‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Izzie and Denny forever?

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Last night’s installment of the back-in-the-headlines drama “Grey’s Anatomy” raised a couple of big questions and a multitude of smaller ones. Let’s get right to them, shall we?

Does Izzie have a brain tumor after all? Last summer, rumors swirled that Seattle Grace’s uber-sensitive doc would be facing that very medical crisis this season. Now, here she is, two weeks running, seeing a whole heckuva lot of dead fiancé Denny. That’s one of the symptoms of a brain tumor, right? At least it always seems to be in the TV world.

Izzie’s dude greeted her the moment she walked into the hospital, complimented her on the sassy new-ish haircut and barely left her alone the rest of the episode. There was no getting rid of him no matter what she tried, whether it was the silent treatment or a heartfelt I-will-always-love-you-now-please-get-on-with-the-whole-resting-in-peace-thing speech. Not even getting Alex to burn the sweater she’d made for Denny during his ill-fated Seattle Grace stay worked. (Speaking of which, being around women in trouble sure does turn Alex into a lil nurturer. First Ava, now Izzie.) After all that, Denny was still waiting for his love in her bedroom, assuring her that he was real enough to touch. Which she did. Right before he enveloped her in a kiss his old ticker never would’ve been able to take.

Maybe Izzie’s just losing her marbles. That could be interesting -- except “Grey’s” just did that with Alex’s last girlfriend. It seems more likely to me that something is physically off. And that it’s perhaps life-threatening. Denny told Izzie more than once that he was there for her. Could he have meant that in the whole “I’m here, perfectly tanned and hot, to help you realize there’s something wrong that you need to diagnose and take care of” kind of way? Or even the “you’ll be joining me on the other side before too long” way? So far, Denny’s not telling. Whatever the case, this is shaping up to be the kind of juicy, emotional storyline even Katherine Heigl would feel deserved Emmy consideration.

What happened to Dr. Hahn? Cristina raised the question several times but we never did get a satisfying answer. Which kinda just makes the whole mess worse, dontcha think? I mean, even if Callie didn’t see Hahn again after their parking lot argument, how hard would it have been for the chief to fill in some blanks? Surely Hahn had a conversation with her boss before she left her job. And surely said boss could’ve slipped in a couple lines about the former cardiac surgeon in that scene where he was talking to Bailey about wooing the hospital’s new one, Dr. Virginia Dixon (Mary McDonnell).

At least we got to see Callie break down in grief after the homeless patient flatlined on the operating table. That scene was a keeper, in part because of the way Mark and Cristina were also affected. Those two aren’t exactly sensitive types, yet they came together to protect their mutual friend in her hour of need. I admit I was a little surprised that Cristina didn’t immediately run off to blab to Meredith the moment she learned of Callie and Hahn’s romantic involvement. After all, as Derek has increasingly learned, those two share every blasted thing. But it was a pleasant surprise -- and one that, considering Cristina’s own painful past with a lover who suddenly bolted, made sense.

A less welcome development: Callie’s quick interest in Sadie (Melissa George), Meredith’s old friend and Seattle Grace’s new pouty-lipped intern. Sadie wasted no time in stripping down to her bra and slicing open her shoulder so that Lexie’s secret intern society could have something to stitch up -- a move, I take it, that was meant to illustrate how up she is for anything. But Callie is nursing a broken heart, right? Or at least she was two scenes before she hit Joe’s bar. Maybe she could’ve waited until the next episode to start looking for a rebound.

A few other questions: What do you think Meredith told Derek about her past adventures with Sadie? Are you a fan of Mer’s Sadie-given nickname, “Death,” or were you as annoyed by it as Cristina was? And what about that hot little kiss between Cristina and Hunt, a.k.a. new series regular Kevin McKidd?

-- Shawna Malcom