I know, right! Two reviews in two days. I am surely ‘spoiler-ing’ you all. I’ve just finished watching what is by far my favourite episode of Grey’s Season 8. It may not actually technically be the best (writing, directing, editing, performing) but in my heart it is. And before you all jump up and say – “you WOULD say that, Jaxie’s broken up!” – in part you would be on to something – but the real reason is because this was an honest, self aware, mature episode. 808 Heart Shaped Box answered questions and was sufficiently foreboding. Not all questions were answered, but enough that I go merrily into the cliffhanger, secure in how the land lies. It was darkness beneath a light-hearted exterior, that we've come to love with Grey's. And the music was superb.
Richard Webber, ex-Chief (although always chief to me, you know it!) proved to be the doctor-whisperer. Although Meredith gave us her usual voiceover wisdom it was Richard who provided the real message for us. The beauty of the message being that it pervaded all stories. This week writer Austin Guzman did good. 'Heart in a box' was a fantastic metaphor and whilst it could be mistaken for cheesy it provided answers. She became the oracle, and the biggest symbol so far this season. Although Richard says “...its the key...” to Cristina, she is ultimately referred to as she and, SHE could have been the prophet to all of the characters this week and it would still ring true.
The most obvious recipient of the oracle of knowledge was indeed Cristina. Cristina is troubled, except she’s troubled in the best way. She’s been given the key to the candy and doesn’t know how to prioritise her favourites. Once she finally realises why the heart in the box is so significant she becomes the translator for the others. The beauty, of course, is that she ‘gets it’ and this is a pure illustration of the journey she’s been on. Last week she was humbled, this week she was inspired. And yet all along Cristina is in awe of the Chief. Owen can go to board meeting after board meeting but we all know, Richard Webber is, and will always be, the real chief, not because he’s senior or more experienced, but because he’s a mentor, an inspiration and empathises with the 5th years, many many years his junior.
And so Jackson was the second obvious recipient of the oracle of knowledge. Here we see the truth to what’s going on. He’s suspected for months that Lexie’s heart is not where he wants it to be. He’s been cheating himself. He’s been playing along, turning a blind eye and ignoring his gut instinct (seriously, I need to get rid of these metaphors!). Until Richard tells him to go see the heart in the box and then Jackson finally sees the truth sees that he’s been denying himself, and stands up and confronts it. And in doing so, he also finally grows some balls in the eyes of the viewer. By dumping Lexie he has scored points with me. Not BECAUSE he dumped Lexie, but because he understood what he needed to do for himself. Self-respect wins. But the very best part of this story is the journey that Lexie makes. I know that Grey’s often relies on symbolism and can over-do earnestness to the point of being cloy but even I felt it was needed. The big question is did we get foreboding? Was the author with the aneurism, telling us the plot for Slexie? There is no doubt that the symbolic story telling was supposed to portray Mark and Jackson in Lexie’s eyes. And perhaps it was too obvious that Guzman was confronting Lexie with her own prejudices. But rather than being ‘soap like’ or cheesy, Chyler Leigh pulled it off. She took the soap suds out of this story. We know Lexie still loves Mark. We know she doesn’t WANT to love Mark. She told us at the end of S7. And now we know, it’s killing her. Her heart is broken. It's not broken because she's been dumped by Jackson, it's broken because she understands why she's been dumped and finally acknowledges it. And all the while not only has Mark come to terms with that (although I wager he is not over Lexie) but he’s also realised that he gets a kick out of being generous, being a teacher. I may not be a fan of Jackson but I’m increasingly a fan of Mackson or Jark. Don’t they make a lovely couple!
And on the subject of Mark. We pause for one moment; to rejoice the first episode in almost an entire season where there is absolutely no interaction or dialogue linking Callie/Arizona with Mark. Another reason to celebrate the beauty of this episode.
Moving on...
Heart in a box continued to float over our doctors wherever they were. And no one escaped. Teddy, who is the first person to realise the power of heart in the box felt it’s power through Henry. I love Henry. But he is a man with an expiry date. And like all men in that position we suddenly see his passion for living and his reason to believe. (*Sighs* Scott Foley in scrubs.) Sorry to say this, but it ain’t lookin’ good for our boy.
