Mark Wilding on 'Invasion'...

Original Airdate: 10-15-09

I’m sure most of you have been fired at some point in your life.  I have.  In fact, I’ve been fired at several points.  Mostly from TV shows.  Mostly for a job poorly done.  I’ve been fired over the phone, in person, just before major holidays, a few months after I bought my first house – I’ve been fired a bunch.  The people who fired me all had the usual litany of predictable reasons for letting me go.  Budget considerations, you don’t write the voice of the show, we’re going a different direction.  Every tortured explanation designed to make you feel better about yourself.  And every one pretty much a lie.  Because when they fire you the truth is they just don’t want you.  After it’s done, after the axe has fallen, there’s a predictable process to the whole thing that’s pretty much time-honored.  At least in Hollywood.  First, you make sure the surviving writers don’t see you (it would be like Death coming to call).  Second, you immediately go home to your wife or girlfriend or dog and get their sympathy.  Third, you say the show was never for you anyway.  And fourth, you return on the weekend to gather your things.  It works that way for everyone.  Executives, writers, actors, directors, assistants – if you work in Hollywood you will get fired and go through that humiliating scenario as sure as the sun comes up in the morning.  

My favorite firing (at least of me) took place many years ago on a set made to look like Central Park.  It was the one they used on “Seinfeld”.  I wasn’t on “Seinfeld” at the time.  I was on a different show but I had a view of the park.  A very good view.  A good enough view where I could witness several of the writers of the show I was on being escorted to a little wooden bench in the fake park and told their services were no longer needed.  

I watched this grim scenario unfold over a couple of days from my office in the bungalow on the show where I thought I was still employed (the show shall go nameless, as shall the name of the person who fired me --- good news though, that person was fired from a show recently and it made my heart sing with joy).  A week passed and I believed I’d escaped being fired and so thought nothing of it when I sat on that same wooden bench to have a sandwich one day.  Halfway through my sandwich I looked up to find my boss standing over me and telling me that I didn’t seem very happy on the show.  I took a bite of sandwich and then replied that, no, indeed, I was happy on the show.  And he said no, I don’t think you are happy.  And THAT’S when I realized – in that very moment -- that I WAS SITTING ON THE FIRING BENCH and that maybe he wasn’t out there to have lunch with me.  And I was fired.  All of which brings me to the toughest firing we’ve probably ever seen at Seattle Grace.  That of Izzie Stevens…

Yup, Izzie is gone.  Fired by the Chief who, these days, is looking for the slightest excuse to fire ANYONE.  Maybe she went back home.  Or to visit friends.  Or just took off for points unknown.  But yes, people, Izzie Stevens, third year resident and surgical rising star, no longer works at Seattle Grace/Mercy West.  The hospital, new name and all, is in her rear view mirror.  George’s death, her stage four cancer, coming back to work too soon – it all proved too much – and now she’s headed off to God knows where.  And it was heartbreaking to see her get fired, to see her plead for her job but firings are pretty much always horrible.  And I wanted the scene to convey that sudden sense of loss, of hopelessness, and with the help of Katie Heigl’s fantastic acting, I think it did.  But more on Izzie and the broken-hearted Alex later.   

The theme of the episode was “Invasion”.  It seemed appropriate.  New doctors were coming over from Mercy West.  Callie’s Dad was paying an unwelcome visit to the hospital with the family priest in tow.  Billy the Burglar got beat up after he broke in to or “invaded” a golfer’s house.  And Arizona based her whole speech on the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor – which was also an invasion of sorts.  All sorts of folks were coming from the outside and invading our people’s space.  The first time we see Jackson Avery, he’s jogging towards the hospital, almost running into Cristina.  And then the next thing you know he’s leaning across Alex in the elevator to choose his floor.  Annoying!  Invasive!  Just plain…rude!  And from her sick bed, where she’s recovering from her liver donation to Thatcher the previous week, an undaunted Meredith has taken charge.  “This is our ship!”  The question is, are our people up for the fight?  Well first, let’s talk about those new residents, the doctors they’re going up against…

