Viewers were treated to two brand-new episodes of Grey’s Anatomy last night. The eps were called “The Other Side of This Life Part I” and “The Other Side of This Life Part II”, and gave us a glimpse of what Kate Walsh’s new series will be about. In addition, we saw some more of the Cristina/Burke wedding preparations. Here’s a quick recap of what happened over the course of the two hours.
Addison: Addison requested a leave of absence and then drove down to L.A. to visit some friends from med school. While there, she gets a glimpse of a private practice and the quirky doctors who staff the place. I don’t remember the character names (except for Naomi), but they are played by some pretty recognizable actors: Taye Diggs, Merrin Dungey, Paul Adelstein, Tim Daly, and Amy Brenneman.
Of course, Naomi tells Addison that their OB/GYN just quit, so there’s an office available. Addison kind of laughs off the suggestion, but, hey — we already know that there’s going to be a spin-off, right? So obviously something will compel her to take on the new gig.
Addison gets dragged into the middle of a critical case and ends up performing surgery in L.A., which cements her future colleagues’ opinions of how good she is. Other than that, the L.A. scenes were more about establishing the new characters than about anything actually happening.
Cristina/Burke: Both Cristina’s mom and Burke’s mom show up unexpectedly to help plan for the wedding. I guess Cristina won’t be getting her small, Justice of the Peace affair after all because the moms have lined up a church that seats 200 people and have told Cristina that she needs to pick out bridesmaids. It looks like they’re going to go all out on this one. Oh, and guess who one of the bridesmaids will be? Callie. How weird is that?
Meredith: Meredith’s stepmother Susan comes into the clinic complaining of acid reflux and hiccups. She gets an injection that helps temporarily, but when the effects of the drug wear off, Meredith suggests some surgical procedure. It turns out that there are complications during the surgery, and Susan ends up dying on the table. This prompts Thatcher to slap Meredith when she tells him the news — a move that totally came out of nowhere and didn’t make much sense. Derek, the Chief, and Bailey watch in shock as Meredith runs off crying.
George/Izzie: George tells Izzie that his transfer to the other hospital “looks good,” and at first Izzie is relieved. It hurts to much to be around George all day and watch him interact with Callie. Meanwhile, George has a cryptic convo with Burke about whether or not he married too quickly and made a mistake. By the end of the two hours, George and Izzie share another kiss in the elevator, so it looks like this affair will be an ongoing thing.
Alex/Jane Doe: Jane Doe has some bleeding in her brain, so Shepherd operates. Jane (I REFUSE to call her Ava) is under the impression that the surgery could help her get her memory back, but it doesn’t happen, so she’s still….. meh, I can’t even pretend to care about this character. WHY IS SHE STILL AROUND????
My Reaction: I didn’t like all the jumping back and forth between L.A. and Seattle. I think this would have worked better if the producers ahd confined the action to one location for each hour. Even so, I don’t think that would have helped much in terms of the enjoyment factor. These two eps were just flat-out boring, and didn’t do anything to make me want to watch Private Practice.