Ghouls and Ghosts of Grey's

Every network on television will at some point make a reference to nearing holidays. Last Thursday, Grey's Anatomy fell victim to this pursuit of network execs to bump up the ratings, when the writers crafted a "Halloween-themed" Grey's. It seems as though each new resident is haunted by the ghosts of their pasts. Throw in a gruesome amputation via chainsaw, and I suppose even the dullest viewer gets the hint that Grey's Anatomy is trying to cash in on Halloween. Regardless of the blatant Halloween reference, this week's show was still very very good. Plus, the chainsaw amputation was really cool to watch.

Meredith still hasn't dealt with her mommy issues. In fact, after cremating her mother, she just stuck her mother's ashes in her closet and tried to forget about it. However, with McDreamy slowly drifting away, Meredith decides she needs to put her mother to rest for good. She seems desperate to be "normal" enough for McDreamy. However, she can't figure out what to do with her mother's ashes so she pours them into a baggy and brings them to work with her. You could say her mother is haunting her. (Halloween reference 1). At work, she runs into a little boy without ears. Although he has the ability to hear, he has no actual lobes and as a result, constantly feels as if he's in a Halloween costume (Halloween reference 2). He asks McSteamy, the resident plastic surgeon to take pity on him and build him his ears for free. McSteamy agrees as long as Meredith can get a surgical team to donate their time, and the chief to donate an OR. The only way Meredith can seem to persuade residents to donate their time is to bring the boy around to each person she needs and let him "trick or treat" for ears (Halloween reference 3). Oh yes, they went there.

Alex, too, is haunted by a person from the past. Does everyone remember Ava, the woman who had a face transplant and who Alex fell in love with? Well, she came back. Turns out, even though she left with her husband, she was sorta hoping for Alex to do the romantic thing and chase her down. When he didn't, she went back to the hospital and sort of threw herself at him. Not that she was taking a huge chance there, since Alex is obviously nuts about her, but still. Thing is, Alex is sort of a coward and probably won't commit to Ava, even though he loves her because, well, he's Alex and it's sort of his tragic human flaw to screw up every good thing that ever happens to him. Ava and Alex canoodle in the room residents use to catch some z's during super long shifts, but of course, Alex is a doctor, so he gets paged and has to leave Ava there. Ava gets tired of waiting around for him and ends up leaving. But not without her shirt, which I'm guessing she left as a souvenir, but it begs the question, what did she wear out of the hospital?

Callie announces to everyone that Izzie and George are sleeping together. Cristina is disgusted, but Meredith tries to be happy for them. That's pretty much all that happens with the Gizzie affair this week.

Bailey misses her baby's first Halloween because she volunteered to help give the boy without ears the only thing he really wants. But her husband doesn't see this as a charitable thing and hangs up on her.

Cristina and Callie laugh with one another about how horrible their love lives are. At the end of the show, Callie moves into the apartment Cristina once shared with Burke. Looks like Cristina and Callie are gonna be best buds soon.

A man comes into the hospital complaining that his foot does not belong to him. He asks Bailey to recommend him a surgeon who will amputate it. Bailey responds with "I am a surgeon and I am telling you no surgeon will amputate a perfectly good foot". Instead, she offers him a prescription for anxiety medication. Apparently, this isn't good enough for the man. So he grabs himself a chainsaw and saws his own leg off. That's right folks, this man, with no drugs in his system what-so-ever, held a chainsaw to his leg until there was nothing anyone could do to save it and it had to be amputated.

Another patient, one in need of a heart transplant, is faced with an impossible task when his daughter is killed and he is offered her heart. As next of kin, he has the choice to take her off life support and give himself her heart, but does he really want to live the rest of his life with the knowledge that his daughter's heart is beating in his chest? George is the one who finally convinces the man to take his daughter's heart when he reminds everyone that his father died of heart issues too. He says that he would have given his heart to save his father if he could.

Dr. Hahn, who we may remember from the Denny episode, is brought in as the new heart surgeon. Essentially, she is replacing Dr. Burke. Before, Cristina is aware of this, Dr. Hahn basically accuses her of sleeping her way to the top. Cristina defends herself by calling Dr. Hahn unprofessional. It is only then that Cristina learns that Hahn is her new boss. This should get interesting.

The show ends with a very touching scene. Meredith finally decides to lay her mother to rest in the the sinks outside the OR. Since her mother only ever cared about her job as a surgeon, Meredith figured this is the only place she would be happy. The chief walks in on this morbid laying to rest and helps Meredith spread the ashes. Lest we forget, he too, loved Meredith's mother deeply.

So sure, ghosts were painfully obvious this episode. Everyone's past came back to haunt them. And the chainsaw scene was a clear play for the Halloween rush. But I was enthralled with every minute of this show. And maybe it's the psych major in me, but I just love it when the characters on this show start acting insane. For instance, bringing your mother's ashes with you to work in a plastic baggie. Or, perhaps even sawing off your own leg with a chainsaw. Say what you will about Grey's Anatomy, but I am addicted.