Reed, Charles, April and Jackson.  The Mercy West crowd.  Who are just as insecure and uncertain about their new situation as our people.  And our residents are understandably nervous because, like any invader, these MW guys are a threat.  They’re smart, they fight dirty if they have to and, like our residents, they’re not going down without a fight.  Of course, our people don’t know that at the beginning of the episode.  But they sure do by the end.  They’ve been in a helluva dog fight.  When we see Mercy West’s orange-clad foursome at the end of the episode, surveying their surgical domain from the exact same place where our people were at the beginning of the episode, we know that they’re here to stay.  They’re just as determined to make this their new home as our people were when they first came to the hospital.

The new actors – their real names are Nora, Robert, Jesse and Sarah -- were a blast to work with.  I probably should have known all their credits and what shows they’ve been on before we started shooting but I didn’t.  And none of that mattered because they were all so strong.  And then when I saw them on screen, they looked great and were wonderfully believable as real doctors.  Which was a great relief and should make for a fun rest of the season.  So, let’s talk about the pairings.

Lexie and April.  We got to see a new side of Lexie.  One who could fight dirty and be a mean girl if she had to be.  That is until the passive-aggressive April herself is undone when she finds out Lexie has read her notebook with all her little self-help homilies.  That’s when Lexie softened.  Which is what you do when you’ve trumped someone that badly.  When you’ve kicked their obnoxious ass all over the place.  After all, you can only be so gleeful in victory.  When Lexie sees April tear up outside the scrub room, it makes her realize that even though April’s been pretty obnoxious throughout, maybe we’re not who we are in our worst moments.  Maybe we’re, hopefully, something better. 

Charles and Izzie.  Izzie thinks that she’s found someone who maybe just maybe, reminds her a little of George.  Certainly not a complete George replacement but someone who’s as charming and self-deprecating.  And might someday be a good friend.  And it goes to Izzie’s trusting instincts and her need to fill the void left by George that she quickly gloms onto a sympathetic soul like Charles.  But, as the Chief tells her later, it’s a different era.  The old rules don’t apply – be it with friendships or with jobs.  A lesson that Izzie learns not just once in this episode, but twice.  First when Charles brags about her being his surgical bitch and, second, when she makes that terrible medical mistake.

Jackson and Cristina.  I liked them going toe to toe and especially loved Cristina finally deciding to hold up the white flag of surrender.  Throwing in the surgical towel.  We’ve been hinting in the previous episodes that without a Cardio God, she just doesn’t have her heart in it anymore.  And as for Sandra Oh -- in the scene when she’s crying with Meredith (and pining for Burke), well, my God, she was superb. 

Alex and Reed.   As Izzie says in the residents lounge at the start of the episode, Reed is not a big person.  Still, as Alex finds out, she can flat out play this game.  As much as I loved their competitive dynamic, each trying to outmaneuver the other one, I also liked showing our doctors as less than compassionate with their patient.  I’ve visited a number of hospitals in the last few years and I’ve invariably found that our make-believe doctors generally pay much more attention to their patients than the real-life ones.  It IS a struggle to have your voice heard in hospitals, to not be ignored.  Sometimes they treat you less like a patient and more like, well, an invader.  Of course, I might be holding them to a higher standard because my only reference point is a pretend hospital.

Now, back to Izzie and the Chief and Alex.  When you tell the Chief of Surgery that you NEED this job, that you’ve got nothing else in your life, DESPITE the fact you’re married, you are in a very, very bad state indeed.   I understand the part about sneaking off without telling anyone after you’ve been fired (see above) but to just leave your husband a note – that’s brutal.  No wonder Alex has issues.  Every time he puts himself out there, gets close to someone (remember Ava?) the poor guy gets knocked back on his heels. 

