote their rural quaintness. (Farming is an incredibly tough business btw.) And as someone who has spent time at the Mayo clinic and spent the last twenty years living in MN - yes, that kind of folksiness is indicative of Midwestern life, however, the staff of that prestigious medical institution is multi-cultural and incredibly focused on providing good medical care.
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Post by browncoatwhit on Sept 28, 2012 12:32:41 GMT -5
I'm just gonna quote myself here -- as an episode of a series that features multiple characters and multiple story lines, I think this was a very effective season opener. It re-engaged me, and starkly laid out for me where some of the characters are starting from for storylines in the year ahead.
As an episode of the Cristina/Owen show, it Sucked Big Time. But considering the abortion that was the failed abortion/failing marriage storyline in Season 8, this episode left me with hope for my two favorite characters. Things for them can only get better from here! It's GA -- and it's Shondaland, so I know it won't get better quickly or easily (and that Meredith Grey won't somehow be in the middle of the proverbial bed), but this season premiere gave me reason to hope that our favorites have hit their respective rock bottoms, and that we'll get to see them fight their respective demons and find their way back together this year!
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Post by S5fan on Sept 28, 2012 12:38:05 GMT -5
however, the staff of that prestigious medical institution is multi-cultural and incredibly focused on providing good medical care. Yes, it is in fact one of the most prestigious clinics in the world isn´t it, not just the USA? There is even a harsh criticism from an employee of Mayo on ABC board for the kind of negative way the clinic was portrayed. Shonda has never been careful about these things.
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Post by trinity on Sept 28, 2012 13:06:24 GMT -5
Actually -- I really enjoyed last night's episode! There were elements I didn't like much, but overall, I thought it was very effective! (EDITED: I apparently crossposted with Ella & Hope...) What I liked: * Owen's flying out to rescue... April. Successful fake-out! d**n GA writers can just play my like strings, I guess! Bastards. What I didn't like: * Owen's flying out to rescue... April. It was a successful fake-out, but it left me feeling cheated! April remains the weakest character on the show, and GA's writers have NO FREAKING CLUE what life on a real farm is like, apparently. (April is about as realistic a farm girl as she is a trauma surgeon! WTF was she gonna do with a hog on a leash? Take him to County Fair, maybe?) * The hokey, stereotypical "so mild & friendly!" trope for the ENTIRE staff of the Mayo clinic... ::vomitting a little:: Granted, Cristina HAS to be given reason enough to eventually fly home again, but really? Really? The entire May Clinic??? ::sigh:: My opinion is probably very unpopular but the character of April (through the portrayal of Sarah Drew who is actually a very talented actress) remains one of the most real and human characters in this show... Because people tend to like the superhuman (or women cos it's Shondaland) more exactly, flawless all at the top their game characters. And that's not how in real is. Real world has nothing to do with that. The more I watch this show the more I realize that Shonda Rhimes has no idea what it means to be a surgeon or a doctor. April is human, real, flawed (btw she is not even among my favorite characters). She may not be credible as a trauma surgeon (IA with that), but she is credible as a woman who strives to become a surgeon from every point of view. And I thought what Owen did was very sweet. He is indeed one of the few out there who is behaving truly like a doctor.. Mayo Clinic was actual how a hospital should be (the key word being *should* here since in RL it is not quite like that... If surgeons were behaving like that, the world would definitely be a better place... That is an idealistic view of a clinic just like it was Dermatology department presented in S5) (I'm absolutely sure, what's presented there has nothing to do with the reality of Mayo Clinic in RL and whoever made the criticism on Shonda I'm sure he is very very entitled to). It is not about competition, it is not about who is the superstar there, it is about team work and about the patients. What Dr. Parker told Cristina was actually very very true and I would hope that she would learn something from that. Cristina at this point has some serious mental issues. And she is doing what she has done before, burying herself in work, but even more so than before, and even more shut down than before. Because she is angry, at the world in general, at the people - because probably they have spent an amount of time in the woods after the plane crash without being found. Arizona (as JCap said in her latest interviews) is blaming Callie for what happened to her, Cristina is blaming the entire world. That's why she is not effective (from the Chief of Mayo's POV), because she is angry and lashing out and taking on out on everyone around her. She has a perfect record, her skills are impeccable, she knows how to be a surgeon, what she needs to learn is to be a human being once again. She has shut down that part of her - trying to reinvent herself (as KMK very well said). This is not who is, it's what she is trying to become believing this way will strive.. She needs comfort and stability, support and love so she can truly come back from this, but right now she is refusing any of these things..
