netflix does this to people

So I started watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix and just made it to season fourish. I think. I expected--hoped--for another ER, which no, this is not, but I did get excited because I liked none of the character and therefore no shenanigans were off limits whatsoever, which is a fantastic way to watch a soap opera-y medical drama. "Be more of an asshole to your ex while doing neurosurgery!" was my motto, and they fulfilled this beautifully.

I don't know that I love this show--I'm not sure how--but I ran into a problem I didn't see coming. I started finding characters I liked.



I really liked Bailey, because awesome. She was the first and best and the love of my life.

Bailey's like what, five one, right? I can't really believe that, and it's a very weird thing, because even in scenes where the height difference is obvious, she always seemed huge and towering over everyone by sheer personality. I still can't quite see it no matter if she's staring up at someone; it doesn't even register. I feel like she's on a different show than the rest of the cast; her professionalism seems professional even when she's doing insane things, and oh my God, her expressions are amazing, and I could talk days about that, including when I became near-hysterical and almost cried when she was in labor and she just crumbled because all this shit in her life hit her at once and she just hit her limit and wanted to kill everyone for treating her like she was fragile and almost making her believe she was when she's not. (George was awesome there, and his taste in hopeless crushes is so much better here than pretty much anywhere else. I could love George just for that when he went in to talk to her and didn't act like her being pregnant made her stupid.)

Then I got hit with the twofer of Cristina and Izzy. I do not know why--I don't--because they're exact opposites, but I think part of it was Cristina's amazing hair and her brilliance and her give no fucks for anything but her career except OMG SURPISE EXCEPTIONS that hit her out of nowhere. And Izzy's throw down with Alex over the magazine shoot and stripping down in the locker room and how if she and Cristina went on a rampage they'd literally fuck everyone up (Izzy's "I will physically hurt you" while backing George up against the wall scared me, staring down at him with imminent violence in her eyes; hell yes back down from that).

Cristina especially fascinates me, because I never got the impression she was cold so much as utterly driven in her career to the exclusion of everything else in her personality. The show--in this one thing--or more likely the actress--managed to show how complicated she is as a person, and her surprising herself with her own compassion or empathy (with Izzy, with Meredith (gah), with even George, her complicated and difficult feelings for Burke) felt earned. I don't want her to be less driven, and I hate when that's supposed to be something to be mitigated in a woman by her OMG FEELINGS because driven and perfectionist means you can't also be in love or have friends or care about other things because women are like this or some shit. I like--and I do think this is the actress--that it's the opposite here. Cristina thinks that is true; the show seems to be saying you can be all those things at the same time and be even better because of it.

And then Alex--who I hated and I was convinced was a clone of a neaderthal without a soul--was in the operating room when that woman with the cataclysmic injuries had been five minutes flatline and he was watching the monitor of her fetus and hated it--hated it, so beneath him--until he couldnt' get Addison to come back in when the woman was crashing because she was in emergency surgery and suddenly was like "WAIT HOW LONG WAS SHE CRASHED FIVE MINUTES RIGHT LET ME DO A C-SECTION RIGHT NOW SHOW ME HOW" and omg Baileys' expression (how does she do that with just her eyes?????????) and showing him how and him doing CPR with one finger on the baby. I could dismiss most of his Izzy moments--even Neanderthals have occasional moments of weakness--but that just fuck you Alex.

I feel like I'm in a whole new world where I want Alex to really actually have a soul, marry Izzy, and he and Izzy and Cristina and Bailey go to another hospital for adventures because I just don't think we'll ever get rid of Meredith and her goddamn Ross (I literally don't care enough to remember his name without him and Burke being all manlove, so I call him Ross because Friends was influential in my twenties.) Maybe with George, because he's so clueless and ridic and his hair just makes me feel like he needs a good dom. He does so many things I like, and then there was Callie (I just don't even) and I get it was supposed to be rebound and this is a soap opera but Callie was fucking smoking hot, George!

