betinad
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Post by betinad on Oct 2, 2012 8:59:03 GMT -5
On a Night Crowded With Hits, ‘Big Bang’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Stand OutBy BILL CARTER The television season’s first Thursday — a night always packed with hit shows — delivered some of the most-watched episodes of premiere week with established favorites like “The Big Bang Theory” and “ Grey’s Anatomy” coming back strong. New entries like “Elementary” on CBS and “Last Resort” on ABC got off to promising starts. And Fox’s “X-Factor” proved it has found its audience level, which is lower than last year but still competitive on a tough night. NBC’s results for its comedy are the hardest to gauge because, while better in every case than last week, they are most likely skewed because NBC stations in two cities, Cleveland and Baltimore, carried an N.F.L. game between the Browns and the Ravens Thursday night, no doubt to huge local audiences. NBC’s true results won’t be clear until about 4 p.m. Friday. What is clear is that “Big Bang” remains the biggest power on Thursday. It has the most viewers of any show, 15.3 million, and the best rating in the advertiser-preferred audience segment of 18- to 49-year-olds—a 4.8. That has been topped in premiere week only by ABC’s comedy powerhouse “Modern Family,” which had a 5.5 rating. But ABC had strong results for a drama it has had to fear might be fading, “Grey’s Anatomy.” Perhaps because of its dealing with a compelling cliffhanger from last season, “Grey’s” posted a strong 4.3 rating in the 18-49 group, with about 11.5 million viewers. (...) mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/on-a-night-crowded-with-hits-big-bang-and-greys-anatomy-stand-out/
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betinad
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Post by betinad on Oct 2, 2012 21:03:59 GMT -5
'Grey's Anatomy' Season Premiere Review: Everybody's Leaving, Everybody's Dying Welcome back, Grey's Anatomy fans! Where to begin? Given that last season ended with a plane crash, I wasn't expecting fun and frolic in the season premiere. Having said that, "Going Going Gone" was even more depressing than I anticipated. Yikes! In addition it was the dawn of a new era. Some things were the same except ... not. Other things were very, very different. The episode flashed forward three months after the crash (apparently we'll fill in the gaps next week) and it soon became apparent that this was not business as usual. A Tale of Two Baileys One of the things I liked very much about the episode was the homage paid to the show's past. From the opening music (the same song opened the series' premiere episode, 101: "A Hard Day's Night") to an intern being chosen to fail performing their first surgery (RIP George O'Malley), long-time fans took a stroll down Memory Lane. Remember when Miranda Bailey was The Nazi? She abandoned that nickname after operating on a white supremacist, but that's not the point. Miranda Bailey used to invoke fear in her interns. She made them quake. She commanded respect. Now, apparently, she makes them laugh. Happy at last with fiancee, Ben, Miranda's new nickname is BCB: Booty Call Bailey. Oh, the indignity of it all. That needs to change. Pronto. Meanwhile, Bailey 2.0 is none other than Meredith Grey! Lexie's dead, Cristina's in Minnesota, and Derek may never operate again. One can only assume that the cumulative affect of all this has hardened Meredith and turned her into Medusa, the attending striking fear in the hearts of the new crop of interns. I felt for Meredith, especially when she tried to get on an airplane and, understandably, freaked out. Not so understandable? She was on that plane to go and see Cristina. While Mark was dying. Literally as Derek and Callie sat by their friend's bedside while Richard removed the life support. This brings me to one of my biggest beefs with the show. For Meredith, Cristina always seems to come first. Even when her husband's best friend was fading away. Really? Come on! I get it. They're twisted sisters. Whatever. That doesn't make it right. In the real world if I put my best friend ahead of my husband constantly, I wouldn't have a husband. End of story. RIP Mark Sloan 1968-2012 Over the summer word leaked out that Eric Dane would be leaving Grey's, returning for only two episodes. While I find myself really sad that Mark's dead, it really was the only way to write him out at this point. He would never have left his daughter, Sofia, or his best friend and baby mama, Callie. No way. The video tributes throughout the episode along with Jackson's one-sided conversations with the mentor he'd come to both respect and appreciate paid tribute to McSteamy, which was only fitting. I'm glad he got a good sendoff, although it's going