The heart in a box touched Callie by helping her to be honest and helping Mrs O’Malley to accept. Callie and Arizona have been through a hell load of s*** so I can tell you I was more than a little anxious that Shonda and her team were about to unleash more. But Mrs O’Malley came through. For reasons not for this blog, Mother-Daughter stories touch me much more than most other kinds. So, since we first heard of Mrs O’Malley’s forthcoming appearance at SGMW I was nervous and desperately hoping that Callie would receive the parental acceptance and love she deserved, even though Mrs O is not her parent.
And it was handled beautifully. Yes, it was something of a fringe story but it was powerful. We saw vintage Arizona – the tolerant, the understanding, the loving, the humorous and yet at the same time, the detached. Arizona has the ability to step outside of the emotional situation and look in objectively. I was reminded of her most famous “good man in a storm speech”, because although shorter, less profound, it was equally as impactful.
“I get it. It’s ok.....look, coming out, it’s important, it’s everything, with your family and friends, I’d kick your ass if you tried to hide me from them, but coming out to your dead ex-husband’s super catholic mom, not necessary, I mean not for you, and certainly not for me so, it’s ok”
This is not a momentous speech, it’s not a literary masterpiece. It’s honest, direct and loving. And it’s such a great example of how the writers can use the versatility of characters. Arizona’s screen time was minimal but her impact, even with Alex and the Peds fellow-in-waiting, was huge.
The heart in a box inspired Derek. Professionally he feels he has nothing to lose; he’s going to save the world and fix those who cannot be fixed. This is arrogant. Owen knows it. And you know what, so does Derek. “Well...I have a reputation for arrogance...”. But it’s ok. He’s inspired. And we all know, that's what he needs.
Was Alex touched by the heart in a box? Potentially he was the only character to have escaped it’s magical charms....but oh no, he didn’t escape, because right at the end he completely stood up for George.
“O’Malley wasn’t a creep okay, if he were here, O’Malley’d be kicking all of our asses, he would’ve slapped chief resident right out of Kepner’s hand”
And whilst I didn’t really understand the rest of his speech (though the arrogance regarding his peds competition was not lost on me) Alex has opened his eyes to the magic within MAGIC. My confidence grows though in my theory about an Alex and April romance. It became clear during this episode, that April is George, and we know that Alex hated George. But when I hear “You’re a freak and I hate you”, all I want to say back is “surely the lady Alex doth protest too much.”
Last week I posed a theory that the writers had spent summer hiatus watching re-runs of seasons 1-3. And now I actually believe they did. There was one moment, when Meredith is talking to Mrs O, when tears are visible in Meredith’s eyes, that I remember how brilliant George was. Shonda tweeted this week that her brief to the writers for this episode was “I miss George”. And it was evident. The biggest heart of all to show itself this week, to announce it’s honesty and heart break, and not before time, was Baileys. Finally the walls have cracked, and even though they cracked behind the surgical mask I felt it. And Chandra Wilson did such a great job. Throughout the whole of S8 so far she’s been hard faced and bitter. In Heart Shaped Box her face softened because she showed her heart to us. Meredith let her down in the biggest way possible and the one resident whose heart was the biggest of them all, her favourite, threw himself under a bus.
“He was my favourite, George O’Malley. He was. My favourite.”“I know. He was the good one”
Maybe... even with its ‘heart in a box’ symbolism this episode was too obvious. Maybe it was too sentimental or nostalgic. But the direct message to me was appreciated. I can do symbolism (anyone who understood 718 Song Beneath the Song, gets symbolism), but sometimes you just want answers and you want to be told them without the frills but with all the humour. 808, Heart Shaped Box was a season winner for me. It was dark - there was a beating heart in a box and Henry is very very sick - but it was funny. There are certainly slicker, smarter episodes this season but none that give us this amount of honesty.
Highlights:
I loved so much about this episode, but the very best line has to be from Cristina:
“She let a starving person loose in a grocery store”
Cristina always gets the best lines.
Sorry no pictures. The downside of posting early is that my favourite source of screen caps hasn’t updated yet. If you come back in a couple of days I’ll have added some photos.