Still hate: Meredith, Ross!Doctor, even the mention of John Winchester, wait, I mean Denny

Don't really care about: Lexie

Neutral on: everyone else

Sometimes like: Callie, George

Plotlines that I like(d):

This is the only time I like Meredith, literally; the plotline with her mother is amazing. It was a very cool female version of the father/son trope of this kind, and it actually plays out really well and how the repercussions still affect her as an adult. It haunts her, and lots of shows have a son whose failing to follow in the footsteps of a disappointed father (mother whatever), and here we see it work even better with women.

Cristina and Burke - okay, this is where I get torn, because on one hand, I love Cristina and if she wanted Burke, she should have Burke. I just didn't like Burke manipulating her and using their personal relationship events as blackmail to get professional favors and using their arguments to discipline Cristina by withdrawing those favors--it was the doctor version of refusing to have sex until someone gives in. That bothered me. On the other hand, I liked Cristina taking her time about how much she lets Burke in (moving in with him, his physical therapy, engagement) because every time she balked adn dug in her heels in, she didn't give in because FEELINGS. She thought about it, she took her time, she ignored his pressure, and when she decided he was right (or that he wasn't) she made her decision. I mostly liked their relationship as it showed Cristina learning more about herself and what she wanted, what she was willing to compromise on, and I love how Burke still haunted her even a season later because he affected her and changed her that much. And I like most of all that none of this compromised her goals and drive to be a great surgeon.

(The only other time I don't hate Meredith is her and Cristina as BFFs forever. Meredith's at her most likable with Cristina, and Meredith brings out all of Cristina's complexity and feelings.)

Alex and Izzie - this is fairly new, but Alex is showing more traits of humanity (grafted on during surgery I assume?) and Izzie's rage at him when he's a dick and calling him on it works for me (she could beat him up easy). Also--and I can't prove this, so it's my imagination--I sometimes suspect Alex growing into something not unlike a human being because of her.

Anything with Izzie and Cristina and Bailey - I really don't care, if they're involved, it's awesome.

Plotlines I hate hate hate:

Meredith and Doctor Ross. I not only don't care, I actively fast-forward through them. They do the same things over and over again and nothing changes. I honestly don't know why Meredith wants him--the only time I liked him was, again, his very professional and interesting relationship with Burke, which was also when Burke was at his best.

Meredith's mom's affair with the chief of surgery - GET OVER IT MEREDITH. JESUS. HE FUCKED YOUR MOM AND DIDN'T LEAVE HIS WIFE FOR HER. IT WASN'T ABOUT YOU. (Note: I do like how that affair, however, has also had lasting consequences on him, though, and it still haunts his relationship with his wife.)

Izzy and Denny - thank God he's dead. Seeing John Winchester constantly smiling despite his pain caused me indigestion every time.



Now secondary news. My middle sister gathered everyone together yesterday to tell us she's pregnant with her fourth kid, who is due in October. This is much funnier as my uncle was holding court very recently about how four kids in a family was far too many. As her last kid is eight months old, this is going to be a lot of diapers in one family soon.

Comments

[out_there]

I started watching Grey's when it was first on TV. It clearly filled a soap-opera-drama-with-humour niche for me, because i stuck with it until about s8. I lost track of it over the last couple years (shifting TV times had a lot to do with it) but I still like it enough to want to comment.

I really liked Bailey, because awesome. She was the first and best and the love of my life.

Bailey owns that show. Always and forever. She's awesome, she's capable, she's the voice of reason pulling the new kids into line and forcing them to grow the heck up. *loves forever*

Cristina especially fascinates me, because I never got the impression she was cold so much as utterly driven in her career to the exclusion of everything else in her personality.

I love Christina. I love her drive, her lack of soft-touchy-feely emotions, her outstanding ability in surgery. I think her taste in men sucks beyond the telling of it (I always end up muttering at the screen "Oh, honey, come on, you can do so much better than him") but I love Christina in all of her laundry-avoiding, deadly competitive, thrilled by her job, darkly funny ways.

And I love her friendship with Meredith, the way that the show has always shown that they get each other in a way that boyfriends don't. They are each other's core emotional support.