to be disconcerting to see him alive again in next week's flashback episode. I like to think he and Lexie are together again. Don't get me started on wondering why they couldn't have just been written off happily into the sunset (and I didn't even particularly like them together!) instead of dying grisly deaths. Just remember Mark's cleverness and wit (man, I'm going to miss Dane's comic timing...perfection) and think of Callie and Derek at his bedside or Jackson's despondent grief (no more Plastics Posse, no more Bromance) and you will be reminded of why Mark's departure is a great loss to the series. Bait and Switch: Times Four and a Half Trickery was the name of the game in this episode. Alex was still at Seattle Grace. He must have chosen to stay. Wrong. He just postponed his move to Johns Hopkins. Wrong again! In the end he couldn't leave. Not his hospital, not his program to help African children, and not his friends. Cristina did, indeed, go to the Mayo Clinic for her fellowship. But instead of becoming the Cardio Goddess she's been telling us for eight seasons she is destined to be, she's floundering in Minnesota. Her proctor from the boards (the wonderful William Daniels) is now her attending and her supervisor (the ubiquitous Steven Culp) sternly told her that in this hospital there was no competition, only teamwork, as he commanded her to take some time off and see the Mall of America. She's adrift in this new place, clearly still traumatized by the crash and missing the two people who mean the most to her: husband, Owen, and aforementioned twisted sister, Meredith. For the woman who has always put surgery before all else, things aren't working out how she planned at all. Not by a long shot. Arizona was MIA the whole episode and we were meant to infer that she, too, had died. Callie was an emotional wreck. Alex was wracked with guilt. There was a new pediatrics attending and he was walking on eggshells, particularly around Callie. But, surprise! Well, not to me, because the likelihood of killing both Mark and Arizona on the heels of Lexie dying and Teddy leaving seemed remote at best plus Calzona has a passionate fan base. Anyway, surprise! Arizona was alive but not at all well, having lost her leg! Uh, oh. Finally, Owen was left trying to pick up the pieces of his gutted staff and his shattered marriage. Not going so well on either front. He gave the new interns a good talking to (twice, actually) and gave the new attending a tour. But most of all he missed Cristina. He caught a glimpse of her video chatting with Meredith and my heart broke for him. He looked so broken. We were led to believe that he was flying to Minnesota to see Cristina, but, no, instead he went to Ohio to retrieve April and try to fix the one thing he could do over. At least Cristina looked disappointed when Karev assumed that Hunt was going to see her and she knew that wasn't true. I'm grasping here. Work with me. Four months of summer hiatus only to have zero Owen/Cristina minutes in this episode has left me broken and discouraged. Kind of like our surgeons. I'll get over it. Will they? www.buddytv.com/articles/greys-anatomy/greys-anatomy-season-premiere-47676.aspx
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Post by betinad on Oct 6, 2012 22:21:09 GMT -5
Grey's Anatomy Recap: Cristina Goes Silent and the Truth About Arizona's Leg Amputation Tonight's Grey's Anatomy episode was filled with TMI and lots of emotions. We finally learn what happened right after the Seattle Grace doctors were rescued from the plane crash, and some are handling it better than others. And did Callie (Sara Ramirez) really cut off Arizona's (Jessica Capshaw) leg? Find out what's going on with all of the docs now: Grey's season premiere recap! Meredith: In somewhat shocking news, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) seems to be dealing with the crash aftermath the best. She is the one saying everyone is going to be "fine" and that Sloan (Eric Dane) isn't going to die and Arizona isn't going to lose her leg. Let's just say being a psychic is definitely not Mere's calling. Derek: His left hand was badly damaged, and it's likely he will only get 80 percent function back. Derek (Patrick Dempsey) seems to be at peace with the idea of consulting and teaching, until Callie suggests a risky surgery that may help him restore his hand completely. He wants to do it and wants Callie to operate. Cristina: In the words of Meredith, say something please! While there is nothing physically wrong with Cristina (Sandra Oh), we find her in restraints and unable to speak because of PTSD. Once home and with Owen (Kevin McKidd)—who has been the sweetest—she finally talks and it ain't pretty. She recalls the bugs on Arizona's leg, Sloan who kept trying to die, having to drink her own pee and animals fighting over