Pete Nowalk on "Perfect Little Accident"...

Original Airdate: 3-4-10

I got in a car accident while we were filming this episode. Don’t worry, it was just a fender bender, no one was hurt. And even though it wasn't my fault there’s some part of me that blames myself. I chose to write an episode about accidents. One of which happened to be a car accident. It's the kind of logic that makes me wish I wrote about love or money or cupcakes that burn fat and build muscle. That said, this episode was actually about HAPPY accidents, so I have a little confession to make. In those first few moments after the crash, when I was sitting there, dazed, wondering what the hell just happened, a very small part of me was hopeful that the guy in the other car was actually the love of my life and this was one of those stories you submit to the NY Times marriage column after your fabulous barefoot wedding in the Maldives. Sadly, that fantasy died the minute I realized the guy who just hit me was actually drunk at 10:15 on a Friday morning. Not husband material. But there was still hope! The witness. A very polite, well-groomed gent who pulled over to check if I was okay. This is it, I thought. It’s just like people always say. You can't go looking for love, it happens when you least expect it. Sure, this was advice I’d normally hate to hear (especially when it comes from happily coupled up friends), but in this moment there was no denying they were right. My witness and I were going to have so much fun in the Maldives! The witness, though very nice, was not into me. Or so I gathered when he took off two seconds after I shouted “I’m fine!” across the street. By the time the hairy tow truck driver with the tribal tattoo and chewing tobacco breath arrived I realized I had to give up. This car accident was just an accident, nothing happy about it. And trying to turn it into a manhunt was clearly a sign that I needed to get out more. I’m kinda like Teddy that way… (Yes, I just did a lazy segue. Get ready for more). So. Teddy. Poor girl came to Seattle for one reason. Owen. Even if she didn't admit this to herself. But then she got here and reality set in. Owen didn't invite Teddy here because he loved her. He brought her here because he loved Cristina. That's gotta suck. I'd probably be on the first plane back to Iraq. But not Teddy. She stuck to her word and stayed through her contract, even if that happened to be torture. And slowly, with time and hard work, she's seeing that there's more to Seattle than just Owen. There's a great job. Good people (like new BFF Arizona). And there's this amazing student – Cristina. What I love about these two is that they're like an old couple. They fight, make up, fight, make up...and it makes them both better doctors. Cristina's a maniac when it comes to surgery, stealing lungs and taking crazy risks in order to do something that will go down in the record books. Teddy's brilliant, but more careful and experienced. Together they're a force to be reckoned with. In this way, coming to Seattle for Owen and getting Cristina instead is Teddy's happy accident. What was Cristina's happy accident in this episode? Well it could've been getting to operate on Harper Avery's bowel obstruction but homegirl screwed that up the minute she treated him like a batty old man in the ER. Like all of you, Cristina didn't know that Jackson's grandfather was Harper Avery (a family tree dreamed up by Shonda way back when we were planning out our new Mercy West characters). Jackson wanted to keep this little tidbit a secret. He's like Meredith that way. Both of them were born into surgical legacies, a twist of fate that makes them both very lucky. But with that luck also came some crappy parenting. Ellis was a bulldog of a mother and Harper Avery seems to be the same kind of grandfather. You don't become one of the world's most successful surgeons by being nice. You claw your way to the top, working nonstop and neglecting your personal life to get there (as we saw Ellis do in the last episode). I imagine it'd be pretty hard to turn this killer instinct off when you step into your house each night. There might be some residual meanness left over for your family. If you're Mer or Jackson you can deal with this in one of two ways – become resentful and angry, or be all half glass full and grateful even though you'd rather just whine. I love Meredith for knocking some