I feel like I'm in a whole new world where I want Alex to really actually have a soul, marry Izzy, and he and Izzy and Cristina and Bailey go to another hospital for adventures because I just don't think we'll ever get rid of Meredith and her goddamn Ross

Heh. Yes, McDreamy is basically Ross. And it goes on for seasons. (Honestly, I like the pair of them so much more when Meredith gets over her own emotional darkness and they both settle down together and become actual functioning committed adults. The on-again, off-again is a pain. McDreamy's ex is annoying. But I do like that they both get through that and grow up a lot.)

And Alex was not a favourite. Totally not. My favourites were Christina and Bailey and George. But Alex snuck in there, being such a jerk and so self-interested and then growing into this doctor who is an awesome advocate for kids in his care, who doesn't pull punches when talking to families, who pushes and tries and defends kids who need someone fighting for them.

then there was Callie (I just don't even) and I get it was supposed to be rebound and this is a soap opera but Callie was fucking smoking hot, George!

I adore Callie. She's my girl. At first because she was smoking hot and liked George as much as I did -- and later because despite the trainwreck of the relationship with George, she held her head up and stayed awesome. i love her friendship with Mark/McSteamy (which I think would have started around s4-ish?)

The only other time I don't hate Meredith is her and Cristina as BFFs forever. Meredith's at her most likable with Cristina, and Meredith brings out all of Cristina's complexity and feelings.

Yes, that. As BFFs, they bring out the best in each other.

It's funny, actually. As much as soap operas are all about the romantic relationships, in Grey's the relationships that I like the most and that bring out the best are always the friendships. McDreamy & McSteamy chatting away is awesome. Or McDreamy and Burke. Or Bailey and the chief. Or Meredith and Christina. Or McSteamy and Callie. The friendships are the really cool part of this show.

[seperis]

Heh. Yes, McDreamy is basically Ross. And it goes on for seasons. (Honestly, I like the pair of them so much more when Meredith gets over her own emotional darkness and they both settle down together and become actual functioning committed adults. The on-again, off-again is a pain. McDreamy's ex is annoying. But I do like that they both get through that and grow up a lot.)

WHEN THIS HAPPENS I will actually start to like Meredith. So much of her character is about the on-again, off-again that I burned out on it early. However, Stable!Relationship Meredith--ooh, I'm looking forward to that. Thank you!

I love Christina. I love her drive, her lack of soft-touchy-feely emotions, her outstanding ability in surgery. I think her taste in men sucks beyond the telling of it (I always end up muttering at the screen "Oh, honey, come on, you can do so much better than him") but I love Christina in all of her laundry-avoiding, deadly competitive, thrilled by her job, darkly funny ways.

YES THIS. AND CAN'T COOK. I love how unapologetic she is about being a non-cooking slob with Burke. That was beautiful.

And Alex was not a favourite. Totally not. My favourites were Christina and Bailey and George. But Alex snuck in there, being such a jerk and so self-interested and then growing into this doctor who is an awesome advocate for kids in his care, who doesn't pull punches when talking to families, who pushes and tries and defends kids who need someone fighting for them.

Yes yes yes. The meth!kid, and oh, this one scene in the ER barely there, where a baby is found in a trash can and he's looking it over and then someone said something about everyone in the ER beign sick and he scoops up the baby like "NOPE GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE NOW" because babies are vulnerable. Addison's revenge was possibly the best thing that ever happened to his character.

Also, I still (despite myself) get teary when Alex is the one that picks up Izzie off Denny's body and just holds her while she cries. Especially now, after all the things he's done since that show potential soul-growth, and I can see the glimmerings of that there.

Especially in view of Ava/Rebecca, which I think was a turning point for me in his character. He shouted at Izzie when Rebecca was literally going insane that he can feed her and wash her and take care of her because he did it with his mother when he was seven and he's a man now so can do it better so fuck off and let him do this. It was awful and so painful and it worked.

[out_there]

I love how unapologetic she is about being a non-cooking slob with Burke. That was beautiful.

It was absolutely incredible. There was non of that "females should be domestic" guilt about it.

Addison's revenge was possibly the best thing that ever happened to his character.

It really was. That was the turning point between Alex being a self-motivated jerk who didn't think beyond his own wants to becoming a human being I genuinely like.

