Mark Wilding on "Life During Wartime"...

Original Airdate: 10-30-08

First things first.  No animals were harmed in the filming of my episode.  None.  I know ABC ran that thing before the show started that told you that, but I figured you should hear it from me too.  Those four pigs were entirely and utterly fake.  Fake, fake, fake.  From their little piggy tails to their glistening piggy snouts, they were nothing but plastic and fiberglass and possibly straw for the whiskers.  Even their breathing was fake.  It came courtesy of some guy who stood just off camera and pumped an air hose (or something similarly technical that I couldn’t explain in a million years).  What WAS real is the issue of using animals to teach and perfect surgical technique.  Like Derek says in the episode, it’s not ideal, but a lot of hospitals in this country use live animals for procedures where surgical mannequins have yet to successfully replicate trauma to humans.  Things like blood volume loss – something else I probably couldn’t explain in a million years.  Anyhow, I thought we were pretty evenhanded in dealing with the issue of animal testing.  I heard from both sides as we were shooting the episode (boy, did I hear).  Compelling arguments were made on BOTH sides -- including one surgeon who told me that a day after learning to do open heart surgery on a pig, she used the same technique on a human being THE NEXT DAY.  She told me point blank, without a doubt in her mind, that if she hadn’t learned that procedure there’s no way she would have saved that person’s life.

At any rate, I thought it was a cool way to bring back Major Owen Hunt.  Even if people were appalled by what he did, his goal in the wet lab was to teach people.  And to teach them the best way he knows how.  Teaching, incidentally, is one of our major themes this year.  See one, do one, teach one.  You want to move up from being the number 12 hospital in the country, you’ve gotta fight that fight on all fronts.  Be it operating on pigs, hiring better doctors or doing a better job with the doctors who are already here.  Anyway, I think we came to understand Owen’s attitude toward the pigs at the end of the episode when he tells Cristina about losing all his army buddies in the RPG attack.  If you’ve seen 19 of your friends die in one day, it tends to make other things in your life not seem quite as important or dramatic.  My wife really doesn’t care what Owen (Kevin McKidd) does or doesn’t do to pigs.  She’s just glad to see him back at Seattle Grace.  REALLY, REALLY GLAD.  Much like Cristina, she just thinks he’s cool and sexy as hell (I’m not either of those things so I just make up lame excuses why she can’t visit the set and meet him -- he’s a leper, he’s got TB, he’s allergic to blondes – whatever will keep her at bay).  At any rate, he and Cristina make for a really interesting couple – even if he didn’t remember her name!

Speaking of names, I loved Meredith remembering the silly names she gave Anatomy Jane’s organs.  But if unearthing Anatomy Jane brings out Meredith’s playful side, it does just the opposite for the Chief.  He, like Owen, is fighting his own set of demons.  Always lurking somewhere in the back of his mind is the fact that his behavior as a young man somehow destroyed Meredith’s life.  She never had the army Tori Begler has.  She never had people looking out for her.  People who could protect her from life’s vicissitudes.  So when that doll suddenly re-appears, so does the Chief’s guilt.  I don’t know if that’s something he’ll ever be able to resolve because I don’t think those kinds of things are easily resolved, even in real life.  There are some things you just can’t forgive yourself for.  In my wife’s case, it’s her attraction to Kevin McKidd.  I’m sure, at some point in her life, she’ll feel very, very guilty about that.   

As for some of our other couples…I can never get enough of Izzie and Alex.  He’s trying to be a good boyfriend and going about it in a typical Alex way.  So that when Owen tells Derek and Mark that he wants to know what he did wrong with the scalp patient, Alex is all ears.  As well as he knows Izzie, in many ways she’s still a foreign country to him.  She has different customs and ways.  You can either dismiss those customs and ways or try to learn to do things differently.  In much the same way, Callie and Erica have yet to…calibrate.  If that’s the word.  They’re moving at different speeds into their relationship.  Callie’s more hesitant, maybe not sure she wants to throw herself one hundred percent into this thing.  While Erica sees the leaves on the trees for God’s sake!  Meanwhile George and Lexie have reached a truce of sorts.  I have to say, I loved that last scene where she made him a dinner of macaroni and cheese. 

Bailey, of course, is pretty much trying to drive up Seattle Grace’s ranking by herself.  From her domino surgery to removing six organs at one go, she’s on fire.  She’s not letting anything or anyone (namely Erica Hahn) get in her way.  When Tori’s father talks about hospitals and how doctors ignore you or don’t talk to each other or somehow lose sight of what they’re here for – to do the best they can for the patient – it’s hard for me to clump Bailey in that group.  But even she can occasionally get sidetracked (only to be set back on course by the Chief).  Still, at the end, when the Chief is looking in at the Beglers all crowding around Bailey, we get the impression (or at least I hope you got it) that she’s well on her way to succeeding him as the best general surgeon at Seattle Grace. 