By the way, in the firing scene, that beautiful shot when we come around Izzie to see all the emotions playing on her face was designed by the show’s director, Tony Phelan.  His idea was to really get inside her emotionally at that moment.  Tony had a lot of other great ideas for the episode.  Ideas I would never have thought of because I’m not a director and Tony is.  (I mostly just sat there and said “Good idea, Tony.  Hey, they’re making omelettes.  You want me to get you an omelette, Tony?  You sure?  Because they’re really good omelettes.  I’ve already had two but they’re so good I may have a third.  Are you sure you don’t want one, Tony?).  Tony’s also one of the writers on our show.  He is multi-talented.  I am not.  Still, everything you see in this blog was my idea.  NOT Tony’s.  If he does have ideas about it, frankly, he can keep them to himself.  Give him all the credit you want for the episode, but this blog, my blog, is where I draw the line.

Finally, I want to talk about Callie and Arizona.  Shonda came up with the idea of Mr. Torres showing up with the family priest.  I immediately said YES because anytime I can see Hector Alizondo on my TV screen, I’m all for it.  In the scene where he’s quoting the Bible at Callie, he really is afraid he’s going to lose her.  He’s desperate, yanking out those index cards like her very life depends on it.  It was Hector’s idea to use the cards.  He didn’t think his character would know that stuff of the top of his head, which is how I originally wrote it.  And he was right.  And it worked beautifully.  And that final scene when he and Callie are outside the hospital and he’s asking her if she’ll still get married, still have kids… I really, really liked that scene.  And I really, really liked their whole story.  All told, I thought the episode came out pretty well.  At least well enough for me not to worry about having to clean out my desk for another couple of weekends…

Comments

[Rebe]

A very well-written blog post. (clap clap) But...WHAT did you do to my people?! I am a lot like Izzie, I prefer to believe in the good. Sadly, I too see that reality is often like what this episode portrayed, lots of excuses and lies and cold rationale. I am hooked even though I am heartbroken too. But I am hooked only because I know my people, my Seattle Grace doctors will win, in the end. Yes, I said victory. Until next week. :)

[Effie]

Great episode and you are right - they will be keeping you for a while after last night's show. I liked how you pitted the new residents against the Fab 3 plus Lexie. I just hope they don't stay there permanently as I am beginning to hate them... Anyways, my favorite part of the show is the scene between Arizona and Callie's Dad. Her explanation as to how she got her name, why she is a good "man" in a storm, her love for Callie....One of the best declaration of love I've heard on the show.... probably next to Meredith's "Pick me, choose me, love me" lines...Seriously! The Arizona character is growing on me.....Congratulations on a job well done!

[Camille]

Briliant episode.
Congratulations!

[Sara]

Izzie would never leave on her own, she is dependent on others. I hated the way she left.

[big_fan]

Great episode! I love how this season is coming together.I cannot wait for Thursdays :)

Keep up the great work!

[Kate M.]

The monologue Jessica Capshaw delivered was both beautifully written and breathtakingly delivered. I don't cry but hearing her stand up for herself and the love she shares with Callie the way she did was something not usually addressed or handled poorly when it is addressed.
You kicked ass beyond words.
As a member of the LGBT community I thank you for starting to get it right and I thank Jessica for delivering that scene so beautifully.

[Leslie]

I am not loving the MW people. BUT that could be because I've been with Mer, Christina, Izzie, Alex and the gang ever since their first day at SG. I am loyal and it is going to take a whole lot for me to even like this new group. It was a great episode but I'm not loving the Chief or Bailey so far this year. Isn't it interesting to see how people who have no fear of losing something act compared to those who have everything to fear? The Chief needs to remember that you reap what you sow and Bailey needs to get behind her fabulous crew and be the old Bailey, the one that would have been there telling them SG is the ultimate place to work, they are trained by her so they need to get out there and show it! Can't wait for next week!

