Eric Dane is going to be a huge comedy star when Grey’s Anatomy is over. Mark Sloan has become one of the funniest characters on TV, and this week he takes over as Chief for a Day with hilarious results. The actual chief, Owen Hunt, picks up the emotional slack as he and Cristina spend the entire episode locked in their apartment while she forces him to tell her all about his affair.
Hail to the New Chief
Everyone is shocked to learn that, while Owen and Cristina are out “with the flu,” Mark Sloan was appointed acting chief (he actually wasn’t, but no one else knows that). He’s got his Blue Tooth on and is chock full of inspirational quotes. He also has his “chief bitch” Jackson following him around at all times. Just when I thought I couldn’t love it anymore, he reveals that he wants to institute “Beef with the Chief,” a daily lunch meeting where anyone who wants to can talk to him about whatever is bothering them. Genius.
There are two major beefs for Chief Sloan to deal with. First there’s a patient who needs a jaw reconstruction but has some problems that Derek isn’t sure how to fix. So Sloan tells him to “Rise.” Leave it to Eric Dane to make one word sound so funny. Derek does “rise” to the challenge after sitting on a bean bag chair in daycare.
The other chief beef is between Sloan and the old chief, Dr. Webber. He’s got a patient in need of five different organs from the same donor, no easy task. He finds one, but the liver has a tumor on it, which Chief Sloan says makes it a no-go. Webber disagrees and performs the surgery behind Sloan’s back.
I guess since Webber spent so many years as chief having doctors ignore him to perform secret surgeries, he figured it was OK. Sloan finds out, but Webber gives one of those speeches where he makes it sound OK to totally defy your boss. Ignoring your superior is as common at Seattle Grace as crazy chicks falling in love with Alex.
Is It All Over for Owen and Cristina?
After Cristina spent the last episode quietly thinking about how to address the whole “Owen had an affair” issue, this week they have it out. They take the day off of work to talk in their apartment. Cristina orders Owen to tell him all about the affair, and we see that Owen got drunk and was seduced by some nameless friend of a patient.
The story sends Cristina into a fit of tears as she totally breaks down, then a short while later she’s laughing when Owen falls. I feel like I totally get Cristina in this episode. She’s incapable of understanding emotions, so she starts crying, then she laughs about how it’s all about a boy even though she thinks of herself as a doctor who can control her emotions. It all goes back to Ellis Grey’s description of cardiothoracic surgeons. They’re the “know-it-alls,” and Cristina is frustrated because her emotions and Owen’s affair are things she can’t understand.
The conclusion, however, is a bit unclear. Owen leaves and Cristina’s final words to him seem to indicate that his inability to remember the name of the woman he had an affair with is the worst part. I feel like Cristina could probably come to grips with the fact that he wanted to make her suffer because she made him suffer when she had the abortion, and as messed up as it is, that kind of tit-for-tat mentality would probably be OK with Cristina. But not remembering the name of the woman he slept with? That makes absolutely no sense to her.
Studying for the Boards
Callie lets Meredith know that her tutorial is complete and she’s now ready for her Boards. Alex, April and Avery aren’t so set, and they force Lexie to use her photographic memory to help them. After overloading her brain, Meredith tells them to leave her alone. Meredith really is 100 percent normal and emotionally healthy at this point, protecting her little sister.
She also decides to play mom to the other residents by having early morning study sessions so she can make sure Alex, April and Avery pass their Boards too. The Grey House for Wayward Doctors is open for business once again! Cristina also shows up because, now that her relationship with Owen seems to be kind of over, she’s ready to focus on her Boards.
Ladies Night
Finally, Teddy wants to have a ladies night, but no one really wants to spend time with the sad widow. Bailey wants to ditch to have dirty, slutty “salsa” with Ben while Arizona and Callie want to get busy with a little lesbian “salsa” of their own. But Teddy’s sadness and widowhood makes them all change their minds, only the result is that they’re forced to drink wine and watch sad movies all night. Come on, Teddy, get over it. People lose spouses and significant others at Seattle Grace all the time. You had your “lying on the bathroom floor” time, so get back to work.
Next week on Grey’s Anatomy: A tortured kidnap victim shows up, and she’s the sassy Vanessa Marano from Switched at Birth. Also, Bailey channels her inner Ashley Judd when Tucker goes missing from daycare.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
