Bill Harper on "I Saw What I Saw"...

Original Airdate: 10-22-09

So, my kids and I were watching this nature film about Meerkats, and at one very tense moment, a giant eagle swoops in and snatches up a terrified little meerkat and carries it off to its nest of doom to be eaten, and all of his meerkat brothers were very sad and so were my kids.  My daughter actually said: “That’s so sad.”  And I said to her “What if this were a movie about a family of hungry Eagles?  Then it would be awesome.”  

Because that’s the truth – it all depends on your perspective.  Facts are facts but the Truth – the Truth is all about perception.  It’s personal.  It’s the reason we have a justice system.  Because several people can come away from the same event with very different stories, based on who they are and what their situation is and how they perceived what they saw.  The Truth is their truth.   Truth is perception. 

This is something I’ve believed for a long time, so I was really excited when it was decided that this episode would be a very different kind of episode than we usually do -- something we’d talked about doing for a while -- a “Rashomon” Story.  

A Rashomon story isn’t a new idea – it’s named for a 1950 Kurosawa film, in which a crime is depicted from the conflicting points of view of four witnesses, the truth lying somewhere in between their stories.  Nor was it a new idea for Grey’s – like I said, we’d been wanting to do something like this for three seasons, but for one reason or another, we hadn’t.  But now there were great reasons to do it…

With Izzie having just left Alex in the wake of her firing and Meredith recovering from Liver surgery, we knew we’d be missing a couple of our regular people.  And the merger of Seattle Grace and Mercy West has brought a handful of competitive new residents.  And with them, we had the opportunity to have a look at Seattle Grace from a different perspective, through the eyes of these relative strangers.  We also knew that one of the Mercy Westers would be fired, as fallout from the merger, just as Izzie was.  So it was a great way to pit the residents against one another.   And we could get a fresh perspective on these new interlopers as well.  

You know that thing they say about rattlesnakes?  How they’re more threatened by you than you are by them?  That’s how I felt about these Mercy West Residents, who had our residents so threatened last week.  In the previous episode, when April’s passive-aggressive haughtiness was unmasked, her insecurity and exposure really put me on her side.  And, clearly, it had an effect on her, too.  April starts this episode with an attitude of not fighting the home team, but being a team player.  Just bringing her best self to the job.  It’s Reed whose competitive fires have been stoked, and she’s grumbling from the very beginning about how much Alex and Cristina have it out for them.

And the different structure of this episode gave us a great opportunity to see it. Cristina handing off Cathy Becker’s charts, for example:  from Cristina’s point of view, she’s just handing off cases to available doctors, solving a problem.  From April’s point of view, she’s snarkily palming off crappy cases onto the new kids.

And Charles sees Alex as a self-involved douche, ignoring patients and taking personal calls.  And, from his point of view, it’s the truth.  But when you see the story from Alex’s perspective…

Poor Alex.   He’s coming apart.  With Izzie gone God knows where, it was fun to use Alex’s relationship with his phone to tell the story of his tenuous connection to her.  And when he finally gets a connection, when he finally gets through to her, it’s in the height of the chaos – the worst possible time.  And when these new (from his perspective) idiots can’t save a patient by themselves… he has to make the right choice, he has to hang up, even though he knows he might not ever get her back.   So Reed and Charles see a selfish maniac shoving his way in to recklessly treat  -- maybe kill -- a patient.  But we get Alex’s story, and we see Alex doing the right thing, saving the patient, even though it might have cost him the only good thing he’s ever had.   

Meanwhile, Lexie comes across the patient in the midst of a struggle she’s having  -- against herself.  Another theme that kept emerging for me as I wrote the episode was Responsibility.  As everyone is seeking to find out who was responsible for Cathy Becker’s death, it looks for a while like it might have been Lexie.  But in the end, Lexie steps up for the patient she is ultimately responsible for, and gives him the care he needs. 

