2nd Day of (TV) Christmas: Grey's Anatomy

I freely admit, with zero guilt or shame or whatever, that I love Grey's Anatomy. I used to pretend that it was a guilty pleasure but life is too short for that nonsense. I love this show, I care deeply about the characters, and I cry at about every 3rd episode. So I'm actually super excited to rewatch one of my favorite Grey's episodes, "Holidaze", which falls into one of my favorite eras of the show.

There is a lot going on in this episode, which follows the characters from Thanksgiving through to New Years. Meredith is being mentored by the chief, sort of in exchange for her staying quiet about him starting to drink again (the chief is a long-recovered alcoholic). Cristina, Teddy, and Jackson are trying to help a young woman whose heart has given out and is being kept alive by a machine. Derek, Sloane, and Arizona are racing against the clock to create the tools needed to fix a tangled blood vessel in a boy's brain that's giving him bloody noses. Bailey's father arrives in town, filled with disapproval about the fact that her marriage has fallen apart and she's working through the holidays. Sloane is shocked by the arrival of a young woman who announces herself as his daughter and promptly moves in with him and Lexie. Just before this episode, Teddy admitted that she's in love with Owen, leaving Owen, Teddy, and Cristina to face the emotional fallout of those leftover feelings.

We miss you McDreamy! (Image from IMDb)

Whew! Did I miss anything? I'm sure I did.

Here's why this is one of my favorite episodes of the show: that is A LOT of threads to follow and somehow writer Krista Vernoff weaves everything together in a way that's both easy to keep up with and really emotionally effective. The stories work around and through each other and gradually amp up the drama which is why I cry almost all the way through this episode every single time. Really beautiful moments are tempered away from being cheesy by an undercurrent of tension from the darker plotlines. And unlike some Grey's episodes that are just devastating, we get enough happy endings here that it still feels like an episode meant for the holidays.

Image from IMDb

Highlights of CT ugly crying throughout include:

• Teddy getting her heart patient (played by a heartbreakingly great Danielle Panabaker) outside to see the snow fall
• Bailey's speech at Christmas Dinner about how her life might look like a mess but ending her marriage was the right thing to do, and how much helping people through medicine fulfills her
• Derek, Sloane, and Arizona paying out of their own pockets for the surgery equipment to save the little boy
• The pain in Cristina's eyes every time she sees Owen and Teddy looking at each other
• Thatcher confronting Meredith about the reality of the chief's alcoholism.

And a small rant: people always roll their eyes and talk about the melodrama of Grey's Anatomy, but I'm here to tell you that melodrama actually means the way that story and music fit together to enhance the emotional impact of what you're watching. Grey's Anatomy is (and always has been) a masterclass in traditional melodrama. Musical supervisor Alexandra Patsavas has a freaking sixth sense for what is the perfect song for every moment. This episode in particular utilizes holiday music from a variety of artists and each one feels intentional and fits beautifully.

Image from IMDb

Maybe we watch something less emotional tomorrow? Isn't there a killer Christmas episode of Psych or something fun like that??

Happy watching!
CT