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

[still a fan.]

Best Grey's in a long time.
Loved the focus on the hospital aspects but it still had so much to do with each character that it was amazing to watch.
My DVR couldn't fast forward the commercials fast enough for me.

[Samantha]

Great to watch. Different. Interesting. Gave us some more of their personalities.
Thank-you!

[KJ]

Great episode!!! Loved it, thank you. Can we play "and then there were none" with all the new residents. Fire them all one episdode at a time...except the hot one. You can let him stay ;)

[Valerie]

All I can say is, "Wow!" It was one of the best episodes Grey's has produced in a long time. I actually felt like I was watching "ER" at its very height. Well done.

I cried like a baby for that badly burned boy. I know it's fiction, but felt his pain. So poignant.

[Noelle]

I loved this episode. It was so interesting and kept me guessing. I enjoy it when a show tries something new and interesting. Bravo.

[Grey'sAddict]

great episode! Loved it, but can we please get rid of the Mercy West residents now? I like ours more and want to see them more, not some Mercy West people. Please?

[JR]

Please. The one that got fired will be back when Izzie comes back. Not directed at you personally, but to say that Meredith would be in every episode? Deceptive at best. She had less than sixty seconds and Derek might as well have been an orderly for the connection they had. I’ll be back when Meredith is back full time. The minuscule crumbs are not enough.

[astrobot702]

As much as like the MW's the competetiveness that seems to be brooding among them that's turning into survivalism which is great to watch.

But I have to say it is so vicious how Reed sold April off to the wolves. It's almost like "Invasion" where you get the feeling that Charles watches Izzy issue incorrect treatment and keeps his silence. Instead of admitting to Bailey that he had a fault in the matter he keeps quiet. Lastly, at the end of the episode it's cruel to see how casual Charles and Jackson are about April's incident. It's clear that Jackson, Reed, and Charles are just friends out of need. that kind of loyal is short lived and when those people fall away one by one, you will be left alone. From the MW point of view I felt they are willing to sell their own to survive. GREAT WRITING!!!

But I want April back, she seems fascinating and fills the story nicely. She seems altruistic, and connects with the camera like out regular characters... I do think however her mistake was caused by mismanagement of the staff and that is the real truth. We still don't know how Richard survived his firing and HE has become a liabilty to SGH/MW.

I want to see Derek challenge Richard. Unfortunately we have not seen another character that could topple Richard, maybe Burke or Hahn maybe Addison in another time, but what other character could take on the roll as chief? Bailey is too perfect to have her shut away in an ofice...LAWL

I love a good "King OF The Mountain" story and all throughout this episode I just kept thinking it's everyone's fault and no one's because the root of the problem has always been Richard, just like Dr. Campbell, he has overstayed his welcome.
I eat this stuff up!!!

Again Great Writing!!!!

I would love to see April grieve her firing. But Bill I have to ask when do we get to see aome of the awesome MW attendings. There have to be some that are waitng to be unleashed on our unsuspecting heroes...LAWL

Awesome Episode!!!!!

[Barbara]

One doctor gone (yehaw) and specially a really annoying one.
Now get rid of the other new girl, the nosedive guy, keep Jackson and we are good to go back to our beloved Grey's!!!!

Miss Meredith and Izzie!!!
Where is the great chemistry Cristina has with Hunt? Where are the attendant good story lines??

Seriously I don't care AT ALL for the new ones!

thanks!

[CASANDRA]

I really enjoyed this show is was real at its best. However I have a fan club who meets every week to watch and go over the show, last week we was ready to hang Gray's up for good with the merger Izzie and now George. It's not the show we've grown to love. More of the new people should go. Izzie needs to come back and so should Dr. Burk now wouldn't that be a twist of fate. Think about it, bring the life of the show back which is Izzie there is no Gray's without her. And turn Christina's world upside down with the love of her love's return. Now that's good T.V!!!

[EJ]

This episode was actually pretty boring to me. Grey's is my favorite show on tv but this season is starting to disappoint. Still not a fan at all of the Mercy Westers and I'm really disappointed that you are no longer focusing on the core Grey's stars. We barely saw Derek, Callie, Arizona and Mark. I understand you are trying to keep the show exciting by adding in new people and new twists but I think you could have done without adding in the Mercy West plotline. I'm really hoping you start focusing more on the main Grey's characters for the rest of the season. Let's see more interaction between Callie and Arizona, Lexie and Mark, Derek and Meredith, Christina, Alex and Izzie.

