'Grey's Anatomy': More Meredith misery, and Addison on the road

If ever there were a motherless child, it is Meredith Grey. Earlier this season, her biological mother died, taking one of the show’s richest story lines—how you come to terms with brilliant but an emotionally abusive mother as she is eaten alive by Alzheimer’s—with her. Then last night, Meredith’s brief but promising relationship with her step-mother (the always welcome and wonderful Mare Winningham) was cut short by a strange infection complication that seemed lifted directly from “House.”

But never mind that. The important thing seems to be that the tentative, tenuous rapprochement Meredith had made with her dithering detached father was snapped, perhaps forever. When receiving the news of his wife’s unexpected death, he lashed out at his daughter, literally and figuratively, while Bailey, the Chief, McDreamy and the rest of us stood by in shock. Wasn’t this man once a doctor himself?

Not that anyone should have been totally surprised by Susan Grey’s death--parents in general don’t fare too well on “Grey’s.” But still there seems to be a conspiracy afoot to keep Meredith from anyone who could impart anything at all like wisdom, if not maternal comfort. This works for those of you, and you know who you are, who like Meredith best when she is totally miserable, but not so much for McDreamy who is finally realizing that his love interest is, after all, a young woman in her 20s, the sort of girl who allows her best friends to kick her boyfriend out of bed because they need to talk. The sort who, in a crisis, still turns first to the tequila shooters.

This mindset--the Meredith Grey demographic if you will--may explain why the show is lately so pre-occupied with sex. It has become essentially the Abercrombie and Fitch of TV shows—popular, clever, pretty and aimed at those who still remember dorm life fondly. Memo to the “Grey’s” cast: Anyone playing a character over the age of 45 take heed—life is short and getting shorter.

Meanwhile, in the wake of her closet hump with Karev, Addison headed south seeking solace and fertility advice from her med school buddy Naomi (Merrin Dungey,) Strangely enough, Addison has decided that all her problems will be solved if only she can have a child. Having given up on McDreamy, McSteamy and Karev, she will settle for a donor.

Alas, it is not to be—according to the blood work, she is infertile. An infertile ob/gyn—the irony is Shakespearean. Fortunately, this is Los Angeles which invented the consolation prize. Here there are not hospitals but wellness centers, complete with tough talking therapists (yay, it’s Amy Brenneman), sexaholic healers (and Tim Daly looking not a day older than he did on “Wings”) and, of course, a best-selling health guru (ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Taye Diggs). Add a clever story line about an Internet-dating addicted doc (Paul Adelsetein) and a hot surfing assistant (Chris Lowell, last seen as Piz on “Veronica Mars”) and you don’t need a baby, Addison, because you can drive away in your very own fabulous new show.

There is always so much hope and promise in a pilot, especially one with such talent roiling around. The Avid “Grey’s” Viewer cannot help wanting “Private Practice” to succeed—who doesn’t love Addison with her alabaster skin and fetchingly expressive eyebrows, not to mention Amy Brenneman who has been gone for too long? (OK, two years, but it seems longer.) Certainly the set-up is perfect—the various medical, and alternative medicine, departments open things way up for plot possibilities and, as “America” so brilliantly put it, it’s good to get out of the rain. But sex seems to sell itself as hard here as in Seattle—both patient plots had to do with sex, not to mention all the principal plots. Which is fine, sex is great, sex is fun. It just isn’t the only thing that moves a drama, or its viewers.

Also, we can’t help noticing—no characters over 45 even mentioned. Of course, it is L.A.

-- Mary McNamara

(Photo courtesy ABC)

Comments

[janet]

i can't believe this writer and i watched the same show. the show was a complete mess. it was a real stinker. the plot line was ludicrous and the acting terrible. the spin-off show looks absolutely dreadful, a sniggering and moronic waste of energy.

[Donna]

I totally agree with Janet's comments.
Two hours of blending the pilot for the new show with the regular plot lines? It was horrible.
So, they went with the drama of Meredith's step mom dying, a "feel bad" ending leaving poor Meredith with more emotional baggage.
Did anyone else feel that 'Ava' is in the competition for whiniest character?
Yang in a wedding dress was great, her scenes were the only watchable ones in the whole show.
And these people in "Oceanside"? I guess they're supposed to be quirky? They weren't believeable, likeable or even very interesting. I say good riddance to Addison, they totally deserve each other.
And right, the receptionist in a medical office keeps his surfboard at work? (Where I wonder, under his desk? In an exam room?) And waxes it in the lobby, half naked? Not even in Oceanside.
They jumped the shark with this one. Can Seattle Grace recover? If they keep this up who will even care?