Lexie's (Chyler Leigh) dead body. Sloan: He's alive! Well, in this episode. Everyone is nervous that because Lexie died, Mark—who is in bad shape—is going to stop fighting. Mark gets better for a while, but if you saw the season nine premiere, you know Sloan's fate. Did we really have to watch him die twice? Arizona: After looking at the X-rays she withholds consent and won't let anyone amputate her leg. Meanwhile, Alex (Justin Chambers) postponed Hopkins and has been taking over Arizona's cases, but she isn't exactly grateful. Arizona berates him and calls him a horrible person and says she wonders why the crash happened to someone like her, not someone like Alex (remember he was supposed to be on the plane instead of Arizona). Callie wants to honor Arizona's wishes and comes up with a surgery to try to save the leg. Unfortunately Callie won't get the chance. In the middle of the surgery she is performing on Derek, Arizona starts to crash because of the infection in her leg. Alex comes in to tell Callie, when she gives the order: Cut off the leg. And he does. It's safe to say Arizona isn't going to like Alex any better. www.eonline.com/news/351571/grey-s-anatomy-recap-cristina-goes-silent-and-the-truth-about-arizona-s-leg-amputation
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Post by betinad on Oct 6, 2012 22:25:31 GMT -5
Grey's Anatomy Rundown: "Remember the Time" We're two episodes into the new season of Grey's Anatomy, but we still haven't gotten past the epic plane crash in last season's finale. In fact, this week we go back to fill in the holes, as Meredith dredges up her own painful memories of what happened. It's another heartbreaking episode, and after watching Mark die for a second time, I'm hoping for at least a tiny bit of lightness in the episodes to come. Since the episode is all flashbacks, I thought we could review the biggest surprises of the week. Let's recap what we learned from the episode when you read more. •Cristina went through a semicatatonic period. In the premiere, we see Cristina as her usual snarky self, but she definitely went through a very rough patch on her way to Minnesota. When she's taken back to Seattle, she's not speaking at all, and her violent outbursts almost earn her a one-way ticket to the psych ward. Ultimately, she starts to come back to herself during a sponge bath (courtesy of Owen), where she recounts the horrible details of their four days in the woods — including picking bugs off of Arizona and hearing animals fight over Lexie's remains. Can't blame the girl for fleeing the scene, but I will say that Owen's tenderness toward her in this episode has given me a little hope that their relationship may not be completely over. •Mark was awake before his 30-day coma. I had just assumed that Mark arrived in Seattle unconscious, but as it turns out, he was awake — and cracking dirty jokes — in his final "surge." Though I loved getting a few more scenes with Mark, it's a bittersweet gift knowing how it all ends up. He admits once again that he loved Lexie (to his girlfriend, ouch), and passes out words of wisdom on work and love to Jackson before he slips away. I can only assume that his demand that Jackson always profess his love is going to involve April somewhere down the line. •Derek still wanted to move. I was initially surprised to see that Derek had been so hell-bent on moving to Boston, but as the episode unfolds, it makes more and more sense. With his crushed hand, Derek embraces his new role as a teacher, but then it becomes clear that he's still aching to get back into the OR. He encourages Meredith to move cross-country to get a fresh start, but she's insistent on staying put. •Callie sort of betrayed Arizona. I'm definitely not blaming Callie for making the decision to cut Arizona's leg off, but Arizona's anger towards her wife in the premiere certainly makes more sense now. Arizona makes Callie promise not to do the amputation, and Callie, desperately hoping that she can come up with an alternative, agrees. Ultimately, it's Alex who actually does the surgery, which just adds insult to injury since Arizona berates Alex and calls him a horrible person earlier in the episode. Here's my question: since Arizona accuses Callie of cutting off her leg in the season premiere, do you think Callie covered for Alex? www.buzzsugar.com/Greys-Anatomy-Recap-Remember-Time-25304696
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Post by betinad on Oct 6, 2012 22:29:45 GMT -5
