"It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me and I'm feeling good."
Yes I am. Grey's the Re-boot kicked off last night with the premiere of season twelve, bright eyed, bushy tailed and determined to prove that there is life left in this grand old show. This season opener needed to be strong and clear. After the enormous time jump at the end of season eleven this episode is perhaps the most important of the new season for the show's reinvention. It had to allow the viewers to not only believe that Meredith had moved on but be very comfortable with the fact that she had. It needed to win us over to this new fast forwarded world from Derek's lonely death to almost universal emotional equilibrium.
'Sledgehammer', written by Stacy McKee, directed by Kevin McKidd, almost nailed it, pun intended. With a fantastic, topical and hugely poignant patient storyline providing a strong foundation and the talented McKee (click for feature article on McKee) providing the script this episode launched us into a new dawn for Grey's Anatomy. It was a sturdy episode and a worthy opener. It did not rock my world but it drew me in completely.
Nothing makes an episode stronger than an epic patient storyline. The very best episodes occur when the guest characters, suffering devastating crises, emotionally sucker punch us through the screen winding the viewers and the surgeons. Jessica and Aliyah's compelling and devastating narrative was a strong message of intent for the season, dealing with issues that matter, exposing uncomfortable truths and challenging offensive and damaging people and parts of our society. If this is the new Grey's then buy me a season ticket.
Through this drama we were reintroduced to a happier more relaxed cast who appeared to be delivering a few messages the writers were trying to get across more explicitly than usual perhaps…
Time has passed again since the end of season eleven. Meredith has moved back into her mother's house together with Amelia and Maggie, hell bent on destroying the walls. This is symbolic…back to the old familiar, yet knocking down the barriers, Amelia and Maggie making their mark. This show is now about these three sisters. This is the unit that will take the show forward beyond season 12, should the show be renewed. Message one: Meredith loves and accepts Amelia, she's one of the family and a core part of the show; she's Meredith's sister in love if not in blood. There was a small hat tip to Derek with a pretty photo on the fridge but beyond that I don't expect him to feature further in the show. The interesting development is how the writers will define Alex's role in Meredith's life. Maggie proved the peace maker and arguably moved into Alex territory. The dynamic of The Sisters and Alex will be something to look forward to. Has Alex become redundant in Meredith's life again?
(And oh how I wish Maggie would move into Alex territory romantically)
Message two: Callie likes men romantically and Callie likes women romantically too. Those of us more liberally minded, who believe that sexuality is self defined probably didn't need that explained to us. However the intention from the producers was clear - explain Callie. The beauty in the writing is that Callie does not label herself, and although she has previously alluded to being bisexual (B is for Badass as well as Bisexual) the label itself is not important. What is important however is knowing who you are, and being accepted for who you are. Callie is in feisty fiery form in Sledgehammer as she takes a mother to task over her proposed plan for her gay daughter. Sara Ramirez, as Callie, has the marvellous warm and generous hearted way of fighting for the underdog and in this case a fifteen year old girl in love with another and frightened literally to death of being separated from her and sent to a camp to be 'cured'. The horrifying intentions of the mother were slammed down verbally by Dr Torres, and physically by Maggie. It was a moment of truly awesome television.
Message three: Bailey is back. At least, I hope so. While I would've liked Bailey to have to work just a bit harder for the chief's job, getting her mojo back in the OR, in front of the board was a genius piece of writing. It was only a matter of time before we saw Chief Bailey and with the arrival of Ben as a series regular it feels like Miranda Bailey is finally back on top.
Owen and Amelia have picked up where they left off. Sexual tension finally found an outlet in the form of Owen face eating (sorry, but he's a terrible screen kisser) at the end before Maggie stepped in. I'm not feeling it yet but this pairing seems inevitable.
Alex and Jo are now very domesticated in what has to be the fastest ever loft makeover. Jo has started the season having zero impact on the episode except being someone for Alex to share the screen with. I worry that he's been gezumped, moved back to the sidelines now that Meredith has a new possé. Steph is proving to be the more interesting of the newer characters.
April and Jackson provide the only real angst in the season so far. Though perhaps that's because there are only two couples surviving at the moment (Bailey and Ben, Richard and Catherine). It's difficult to feel anything but empathy for Jackson who's clearly been served a bitter pill with his marriage to April. I'm looking forward to seeing them both in new relationships. Do I have the patience to watch Jackson moping. After all it's Grey's 2.0, let's ditch the old and bring in the new.
The writing of Sledgehammer was rather splendid all round but it wasn't all beautiful. I'm sorry Kevin but I found the directing rather choppy with poor visual and sound editing. The music was excellent but too loud. The editing was mis-timed in places. The directing was hammy and over dramatic, particularly the early scene when Ben is on the phone about the train hitting the girls. But I'm being picky…as I am when I ask the question…Where were the children when the sledgehammer was going through the wall? I need to remember that in Grey's as in many TV dramas the mundane matters of everyday living are often invisible.
The writers have made the wise decision to keep the interns in the background during this first episode. Perhaps they've learnt from the rather loud unwelcome introduction of five of them at the beginning of season nine. But this leads me to my first prediction of the season…or only prediction. If I get this wrong I'll give up. During a rather strange and mildly funny moment during this season premiere the 'legend' Arizona has found a new, rather dishy, yet equally unpopular room mate. Now I'm pretty certain this Italian Stallion is not intended for the healer of tiny humans but my guess is he will be involved in a dalliance with Callie. And this will give Arizona the opportunity to be all grown up and mature about Callie's love life…in her own house…foreshadowed in season 11 finale.
Or not.
Sledgehammer proved to be a very welcome season premiere, full of optimism and hope. It was at the same time light hearted and heart wrenching as the best episodes should be and surely whetted my appetite for more Grey's next week.
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