The documentary worked, didn’t it? On Grey’s Anatomy this week, a documentary crew visited Seattle Grace to make a film about how the hospital was recover from the shooting that killed eleven people. It made sense – in the real world, a mass shooting at a hospital would certainly be newsworthy. And I’ve got to say, that format really, really worked. The text on the screen, the interviews with docs and patients, and the plot development we got from the episode were all perfectly executed.
One thing I particularly liked was how we got to observe the implementation of the hospital’s new security systems. It was one of those things that was both funny and sad – it was funny to see Lexie constantly questioned at the security gate because she’d dyed her hair, but it was sad when the glitches kept interfering with the actual work done in the hospital.
The big, medical story of the week was about a man who’d be getting arm transplants after a donor match died in a motorcycle accident. Yes, both arms from the motorcycle guy would be cut off and attached to another man who’d lost his arms in a logging accident. It was one of those miraculous surgeries that Seattle Grace docs seem to pull off all to often, but the documentary style of the episode actually worked, because it recognized what a crazy surgery this was. The patient interviews were a great addition – the donor’s widow was played by an actress I love from Big Love and Mad Men, and the patient’s wife was played by another great actress from Felicity.
There was a hitch in the surgery when the docs discovered a tattoo of the name Nicole (the donor’s wife) on one of the arms – it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s very important that the recipient bond with the new body parts. Apparently some people ask to have them removed post-surgery. It wasn’t a big deal for the couple though, who offered to rename their dog or themselves Nicole if it meant going through with the surgery. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who choked up a little at the end when we saw that the surgery had been successful (thanks to Callie!) and the recipient had gotten the words “thank you” tattooed next to “Nicole”.
The other medical storylines were just as fantastic, too. Alex and Arizona were taking care of a young girl named Lily who tumor blocking her airway. To recover, Arizona and Alex had to harvest a new trachea for the girl – pretty mindblowing medicine. The best part of the storyline, for me, was the fact that it seemed to once and for all confirm that Alex will specialize in pediatrics. We all knew he would, because he’s amazing at it. The contrast of Alex saying “It’s not about kids, I don’t even like kids” to the shot of him singing to Lily while she had a scan was the perfect depiction of Alex’s character.
The saddest storyline was Mandy Moore’s return as Mary, the girl who’d been with Bailey and Charles during the shooting. She was back for her surgery, which was very simple. It was pretty much impossible not to have a soft spot for her after the shooting, and hearing her talk about how she and her husband blew their savings by traveling and were looking forward to starting a family after the surgery made her even more endearing. And frankly, I didn’t really see it coming when Mary didn’t wake up from her surgery. Her very simple surgery. It was heart-wrenching.
A big decision was made this episode, too. After Arizona received a prestigious grant that would mean moving to Africa, she had some tension with Callie. There was no way Arizona could turn down the grant, but taking it meant leaving Callie. So at the end of the episode, the couple announced the obvious solution – Callie would go to Africa too. Do you think they’ll do it? I hope they do. I’ll be angry if Arizona turns down such a prestigious honor for a relationship, no matter how hard I’ve been rooting for this relationship to work.
So what did you think, Grey’s fans? Did this docu-drama episode work? Did your heart break a little when Cristina told the camera “Being a hero has a price”?