One of my favorite parts of this story is actually what it reveals about Arizona – Her commitment to helping this poor kid suffer his unbearable agony is no surprise.  But her anger and impatience at a young resident who can’t control her feelings is a color of Arizona’s character we hadn’t really seen yet.  She’s a hardass teacher, and I don’t think we knew that about her.  

And Richard.  This merger is clearly not going the way he might have hoped -- it’s barely underway, and things are getting more and more chaotic.  He drives this episode with command and control, pushing to get to the bottom of what is essentially a murder mystery in his hospital.  And in the end, from his perspective, he’s on top of it, he’s solved a problem.  Only to find that -- from Derek’s perspective -- he is the problem. 

But is that the truth?  Is this all Richard’s fault?  The Merger, the firings, Cathy Becker’s death?  From his perspective, all he’s ever done is try to save this hospital.  So the truth depends on where you stand, what you saw. Facts are much more easy to deal with.  Truth is messy, way too personal and, as Meredith points out, way too full of questions.  Like, where is Izzie?  Is she coming back?   How far can this hospital be pushed before there’s a breaking point?  And the same can be asked of Richard and Derek’s friendship.    

This episode was a really different one for us – part murder mystery, part puzzle, and, in the midst of this unusual framework, hopefully you felt it was your same Grey’s Anatomy – where our doctors struggle to connect with each other and connect with their patients.  It was a challenge and a lot of fun to figure out, and I hope you enjoyed it too.  I want to say a quick thank you to our cast and crew, who were called upon for more work than usual in shooting this episode, and the episode’s director, Allison Liddi-Brown. And to you, as always… thanks for watching!  

Comments

[Alicia]

Fantastic episode. I absolutely loved it. Great to see the show try something new and completely knock it out of the park. Kudos!

[Don]

Intense. That was awesome. Hope there are more episodes like tonight throughout the season.

[ibamyk]

not my favorite. maybe its because i felt a little homesick, or weirded out because all these annoying people are in my hospital... ( ok, its tv, but on thursdays @ 9- its mine)im just not happy.... at least another invader is gone. thats what she gets for not giving up george's locker.

[April]

Thank you for one of the best episodes of Grey's we have seen in years. It was wonderful to have the focus be on patients and medicine again.

[Ann D]

Hey, i like the episode, but, see i'm a little recented about this season, obviously there's somenthing missing...

i loved, though, the structure of this episode! it was epical! the puzzle, and different perspective, just blew me away!

i hate the absence of three of the main characters, specially George, i know he woulda have been like the white soft part between the two hard pieces of cookie from the oreo's... he's like human relationship's glue... i miss him..

after all, it was a good episode, but grey's it's note what it used to be...

Actually I have a question for Shonda, do you remember at the finale of season four, that she had just write the end of season five and it was amazingly great? Did she already contemplate killing George? Just a thought.

Again, good ep, very well written!

[Anne]

Well the medical drama mystery part was fast paced sometimes too much so but I guess that adds weight to how the mistake happened. Finding out what really happened through so many eyes in a chaotic situation would not be easy. I would have liked more interaction of the core characters outside the ER. But I guess that was the whole theme of the show. I thought Christinas comment near the end was good - no one was perfect or is perfect. I really liked Dereks comments to the chief. He nailed it - the chief didn't make any effort to help the new people assimilate or help all of them be more than strangers to each other. He fostered the atmosphere of fear and competition which caused the incident. The environment certainly isn't good for the patients. There is chaos in the hospital and until they do something it will continue. I also got the feeling this was a show to make us know the new characters more as we saw so little of our main characters. Without adequate supervision by the senior doctors (attendings etc) mistakes will happen. If you think back on other big trauma incidents at the hospital you would have seen all the senior doctors (chief, derek, mark, bailey, owen, callie, arizona) all really hands on and jumping from case to case just to get things done or at least following up. The chief wasn't anywhere I saw and the rest were in a few scenes. Just seemed odd. But that is just my humble opinion. Nice to see Meredith in a few scenes and one Mer/Der scene. I guess the closest to happy ending in this episode was the fire fighter getting his hallway salute.

