Where the Wild Things Are/Grey Matter

Zoanne Clack on "Where the Wild Things Are"...
Original Airdate: 4-24-08
Okay, before I start the blog, I wanted to mix this up a little in the spirit of the episode. Let’s have a contest. 10 points for whomever tells me why Bailey’s carrying her baby around all the time. 25 points if you can tell me the name of the crazy tumor that Phillip ends up having (no cheating by going back and looking!!! We’re on the honor system here!). 40 points for the guesser of the theme of this episode. And here’s the motherload, the “medical mystery” if you will: there are lyrics to a song referenced within this blog (which also gives another clue to the theme). 80 points for the person who can name the song (and an extra 20 for the artist). Answers are in spoilers at the end (remember: honor code people!).
Alright, you with me? Let’s start this party right. I know I, for one, have been a bottom-feeder for the last few months. A scavenger sitting in the mud and spitting out rocks on the bottom of the fishtank, flipping through my TIVO and watching umpteenth re-runs, models modeling, mensa members losing to fifth graders, chefs making 20-course meals out of garbanzo beans, and stars doing everything from dancing to rehab to showing us their “other talents.” Although I do admit that I have been crazy inspired by The Biggest Loser. Love it. Can’t get enough of it. I sing the theme song to myself as I get up in the morning (What have you done today, to make you feel proud…?) And the piece de la resistance: Groomer Has It. Animal Planet. Feel the burn.
Did I mention I’m SO GLAD WE’RE BACK????!!! So glad prime-time network TV is back and can fill my TIVO with sweet, yummy non-rerun fictional candy again. Can I get an Amen?
So what’s been going on in the 6 weeks (tv time) since we’ve been gone? I’ve heard a lot of speculation out there, but Meredith is absolutely. Not. Pregnant. Not even close. Hasn’t even had sex. With anyone. Meredith. Our beloved, “have-sex-instead-of-problems”, “meet-your-soul-mate-and-sleep-with-him-after-picking-him-up-in-a-bar” Meredith. She’s traded sex for… therapy? Therapy? Our Meredith? She senses there’s something wrong, something really wrong. But she can’t put her finger on it. Or can’t admit what she’s already put her finger on. Therapy is interesting because it’s the one place you get to talk about yourself incessantly and someone actually LISTENS. They’re actually paid to listen to your drivel. And occasionally give you mind-blowing assessments of your behavior. But Mer’s not quite taking full advantage of that. But it looks like there’s some movement at the end… we’ll see what she does with that. Maybe it’ll help her actually start acting like a human being around Derek. They haven’t spoken in the entire six-week interim. Mer’s been totally avoiding him and he’s been avoiding her. But they can’t keep that up. They can’t handle that. Deep, deep down, on their basest levels, taking intellect out of the picture, they belong together. They need each other. It’s instinctual, base, feral. 
But what if it’s not? What if all of their instincts are wrong, like with Izzie? She put all of her blood, sweat and tears into Cheech, I mean, Otis, and for what? Poor Izzie. It’s time for her to figure out who she wants to be and what kind of doctor she wants to be. On her own. Not emulating Cristina, not fighting for lost causes, something where she can take charge and find out what she’s good at. Don’t you think? Thank God Richard’s around to put everything into perspective for her. Maybe her instincts weren’t great, but she’s human. And being human ain’t so bad.
Unless you’re Cristina. When being human is bad. When being human means that you have to go against all your natural instincts to win at all costs. When being human means you have to put your tail between her legs (figuratively speaking, of course) and sacrifice the win to get where you want to go in life. To realize that sometimes in order to win, you’ve got to lose – you have to give up one thing to gain another.
What you gain can be what you need. Humans need human connection. And when they don’t get it, they tend to take it out on other people and not realize what they’re doing themselves. Who could I possibly be talking about? Maybe a little guy we like to call George? George walking around like a wounded lion. Pouncing on people left and right, trying not to show the scars of being left out of his peer group. Poor Lexie got the brunt of this… little did he know he had a friend right there, the whole time, wanting to be there for him. And frickin’ Lexie! There’s someone who needs to be loved. So sad. So vulnerable. Which kind of actually makes her strong in a very co-dependent kind of “please like me” kind of way. She’s like a little puppy who works so hard to do right and please their owner (except that puppies don’t usually have the whole alcoholic father part). Her pleasing puppy is in sharp contrast to Alex’s underdog, who’s always fighting to keep his head above water. For him, it’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes him wonder how he keeps from going under. There’s something going on with him. With his past. Something that doesn’t fully let him reach his ultimate potential…. Hmmm, maybe we’ll start finding out what that is soon. Every dog has its day.
Humans also get jealous, and boy is that running rampant around Seattle Grace. Cristina so wants to be in the Callie-Erica crowd and she’s so not. Callie and Erica are like birds of a feather now. They stick together. And Cristina is not in any way a part of their flock. And what about Mark? He’s totally jealous of Derek. It’s like Derek is the prodigal wolf that strayed from the pack and Mark’s been waiting for him to come back, but Derek’s not coming. Mark thought they’d go back to the pre-Addison days where they were hunters on the prowl, spiders spinning their webs. But Derek’s already moved on to new prey. Already catching someone new in his web. 
And that somebody is Rose. During the time we haven’t seen them they’ve developed a bit of a mating ritual where she pretends she doesn’t care and tries to hold on to her iguana aloofness even in the face of the overwhelming cuteness that is McDreamy. And for once, he’s not trying to hold back the McDreaminess. Usually reserved only for Meredith, he’s weaving his web and it’s trapping Rose. The more she resists, the tighter the web gets around her. I don’t think she’ll be fighting it much more. But will Derek watch her struggle in his web, store her up for later, or go for it? He seems pretty determined… she wants what he wants. She’s a real woman ready for a real relationship. And despite Mark’s incessant taunting, Derek’s going to stay true to Derek.
As Bailey stays true to Bailey. Taking care of the hospital, the residents, her baby, her life, and overall just being supreme ruler of the universe that she is. But can she handle it all? Is she superwoman or is she about to implode? Or perhaps even explode. I mean, she just went through one of the biggest tragedies of her life, feeling like she may have failed in protecting her own little bear cub. Then here comes this literal mama bear that kills because her bear cub was just touched. Overreaction? Or simply just instinct? Can Bailey’s instincts be as sharp as she thinks they can be? I think she really believes she can handle it all. She is woman, hear her roar. She’s also a doctor. And a chief resident. A wife. A mother. (CAUTION: SPOILERS (answers) AHEAD!) She’s split up with her hubby and she’s trying to get as much time with Little Tuck as possible (10 points). She’s a Mama Bear. Which is how we got to our theme: Animal Instincts (40 points). A freakin’ bear attacked Phillip because he had a malignant glioma (25 points – and I’ll give it to you if you guessed just “glioma”) that was causing him to go against his own natural instincts. Not to mention our residents are running around the hospital like rodents, feeding off of the life (and death) of the hospital. 
And now for the ultimate. The motherload. The “medical mystery” of it all. The 80-point monster:
The lyric was: It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under… And the song is called “The Message” (circa 1982). 
20-point bonus if you guessed Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
How’d you do? Max is 175…
This blog post was originally posted on greyswriters.com and an archive of the posts can now be found at ABC.com.
Category:Grey Matter