A Grey's Anatomy Primer

Grey's Anatomy airs on Star World beginning April 5, Wednesday at 9 PM (After American Idol). Air time is one hour. Studio 23 should also air this at a later April date. Here's a primer I've prepared, for those wondering what this show is about:

What is it about?

- Five interns from the surgical ward of Seattle Grace Hospital.

What's it like?

- Comedy mixed with drama

How many episodes so far?

Season 1 - 9 episodes (Original DVD already out, 2 disc)
Season 2 - 20+ epsiodes and still running

Why would I watch it?

- Good storyline
- Excellent character development
- Excellent script/dialogues

Who are the characters?

The Interns


Meredith Gray
- Played by: Ellen Pompeo
Triva - Ellen Pompeo appears on Friends Season 10, as Missy, the college girl college-Chandler and college-Ross had a crush on. She appears on Friends in the episode where Ross and Chan went to their college Reunion.

Meredith narrates the show.

Her mom is a famous surgeon but is battling Alzheimer's disease

Meredith wants to be a great surgeon, without the influences of her mother's credentials.

Very introspective, over-achiever, girl next door type

In later episodes, she will not comb her hair




George O Malley
- Played by T.R. Knight

Adorable, smart but has zero confidence, a bit of a push-over. Even girls tend to boss him around

Comes from a family where he is the odd-man out. He's the only one who graduated college and isn't holding a blue collar job. All his brothers are rough Irish-Americans

Nurses a huge crush on Grey

Once had a girlfriend in Season 1, and for the purpose of not spoiling it, I will not tell what happened...it was quite an interesting story



Izzy Stevens
- Played by Katherine Heig
Trivia: She was the daughter in the movie, "My Father, The Hero"

Izzie grew up in a trailer park town and worked as an underwear model so she can become a surgeon

People at the hospital think she's only pretty and hot but she has proven herself to be very capable and one surgeon (Dr. Addison Shepherd) in fact wants to train her to specialize in one field

Very domesticated, very sensitive, very nice to patients...so involved even that it affects her work

Has a big revelation in Season 2, which explains a lot about her character (won't spoil it)



Alex Karev
- Played by Justine chambers
Trivia: He was the Italian groom in The Wedding Planner

Arrogant and overconfident, Alex is a ladies' man.

He also has to struggle to prove he is a capable surgeon (read: He has not passed the boards or something...an MD test)

interesting storyline between him and Izzie develops in mid-season 2, which will show that behind Alex's cool exterior is someone with a good heart



Cristina Yang
- Played by Golden Globe Winner for her role as Cristina Yang, Sandra Oh
Trivia: You might recall her as the principal in The Princess Diaries but more than that, Sandra Oh proved she can act in the Oscar Nominated movie, Sideways.

Cristina is a Very competitive, very determined, cut-throat, no-nonsense, intelligent surgical intern. That is why she has the potential to be the best.

She is also very guarded, that is why her social/romantic relationships don't progress normally.



The Attending and Residents


Miranda Bailey
- Played by Chandra Wilson

AKA The Nazi

The Nazi is the immediate boss of the five interns

Hard-ass, tough and no one really knows about her personal life (one surgeon was quite surprised in later episodes that she was married)

Even the chief of surgery bows down to her toughness.



Derek Shepherd
- Played by 80's hearthrob Patrick Dempsey

AKA McDreamy

Neusurgeon, everything brain related, he's the best

Grey's love interest

Friends with the chief of Surgery, that is why he was brought to Seattle Grace

The Nazi works under him



Preston Burke
- Played by Isaiah Washington
Trivia: Appeared on dozens of films, sometimes a bad guy (Romeo Must Die with Aliyah and Jet Li) and sometimes a good guy (that Clint Eastwood film, True something....)

The surgeon with the golden hands

Goes by the book

Like a typical surgeon, he is methodical, neat and orderly....kinda OC.