Can I put a plug in now for a happy holiday moment in the show? Take your pick Thanksgiving or Christmas - give us a warm fuzzy moment.

Greys to me has three parts - medical drama, humor and a bit of romance and that is how I judge an episode. This was a very serious show so not one of my favorites but I grant you it was interesting.

[Izzie-At-Heart]

I write this comment not because I have anything in particular to say. But, for you writers, I think it's really important you know that for every person who hates the episode, there's two who loved it.

I LOVED IT!

Staying loyal 'til the end,
Izzie-at-Heart
(Currently MIA)

[missyb]

Nice departure from the usual format, and a way to introduce the new Mercy West folks, but c'mon...back to what we want to see... Ellen, Sandra and Sarah! Okay, Patrick and Eric too!

[J]

I liked Derek's end scene with the chief the most. The mercy westers and the merger are disappointing. Still no improvement in teaching and more chaos.

I wish there was more Mark and Mark/Lexie.

[Kelly]

I thought Arizona cried when she was anger and upset?

Great performances by Justin,Patrick,Chyler and James.

I feel for Alex. His crappy childhood now Izzie living him. I think Alex and also Mark should get to address their childhood issues.

I love Cristina and Lexie. They are the doctors I want treating me.

The Chief needs to accept help from Derek.

[old fan]

Just didn't like it. Kind of gave me a headache. Different, but not better.

[Famous Artist]

For the second week in a row, this episode made me nervous. Full of cacophony. I have decided that if I ever need an emergency room, I am going to make sure it is on a night when something major doesn't happen! :)

I loved the episode. And I am excited about what is to follow. However, I am also hoping that it is going to be a little more calm than the past two weeks.

There were so many interesting points, and I was afraid much of the time. I don't like horror movies, and this was so close to that. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. And I was happy that Derek, after all those patients dying last year during the trial, was clean in the whole mess, save that he got to truth-tell the Chief that it is likely that he (the Chief) was the likely creator of the cacophony and ultimately the death of Carol Baker. I look forward to that relationship's turn from being a mentoring one to being a rivalry.

I love Little Grey more and more every week. I love Little Grey so much I nick-named my 16-pound, little boy cat whose real name is Austin, Little Grey.

I have been loyal to Grey's Anatomy from the beginning, but if you make this this nervous three weeks in a row... well, I guess I will have to worry that you will make me this nervous four weeks in a row. We are, after all, coming into November.

[PamelaJaye]

and I want to thank Shonda for saying it was a new thing for you to do, rather than "we're breaking the rules of television, here" like last time.

I remember at least one ER ep where this was done. I think there was more than one (although they weren't murder mysteries)
Four Corners was one (who knows, maybe they were mysteries) and Night and Day was sort of one.

Thanks for clarifying whose idea this format was - I was curious about that.

Thanks for Nosedive ;-)

Thanks to Ellen for shooting ahead.

You'll have to do a bit more to invest me in the rest of the MW residents. The only one I really liked at all is gone.

I felt at one point like I was watching Grey's Aprentice. (and would be for weeks - You're fired!)

And I finally understand why it's ABC - I couldn't understand: if there is breathing, then by default, there is airway. Um... guess not.
I'm still not sure why the patient died though. I only understand why her throat closed.

And what do residents do, when they are fired? Residency isn't just something you apply and interview for at random.

Anyway, I really liked the ep. It was different, and fun. (not a lot of mysteries on Grey's and maybe I'm missing ER just a tiny bit)

And yeah, the Chief talks a good game, but he never seems to actually have a plan on how to run a *teaching* hospital. (or at least the surgical program thereof) Several times in the past, he's yelled about fixing it, and yet... from "no more than 80 hours" to "no defacto specializing" his rules only last an ep or so, and then we are back to status quo. And that's too bad.

