Grey's Anatomy

Watched the 3rd episode of the new TV series Grey's Anatomy last night, and guess what? I'm totally HOOKED!

I mean, if even at the 3rd episode, they still manage to catch our attention, the producer must have done something good, right?

Besides, I'm feeling SO OVERDOSED already at the moment, with all these excessice spin-offs which has been muddling the TV shows these days. After all the CSIs (original in Vegas; Miami; and New York) and Law & Orders (original, SVU: Special Victims Unit, Criminal Intent, and Trial By Jury), I thought enough is enough, and I'll just choose the BEST one only to watch.. [but hey, THIS is entitled to one blog entry of its own, I guess?!]

And having a change of pace in the thing I watch doesn't seem a bad idea at all. So that's where Grey's Anatomy perfectly come in place.

One MAIN factor in determining whether a TV show going to be a success or not, is by studying the characters in it, to see whether they're convincing enough and deserved our undying attention weeks after weeks of viewing. And THAT was what I've been doing these past 3 weeks!

***

The Medical Interns:

Dr. Meredith Grey
(Ellen Pompeo)
This lady is one helluva strong woman, although, at other times, I did catch a glance of her sheer desperation side, in her struggles to juggle her internship, the pressure of being the daughter of the famous lady surgeon (slowly unveiled through the episodes) in the same hospital, the wacky fellow interns, and of course the oh-so-essential love interest from the resident hunk, in the form of the Attending Surgeon, Dr. Derek Shepherd.

Being a strong-willed woman, albeit a little bit (not so much though) clumsy at times in her dealing with her life, Meredith IS a character everybody would LOVE to care for; therefore promising a strong fan-base for this great TV show.

Dr. George O'Malley
(T.R. Knight)
To quote from the official website from ABC, which gives a brief summary of the show: George O'Malley is the warm but insecure boy next door who always manages to do or say the wrong thing at the wrong time. In spite of his attraction to women, he's treated as "just one of the girls."

One of the girls?!! Haha.. Sessuattuh! As a matter of fact, in the first episode, as all the interns were changing into their uniforms, George were describing some people he met at a party and when he were given a funny look by the other interns for something that he mentioned, then he fumbled and quickly said something like, "But hey, I'm not gay.." Hmmm.. Very suspicious indeed.

Anyway, apart from Meredith, George is my next favourite character from the show. He's warm, down-to-earth, with the lovable (and huggable too!) boy-next-door personality.

What could he possibly offers in the future? Well let's just say, he could be hampering some deep love secret for his close friend Meredith, therefore creating a love-triangle between the characters.

And who knows, he could be gay too! [There's a hilarious scene in episode 3 when he had to deal with this issue.. hehe.. poor boy!] We just have to wait to find out more.

Dr. Cristina Yang
(Sandra Oh)
Sandra would probably be better known for her recent role in the critic's favourite movie "Sideway", which I still have yet have the time to see yet.. *sigh*

Anyway, in this show, Dr. Cristina Yang is the Queen of Ice. Heartless, hard-working Asian bitch (woohoo!) who couldn't care about what other people think about her, as long as she succeed in her goal in becoming a great surgeon. Despite Cristina's character being a tad bit cliched, it somehow gave a good balance to Meredith's in their journey in dealing with the medical internship.

The best bit was in the opening of episode 2 where Cristina making her way to Seattle Grace Hospital (that's where all the actions take place, by the way), riding a big [read: BIG!] motorbike. Hmmmm.. Could she possibly be the resident dyke? [Not TWO gay roles in a show?!! Is THAT even possible? Haha..] Butch femme?!

Or maybe, her icy heart just needs a little bit of thawing. And a little bit of warm loving?! You gotta love this girl too!

Dr. Isobel ''Izzie'' Stevens
(Katherine Heigl)
There's not much being shown yet about Izzie, yet in a few moments the she hog the screen, you can easily say that this beauty (she supports her medical studies by doing some modelling work.. Suh-weet!) has GOT brains too.. and a BIG heart (in a metaphorical way, of course) to boost.

Said to come from a poor family background, it's easily to be seen how she's fighting hard the passe judgement people normally says of beautiful girls, especially when the girls are blond, and the so-called lack in the brain department. And she working hard to prove these people wrong!

