The Season 5 premiere of Grey’s Anatomy aired last night. It was an hour-long episode called “Dream a Little Dream of Me”, which I guess refers to A) Meredith’s dream that Derek died in a car accident; B) Cristina’s dream of her and Meredith as old ladies; and C) Izzie’s dream of Denny. Yeah, that’s right. Denny Du-freakin-quette.
I was actually looking forward to the premiere to see what changes (if any) had been made during the hiatus. It’s no secret that fans were not at all happy with the general quality of the show last season, which was reflected in lower ratings. Unfortunately, though there were a few bright spots in the premiere, I was bored most of the time. I think two hours is just waaay too much Grey’s to take in at once.
I’m kind of in a hurry this morning, so I’m just going to write out a few thoughts about the show rather than do a full recap. Two-hour episodes are brutal in terms of recaps!
Liked:
– The new Army doctor was awesome! There is finally a strong male character on the show! All the other guys are either whiny (George), arrogant (Sloan), complacent (Derek), or a jerk (Alex), but this dude (I wish I knew his name) was kicking ass from the moment he appeared on screen until the very end. Plus, he and Cristina had great chemistry together. Can he please stay?
– The fact that Mer/Der screen time was very limited. Yes, they were on screen a lot in their various surgery and doctoring scenes, but their together time was limited, which was a relief.
– Izzie was actually tolerable. Don’t get me wrong, I have liked this character since S1, but even I had to admit that the past two years she became practically insufferable. However, she didn’t bug me at all last night, not even with her patient interactions. I really hope this signals a new direction for the character.
– The Chief seemed different. His speech at the end shows that he’s ready to start acting like a chief. I wonder if a regular is going to get fired? If so, let it be Hahn. She can go at anytime now. Any. Time.
Disliked:
– Denny. For god’s sake, why even bring the character back at all? That few seconds just served to remind me how much I hated the guy when he was on the show regularly. It’s time to let go!
– Anytime Meredith and Derek were on screen together. Just on principle.
– Alex instantly becoming a jerk again after he thought that Izzie told Meredith too much. Come on, we get it already. He’s afraid of opening up to people and getting hurt. But where’s the character development? Isn’t this guy going to grow up at all? This is something that S1 Alex would have done. What happened to S3 Alex that had all those hot scenes with Addison? Now that was progress!
– The patients of the week. I just couldn’t get into ANY of their stories at all. And Kathy Baker? Still creeps me out from her performance in Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her, so yeah, I didn’t really need to see her on my TV that much.
– Lexie and George coupling up would be wrong on SO many levels. Please nip that in the bud pronto!
– Hahn and Callie gross me out as well. It’s not that I have anything against lesbian couples, it’s just that I think Hahn is so incredibly unattractive that imagining her in a relationship or having to see her kiss on TV makes me want to gag. Hell, I’d feel the same way if she was hooking up with, say, Sloan, so hold off on the GLADD hate mail, mkay?
Well, honestly, I don’t know how much longer I can stand Grey’s. If changes are indeed in the works, then I’m game. I’ll give this season 8 episodes to convince me to stay, otherwise it loses its place on my TiVo schedule and becomes summer DVD fodder.