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Dream a Little Dream of Me: A Review
By kristymc | September 28, 2008
According to Shonda, “all the clues for this season are right there in this first episode. Nothing happens without a reason. ” And according to Henry David Thoreau, “dreams are the touchstones of our character.” So IMO the reason for the dream sequences in the SP was to give us, the viewers, a closer look into the characters we’ve come to know and love over the last four seasons.
The SP opened with Meredith seemingly waiting for Derek as the candles burned out, and then cut to her running into the ER searching for Derek only to find him being pronounced dead by Bailey. This of course is the nightmare we were all having after the S4 finale, and I give Shonda props for working it into the premier. Meredith’s reaction was heartbreaking, and this dream brings home the fact the Meredith is terrified of opening herself up to the realities of being in a grown-up relationship with Derek. I’m glad to hear that she’s still in therapy, because loving someone is the hardest thing in the world, especially for someone that has been abandoned by their parents.
It’s been made abundantly clear that Shonda was speaking through the characters, especially the chief, to the viewers in the SP. She’s not happy about the dip in ratings last season and she wants Grey’s back on top, which is awesome. Shonda also made it clear via her ABC blog, that “every line of dialogue has a point.” This leaves me wondering why the Chief blamed/attacked Meredith after Vincent’s death. Apparently Meredith is the reason the Chief went soft and let so many things go for so long.
Is Shonda telling us that she was so focused on Meredith that she wasn’t paying attention while Gizzie was happening, or while Christina went into the bell jar? Either way is it fair to blame Meredith? The scene after Vincent’s death totally reminded me of the scene between Mer and Thatcher after his wife’s death, he blamed Mer and so did the Chief. But at least the Chief didn’t slap her in the face, at least not physically and this time Derek was there to defend Meredith. I hope this is not going to be a recurring theme. I’ve always seen the Chief as a sort of father figure for Meredith, and with everything that Mer has been through with Thatcher; I’d hate to see her relationship with Richard deteriorate.
Christina’s dream comes when she briefly looses consciousness after being karmicly impaled by a gynormous ice cicle for telling Meredith to, “shut up, shut up, SHUT UP” about her and Derek because they will never work, and moving in together is a terrible idea. Again Shonda is speaking through one of her characters because according to the podcast, Shonda has been thinking this for months. So it seems Christina wasn’t being a bad friend, she was just telling Meredith to her face what everyone else has been saying behind her back. Meredith needed to hear it from Christina that she was driving everyone crazy and making everyone sick. It’s like Christina was telling Mer that she was being “plastic.” Which made her dream so much more significant, Christina loves Mer; and Mer loves Christina, they will be together, taking care of one another long after the men in their lives are gone to be with Denny.
OMG Denny!!
Seeing Denny was (for me) one of the best moments of the SP. I loved Izzie’s dream because it actually gave me some closure about Denny’s death. The fact the Denny didn’t get to see Izzie again before he died, and the fact that Izzie was late to the prom because she changed her dress three times because she wanted to look nice, but it didn’t matter because Denny died alone and she wasn’t there. I’ve never gotten over that and seeing Denny standing at the elevator door waiting on Izzie made all the crap Izzie’s been through and done over the last two season come into perspective for me. She lost Denny and since then she’s been a walking, talking train wreck. Denny was the man of her dreams and when she lost him, the way she lost him, everything feel apart. Izzie tried to pick up the pieces but she made a mess of everything, and just when it seemed like things were turning a corner Alex goes on the defensive and pushes Izzie away. Once again leaving her feeling hurt and alone and reminding her that even though Alex is a good man, and George is a good guy, Denny was a great man and he loved her. And he wanted to marry her; but he died. Izzie didn’t get her happy ending and every time she kisses Alex he just turns back into a frog.
I hope everyone enjoyed the SP, as well as the ABC blog from Shonda and the Podcast. I’m so glad that Grey’s is back, and since the bar has been officially raised I can’t wait for E3 “Here Comes the Flood.” I hope to see more great performance form guest starts in future episodes, Kathy Baker and Bernadette Peters did and amazing job! Oh, almost forgot about Rose, aka the cut you with a scalpel stalker, if y’all remember I speculated that Rose would become a “kill you with a knife stalker,” and apparently I wasn’t that far off. Thankfully, I was very wrong about Laurie Stamile sticking around, and I was thrilled to see her and her coat traipse off to pediatrics. But I’ve got to give her kudos for the fact that she realized she was turning into Glenn Close from Fatal Attraction, and had the self-respect to leave before Meredith shot her.
As always, feel free to post your thoughts, comments, and reviews below. BTW there will be more reviews to come from Sarahe and Aussie Lee; they are working on reviews which will deal with MerDer, Callica, and Georgie specifically.
Thanks, Kristymc 
Topics: Blogger: Guest Blogger, Guest Stars, Random!, Reviews / Podcasts / Blogs, Season 5, Shonda Rhimes | 4 Comments » |
September 28th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
When I saw Izzie with Denny, I swear I thought I’d be better for her to join him
; she’ll never find a love like that againg, I’m so sorry for her…
September 30th, 2008 at 4:45 am
I totally understand where you’re coming from; Denny was the love of her life and no one will ever compair to him. And we will constantly be compairing everyone to him. I miss him SO much!! And I loved seeing them together again
It made me smile and it made me cry.
I was so sad when Denny showed up!!
Poor Izzie. Alex can never measure up.
I’m way tooooo into MerDer!! LOL
Thanks for the great review. Much more generalised, a heaps better picture than my review!!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:46 pm