There might even be some back story earlier in her life (I really hope so!) on how she becomes so dedicated in her task.. which I'm sure would be inspirational. Who knows..

Dr. Alex Karev
(Justin Chambers)
The last friend (if that what you can call him) in THIS group of interns, Alex is your typical arrogant jock who everyone'd love to hate. VERY much.

Even Meredith and Cristina both share similar views on him. One time when they faced a prospect of having to share an elevator with Alex (while he kept on going being an arrogant prick that he is), the girls exclaimed, "We'd rather be a lesbian" and darted off to take the stairs instead. Hehe.. you go girls!

Alex probably got some major self image issue he had to deal with, but one thing for sure, the girls really know how to deal with this jock!

The Doctors:

Dr. Miranda ''The Nazi'' Bailey
(Chandra Wilson)
There IS a reason why she's called "The Nazi", and that's because she could really drill the interns. Miranda proves the fact that just because you a bit small in stature, that doesn't mean you can't hurt! Kecik-kecik cili api of sorts.

As a senior Resident Doctor, she's one tough lady, and very hard to please too. You'd definite won't want to fool around in her presence. Yet, despite the cold hard exterior, she's also a very compassionate doctor, dedicated in her roles to the patients, and training the interns.

Dr. Derek Shepherd
(Patrick Dempsey)
As mentioned in my earlier post, he IS the official resident hunk in the hospital. The object of affection for Meredith despite how hard she try to deny it herself.

As a new comer to Seattle Grace Hospital (he just got transferred(?)/moved from New York), Derek is just as fresh to the hospital's environment as the interns, and is slowly showing his credibility as the new Attending Surgeon. Not much has been shown of his background yet (it IS after all still up to episode 3) so any future revelations on this cute hunk would be truly appreciated. Hmmmmm.. chunk o'Hunk!

Dr. Preston Burke
(Isaiah Washington)
This other Attending Surgeon is probably the resident arrogant jock back in his internship days, and he still have a bit of that selfish arrogance still stuck up there in his head. Anyway, don't take that fully against him because Preston IS after all a very good surgeon still in his journey to the top.

He sees Derek arrival in the hospital as a direct competition to him, especially considering the fact that they were both the main contender for a job promotion there. And it seems that Preston would do anything to ensure that he gets what he aimed for!

Dr. Richard Webber
(James Pickens Jr.)
The last of the main roles in this series, Dr. Webber encompass the typical warm leadership role you'd expect from a Chief Surgeon. Serious at times, he also have some funny sides which were shown from time to time.

As the one overseeing the whole run in the surgery's department, he'd definitely have his hands full with the constant politicking amog his medical staff, and most importantly, the over-eager medical interns who'd always love to get noticed by him, in their training to become a good surgeon themselves.

***

The Verdict So Far:

It has only been 3 episodes, yet the future seems so bright. With tight writings and colourful characters, Grey's Anatomy can only promise great viewing for faithful TV viewers.

But then again, I'm might only saying all this because I'm still on rebound after my girls from Desperate Housewives left me (after their first season ended recently on Aussie TV screen). On the other hand, Grey's Anatomy could also be a great TV show to watch, and its strength would be shown even more as the first season's episodes evolve.

As far as the characters goes, what I wrote up there is only of my own observation based on the first 3 episodes, and we all know there's only so much they could squeeze in such short period. For more information on the background of the cast, you can refer here in the official (short) cast biographies.

One thing for sure, I'd keep coming back for more to watch the show every Monday nights at 8:30pm here in Oz. It'd also be interesting to see whether the show would slowly shifted from being a one- or two-main-character-driven series at the moment, to a full-fledge ensemble performance from all the strong cast.

The mad medical interns would definitely keep me entertain for that one hour viewing, and even educate me (whenever possible) of the stressfull wonderful world of student doctors, everywhere in the world.

And oh, to end this blog entry on a high note, Grey's Anatomy is also nominated for the 56th Annual Emmy® Awards, for 3 categories:

• Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
• Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Sandra Oh [Oh yeah!]

..and, they are also starting with the second season of the show in the United States of America, which premieres on their ABC channel on the 25th September 2005. More strong reason for me to watch and follow the show, indeed!

;-)

NB: All photos are courtesy of ABC Inc.