sense into Jackson at the end of this episode. Harper Avery's old and set in his ways. Dude's not gonna change so why not just give in and take him for who he is – an arrogant jerk who can teach you MANY MANY things. Sadly, I'm not sure Meredith would've been able to say this to Jackson if her mother were still alive. Dead parents put crappy parents in perspective. Whine all you want, but you're gonna feel pretty dumb the minute they're not there to kick around. Let’s move on to Mark, who is nothing but a hot mess these days. He’s sleeping around, yelling at Alex, taunting Derek... He’s old Mark basically, which is understandable considering he just had his heart broken. Twice. Lexie dumped him and Little Sloan took off for God knows where. If the guy didn't have abandonment issues before, he's definitely got them now. Still, as much as he's trying to find pleasure in his old, bad habits, Mark's a changed man. He's no longer satisfied by rolls in the hay with strangers. Heartbreak was good for him. Don't believe that? Watch what happens with Mark in the next few episodes. What other happy accidents did we see in this episode? Well there's Richard, who's slowly beginning to realize that getting ousted as the Chief can maybe be a great thing for him. As Harper Avery reminds him, he's more than just a great Chief. He's an innovative surgeon who does groundbreaking research – research he'll now have more time to work on now that he's not bogged down in board meetings and contract negotiations. Lemons into lemonade, people. You know, just like hearts in vaginas… Okay, worst segue yet, but I need to move on to Lexie. A girl whose heart lives in her vagina. Krista Vernoff gets credit for this line (as well as Cristina's follow up, "My heart lives in my scalpel.") It came from the idea of whether it's possible to have sex without feelings. We'd all like to believe this is possible, and for some people, it definitely is. But not Lexie. Girl's as touchy feely as you get. The anti-Meredith really. Which is why I love her. Because even though Lexie's going through this episode acting all blonde and badass and feeling-less, there's no doubt she's a feelings-kind-of-girl. Look at her face in the scene when Alex says, "I'm all about not feeling." She knows he's talking about Izzie – about all the crap he's been through in the past few months, years, life... And she feels terrible for him. Same goes when she sees Mark's face after catching her with Alex outside the on call room. As much as she can pretend to fight it, Lexie is nothing but one big ball of mushy feelings. In fact, I’m guessing that’s why she didn’t make it to Girls Night. She needed to go home and have more feelings. I love me some Girls Night. In fact, Girls Night pretty much sums up my adolescence. And college years. And...well my entire life really. So you can imagine my excitement when Shonda pitched a Girls Night baseball scene as the way to end this episode. A location shoot! At night! With the ladies!! I was psyched. But then came the rain. "It never rains in LA." That's the lie people tell you when you move here. Just like the traffic's not that bad. Bull. Cause it does rain and there is A LOT of traffic. What really sucks, though, is when it rains and you're scheduled to shoot at a baseball field. Cause that means our amazing Exec Producer Rob Corn comes to you on set and very gingerly asks if there might be an alternative setting for your Girls Night scene. One that can take place inside, for instance. Everyone on the crew had ideas. Bowling, mani pedis, pool, game night, pottery night, cooking class, sex class...and pretty much every other activity any normal group of ladies would do for a night on the town. Our ladies aren't normal though, which is why it really had to be baseball. One, because this was a callback to episode 603, when Owen, Derek, and Mark took the girls there to get their mind off the merger. Two, because I don't believe Cristina and Meredith would ever agree to do anything the rest of the world would do. Spa day? Clubbing? They'd rather be operating. Fortunately, the rain soon ended and thanks to a very accommodating, adventurous crew we made it to the muddy baseball field a few days later. We got to see Bailey swing a bat, Arizona complain, and Teddy knock the hell out of the ball…without any accidents happening. I, for one, was happy with how it all turned out. You?

Comments

[Rayan]

Not happy at all...I hate what you guys are doing to Mark and Lexie...you just lost one audience!!!

[Priya]

Loved Girls Night. When Arizona originally introduced the idea, I was sure they were going to go dancing. Just coz I picture Callie as the type of gal who likes going dancing on her nights off. The baseball thing was fun though. Also, I just want to say that I feel very, very bad for the Chief (Webber, not Shep). It's gruesome to watch the guy go through that kind of humiliation. *sigh*

[Andrea]

Perfect! Oh it was so great! Loved it. Everything. Thank you. Honestly, there were so many just freaking CUTE moments...Christina and Meredith's banter about Lexie, too cute. Mark with his manwhoring was hilarious. Poor Mark, the one manwhore I feel bad for. Good job, you have me feeling bad for him now after being angry for blaming Lexie. You people are tricky. Christina taking a photo with Harper Avery! Double Hilarious. Arizona..."maybe Bailey will come...yay!" Then the Callie Arizona cuteness, just a perfect episode.

[Kiki]

I love your blog and I'm hoping you find "the one" sometime soon. I met mine by accident.

So many fun moments in tonight's show. I love Mer and Cristina together. Even Lexie holds her own with them.

I'm still not loving Teddy and I know you guys are trying to redeem her, but I'm not quite there. It's coming off a little heavy handed, especially Cristina saying she's in love with Teddy at the end. I'm just not reading Teddy the way you (the writers) are. Hopefully, the SL will move on and we won't have to see Teddy mooning anymore or uncomfortable scenes with Owen and Teddy. More than anything, I'd love a scene with C/O that doesn't even mention Teddy. Just one and I'd be happy.

Drive safe and be careful!

[kazzer88]

hey so what ever happened to derek and meredith? how come as soon as they're happy, we don't see any of it ever? in fact, what the hell happened to MEREDITH. she's barely even in the show anymore. no storylines for meredith. what happened? not saying i don't like the episodes, i do, but everything in grey's anatomy is better when it revolves around meredith grey.

[Kelly from Boston]

I loved tonight's episode. I liked the humor and friendship throughout the episode.

I miss Izzie more than I can say. I am counting down the episodes until Iz returns. I will be crushed if Alex and Izzie don't have a big storyline after Izzie being gone so long.

One question - why is it that Alex always has his sex life used against him at work when no one else does? Doesn't seem quite fair with everyone else getting favors from their lovers.

Everything Cristina rocked the house tonight. Love that girl!

[Hek]

Ok please stop it with the Alex and Lexie thing it's quite disgusting

[Deon G]

You know, this was actually the most enjoyable episode of the 16 episodes this season. I didn't think I would enjoy another episode of Grey's Anatomy this much again. The episode before this was good; this was phenomenal, this was watching Grey's back in the heyday of the show. When if I wasn't crying, I was laughing, raucous laughter, joy filled laughter -laughter. I really sincerely and truly thank you for this. I actually want to stay around for the rest of the season now. Amazing work!

[dlferriola]

Thank you for writing a really good episode. I found it really interesting and learned a lot about the medical cases that were highlighted in it. It was amazing to see those lungs become viable and then usuable for the cancer patient. Sloan,Lexie, Teddy, Alex and the Chief are so very sad right now that you can feel their pain. It was great to see Der taking command like a real chief of surgery and surprise everyone. Loved the fact that they all listened to him then. Thank you for a great episode again.

[Famous Artist]

Oh. That was great episode. Teddy and Cristina, Derek and Richard. The Harper Avery story and the two inbred surgeons.

But you are making me nervous. I don't trust Teddy but I want Cristina to have a mentor.

i HATE Mark again. I hate all those blondes. Lexie is just like the next girl in the room now. I can hardly tell one from the other. As a red head she was special. I hope you don't ruin her, but me thinks you all have a plan. I think the season is so good that I am going to trust and see what happens.

Oh yeah. I don't like Alex, too. But I love it that I don't like him.

It was a great episode. Good blog, too.

Thanks.

[Cfa89]

Loved the episode!!! like all the others, It was fantastic! loved the Girls Night out, something different. Keep up the excellent work! Love from SOUTH AFRICA!!!

[Lisa]

The episode was meh. At least it wasn't depressing, but nothing really happened.

When is Meredith getting the storyline she deserves? First episodes, we all know, pregnancy, but now? Shame on you writers for wasting Ellen's talent. Did I miss the memo stating that this show centers now around Teddy/Cristina/Owen?

I'm really glad that Mer and Cris are in their BFF world without being too codependent, but really, is there anything they DO? They don't do weddings, marriage, family, romance, holidays, babies, houses, now going out. The stereotype you're giving them has become very cartoonish.

Oh writers, you're making it too easy for viewers to stop watching.

