Thursday, April 24, 2008

Lions and Surgeons and Bears...Oh, my!















I don't know when Grey's Anatomy went off the air. I haven't counted the days or weeks; I don't know how many "potential episodes" could have aired in the time the show was gone. Honestly, I'm not sure I even missed it. Outside motivation to air my frustrations on various blogs, the show doesn't really serve much of a purpose. But still, I faithfully tuned in after the hiatus, to see what the writers had cooked up in ABC's triumphant return of TV.

And, despite all that time off - the best they could come up with is a ripoff of The Wizard of Oz?

Meredith longs to escape "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," but the closest she can get to a song-filled soliloquy is a therapy session. Meanwhile, Rose (the Wicked Witch of the Pacific Northwest) cackles about how much she loves Derek and remains a roadblock to Meredith's fantasy.

Yang, Karev, and Stevens all go running around the hospital like the Munchkins down the Yellow Brick Road because, because, because, because, because they all want to win the Points Competition, which is of course monitored by Bailey-the-Good-Witch-of-the-East, deliverer of sparkly prizes.

Despite all his knowledge about brains, McDreamy remains the Scarecrow - unable to sort out his thoughts about Meredith and Rose and searching for someone to just tell him what to think. Hahn, as the Tin (Wo)man, clearly is heartless in the way she ignores Cristina, even when visiting in her own home. And George, rounding out the trio, wishes to be "King of the Forest" because even though he failed his intern exam, he clearly has enough common sense and courage to do a lot better than all the idiots they have running around performing tests on people.

The bear-attacked-trio swoop in as unexpectedly as the flying monkeys, throwing Seattle Grace into uproar with their see-through wounds and unexpected injuries. (Further evidence that the Grey's writers watched too much Wizard: the rebound-girl-wife was played by the same actress whose character was obsessed with the Oz books in the movie Girl, Interrupted. Coincidence? I think not).

And through it all, the Chief remains the elusive Wizard, who somehow has all the knowledge about brains (neurosurgery), hearts (cardiac surgery), and courage (to not give up even when you lose the sparkly-pager competition), yet still can't manage to get his own life all in order.

When Meredith finally gathers the sense to click her heels together and talk to the therapist (because, really, she had the power all along but she had to realize it for herself), viewers can only hope that she has a Dorothy-esque realization that her life is pretty good - despite the number of times she has tried to throw it away. (Little does she realize there's Lexie, eager to "nest" a la Auntie Em, and provide a stable home for someone. If only the two sisters could get together, maybe they could really help each other out).

So, what will it be next week, oh dear television writers? A little Showboat on a Seattle ferryboat? Or maybe Monty Python - I already heard mention of a "Holy Grail." Oh, I suppose that could also be The Da Vinci Code.

Jaws might be the most appropriate -that way they could work "jumping the shark" into the storyline, instead of just doing it metaphorically each week.

No comments: