Grey's Anatomy - Season 10A
In its tenth season, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is guilty of some repetition. The love triangles, the disasters, the medical conflicts that issue a slew of arguments, we’ve seen it countless times by now. Somehow, however, it just doesn’t get boring. Looking at the first half of the season, the show is as fun, exciting and dramatic as it has ever been. With a healthy investment in the crop of characters, the show allows itself to happily tread through familiar territory.
The storm that caused the power outage at the end of last season is dying down and, as Meredith Grey so darkly foretold in the finale, we see who is left alive. Poor Dr. Webber, who has had his fair share of drama in his life, was electrocuted before the credits closed out Season Nine. Now, it seems, he is still laying there as every one of his colleagues is dealing with their own issues. The double premiere picks up right where we left off. April, engaged to Matthew, confesses her love for Jackson, making sure the show still has at least one rotating love triangle (rectangle?) left. Callie copes with finding out her wife Arizona cheated on her. Meredith is out of the loop as she’s on bed rest after giving birth. Cristina and Owen struggle to their decision to call it quits for good this time. Passion, love and intrigue is all fun and games, until someone gets hurt. This being ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, people definitely get hurt.
The season is less focused on an overarching story, such as the merger or the lawsuit. It’s more inclined to show these characters as humans and less as doctors. The patient-of-the-week stories are pretty forgettable in this first batch of episodes, and that’s saying something. More so, we’re treated with Arizona living on her own and trying to work her way back into Callie’s heart. Her journey is refreshing, given she’s definitely the bad guy here, but still has sexual needs, wants to be a part of her daughter’s life and comes to an understanding of who she is with her prosthetic leg. It all feels very soapy, but giving it some time and space grounds Arizona’s emotional arc with none of the ridicule of her situation. Same goes for Bailey, who undergoes one of the lesser arcs the show has ever seen. We’re miles away from the Nazi, but adding the guilt of calling Webber “a drunk” with the struggles of her marriage, makes up for a stressed Bailey. The kind we haven’t really seen before and that doesn’t develop in a way that feels comprehensible for a character that has been loved and admired for being an authority for ten years. Yet, her story is done with care and patience, which makes it more believable then when it pops up out of nowhere and leaves abruptly.
The best part of this season is by far Meredith and Cristina’s feud. These two women are each other’s person. They agreed that their significant others play a vital part in their lives now and so they can’t always be each others “person”, but for the better part of the time, they can. Watching these two friends slowly drift apart, as Meredith juggles being a mother of two with an extensive research and Cristina distancing herself from a potential family with Owen and focusing on her work, is a thrill. Viewers have mixed responses to these iconic friends fighting with each other, but in any friendship, even one as exemplary as this one, there’s bound to be clashes. In this case, the trouble boils over a 3D printer that Meredith acquired for her research but Cristina wants for a special case. What starts as a disagreement, roots further and further in the foundation of these two women. It’s an incredibly relevant story. Can women have it all: job and family? Is it acceptable if they don’t want children and solely focus on their career? The subtlety and even quietness (they don’t end up cat-fighting in the pool over a boy for example, a much needed improvement over soapy versions of women fighting) of this story line is an absolute wonder. The arguable heart of the show, the friendship between Meredith and Cristina has come a long way. So to find any kind of disagreement between these two stem from the very core of their personalities is intriguing, smart and worth our while.
A second story line that is an incredible pay-off for long-time fans is that of Alex. The third leg of the Meredith/Cristina friendship never truly relied on them even when he needed to. So it’s more than welcome that new-found love Jo hasn’t yet gotten cancer or turned crazy. It’s one thing to see Alex struggle being normal in a relationship, it’s another to find a blast from his past coming to stir things up. This guy just doesn’t get a break. But after ten years of mystery, it’s nice to get some information about Alex before he entered our lives as a self-absorbed douchebag. He has developed as a deeply complicated character whose biggest flaw and strength is that he keeps his issues to himself. Now he has a significant other who means well, and that has to work or not. It’s a treat to watch him as he finally, slowly, shows some metaphorical skin to both Jo and the viewers.
As expected, the first half of the season ends with a wedding. You should know by now that this means the first half is a whirlwind of emotions all leading up to the big day. What’s nice about the familiar road is that the show still finds ways to keep doomed relationships meaningful and redemptive. As these characters have known each other for years, there’s still dynamic left to explore as unlikely allies become friends. Or long-time friends become enemies. The show, celebrating its 200th episode with ‘Putting on the Ritz’, continues to shine bright by paying attention to every single character in its broad ensemble. It might not be the best show on television, or the most original, but with its steady pace and understanding of what viewers have come to expect, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ still manages to surprise and captivate. Which makes the first half of this milestone year definitely a reason to celebrate.
The storm that caused the power outage at the end of last season is dying down and, as Meredith Grey so darkly foretold in the finale, we see who is left alive. Poor Dr. Webber, who has had his fair share of drama in his life, was electrocuted before the credits closed out Season Nine. Now, it seems, he is still laying there as every one of his colleagues is dealing with their own issues. The double premiere picks up right where we left off. April, engaged to Matthew, confesses her love for Jackson, making sure the show still has at least one rotating love triangle (rectangle?) left. Callie copes with finding out her wife Arizona cheated on her. Meredith is out of the loop as she’s on bed rest after giving birth. Cristina and Owen struggle to their decision to call it quits for good this time. Passion, love and intrigue is all fun and games, until someone gets hurt. This being ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, people definitely get hurt.
The season is less focused on an overarching story, such as the merger or the lawsuit. It’s more inclined to show these characters as humans and less as doctors. The patient-of-the-week stories are pretty forgettable in this first batch of episodes, and that’s saying something. More so, we’re treated with Arizona living on her own and trying to work her way back into Callie’s heart. Her journey is refreshing, given she’s definitely the bad guy here, but still has sexual needs, wants to be a part of her daughter’s life and comes to an understanding of who she is with her prosthetic leg. It all feels very soapy, but giving it some time and space grounds Arizona’s emotional arc with none of the ridicule of her situation. Same goes for Bailey, who undergoes one of the lesser arcs the show has ever seen. We’re miles away from the Nazi, but adding the guilt of calling Webber “a drunk” with the struggles of her marriage, makes up for a stressed Bailey. The kind we haven’t really seen before and that doesn’t develop in a way that feels comprehensible for a character that has been loved and admired for being an authority for ten years. Yet, her story is done with care and patience, which makes it more believable then when it pops up out of nowhere and leaves abruptly.
The best part of this season is by far Meredith and Cristina’s feud. These two women are each other’s person. They agreed that their significant others play a vital part in their lives now and so they can’t always be each others “person”, but for the better part of the time, they can. Watching these two friends slowly drift apart, as Meredith juggles being a mother of two with an extensive research and Cristina distancing herself from a potential family with Owen and focusing on her work, is a thrill. Viewers have mixed responses to these iconic friends fighting with each other, but in any friendship, even one as exemplary as this one, there’s bound to be clashes. In this case, the trouble boils over a 3D printer that Meredith acquired for her research but Cristina wants for a special case. What starts as a disagreement, roots further and further in the foundation of these two women. It’s an incredibly relevant story. Can women have it all: job and family? Is it acceptable if they don’t want children and solely focus on their career? The subtlety and even quietness (they don’t end up cat-fighting in the pool over a boy for example, a much needed improvement over soapy versions of women fighting) of this story line is an absolute wonder. The arguable heart of the show, the friendship between Meredith and Cristina has come a long way. So to find any kind of disagreement between these two stem from the very core of their personalities is intriguing, smart and worth our while.
A second story line that is an incredible pay-off for long-time fans is that of Alex. The third leg of the Meredith/Cristina friendship never truly relied on them even when he needed to. So it’s more than welcome that new-found love Jo hasn’t yet gotten cancer or turned crazy. It’s one thing to see Alex struggle being normal in a relationship, it’s another to find a blast from his past coming to stir things up. This guy just doesn’t get a break. But after ten years of mystery, it’s nice to get some information about Alex before he entered our lives as a self-absorbed douchebag. He has developed as a deeply complicated character whose biggest flaw and strength is that he keeps his issues to himself. Now he has a significant other who means well, and that has to work or not. It’s a treat to watch him as he finally, slowly, shows some metaphorical skin to both Jo and the viewers.
As expected, the first half of the season ends with a wedding. You should know by now that this means the first half is a whirlwind of emotions all leading up to the big day. What’s nice about the familiar road is that the show still finds ways to keep doomed relationships meaningful and redemptive. As these characters have known each other for years, there’s still dynamic left to explore as unlikely allies become friends. Or long-time friends become enemies. The show, celebrating its 200th episode with ‘Putting on the Ritz’, continues to shine bright by paying attention to every single character in its broad ensemble. It might not be the best show on television, or the most original, but with its steady pace and understanding of what viewers have come to expect, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ still manages to surprise and captivate. Which makes the first half of this milestone year definitely a reason to celebrate.
