My personal apologies to our readers...the few of you there are! Life has been busy, but that's no excuse! The entertainment world continues raging on and so shall we!
Most of you are aware that this week has been a big week for season premieres: Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock to name a few. Shoot, there are still more premieres to come (this girl is waiting for BROTHERS & SISTERS)!
Last night, I managed to take a break from the old law school routine (arguably, too long of a break...in fact, I am in the law library right now as I blog!) and watched the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy. I tend to be of the same attitude of a lot of Grey's Anatomy watchers as of recently: last season was just a little too much. Certainly, a lot of the medical drama of Grey's has always been extreme or unrealistic, but the romantic storylines always were satisfying. One could always identify with the characters. It was a character driven show. Season 6 however left me disappointed. The lingering dark cloud that was Katherine Heigl's continuance on the show (despite her no longer wanting to be there, and really, I didn't want her there either), the lack of romantic tension between Derek and Meredith, and the unrecognizable charicature that was Chief Webber (not to mention the fact that by the end of the season, Derek became the head honcho and was no longer the same guy, either) were all reasons why Season 6 was not the show I once loved. There was no connection from one episode to the next. Dr. Bailey and her tough love attitude remained the show's only constant.
The influx of new blood that came from the merger storyline only further confused what once was a solid dynamic between the characters.
All of this disappointment was washed away with the Season 6 finale. Admittedly, the story was extreme. However, once again, the characters finally found a reason to connect with one another once again. Finally, the new blood was integrated and made some sense in the overall purpose of the show. I had an emotional reaction to what I was seeing on my television screen. It was gritty and real (okay, maybe not like FNL, but still...pretty darn compelling stuff). And the end, unlike any of the other episodes in Season 6, left me wanting more...which I suppose is why it was the Season Finale. Any of the other episodes might have been enough to cancel the show for good.
Last night's premiere certainly seemed to put some of the classic elements of the show back in place: sarcasm in light of bad situations, Derek back to being a plain old neurosurgeon (oxymoron, I know), Chief is the chief again, and Karev is back to being a jerk (still love him, though).
However, because of the events that took place in the Season Finale, Seattle Grace is clearly not the same. You know things are bad when Dr. Bailey is not able to keep herself together. Cristina gets married to Owen (and is happy about it). Lexi clearly is suffering from PTSD and seems jaded. McSteamy is serious...all of the time. Derek seems unable to cope with what has happened to him and who knows what will be the end result of his inability.
While I found these changes last night difficult to fully wrap my mind around (I am a creature of habit, it's true), these changes finally seem to flow naturally from the incidents that occured in last season's finale. Rather than everything simply being these crazy medical mysteries that would probably never happen in real life (or at least never always happen at ONE hospital to the SAME doctors), the characters seem to be the focus again. It will be interesting to see how the shooting at Seattle Grace continues to impact these doctors as individuals and as a unit. Clearly, things are not okay, and this is a problem that cannot be resolved within a single, 42-minute episode.
Human emotions are compelling and if Grey's Anatomy can make that its focus in Season 7, I think Season 7 will prove to be a good one.
Stay tuned!
Erin
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