[ttg]

I have to be honest and say as nicely as possible... that just wasn't good. It was too much... we're still too close to sex with Dead Denny to have a bunch of really irritating people in orange come in. It's just too much and so irritating that I don't want to watch the whole episode anymore... I just want to see the good stuff with the main characters and skip over all of the other crap. The stuff with our main peeps, the stuff where they are not fighting people in orange - really? orange - is really good. I know that Shonda has a plan. She always has a plan. But this one will probably finally ruin the show. I don't want to wade through all of this orange people crap to get to the good stuff. I trusted you through Dead Denny, and the pay off was good, but I don't see a payoff that will be worth enduring this... I know it's just a TV show, but you pulled our heart strings and made us love those Drs and now I do care that it's getting ruined.

[M. Meyers]

Torres rocks!

[Ryan L]

This season's story lines are worse than the last. What are you doing to the show that we love?

[Kim]

No Mark!!! You are my favorite writer! I am trying so hard to stick with my favorite show but it is becoming so hard.

I did like everything you did with Callie and Arizona.
I did not like anything else.

In seasons past I hated seeing negative comments...I can't believe it's me now. I feel like I have watched all along so I need to keep watching. I hope it gets better. I have been waiting for you to write one this season but I just didn't like it. I think this may be the begining of the end of my favorite show...I really hope I am wrong!

[kara]

fantastic episode!!!! bring back burke

[Katie]

Mark,

You are straight up one of my favorite writers on the show. I mean, I see your name on a press release and I go, "Ooooooo, good episode is a-coming!" You and Krista are my two favorites, I love you both and if you're ever fired from Grey's...well...I shall mourn you and then maybe go find Shonda and have words. Because you're awesome.

And the way I know you're awesome is that I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to love this episode. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to be afraid and uneasy and wanting to throw things at these new people. And that makes you a good writer.

I HATE the new people. Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Lame girl (is her name April? Even her name is lame) who writes inspirational things in her journal, so much lame. Reed is just...I don't even know. Jackson Avery (with the backwards name) is a pompous jerk. And Charles? I LOVED Charles at first. He was funny and dorky and totally cute. And then he wasn't. I can't stand any of them. And I want them out of my hospital. Now.

But I think that's how I'm supposed to feel. I think I'm supposed to be looking at my residents and wondering why they're so off their game. Except for Meredith. Because even though Meredith is in a hospital bed and recovering (by the way, I love Tony like a fat kid loves cake at a diet camp, but hiding Ellen's baby bump this episode was just not successful, at all), she's the leader of the group. She's numero uno. She's not spazzing. She really doesn't have the dark and twisties (BEST LINE EVER, MARK!). She knows she can manage this. And I have faith she'll kick some ass and take some names when she gets back (and when Ellen gets back from Mat leave).

Oh, one thing. Where was Mark Sloan this episode? Where was Derek Shepherd? I missed our Mcs!

So...I guess what I'm trying to say is...great writing, not the best episode. But I think that was on purpose. So again, awesome.

Love you Mark and don't ever get fired from Grey's!

xo
Katie

[Mari, from Brazil]

Just a good episode. Too much about the merger. Less about the relationships we love. As I think it was the intention, I felt “invaded”.

THE BAD.

I miss Meredith. I will miss Izzie.

Still, can’t understand how a hospital doesn’t have any cardio doc. Can’t. Seriously.

Bailey is too hard for me. I miss her teaching. As an attending she still has the job to teach residents and interns. She’s still angry and bitter because all that happens in her personal and professional life.

I Miss Mark. Why he wasn’t in the episode? There’s no reason at all! Everybody (the mains characters) always was in every episode besides the Chief who misses some of the first ones.

Alex reaction at Izzie’s note was less everything. The last scene wasn’t good.

THE GOOD.

The Chief is caged. It’s not easy to do the administration tasks. That’s the only reason I’m glad Derek isn’t the chief now.

Union – because of the merger, former residents and interns are now together fighting a new common enemy. Yes! Meredith was great as mother figure!

The new guys are just the ones for us to hate, to fill the blanks. The naive, the badass, the kickass. Some with stay some will go.