Feels McDreamy is a threat to his career (both are candidates for Chief Of Surgery)

Cristina's love interest

The Nazi works under him


Dr. Richard Webber
- played by legendary James Pickens Jr.

The Chief of Surgery, the boss of all surgeons

A contemporary of Grey's mom

Season 2 develops a back story that Grey's mom and the chief had an adulterous affair back when they were younger



Addison Shepherd
- played by Kate Walsh

best neonatal surgeon in New York (for babies and pregnant women)

Was asked by the Chief to visit Seattle Grace for a consult, only to stay awhile longer in Season 2 (in truth, her character was just a guest appearance but people apparently loved the love triangle angle, they let her stay a full season)

Also intends to get her husband back (they are not divorced yet, just separated...whose fault? It will be revelead in Season 2 episodes but if you've seen Bridget Jones Diary, it's pretty much the same plot....)

Good friends with the chief, just like her husband, Derek

First appears on the last episode of Season 1, to a surprised Meredith Grey when she introduced herself as Grey's boyfriend's wife.

She wears Salmon Scrubs and looks very good in it!



The Love Stories...

Grey's Anatomy opens with our two leads, Derek and Meredith, waking up in Meredith's house. They only met at the bar the night before and didn't even know each others name. Later on, Meredith comes to the hospital, her first day at work, meets the other interns and then meets her boss' boss....Derek. And this becomes a step-yes, step-no love affair (affairs between interns and senior surgeons are frowned upon, supposedly) that eventually develops into an almost serious relationship....until the wife appears at the end of Season 1.

Meanwhile, Cristina also develops a relationship with the other surgeon, Dr. Burke. This was sparked, believe it or not, by a surgical situation where both saw that they needed each other's comfort...so they slept together! The relationship wasn't serious but something happened to Cristina (won't spoil it) which turned the relationship around in season 2. They are a complete opposite and they're both discovering something new about their relationship that should tell whether they're in this for the long haul or not.

George, everyone's best friend, has had a crush on Grey since the first day. It never really panned out, because between McDreamy and George's non-attempt to profess her feelings for Grey, a lot has happened to Grey in both Seasons 1 and 2. George only made progress towards the end of Season 2....but even then, it never really got anywhere. Season 2 should end with the two friends/housemates (they live in Grey's mother's huge house --- Grey, Izzie & George) not speaking to each other.

Izzie and Alex started off fighting like little kids in Season 1. Alex thinks Izzie is hot but belittles her as a surgeon. He thinks of her only as an object. Izzie hates Alex for thinking that way. They bicker and fight some of the time. Yet in Season 2, they realize that there's a strong physical attraction between them. But like George's and Meredith's love angle, this also took awhile to develop. But unlike George's and Meredith's love angle, Izzie's and Alex's seems to be heading the right direction.


...and other angles

Of course, this being a hospital show, we got lots (lots! lots!) of hospital dramas and scenarios, among them are:

The patient who swallowed doll heads...
The mother who gives birth to 5 babies..
The Asian women who had to be treated asap but her asian customs prohibited her from doing so...
The man who surprised everyone because he was pregnant...
The chief of surgery who underwent brain surgery in the hands of his staff...
The drama involving George's solo flight (open heart surgery)...
And course, the two part episode Code Black (a bomb scare inside the hospital) which should be the best episode for this show so far.

Meredith Grey's story

Being a surgical intern is, by itself, already tough. But being a surgical intern with a history between one of the attendings (Dr. Shepherd) is tougher. People talk behind her back. It also doesn't help that she has to train under her ex-boyfriend's wife's guidance (Addison), since she (the wife) became one of their bosses there, too. In addition to that, Grey has her sick mother (Alzheimer's) to contend with. Sometimes her mother isn't herself (Alzheimer's) and treats Meredith like a five year old. And the latest blow is, as season 2 ends ... she just learned her mom and the chief (the big boss) were ex-lovers.

How do you combine work, love and life....when all the elements that bring trouble happen in just one place?
Sounds like an interesting story?
You bet. ;)