[Meaghan]

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC episode. I was a tad worried of the difference in style, but I had no reason to fear. It was pulled off magnificently, and yet still felt like Grey's to me.

Arizona telling off Lexis was great... Like you said, that was a side of her we hadn't seen.

The only thing I didn't like was April getting fired... only because she was my favorite of the new characters.

I really like this season so far... It's crazy to see where the show has gone since season 1. Amazing stuff, guys! Keep it up.

[Eileen]

Loved the episode! It was a nice creative and fresh approach to the show. I hope they keep Jackson; he is HOT. I agree with Derek about the death ultimately being the chief’s fault. Richard needs to step up his leadership game.

[Korey]

Really great episode - fast paced, kept you guessing until the end. I really enjoyed it.

[Tricia]

I liked this episode, but I'd like it more if the doctors weren't all acting like children. None of them have maturity or perspective? That seems odd. Where is the voice of reason Bailey? Why is AZ such a 1 trick pony (emo speeches only)? I have no idea why Lexie was such a complete basket case over this patient tonight. Why did she get so emotional?

Usuallyl Grey's is good at providing the backstory that drives characters' actions. Tonight, not so much.

[Jillian]

This was one of THE BEST episodes of Grey's I have ever seen. My best friend and I were glued to the TV the entire time, totally sucked into it all, not speaking until commericals. and during commericals...we had A LOT to say, trying to figure out what happened and whose fault it was. FANTASTIC!

[nrg]

this episode was brilliant. i was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

[Sara]

While I enjoyed the perspective of this episode and how it tied in the effects of the merger, I have to say the story line made me physically ill.
As a mother, with a young son, this whole thing just hit too close to home. Yes, I know this is a drama series and that things will be sad sometimes, but I can't get over this and how it made me feel.

[ndc]

THIS is what a Grey's blog is supposed to look like; giving us persepective into the episode that us non-writters didn't see. Thanks for a great blog.

I really enjoyed this episode, it kept my focus and attention every minute. It was also great to see how the different characters played out in a trama situation and Q&A situation. very well written, directed and acted. Especially to Lexie and Alex (forgive me, I don't know your names... well acted!)

[Tasha]

This was a nice change of pace for Grey's. I liked it!

I agree, Bill, the Arizona/Lexie scenes were my favorite parts of the episode. Arizona being tough on Lexie caught me off guard. As did Lexie's emotional approach to the situation. Definitely the most interesting dynamic (and hopefully backstories to come)in last night's episode!

[Kim]

Simply put.. the episode was fantastic. No unbelievable or preachy storylines and monologues. Just good entertainment.

[Jess]

Loved this episode! It was gripping and very well written. I think most of the characters got a fair amount of screen time. My favorite two parts were Derek's speech to the Chief and Arizona's speech to Lexie. Both were doing what everyone else should have been doing and that was looking out for the people. Not staff, not patients, but people. Emotion feeling people. I think both of their speeches were excellent.

It was great how Cristina, most verbal of the Mercy West haters, conceded at the end and defended one. That was great.

Over all a fantastic episode. One request though. Please can we see Callie get an episode where she gets a serious case. The episode where she rebuilt legs, was awesome! Please can you utilize her talents rather than have her as some comic relief or crying in a corner. Unless you want to have her crying with Arizona and that is ok as I love watching them have scenes together. Favorite couple by far.

[MD]

Loved this episode! Great way to bring something different to the season and the characters!

[Ella]

Loved this episode!! Great plot, great acting, great pace as the story unfolded.

Still don't care about the MWer's, but loved every minute of Cristina, Alex and Bailey, as usual. Also loved Jennings this episode.

Just a really fun and entertaining and enjoyable episode all around. Very well done. Thank you.

[alienographer]

I think Richard is well aware of the chaos going on, and i think that for Izzie he is allowing the chaos to fester because he knows his interns will come out on top.

He was never for the merger, and he is going to make it as uncomfortable for everyone else as it has been uncomfortable for him.

I think he got great pleasure in telling the Mercy West intern that she didnt cut it. hahahaha.