He shouted at Izzie when Rebecca was literally going insane that he can feed her and wash her and take care of her because he did it with his mother when he was seven and he's a man now so can do it better so fuck off and let him do this. It was awful and so painful and it worked.

Oh, it was awful but it worked so well. The fact that I still get that gut-punch of emotional reaction to the idea of that storyline proves how well done it was. It just hurt but it also explained so much about Alex.

[ratcreature]

Well good luck to them. Considering how run ragged my brother and his wife are with just two, four must be really rough, at least if they are close enough in age that they just multiply each other's chaos and you can't, say, employ the older teenage child to responsibly take care of the youngest toddler some of the time or something.

[seperis]

Kids in my family are an extended family thing, honestly, and it's been that way since forever. We all grew up with tons of cousins and relatives around constantly, and me and my sisters exchange kids and stepkids and ex-step kids at need, so when anyone needs a break, there's always someone ready to do it. Trust me, it's something I appreciate hugely; I don't know how people without extended families and that kind of safety net do it without going crazy.

(Also, fortunately, all of us love kids like a lot, and personally, since I don't plan to have more and Child's almost an adult, it gets out my leftover maternal love of babies and small kids to have my sister producing them regularly. *g*)

[hypertwink]

My favorite character on the show was George and Alex. For being opposites, basically. George for being the most decent, normal guy on the show and Alex for being the biggest douchebag with the heart of gold. The one interaction that I always want is these two (and not in a slashy sort of way) and Alex and Meredith who are actually the boy and girl versions of each other (well, dark and twisty Meredith). I agree, friendships are the best on this show. Izzie and George, Mer & Cristina, Derek and Mark, Mark & Callie.

I think that Grey's Anatomy peaked at season 2 and 3. When the original cast was still on. I really have to hand it to Isaiah Washington's homophobia for torpedoing his own career as well as the show. And as you'll find out if you watch seasons 4 onwards, I think that Shonda Rimes punished TR Knight & Katherine Heigl for being the center of the whole F word scandal and for being outspoken about the issue, respectively.

[45rpm]

I liked it the first season and second and I would go look up music from it. Then, I got sucked into a project and forgot about it.

[second_banana]

I had an ex who was super into Grey's Anatomy and whenever we'd watch it I got to hear about how much she identified with Meredith. Gah! Which was awkward as I liked this girl a lot but thought Meredith was basically a cardboard cutout of terribleness 99% of the time. It was a good lesson in "listen to what your sweetheart is telling you." I probably should have noticed we were doomed when I couldn't stand most of the characters she identified with in all her fandoms. Whups.

From what I watched, I was always firmly Team Bailey and then later on Team Callie as well.

[feanna]

I loved the show and then the drama just got to be toooooo much (I'm sorry but I laughed at one of the things you said, you'll find out...) and I quit (about a season more than you have, maybe?).
But then I watched an episode maybe a few years later, got sucked back in an rewatched everything I missed and everything from then on.
I remain struck by the diversity of the cast, how there are storylines that are only about the women (and their relationships to EACH OTHER) and POC (even two female POC relating to each other).
I have liked the show more or less at some points, but I'll still be watching when the new eps come out.

Also, YES I HATE off-on-off-on... stuff, and I feel like Merediths problems were recycled endlessly. Not that I can't see somebody having ongoing problems (meet: life!) but that they seemed to be ignored only for us to be hit over the head like a hammer with them. But yeah, the stuff with her mother is really well done.

Christina is totally awesome! Because she doesn't compromise herself for others and she's learning that this can even be a good thing, even when it hurts (ok, I'm not coherent on this) while also opening herself up in certain ways.

I think I pushed away the whole Addison mess, because as a doctor she's actually great, but the whole spinoff show that brings the soapy drama parts times 10 (really!!) kind of riuned her for me. (I am NOT going back to THAT show!!!)

Alex definitely grows on you, at first like a fungus and then you notice that it actually looks interesting (nice spots there) or something (and I don't even like mushrooms at all).

[hypertwink]

The Addison in Seattle Grace was totally awesome; the one that went to California? Not so much.