Matt Roush was right, as usual — tonight’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, “Love/Addiction,” was fantastic.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Chandra Wilson may as well start writing her Emmy acceptance speech. Based on tonight’s performance, it’s hers to lose.
Okay. Now that that’s out of the way….
As the episode title suggests, the plot centered on love and addiction. We had addiction in the literal sense — the family whose apartment meth lab exploded and Nicholas Gonzales’ character who didn’t even experiment with drugs till he was 30, then got hooked and ended up dying because of it.
We had addiction in the figurative sense, although I suppose it could also be considered literal — Derek is basically addicted to the trainwreck that is his and Meredith’s relationship. The scene where Diahann Carroll’s Mama Burke tells Derek he is an honorable man if he knows when to let go and when to not ask for less than he deserves was deadly accurate, and Derek knew it. In fact, by admitting his problem outloud to Mark and then making an excuse to not go home with Meredith, he was attempting to change. But as Meredith’s ending voiceover so succinctly stated, sometimes it hurts even more to let the things that are hurting us go.
I also think the whole George/Izzie thing is mostly based on addiction. I’m sorry. I’ve never, ever bought their relationship. It came out of frakking nowhere. George is basically bouncing around in an emotional kaleidoscope stemming from what happened with Meredith, followed very closely by his father’s death. It’s how he ended up in a rebound relationship with Callie, and I’m glad he at least realized and voiced that realization tonight. It’s still patently unfair to Callie, because George is her McDreamy, and she doesn’t deserve any of it.
Izzie? Well, Izzie continues to annoy me. But hey, she’s pretty much always annoyed me, and her annoying tendencies are completely in keeping with her character, so that’s some good character development. I don’t care what she says — she doesn’t love George. Not really. Love is selfless. Love is sacrificial. Love considers others’ needs ahead of one’s own. Izzie is selfish. She was only thinking of herself when she continually put down Callie in front of George, when she told a married man she was in love with him. George and Callie were always going to self-destruct — anyone could see that. If Izzie truly, truly loved him, she should have just bit her tongue and bided her time, even if it was killing her inside. As his supposed best friend, she owed him that much. At one point last season, he point-blank told her so, and I nearly stood up and applauded.
I’m really anxious to see what happens next. As Shonda wrote in her blog after last week’s premiere, what’s coming is going to be sad and unexpected. The beginning of the end of George/Izzie will be once everyone finds out about their relationship. I won’t be sympathizing with anyone but Callie because she’s the only innocent party in this sordid threesome.
I feel horrible for Lexie. Poor Lexie, who’s trying her best to stay positive and upbeat and reach out to her sister, is bluntly rejected and left to realize she’s all alone in the hospital where her mother died. I’m glad Meredith was honest with her, but still — it’s not Lexie’s fault that Mr. Grey abandoned Meredith and was Father of the Year to Lexie and Molly. I thought Chyler Leigh portrayed the conflicting emotions, which culminated in her heart-wrenching breakdown alone in the darkened locker room, extremely convincingly.
We also saw several examples of love featured prominently in the plot. Callie loves George. The Meth Dad loved his little son. Cristina loved Burke, as George termed it, “the best she knew how.” Derek does love Meredith, and Meredith probably does love Derek, again, as best she knows how.
And in each case, it wasn’t enough.
Love is not enough.
PS: I love The Office, but I’m ready for these hour-long episodes to end. The Michael/Dwight driving into the lake and crashing the law office was a little too over-the-top for me. I think this is a show much better suited to a half-hour.