I wonder who is Chief Resident this year. And I wonder if the ER actually has a staff at all. I've wondered that one for a long time.

Things to think about. In the meantime - good ep.

[Mariam]

I really enjoyed reading that. I love how you wrote the blog entry.

I honestly thought the episode was brilliant. It was really amazing. So, well done!

One thing though. There's still something missing. As a die-hard fan of this show, I've always been so interested in the relationships on grey's. The closest thing we got in this episode was Alex and Izzie over the phone. Maybe it's just me, but I miss the relationships stuff so much. I'd love to see more of Owen and Cristina. What's going on with them as a couple? I just miss that!

Oh, and I LOVE the fact that we got rid of one of the orangies. Here's hoping we get rid of the rest, even the hot one with the green eyes. There are just too many characters on the show already. If you guys like them so much you can send them over to private practice or something.

[Angela]

I LOVED this episode...I thought it was the best so far this season!!

[Sally]

Good episode. Way better than last week. I wouldn't want this every week, but it was a fun ride and it worked for an episode with lots of people since the real character was the Who Dun It storyline. So, well done.

But, let me be clear. I am still not in favor of these Mercy West folks. Tonight, once again, I really missed Meredith. I love that we get little mer/der nuggets. They aren't much, but I treasure them all the same.

I like Jackson. I wouldn't mind seeing him stay. The others can go now.

I also have developed a complete and total hate for Lexie. Why exactly was she crying? I hate how she screws up but then saves the day in the end. She is annoying.

I've also come to really dislike AZ for some of the same reasons. She gives the same little pep talk to a different resident each week. ENOUGH of her. Why can't she just be a normal person. Blech.

[CourtneyF]

brilliant writing!

[Sasha]

In 108 episodes, this one is in my top 5 all-time favorites. Excellent. Well done, Bill!

[Melissa]

Well, I had told myself after the extreme let down I had felt from not only the past few episodes, but also from the fact that the past six seasons have seemed to get us no where, that I wasn't going to watch anymore. So I sat tonight, determined to actually skip my first episode of Grey's since I started watching in the second season. However, having nothing else to do at the moment I found myself tuning in, and then it happened. For the first time all season, I was intrigued.

Don't get me wrong, I still don't like the addition of the MW residents and still feel their presence is pointless. But tonight despite the massive amount of screen time they had compared to our SG people, this episode felt well written and connected. It didn't seem to have much of a purpose to the story line at hand, other than the conversation between Derek and the Chief, but as a stand alone episode it was wonderful, very refreshing for a change even inspite of the high paced drama that took place.

The story line felt real, it didn't seem like it was contrived. It was something that happens to doctors everyday, it was something that happens to all of us everyday. We make mistakes, everyone of us, just often the mistakes we make doesn't cost someone their life. The different perspectives on how the story unfolded were genius. It felt a bit rushed and confusing in places, but in a way that added to the episode instead of detracting from it as it often does. And in the end, I actually felt sorry for the Mercy West resident that got fired, which truly says something giving how I feel about the situation and the merger.

My favorite scene of the night though was Derek and the Chief. I actually applauded him when he said that first of all there are two many doctors (one of my main issues with this season so far) and that secondly, perhaps he needed to reconsider who was responsible for this mess. It was the Chief's idea to do this merger and so far it has done nothing for the hospital other than create a breeding ground for chaos, fear, and doctors running around acting like children. It really says something about the Chief that Derek is able to take a step back, look at the big picture, and see what is really happening. Unfortunately, the Chief seems to be able to do nothing more than sit in his office lately, closed off from his hospital and his staff. Maybe for once he needs to be man enough to admit his own mistakes, because he has made plenty.

The ending of the episode though seemed to miss the mark. Something about the exchange between Derek and Meredith felt off. I hope the distance and chill I saw between them in that scene isn't a foreshadowing of things to come.

So this episode, though not giving me much of what I actually wanted to see, brought me back to Grey's. I only hope this is a starting point of a season that will somehow meet my expectations despite my own reluctance.

