Entertainment Weekly has a sidebar article this week called "Taking Sides on Izzie. There are a few sentences for the prosecution and then for the defense, with the ultimate verdict: "The Stevens brand of clumsy, oversize passion is never easy to deal with, but even in her ugliest moments, you gotta admit the girl keeps things interesting--and the exquisite acting of Katherine Heigl just makes adoration that much easier. (That awkward "I believe" speech would have killed lesser women.) Forget the crabby lady with the voiceover: It's Izzie's heart that keeps Anatomy beating."

I hope the knee-knockers choke on it.

I haven't liked an episode this much since season two. And I don't remember crying this much at the end of an episode since season one. It was all just so sad. Cristina being excited (in her own weird Cristina way) about trying on wedding dresses, with her mother no less and looks like Burke is having doubts? I was spoiled about Meredith's fake mom maybe dying, but it made it no less sad. Especially watching how it set her so far back with her dad and Derek at the same time. That one scene was so well done...I like that they didn't show the doctors calling time of death. All of the "deaths" happened in that one moment.

And I loved that strong super heroine edit for Addison at the end, even though she'd been the hysterical one the entire episode. And I like how the elevator god turned out because before that, I was thinking the concept was stupid enough to make me not watch an otherwise enjoyable spin-off.

I know this sounds like a run-on gushing fan post, but I'm so excited to have such a solid episode after a pretty subpar season. I just wanted to get it all out before I go to twop and find out how Izzie/KH managed to dominate and ruin the entire thing.

What a great foundation for a spin-off. I'll tune in. Others in my family were annoyed that I called fakemom's death - and I was pretty spoiler free. I'm still in shock that Thatcher slapped Meredith.

Who knows where the hell this show goes from here - and I mean that in a good way I think. Izzie/George/Callie, Mer/Der, Burke/Cristina hmmmm? Two more episodes and I'll stay away from the spoilers.

I hated it. I hated being forced to watch the pilot for a spin-off because it was blended with the show I did want to watch. They should have separated Addison's show to the last hour.
I think they did that because they know she doesn't have the fan base to sustain it and that most people would have tuned out after the original Grey's.

I won't be tuning in for the spin-off. I like the character of Addison, but the dialogue and situations of that show were excruciatingly contrived. Such a shame considering what a good cast it had.

I'm with you, NatalieX. I was so disappointed that they blended the shows. It ruined the flow of the storylines. I'm not sure I would have liked the Addison pilot any better but it didn't help that switching back and forth was just so jarring. I don't think I'll be watching the spin-off, either. It looks like it's being set up to be the same sort of show that Grey's Anatomy is except with different characters in a different state. A couple yearns for each other but won't get together. Sexual shenanigans between co-workers. Judgmental tirades directed at patients. Blech.

well said, NatalieX. I was also disappointed with the characters' lines. Such a shame for the actors involved.

Side note: I never realized Taye Diggs is such a diminutive man.

I really, really disliked it. The GA content isn't really worth talking about because there was so little there, but the Addison stuff - so cheesy. And, yes, GA is inherently quite cheesy but that was pushing it (talking elevator, 'I'm going to kiss you WITH TONGUE!', Piz and the surfboard with drooling grown women! WTF was that?). I also think for this episode they probably should have stuck mostly to the Addison content because it was absurd to jump from George/Izzie into these new people shopping at the store or picking up their car, etc. Just jarring. And boring. So boring.

I'm not really an Addison fan, and Kate Walsh was veering on this side of a ham sandwich for that episode, so I can't say I'll be tuning in. I can't say I really warmed to any of the other characters, either.

I wanted to like it, and I certainly prefer seeing Addison be the one who might get the guy, rather than be crapped upon repeatedly, but I did think it was a bit much. Too many characters, with too many quirks.

That said, I kindof hate all the characters on Grey's except for Addison these days, and I'll watch Taye Diggs in just about anything, so I suppose I'll be watching the spinoff no matter what.

The best part about the spinoff was the cast. It's like a dream team of some of our favorite actors. The worst part was the writing. It's like Ocean 12.

Grey's Anatomy was a show that i really liked. Then the doctors started sleeping with everybody and acting in such unbelievably unprofessional way that the show lost all credibility. It moving rapidly towards Melrose Place levels.

Bailey is probably the only character left that's acting like a real doctor so i fear that the writers will take care of that next.

I'm going to watch the season finale but I doubt I'll watch next year. The show started as half medical drama, half soap opera and, with the last episode, it tipped over into full soap operadom. The medical parts were just ludicrous and if any of that goes on in real teaching hospitals, we're all in trouble.

This could get interesting -
Washington Fired From Grey's Anatomy

Heh - Does seem a wee bit surprising only in the sense that it took them so long...

So any thoughts from the season premiere? All i could think of was:"Were the dialogs always that bad?".

My problem is that once i watched a show for an entire season, it's very difficult to break it off when it goes down the drain. There's always this irrational hope that it will get better. The only time i actually stopped watching a show that i had been following for years was Crossing Jordan who reached such levels of suck that even i couldn't take it anymore.

Right now, there are only two things that are keeping me watching GA. The first one is my PVR that allows me to fast forward through all the bad parts. The second one is my crush on Chyler Leigh. Heck, i watched that piece of dreck Reunion just because she was in it.

Just when I think Bailey couldn't be any more cool, she busts out some in-depth knowledge of the Skywalker-Solo family tree. Awesome.

And I'm sure the Derek and Meredith closing scene was very moving, but I was distracted by the truly horrible cheap special effects.

Izzie/Alex!

I was done with the show after S2 and the Denny debacle but hung in there for the first few episodes of S3 until they kissed and Izzie turned him down. Again. I stopped watching and missed the 47th round of MerDer, the end of Addison, Mare Winningham and thankfully, George/Izzie.

Caught word through the recaps that they'd begun to revisit Alex/Izzie right before the strike and started watching again. They were awesome tonight! Loved getting more of Alex's background, loved Izzie acting like a grown-up and I loved all their interaction tonight playing out in parallel to the last few episodes of S2 but with a much better conclusion. Broken Alex near broke my heart at the end.

Everything else was pretty entertaining too. All the kids got to me- brain tumor couple with cement boy and FNL's Noelle were a nice contrast and well acted by all.

I'm sure it'll all be fucked up again next season but...awesome finale.

I have to agree; I don't know exactly how or why it happened but I feel like this show started to get back on track with these last few episodes. Of course, given the track record even as I was watching and enjoying I was thinking about how this could all be fucked up next year. I'm just not ready to trust Shonda won't find a way to have everyone regress again.

I was especially glad to find out what Alex's whole deal is. It broke my heart to hear him say that when he was taking care of his mom he was just a kid but now that he's a man, he'd be better at it. I just thought that whole story (and the parts at the end with Izzie) were just fabulously written and acted.