Grey's Anatomy: Season 2 Finale
By: Mark Runyon | Category: Show Review | 05/16/06 | 08:21 PM
 |  |  Grade: B+ | Genre: Drama
Summary: What was at best a 'B-' episode was saved during the last 10 minutes with the passing of Denny. It was his time to go and for Issie to stand at her medical crossroads.
With a three-hour season finale that spanned two evenings, there is a lot of Grey's Anatomy to talk about so let's waste no time by giving you a quick synopsis of Sunday night's action. Finn (Chris O'Donnell) sheds some dark clouds over Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) concerning their dog Doc. It seems he's developed bone cancer, and its not looking promising. Derek still looks like someone peed in his Cheerios after eyeballing Meredith in Finn's t-shirt the morning after. That ugliness is spilling over to cut into his conversation with Meredith. Callie hits George (T.R. Knight) with the L word, and this new level, their fledgling relationship has ratcheted up to, takes him aback. Burke (Isaiah Washington) is steaming under the collar after Christina decides to catch a few winks while he's busy hiding the salami. Christina (Sandra Oh) is protesting about marathon hours, but they fall on deaf ears. Denny's back in that familiar hospital bed as his condition worsens, pushing Izzie (Katherine Heigl) to the breaking point. Burke goes to get a donor heart, but it proves a cruel hoax. A second heart becomes a battleground as Burke faces off against his old med school chum. Izzie decides to take Denny's deteriorating condition into her own hands, bringing him to edge of death so he might pull ahead in the race for the heart. Burke's helicopter touches down at Seattle Grace and wham! Capped by a crazed fast food worker gone nut job. |
Burke is rushed into the ER as they access the damage to one of their own. The bullet seems lodged in his spine, affecting his motor abilities in his arm and hands. Christina is called in to play supportive girlfriend with one small problem. Ms. robot doctor never had her sensitivity chip loaded into memory, stranding Burke to deal with these new realities of life on his own. Derek faces his own demons as he's asked to perform a surgery on Burke that could cripple his hands, effectively closing the door on his shining medical career.
 | | | Grey's Anatomy: Season 2 Finale | | Starring: Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, T.R. Knight, Isaiah Washington & James Pickens Jr. |
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Meredith, Christina and George all get pulled in on Izzie's mercy mission of near death. They are going to bludgeon Denny's health to the point where he will automatically pull into the hot spot for the donor heart. Unethical, career ending, morally questionable -- Izzie seems to brush all these trivial matters aside in her quest for the heart. She's been bitten by the love bug, and she's going to make sure her hunka, hunka burning love sticks around a while. Mid death bugle call, Denny slips out a marriage proposal to Izzie, which really stokes the fire of her insanity. Pint-sized powder keg Bailey cracks open this party of medical misfits and finds herself too disgusted to properly chew them up and spit them out. Denny is indeed sick enough to vault himself into the lead, securing the heart. Surgery is tense as they are unsure as to whether Denny's body will accept the foreign organ, but eventually it starts thumping to the beat.
So with Denny out of death's shadow for the moment, the gang goes to plan a prom. It seems the Chief's niece is dying of cancer a wing away, and their punishment for not offering Izzie up as the sacrificial lamb is to coordinate corsages and wonder if that dreamy attending will ask them to go steady. The high-powered charge of the first hour just wades into this goofy mush.
Slowly everyone filters into the prom. Then comes Meredith down the staircase looking all sexilicious, and Derek and Finn flash their fangs in competition. While Finn is dancing with her, Derek is giving her those "I wanna sex you up" eyes. Minutes later, Derek and Meredith are getting it on like two people trying to repopulate the planet. Elsewhere, Callie is about to drop George for not returning her affections until he stops her and ensures her that good love is on the way.
With Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" perfectly sandwiched into the background, Denny flat lines due to a stray blood clot and nobody can save him from the reaper this time. They all migrate into Denny's room to see Izzie wrapped around his lifeless body. Just hours after she accepted his marriage proposal, she's only left with his husk. Her friends plead with her to let go and allow them to take him away. Only Alex is able to free her from the vise grip, allowing her to find some small measure of comfort. They all trudge out the door, closing the tumultuous day, and Izzie admits to being the one who endangered Denny, saying being a surgeon just isn't in her heart any longer. She walks out the door of Seattle Grace for perhaps the last time. When it comes Meredith's turn to leave, she sits paused between Derek and Finn -- stuck with the choice of a lifetime. Queue the curtains.
Overall, this was an ambitious episode arc that was disjointed. Murky in its overall mood and levity, it could have been tighter, cutting some of the extraneous stuff (planning the prom) to not dampen the intense emotional charge. What was at best a 'B-' episode was saved during the last 10 minutes with the passing of Denny. It was his time to go and for Issie to stand at her medical crossroads. Plenty of cliffhangers were setup for next season -- Izzie's future as a surgeon, Burke's questionable chances for recovery and Meredith's choice. In the end, the show's producers accomplished what they came here to do. While we may find ourselves occupied with swim meets and weenie roasts in the months ahead, come September we will all be signing on for another year with our surgical interns.
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