'Grey's Anatomy' Review: What Happened After the Crash? Thursday, October 04, 2012 I don't know about you, but I'm going to need to watch that again. In "Remember the Time," Grey's Anatomy flashed back, filling in the pieces and answering the questions left unanswered in last week's "Going Going Gone". The non-traditional narrative structure worked beautifully, helping the viewer piece together bit by bit what happened in the aftermath of the fateful plane crash. The result was not so much a puzzle as a mosaic or perhaps and impressionistic painting. All those dots ... but when you step back ... wow. A masterpiece unfolds before your eyes. Before I get started in earnest, let me make three random comments. First, how much do I love Richard Webber? He has become the show's anchor and touchstone, a rock in times of trouble. Love him. Second, Owen Hunt is totally rockin' it out as The Chief 2.0, helping his colleagues and friends through hell on earth while also coping with his own personal hell. Finally, Lexie's body was devoured by wild animals? Sadly realistic, I suppose, but still. Oh, Little Grey. I'm so sorry. Okay, moving on... Meredith and DerekI really liked the two-fold organization of the show. One by one we saw each survivor's story and got snippets of information which, taken collectively, helped to form a comprehensive picture. As is customary, Meredith's voiceover was the glue that held the show together and, indeed, we saw what happened to her and Derek first and second. I way struck by two things: how "Medusa" is anything but when it comes to the people she loves and how Derek is really stepping up in the wake of losing his hand and his best friend. He recognizes how, despite everything, how fortunate he and Meredith both are to be alive and he's emerging as a hero as a result. Cristina and OwenWhat can I say? Sandra Oh continues to astound and in Kevin McKidd she has an acting partner of the highest caliber. Their scene in the bathroom was absolutely breathtaking and I'm struck by a few thoughts. Cristina may have backpedaled by the end of the episode by calling Meredith her "person" once again, but it was OWEN who calmed Cristina when she was like a wild animal. And it was OWEN to whom Cristina finally opened up and poured out her heart. The horrors of her experience are consuming her to the point where she sees no way out except to run. Owen may be afraid he'll never get Cristina back, but I beg to differ. This is far from over and HE is Cristina's person. She recognized it at the end of last season and I predict she'll realize it again. Despite everything these two are soul mates and my money is on them finding their way back to each other eventually. That doesn't mean it will be either quick or easy. I suspect it will be neither. MarkI was gutted all over again by Mark Sloan returning from the dead. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. After breaking my heart last week by dying, this week we saw how things went to hell and lost him all over again. Eric Dane, so good for so long in the lighter comedic aspects of his character, knocked it out of the park as he portrayed Mark's final days. Whether breaking up with Julia (nice touch there), bringing the Bromance with Jackson, or sharing poignant moments with Derek and Callie and Richard, Mark's swansong was perfection. What a loss. Absolute devastation. Arizona and Callie and AlexI've complained for years that even when terrible things happen to Calzona it always seems to pass quickly (chickenpox, AZ goes to Africa but returns a few episodes later). Even Callie's near-death after a catastrophic car accident was wrapped up neatly in a three-episode arc. But now, all bets are off. Callie promised that she would not let Arizona lose her leg. Never make sweeping promises, Callie! No good ever comes of it. To save Arizona's life Callie had to break that promise and poor Alex was the one to actually cut his mentor's leg off. After suffering Arizona's wrath for picking Johns Hopkins and not being on the doomed flight (and handling that wrath with astounding grace, I might add), Alex Karev (guilty, devastated, why can't anything go right for him -- why?) had to cut off Arizona's leg. This is very, very bad. Wrapping Things UpSo let's review. MerDer stayed in Seattle. She's terrorizing interns. He may never operate again. Cristina fled to Minnesota but is failing to thrive there. How long until she returns to SGMW and to Owen? I can not face talking about Mark again, even to recap. Jackson and April are on the outs but she's coming back from Ohio, so who knows? Arizona is mightily ticked off that Alex cut off her leg under Callie's directive. Look out. Bailey is happy with Ben but has lost her professional mojo and Richard is our sure foundation. Whew! I think that about does it. Step back. Take in the whole picture. And exhale, because this is what exceptional story-telling looks like. The next all-new episode of Grey's Anatomy, "Love the One You're With" airs in two weeks on Thursday, October 18th on ABC. www.buddytv.com/articles/greys-anatomy/greys-anatomy-review-forget-ab-47801.aspx
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