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Post by MarryMeOwen on Sept 28, 2012 13:17:56 GMT -5
Both mer an cristina abandoning their husbands what else is new? I was hoping for less mer/cris interaction. Now they are more co-dependent on each other than ever.
I agree with those who said it didnt seem like a season premiere.
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Post by trinity on Sept 28, 2012 13:23:44 GMT -5
I had thought the show probably hit bottom in Season 8, but apparently there is still more room for it to slide. What a disappointing episode! Things I liked: Basically not much - - although as usual Kevin and Sandra do the best they can with the writing they are given. The episode was a thoughtful send-off for Eric Dane's character, which is a plus. I am intrigued by the idea of Cristina failing at Mayo - - not because of her surgical skills, but because of her inability to relate well to other people (which was really at its most apparent in this episode). She already knows how to be a surgeon; maybe her experiences at Mayo will teach her about the other life skills that she seems to be missing. Things I really, really disliked: I truly HATED Mer's abandonment of her husband while his best friend was dying, to try to go off to see Cristina. I hope we're supposed to see that as pathological behavior. Who does that? I wouldn't leave my husband alone to deal with putting down a pet, let alone pulling the plug on his closest, oldest friend. Alex reduced to his old frat boy, horn dog prior self was pretty offensive too. And I really felt manipulated by all the "bait and switch" tricks in the episode. Will Shonda ever, ever outgrow that? Making it look like Arizona is dead, only to reveal the amputation at the end. Making it look like Owen is rushing off to see Cristina, only to reveal that it's April he went to see. These are old tricks, pulled from the bottom of Shonda's bag of tricks, and as a viewer I'm getting tired of her games. I'll keep following the show as long as Kevin in still on it, but IMO this was a pretty discouraging start to the season! ITA. A very disappointing SP and I thought as well that she could go lower than what it was S8. I was wrong. It was disjointed and forced. I'm not gonna even comment on Meredith anymore...Leaving your husband at the most emotional time for him,, is just NOT the way to go. No wonder EP has her own issues with the portrayal of this friendship. And above all, yes, I am tired of Shonda's old bag of tricks.. It worked seasons ago, but not anymore. It's just annoying and repetitive... I knew before that Owen was going to see April as I knew that Arizona didn't die but lost a limb.. The only good thing was the time they took to bid "goodbye" to ED's character.
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Post by raachel2008 on Sept 28, 2012 13:45:29 GMT -5
I truly HATED Mer's abandonment of her husband while his best friend was dying, to try to go off to see Cristina. I hope we're supposed to see that as pathological behavior. Who does that? I wouldn't leave my husband alone to deal with putting down a pet, let alone pulling the plug on his closest, oldest friend. And *child*. Meredith left Derek AND Zola to be with Cristina. So, in top of everything, Derek also had to deal with an infant. Instead of taking care of her child, Meredith had to… heck, I don’t even know what exactly she wanted with Cristina? FaceTiming? The hell? The only thing I truly enjoyed in this episode was Mark’s death, though I found the whole joking outside his room quite unbelievable. Mark’s living will was a nice touch, because, well, something remotely true to life and the character. Great, subtle acting by both Sarah Ramirez and Patrick Dempsey – who never gets the credit he deserves. JCap also did good with her 2.7 seconds scene. Everything else was utter dull. I love KmK but there is only so much he can do with that crappy script. I really didn’t feel the scene with April, though the one with the intern was better, maybe because the girl herself wasn’t bad. I have a hard time trying to be believe that Owen would beg April to come back, and I don’t care if he was saying the words he wanted to say to Cristina – I don’t buy that he would fly over there while Mark was dying and his staff was such as mess. As far as Cristina goes, well, I don’t think she looked hopeful he was flying to Mayo, or anything like that. Just a bit “Oh, really? Ok.” The week in the woods drives me crazy, not only because it is absurd – trust me, it is – but because it was not necessary. Being in a plane crash is traumatic. Just a single night in the woods would trigger all kinds of depression, PTSD, you name it. Mark would still die, and Arizona would still lose her leg after one night, and they would all be screwed up. But Shonda never knows when to stop, she needs to go for the over the top stuff and screw even more things.
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