[TeddyNeeds2Leave]

Oh, poor Teddy, she is innocent, she so deservers to be loved, blah, blah. Guess you haven't pushed hard enough to let people like her, I still think she is hypocrite.

Do you forget she told Owen she loved him, even she knew he was with Cristina. She did not just repsect herself, she also didn't respect Cristina too. She called Beth idiot, just because Beth was willing too give up her career for Owen. She refused to put Cristina on her service, because she was jealous of her. What a horrible woman.

Plus, she was going to leave, remember, but after the deal, she might saw the hope that she could have Owen, roll my eyes out. That was why she stayed.

Keep Teddy out of O/C, she is dragging Owen down either, I even start to care Owen less.

[lothiriel]

I just want Mark and Lex back together, let them have those feelings with each other ;)

[Becky]

Absolutely hillarious episode! Cristina and Meredith were just too funny with Lexie.

Still not warming up to Teddy, I know you all tried like heck this episode to sell us on her but just not working. For one thing, it is so obvious you all are setting up C/O with this friend with Teddy thing! Get us all comfortable with Teddy and then wham Owen is going to start feeling for Teddy again and break up O/C. Yuck! I am sure the PTSD issue is going to be used to bring O/T back together and that just makes me nauseous cause the PTSD story was played so beautifully last season and Cristina was his rock. I still don't get why ruin such a beautiful, magical couple as Cristina and Owen just to introduce a new doctor.

[diana]

It was a very very good episode and quite relevant to me right now. My life is one biiiiiiig accident, everything is falling apart piece by piece, but in all the chaos, I am learning that i did not know my own strength and I am discovering thins about me I didnt know. And that could just happen to be the best thing ever. So from the very depth of my heart, thank you so so much for deciding to write about accidents. I feel so much better than I did when I woke up this morning. thank you for the episode and also thank you to William Harper for the St Valentines Day Massacre episode that was about changing and adapting. Love you all at Greys :) xx

[bic]

This was my favorite episode in a while. I love how you kept it light and entertaining.

[Alexandra from Sweden]

The episode was great but please, pleas have som more MerDer scenes. It has been a long time since we saw some MerDer kisses, or hottness.

That's all I'm saying!
hugs

[klh]

Fun and entertaining episode! Really enjoyed the blog this time because it actually gave insight to the episode that I watched tonight. Love the new dynamic between Chief Derek and Dr. Webber. Can't wait to see where it takes both men.

Always enjoy ensemble scenes such as the boy's club in Derek's office and the ladies' night. Mer and Cristina are the best BFFs ever. Their scene with Lexie was priceless.

Trying to understand what you are doing with Teddy. Still do not care for her even if Cristina declares her love for her every episode. It would be nice to see the focus go back to Cristina and Owen. Teddy is supposed to be the best teacher for Cristina and friend for Owen. Fine, her character is now introduced and we are are stuck with her. Please let her have her own storyline away from C/O. Then we can enjoy Cristina and Owen's continuing journey with each other!

[acadia55]

I missed Mer/Der in this episode. Is it too much to ask that they interact once in a while?

[Srish]

well I for one can say that I enjoyed this episode alot....and especially the no-feeling-pretending-bad-ass-lexie sequence.But most of all I can't wait to catch up with the Mark thing....what is going to happen???old Mark or a grown up moving on old-new Mark???

[T]

Yes, I am happy :)

[Kat]

I watched the first ten minutes of this episode, and then turned it off and watched the last ten minutes just to make sure I didn't miss anything crucial.

Why?

Teddy.

I had a really hard week at work, and the thought of being subjected to a Teddy-centric episode felt about as appealing as a root canal. I don't care what she wants, how she feels, and I swear if you turn Owen into a cheating dirtbag over this character, there will be fan mutiny.

[Jenny]

I don't like Teddy. I'm never going to like Teddy. And trying to get us to accept her by havcing Cristina say that she loves her is such shoddy writing. And I don't believe for a minute this triangle is over. It'll heat up in again in the PTSD episode.

[Lila]

I'm bored with this show. I don't care about Teddy. I'm never going to please stop shoving this character down our throats