In my opinion this is perhaps the greatest and most poignant hospital drama in television history. The writers of this show have weaved together an intricate spider web of relationships, emotional attachments, story lines, subplots, intrigue, and catharsis. I applaud these writers whole-heartedly, their super-drama works on so many levels. I have directed, produced and acted on stage including a little camera work, so I am in tune with the industry and not just a fan. I am highly judgmental of television content, this show has my Emmy. Here is a synopsis of characters.Meredith Grey - This intern had it tough starting out because her mother was a star surgeon "back in the day", so she not only had some heavy boots to fill, but she was suspected of favoritism from the get-go. Not only that, but she had a one-night stand with her boss before she knew he was her boss. This did not go over well with the other interns either. Eventually Meredith proves herself on her own merits and is not only accepted by her peers, but several of them become her roommates. Emotionally Meredith's battles are many. Her father abandoned the family when she was very young, and her mother spent most of Meredith's youth working in the hospital and chasing Dr. Webber. (who is now Chief of Surgery) Now her mother is an Alzheimer's patient in a nursing home and does not even know who her daughter is. Meredith covers up her childhood issues by searching for intimacy and eventually she finds it with Derek Shepherd. This relationship is rocky at best however, and serves as a band-aid to Meredith's issues instead of healing her.Derek Shepherd - Derek is literally and symbolically a brain surgeon. In other words, he is meant to represent the "perfect" man. His looks are flawless, even when he is weary (and the make-up people take the afternoon off). Internally, Dr. Shepherd is a crushed man who lost his wife to his best friend and tries to sew his life back together. (broken pi eces that even a brain surgeon cannot mend) He toys with Meredith, falls back into the arms of his estranged wife, toys with Meredith some more, decides to make his marriage work, and then flies back into the arms of Meredith when he realizes his efforts toward his wife are fruitless. It becomes apparent that he truly loves Meredith but he vacillates whether or not he will be able to be the man she needs to mend the emotional traumas of her youth.Richard Webber - The Chief of Surgery has a secret. Many years ago he cheated on his wife with a fellow doctor and nearly destroyed his marriage. This relationship was with Meredith's mother, who never recovered from her broken heart when Richard returned to his wife. Now he is Meredith's mentor, which is ironic, since he played a big part in destroying her family. Dr. Webber is regretful, and although he still holds a torch for his past love, he truly tries to put his marriage back together as well as be a father-figure to Meredith .George O'Malley - Now, we are going to talk about how the writers built some brilliant characters. George O'Malley gets my vote as television's most uncomfortable character, second only to possibly Barney Fife of the Andy Griffith Show. George is the youngest of three rough and tumble brothers...ironically he is also the smartest. He was tormented and teased as a child which left him no self-esteem to face the real world as an adult. Now he lives and works with beautiful women, and it's no mistake that he is smitten with Meredith in season one. When his love becomes known to her, she not only rejects him, she off-handedly embarrasses him to the point of total humiliation. He goes into the bathroom and chops his hair off, which was a symbolic transformation for this character. He cut off his boyish locks and later got a hair style that better suited a man. Even though he feels inadequate, George still perseveres. Unfortunately his inadequacies cause him to be cruel to the people who care about him, like Izzy Stevens. Izzy becomes his best friend, she is tender and understanding and is always in George's face. Quite often he blows up at Izzy and "puts her in her place" with biting, bitter remarks; but their friendship never waivers. She is like the sister he never had.Cristina Yang - I love this character because she adds some obscurity to the cast. She is a bare-bones, hard-core seemingly emotionless "robot". She loves medicine, she loves to cut open patients...and to her it is not about healing, it is about control and power. Yes, Cristina has a bit of a God complex. The show uses her relationships to break her down and humanize her, it is beautifully orchestrated. At one point she has an affair with Dr. Burke and becomes pregnant. She successfully keeps it a secret for many episodes, plans an abortion and ignores the probability of becoming attached to