[Lisa]

I agree with Janet and Donna. I was so bored I literally had to turn the show off at the hour mark, and this from a hardcore, dedicated Grey's fan. I found the patience to suffer through the second hour a day later, only to be "rewarded" with the only truly selfless person in Meredith's life dying, Meredith being slapped by her father, and Derek walking away, possibly on to a new person in the bar in the previews. Forget it. This show has been pretty awful all season, and I don't think I'll make time for it next year. It has not rewarded me for my three years of loyalty. It has only punished me.

[Michelle]

I agree with the other three. Yang's story line still rings true. Other than that, PEEEE-UUUUU. I love the Addison character. Now they've made her stupid. Embarrassingly stupid. Surfer boy stops to wax a teeny spot on his board in the lobby??? Right. They kill off the step-mom, set up this way dark scene with Meredith's dad and then let it lay there. Tequilla shots after such a day would make some sense if they weren't smiling and toasting like it was a great day in surgery. I thought it a lame two hours with absolutely no flow. Hopefully they'll redeem themselves next week.

[Crystal]

I was so disappointed in the way the writers have developed these characters. If I wanted to watch Frat parties I would watch MTV. It could have been a great show, but as usual they stunk it up.

[Kate]

I'm pretty sure that the "Oceanside Wellness Clinic" is in Santa Monica, not Oceanside--I think the name is just meant to point out that it's near the ocean.

And the spinoff looks terrible. I like Amy Brenneman and Merrin Dungey, but most of the characters are ridiculous. Bad writers use dialog as straight exposition--and that's what we got. We didn't get to observe the new characters and be intrigued by their behavior. We were just told, over and over, that they're lovable but complex and quirky. I'm not buying it.

But the stupidest thing was the surfer/receptionist. Even if he keeps his surfboard in the office, he'd be wearing a t-shirt when he walked through with it. (Plus he's not that hot--while the pecs may be in evidence, his face doesn't even look finished. Again, not buying it.)

[Valerie]

Addison in Seattle is wonderful - Addie in LA? Did the sunshine addle her brain? From the beginning with the wind blowing her hair in her face and the tricky gear stick, it was so over-acted and over-written. Tillie, the "talking" elevator, was demeaning to our intelligence. I can only assume this is supposed to be the character's confessional box should the series be picked up. Ugh. And the stairway "tonguing" was so incredibly juvenile, I cringed not only for myself but for the actors. And professional woman ogling at a less than attractive surfer dude was gruesome. Hated it. Shondra, go back to work on bringing Gray's Anatomy back to its former glory.

[Ariel]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the spin-off was absolutely horrible. Tim Daly is no Mc-whatever, that's for sure, they've completely emasculated Tae Diggs and the women sit on their butts and mope, surrounded by paradise. And Addison "freaked out" by acupuncture? Ooh, it's so unorthodox it's covered by my HMO. My God! I wanted to pick up Addison and take her to the Coffee Bean on Main Street for some REAL surfer-boy watching, not the dorky receptionist who was clearly channeling Shaggy from "Scooby Doo." Lame, lame, lame.

[Arianna]

THANK you, Janet, Donna, Lisa, Michelle, Crystal, and Kate. I hate to be repetitive, but this "spin-off" deserves it. The new characters were vapid and unlikable; it's as if the show's creators forgot about the most basic notions of character development and plot design. Interspersing these flat-out boring California scenes lost the emotional and dramatic impact of the action back in Seattle (where yes, sex is an obsession, but not a profession). What a huge mistake.

[Ria]

The dialogue was terrible in the spin-off of Grey's Anatomy. My husband watched it with me for the first time and was genuinely puzzled about why I'm a fan of the show. I'm wondering the same thing, after watching this seriously bad spin-off attempt.

Do these people WORK for a living? All they seemed to do was sit around talking about their own miserable lives. They only seemed to have 2 patients--pregnant woman with people fighting over her baby and a man with a tumor that caused him to not want to have sex. I don't know who this is supposed to entertain, but it wasn't me!

[KristenBellFanClub.com Save Veronica Mars]

not much to add -- you are so right on. what a disappointment. the war against strong intelligent capable women continues.

[Bella Parola]

I thought I was being too demanding when my response to the "hot" surfer was "huh?!?!?" If that guy's hot, then I spent the best years of my life with some of the top 10 men in the world - who I always thought were pretty average.

How could you not find a really good-looking surfer/actor in LA, for goodness' sake? It might be a little hard to find an authentic yodeler, say, or an authentic Beefeater (or even beefeater, perhaps) but as Ariel says, spend half an hour anywhere in Santa Monica, or Venice, or Ventura, and you'll see much better than that poor kid. I wasn't studying closely, but my recollection is that he didn't even look comfortable or natural carrying the board - I was too busy being appalled that the doctors would be sitting in the lobby ogling him regardless of how hot he was supposed to be.