As for getting back to being one of the top hospitals in the country?  Our doctors have a ways to go and lot of battles to fight.  Like my wife’s latest Seattle Grace crush, Mr. Owen Hunt tells Derek and Mark, this is still pretty much Day One for them…

Comments

[JB]

The last scene between Alex and Izzie was one of the best scenes ever. I absolutely love them as a couple!!!! The writers outdid themselves in this episode. It was great!! I also love Major Hunk!! Please keep him around. He's so hot and he and Cristina have amazing chemistry!! I also enjoyed the last scene with Callie and Mark. I felt bad for Mark. It seems that he thinks people just think he's good for sex and don't want to know more about him. He has depth. I know it's down there somewhere. Anyhow, fantastic job. This season has potential to be the best season of Grey's ever!

[Craig Whitman]

Erica Hahn finally had her moment. Brooke Smith was so beautiful in that opening scene; she kinda broke my heart. Oh yeah, and that last scene with Alex and Iz was their best moment of the series so far.

[Liz]

Like Liza said: "Why does merder always end up with 30 seconds a show? I know there's 100 people on the show now but MerDer is what I started watching again for they were the ones in the magazines i saw for this season i expected to you know actually see them."
Big fat DITTO to that!

I really like Alex & Izzie together, and Owen & Christina look like they have good potential too, but seriously (and with THAT BIG of a cast, I kind of understand why you only have 2 minutes per characters...), but I want more MER/DER scenes!! Do they ONLY have screen time together when there is drama?? Cause I can tell you I LOVE the "bright & shiny" scenes!! More happy & sexy scenes! (we only saw them kiss ONCE in 6 epi!!!).

So while it was a great episode (really a great season 5 by the way. I kind of feel like watching season 2! Great job!), I think your cast is getting WAYYYY too big (for God's sake, it's not ER!!), and I want MORE of Mer/Der!! They're the 1rst reason why I watch the show!

[Nikki]

Loved the episode! Love the season so far. It's so great to see you guys get your groove back! I've missed it. :)

[raprilc]

Yay for Izzie and Alex! Seeing them together makes me so happy.

[Mer/Der52fan]

As usual, NOT ENOUGH Meredith and Derek.

TOO MUCH Callie-Hahn. Oh well, I just fast forward through it.

It would be nice if Mer/Der had as much screen time as Callie-Hahn. What is up with that anyways?

I give up--again.

[Skye]

I have one thing to say. You can write an entire paragraph about pigs but nothing is even mentioned about Mer/Der? They get no screen time together at all. It's really getting tiresome, we as fans were told they're together for good. So what now we don't get to see them sort through their issues? Have dates? I think we got more screen time last season when they were apart. C'mon give us something, you have A LOT of MerDer fans out there and we deserve this.

[Lisa]

Where's Meredith and Derek? Seriously, where are they? I HATE that we are getting such a lack of them every episode and almost no love story at all..Just 30 seconds of a fight at the beginning, 30 seconds of a resolve at the end. Is this really why we saw the season finale last season? The Mer/Der centered print ads for this season, the dual TV Guide Covers with them? It's crazy..where's their love story and whree's their screen time?

[Susan]

Like others have stated ...I'm sick, sick, sick of the lack of Mer/Der time given. You promote their relationship before the premier and have the best ratings in anticipation of what we all wanted to see and then...you dump them, give them thirty seconds together and continue to watch your ratings drop by adding more cast members to an already bloated cast. Where is the magic of season one and two? I know the answer: you have buried the magic when you buried their chemistry, romance and charisma. Soo.. now we spend more time on pigs and distasteful characters like Hahn. Well...I'm done! You're not even worth my DVR. You writers need to watch what we all adored with Ellen and Patrick because you have forgotten what made this show what it WAS not what has become. This was a waste of my time and it won't happen again.

[kathleen]

one question..where is Meredith and Derek?

[Jasmine Perez]

I MISS MEREDITH AND DEREK..BRING THEM BACK (and for more than 1 minute per episode). WHERE IS MEREDITH & DEREK?

[Michael Meshaw]

It was a great episode thank you.

But I don't like the cutting down on Meredith screen time. or Meredith Derek screen time. they are the main leads of the show. Meredith is the lead, she should have more screen time. Her scenes are great.

[Mary]

Thank you so much for giving air time to the benefits of animal research. Far too often, all the general public hears is the viewpoint of animal rights activists. It was refreshing to see a television show give a voice to the medical researchers who work daily to find ways to save both human and animal lives. As someone who has personally been involved with these trauma procedures using porcine models, I think you did a fair and accurate portrayal of what goes on. Job well done. Keep up the good work!

[Maria]

Good show.
great season
but please less of Izzie.
More of Meredith, Meredith and Derek, Christina as well. Bailey with all of them.But please less Izzie.
More Meredith.