I think Owen is the most professional doc there. He does what’s best for his patient, and he does what’s right to do. No matters what. I feel sorry for Cristina’s pain. She misses a mentor. But she was Burke’s favorite. Because she was good surgeon, no questions about that, but because they were together too. Owen doesn’t play this game ever. I admire him for that.

Arizona is awesome. Love her. Love her. I’m happy Callie and her father are ok! “She’s not a vegetarian, isn’t she? Cause I don’t know how much I can take.” That was hilarious!!! Hector is the best!

Izzie’s speech about how they support each other’s back was great but I think it’s too early for her to be back at this kind of work. She almost died and now she has to save lives and deals with death. Is too hard. Her emotional stability has to be shaken.

Derek was always lovely. Remember Lexie’s first work with him and Cristina and he was welcoming with her despite Cristina’s hostility? Now Lexie was the hostile one. And she learned.

MerDer – Thank God you are given us our dose of lovely couple interaction. Pretty small but there. :)

[Jennifer]

I can't believe Izzy is gone.

[Martial Arts Mom]

Is Izzie really gone though? I think you'll find a way to bring her back. Those 4 MW invaders cannot make up for our Izzie!

[Ambivalent Grey's Watcher]

Ok, I'm not going to sugar coat this. Last night my friends and I were talking amongst each other while watching this episode and we've all come to the conclusion that this show has officially JUMPED THE SHARK. I wasn't a fan of the show when it first came out, but I was converted by it's strong writing and wonderful cast. Now most of the cast that drew me to the show are gone and the stories are getting to be a tad much. I don't know where this show is going--but me and some other folks that I know may well jump ship before you get there. All that to say this--GET IT TOGETHER WRITERS--and let's get back to the show that we all know and love.

[Jessica]

I HATE the mercy West people. I like all the actors...But it makes it a little scary for charachters I have really grown to adore.

and with each week, I like the chief less and less. This whole thing got started cause his ego wouldn't allow the thought of HIM being fired. Every decision made by him seems awful. Good acting by all though.
And if Izzie really thought Charles was like George...than she's not so smart. My "BAD BOY" radar went up the minute he started talking.

[canadiangirl]

i really hated owen hunt in this episode. what happened to season five owen hunt who was so intuned with cristina?

he called her a "single malt scotch" and all of a sudden it's like he doesn't understand her passion to be a surgeon and totally looks over her and how she's feeling.

at that moment, even I missed burke.

[L]

I don't know if I can continue to watch this show anymore. The only reason I watch for Alex and Izzie. Alex has stood by her many times. All she does was take and take and give nothing in return. The only thing she has was her job? After all he has done for her? I hate Izzie now.

[McFurr]

I just have to say that however well written this show was (as to say no offense to the writers) but I HATED it, no McSteamy and the new people are all EVIL!!! Nobody makes Cristina cry and gets away with it. I repeatedly said I hate the new people during this show, but hey maybe that's what you all are going for.

[Thorsten]

Loved the episode. And I gotta agree with Katie's and Sandra's wonderful performances. Just like to add that I found Sara Ramirez's acting amazingly beautiful, too, especially in the scene where she's quoting the bible - so so so good.

[eia]

Last night's show depressed me for some reason. All the changes? Probably, I don't like change. It did keep me wondering, what next. I don't like Izzie leaving, that's more change, I just got used to George leaving (dying). Keep up the good work. At least I don't get bored with this show and I keep coming back Thursday after Thursday!!!

[vasco]

The most moving part of the whole show...Arizona's speech to Callie's dad. Gays and lesbians everywhere thank you.

[jy]

exciting episode. i find myself getting really "fired" up at the mercy west people so u guys did a good job stirring up my emotions. if only more was explored with the burglar dude cuz he seemed pretty cute and i wldnt mind more flirtation with lexie.

loved the christina breakdown scene and how she bemoaned for burke. she really needs a scene where she can finally show how awesome she is an dim looking forward to that.

good job!