the child inside her. When she miscarries the baby, she completely falls apart...she has this awesome scene where she wails openly and cannot stop. It is amazingly powerful. Cristina becomes real.Izzy Stevens - This is my favorite Grey's character. Izzy loves people, she wants to be a healer, not just a doctor. She is definitely the advocate for what is right and what is wrong in the show. Izzy is not proud of her past, but she feels a sense of PRIDE for accomplishing her goals...she single handedly put herself through medical school with a modeling career. She could have chosen an easier more glamorous road in life, bu t medicine is where she wanted to be. The make-up crew must have to downplay her looks because this girl is so beautiful it would be easy to not take her seriously. I think Izzy never really had any brothers or sisters, because she takes in each of the interns and tends to herd them into a family relationship, she is a nurturer at heart. In season two, she falls in love with a heart-transplant patient who proposes to her, dies, and leaves her 8 million dollars. This event transforms Izzy Stevens and her character development springboards in season three. Again, Izzy doesn't choose the path that's paved with gold. She doesn't keep the money, she builds a clinic in her Fiance's name. I honestly don't know if I can find the words to explain how the plot-line of this character touches me. Needless to say, I am anxious to know where the writer's take her in season four.Miranda Bailey - It's perfect that they cast a short woman to be the strongest character in the show. She is so little and so LOUD, they even call her "The Nazi". Its almost as if she is written as comic relief. Her character is dead-serious though. Dr. Bailey is the teaching doctor and she is responsible for all of her students...the interns. She takes her responsibility very personally, their screw-ups are her screw-ups and she is constantly questioning herself and considering her short-comings...pun intended. Her character evolves too, as each episode transpires you see more and more of the human side of Miranda Bailey.Alex Karev - I am trying to think how I can write about this character without using offensive words. When the show first aired Karev was almost a caricature of the male chauvinist pig...the writers nearly took it over the top...but of course, for good reason. Alex burns Izzy and he gives most of the hospital syphilis, nice guy, right? Alex doesn't walk, he struts...constantly asking women "you like what you see?" he is disgusting...but he's cute, and there is this t winkle of human light in his eyes, so you keep watching him. Again, casting this actor was brilliant, because he doesn't have the perfect looks (like Patrick Dempsey) but he carries his ego in his back pocket. When Izzy falls in love with Denny DuQuette, Alex sees what he was missing in Izzy and slowly but surely his character starts coming around...finding a human aspect. He later becomes close with a female patient who's face was destroyed in an accident, and it's obvious he cares for her. He sees her for who she really is, he helps to save her baby and knit back the pieces of her broken memory. It is written in a very understated way, and I think the writers do not want an instant personality make-over for Alex Karev, but that's the genius of it.Addison Shepherd and Mark Sloane - In my opinion these are "icing" characters. They were added in later seasons to complicate the relationships of the other characters. Addison is Derek's wife who followed him to Seattle Grace to put their marriage back together. Mark Sloan was Derek's best friend that slept with Addison and screwed up their marriage...he followed Addison to Seattle to win her over, but really all he did was add salt to the bleeding wound.Callie Torres - Callie came to the show in season two, she crushes on George and gives him his manhood, so to speak. Callie is like the nerd in the show, she doesn't fit in, she is a little obscure and quirky. In a high-schoolish way the interns turn their backs on her and treat her as an outsider. This is tough for George because he kind of likes the attention she gives him, so he is torn. This relationship vacillates too, a bit like Meredith and Derek, but on a smaller scale. Callie has a very good monologue in one episode where she explains why each of them is so immature. Her insight is that their young adult life is spent focusing on college and medical school so even though they are adults intellectually, they are only teenagers emotionally. I don't know if it was the intention of the writers to portray this from the start, but it certainly is true and it makes for excellent hospital drama.
Lisa is a work at home mom and a homeschooler. You can learn more about her at /lifeonthemoon/
No comments:
Post a Comment