[M Lamontagne]

I don't have cable so I don't get TV5, the smartest channel on TV along with APTN. I look for smart shows and there is definatly some smartness to you show. Up to a certain point the people on your show are realistic, imperfect and differant and the women are strong like in real life given a chance. So thank you for this entertainment that I find so rare. Last night I found your treatment of animal experimentation really inadequite and I wish you had stayed off the topic. What humains, scientists in particular, do to animals is exteremly objectionable and it is not about being the best doctors. Do you know about man made famines, about working with toxic chemicals, about being down and out in a wealthy metropolis. Do you know how little people actually care for each person born, for the futur of the planet and for animals other than pets. You have gone of the deep end with your idea of being the best. I refuse to let go of my critical rational mind in order to be entertained and so yesterday I was outrage by your show.

[V.A.]

Dialogue was impeccable, how could I not hang onto every word that was said? Every inch of dialogue from the beginning to the end, opened and closed so well that I was left with my mouth agape and trying to find words to explain how I was feeling. Fantastic episode and an even better season...Damn that Shonda Wilson is great...if she doesn't get nominated this year...there is not hope...

[Sassi1972]

I HEART GREY'S ANATOMY!!

You all gaining speed more and more each week. I am remembering all the reasons why I began watching GA in the first place. Mark, this was a great episode and I look forward to many more great episodes.

ROCKSTAR.....

[Heather]

I am an animal rights activist and I don't believe in using animals to test procedures used on humans. When I saw the warning before the episode aired, I was not looking forward to see what you had conjured up. That being said, I want to thank you for making Izzie so adamandt about not torturing animals. Her speech to Hunt was wonderful and I appreciate you making that opinion heard.
On another note, thank you for bringing back Kevin McKidd, I agree with your wife! :) Oh, and please please please can you have more MerDer scenes???

[Cathy]

You don't mention the diaries, but I have a feeling they will be very, VERY important to Meredith's future. I can't shake the feeling that something big will surface regarding the Chief. Could he possibly be Meredith's biological father? It could be that Meredith's mother knew he was, and never told him, but put it in her diary...

[Canada Loves GA]

Seriously. 2 minutes of Mer/Der. SERIOUSLY?

[jennylynn]

i am really enjoying the focus on the work and the medicine of this season.

i think the goal of getting out of #12 has made the show much more interesting to watch and feel less cliche.

you have hit the right balance of work and play for the characters this season

[Jackie]

I have had more than enough of Alex and Izzie. This is not Alex and Izzie anatomy. They are a sick, twisted chemistry-deficient couple, and I can't stand them.

I am sick and tired of having them in my face while my favorite character George gets scrumbs and my favorite relationship, George and Izzie, gets the shaft yet again.

You are cowards.

LOVED, LOVED this episode...EXCEPT for the Callie/Hahn thing...I do not like Erica Hahn and I don't like what it is doing the character of Callie...I love Callie and Mark...can you please bring them out more and less of Hahn...

Other than that, I loved everything about it and really love Hunt! Yeah! Look forward to more upbeat, fun, good stuff with Greys.

[Shelly]

Well, let's see.. do you want the good or the bad first?

I'll start with the good, first off, aside from the MerDer talk, good blog, very funny..

While the Chief/Meredith scenes were heartbreaking, it was so good to watch. I really love their relationship. I'm looking forward to watching them grow closer.

I'm so glad Dr. Hunt is back, he and Christina both have alot of pain, I think those two together would be incredibly raw, definitely HOT!

I also love Christina, she always has this "tough exterior" but in every episode we get to see an adorable side to her.

I'm not a huge Izzie/Alex fan but they are cute. Doesnt look like things are going to go well next week though. Can't keep any couple happy for long, right? Either that or they'd be case aside on the backburner..coughMerDercough

Now for the eh...

I'm still not sure what to think about Callica, sometimes it's just a little t.m.i. , and of course it always comes back to cheating with you writers, can't get enough of that, right?

While, I LOVE seeing Meredith and Derek happy and smiling. LOVED seeing Meredith reminsisce and actually have happy childhood memories. WHERE IS OUR LOVE STORY? WHERE IS THE COUPLE WE FELL IN LOVE WITH? WHERE's THE PASSION? You can have both ya know. If you have any doubts take a look at fic boards. ALSO for the LOVE OF GOD give us more than 2 seconds of air time for them. This is what we've been waiting for?

I definitely have a completely different "feel" for this season, sometimes I walk away very content and others, like last night, I walk away, eh...

I know there are 10 million characters on the show (now you are adding more..) but don't forget about the ones that matter most of MOST of us. They are MY reason for watching the show and the same goes for most of the fans.

You're giving the handful of non-MerDer lovers their wish, but can't we all have our wish? Can't there be more than one hot couple?

Okay enough rambling.. I'm trying to look forward to next week. Hope I'm not as disappointed.

[Jasmin]

Good show.

Good blog. You covered just about everyone's feelings here and their relationship except Meredith & Derek. Intersting.

Thanks for all the Callica/Mark related scenes, good time for a kitchen break and discuss the epi with a friend that came over to watch.

Mark, is it too much to ask that we get some indication of what year it is?

Promo says 3 years ago...for Denny's death? seriously? We had Halloween last year & it's still October... yet... they are still 2nd year residents? and Lexie and the the new intern group are still interns?

We can handle it timelines, really...we can!