[Christina]

Hi Bill,

Well, all I can say is that this episode brought me back from thinking my show was going into the toilet. Last week's episode was just one where I couldn't find a connection, the one that I love feeling from this show with these characters, but tonight it was there again, in the same old Grey's fashion that I love.

It was just so well written, directed, and the actors were all great. Lexi made me cry when she couldn't bare to see her patient suffering the way that he was. She was so on in that performance. I loved seeing the tougher Arizona tonight, it just stands to show us more about her that we didn't know yet. I absolutely loved Alex tonight. I wanted to take him aside and hold him while he cried because he was a jumble of nerves, and all he probably wants to do is find his wife, or even just talk to her, and then when he finally does of course it is the worst possible time...ugh!

I read something somewhere on an interview of that new guy from Mercy West, who I really dislike, "nose-dive guy" about Reed and Alex and a possible triangle with all of them. Please throw this idea out. We already saw Izzie and Alex fight to get to that together place. I know Katherine is filming a movie, and more power to her, but please don't make Alex cheat or do anything drastic. I can't bear to watch my favorite couple go through more drastic trauma again. She already battled cancer for God's sakes and he was there through it all, thinking of her happiness, marrying her, snoozing in cups. If that doesn't make an everlasting bond between them, with him there and supporting her through all of it, then I don't know what will. I'm not saying it will be easy when she comes back because we all know Alex already had a lot of issues already with trust and letting his guard down, but please, nothing too horrible.

I actually felt real empathy for the doctor that got fired and I didn't think I would feel anything for any of the Mercy Westerners. And I loved Derek telling the Chief in the end to look again at whose really responsible because he's on such a quest from the beginning to find someone to blame, when really, maybe all he had to do was look in the mirror. And I know for the Chief, it's a different truth, he's just trying to salvage what's been lost, to make it better, but maybe it's just being made worse.

I loved how Cristina said it like it was in the end...it could have been ANY one of them and I'm so grateful it wasn't one of our Seattle Grace people. I really thought it was going to be Lexi or Alex's fault, but thankfully that was not the case.

But I thank you writers for allowing me to breathe easy again. It was a great episode and I am putting my faith in you guys to keep what we love about this show consistent. It was great heart pounding drama tonight. The kind that made me text my best at every commercial where we say "oh my god...seriously? did you just see that!?" Well, not those words exactly, but you get the picture. =]

[Tamsin]

Hi there! Just wanted to thank you for giving Derek the "knock 'em dead" speech at the end of the episode where he gives it to the Chief like it reallty is... at least from my perspective (and Derek's). This was one of those episodes that kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next clue to be revealed. It's just one of the reasons I love this show. Thanks for another rewarding Thursday night!

[SteveS]

No, this didn't feel like a Grey's episode. It was just a generic hospital show. You could have plugged in the characters from ER or House.

Where were the couple interactions? Was it supposed to be ironic that Alex & his phone got more attention than Sloan/Lexie, Callie/Arizona and Christina/Hunt? They should have been consoling each other at the end!

After last week's amazing episode, which made me at least both laugh and cry, this one really sucked.

[ieishah]

this was by far one of the best episodes i've seen in quite some time. somehow, without 3 of the original cast members, including grey, herself, you've managed to keep it exciting, suspenseful, and ultimately, very seattle grace. it feels like the old grey's, but definitely with new energy and sharper focus. loved all the medicine. bravo! you've hereby reinvented the show!!

[Chrissie]

Loved the show, but wish I could have heard more of the conversation. The music was so loud it drowned out the voices. The 'background' music was in the foreground, and not in a good way.

[Leigh-Anne]

I don't usuallly comment, but I must say that while I was mostly entertained throughout last night's episode, it was almost like "Oh, look how creative we are, being all creative and whatnot." I'd also like to add that Justin Chambers should have been nominated for an Emmy last year. Hopefully it'll happen for him this year. He's amazing.