‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Your heart lives ... where?

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Was tonight’s ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ episode, titled ‘Perfect Little Accident,’ much more fast-paced than usual? The action and especially the dialogue were particularly rapid-fire. I felt like everyone had suddenly turned into Lorelai Gilmore without warning.

The episode opened with a bunch of hilariously cheesy shots of Lexie trying to arrange herself into the perfect seductive pose on Alex’s bed. Unfortunately, just as she pulled the sheet off herself ... Derek burst into the room. The perils of having casual sex with your married sister’s roommate, I suppose.

Alex and Lexie’s relationship was a focal point of the episode, though ultimately not much development occurs: They more or less go from being in an unspoken casual sexual relationship to being in a spoken casual sexual relationship. ‘I can’t have feelings for Alex Karev. Emotionally he’s like Meredith, three years ago,’ Lexie says, echoing her sister’s advice. She’s changed a lot more than her hair color since she and Sloan broke up, but Meredith and Cristina doubt she can handle the whole colleagues-with-benefits game, because her heart lives in her ... um, pants.
Sloan takes the opportunity to direct plenty of anger at Karev, from ‘serial-killer eyes’ to good old-fashioned yelling. In between jealous fits, he has on-call room sex with randoms -- including a patient’s daughter.

It’s childish and a little bit tiresome to watch, but does provide a great opportunity for Callie to step in with one of her famous Sloan smackdowns. ‘That is enough. It is sad and pathetic,’ she snapped. ‘Sloan and her baby leaving you can either be the worst or the best thing that ever happened to you. You can either grow up, find a woman to love and have a baby, or you can be the ass attending who abuses the residents and screws whatever walks into this hospital.’ I really love watching Sloan and Callie’s friendship play out each week. They’ve got great chemistry.

Speaking of Callie, Mark wasn’t the only one shutting Alex out. After finding out during Lecture Day that Alex and Callie slept together, Arizona wasn’t too pleased with him either. Like most of the characters, Arizona seemed slightly more manic in this episode than usual, but I did like her mission to arrange a ‘girls’ night’ at the baseball diamond that helped draw Teddy into the fold a bit.

As for this week’s patients, (because after all, this show is still about doctors ... right?) early in the episode we were introduced to the victim of a motorcycle crash who was suffering from severe head trauma. To add insult to injury, before he could even get through the doors of the hospital, the gurney toppled over and he crashed to the pavement, hitting his head. Despite Owen’s attempts to save him, his fate was ultimately to become an organ donor.

Elsewhere in the hospital, Jackson Avery brought his grandfather, Harper Avery, in as a reluctant patient. Cristina’s first attempt to diagnose him didn’t go very well, which mortified her when she found out who he was. Apparently, Harper Avery is a Very Big Deal in the medical field. ‘I misdiagnosed Harper Avery in front of Harper Avery,’ Cristina ranted to Meredith later. ‘Do you know what that does to my chances of one day winning a Harper Avery Award?’

Harper threw his considerable weight around at the hospital, undermining even Derek’s authority when he demanded that Webber operate on him... and allow him to be awake during the major surgery. Apparently, Harper enjoys the idea of doctors being ‘challenged and terrified.’ I’m all for that, but if I were him, I’d prefer that those terrified doctors have their hands in someone else’s gut.

Harper’s ego gave Meredith and Jackson the opportunity to bond over the impact of their last names. Their famously gifted relatives have been both a blessing and a curse on their lives. This was a welcome chance to get some extra background on Jackson. I’m inclined to believe that if the writers wanted to introduce the handful of new Mercy West doctors, they should’ve put a little bit more time this season into making the characters more three-dimensional. I’m hoping that tonight’s storyline wasn’t a set-up for Jackson to move to Massachusetts.

The buzz of having Harper Avery in the hospital (as well as her embarrassment over flubbing in front of him) lights a fire under Cristina. When Teddy doesn’t see much hope for a young patient in need of a lung transplant, because he is a high-risk patient and donor lungs are extremely scarce, Cristina gets creative. Fueled by the idea of potentially impressing Avery, she manages to get the damaged lungs from the aforementioned motorcycle crash victim before the donor team discards them.

She uses a rare and controversial method to repair the damaged lungs. Though Teddy isn’t thrilled with Cristina’s methods, she agrees to do the surgery, and the young man’s life is saved. Cristina and Teddy’s bond is strengthening, and it’s making Owen more and more insecure about their little triangle. It’s hard to gauge what he’s feeling right now, but I’m sure we haven’t seen the end of the Owen/Teddy/Cristina drama.

Overall, I liked this episode, but I think ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ has been rushing through some rather crucial story lines this season. In terms of Webber’s alcohol rehabilitation, we only saw one scene: an AA meeting after 45 days of sobriety. It would’ve been nice to see his struggle after his leave from the hospital. We also sped through Sloan’s bonding with his daughter, which makes his devastation now that she’s gone a little bit hard to buy. Not to mention those Mercy West doctors, who come and go intermittently, so we never get the chance to invest ourselves in their story.

What are your thoughts on tonight’s episode? Do you think Lexie will be able to maintain her non-feelings for Alex? Are you glad to see Webber back in the saddle? Sound off in the comments below and check back next week to discuss the new episode!

-- Carina MacKenzie (catch me on Twitter @cadlymack)

Photo: Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams). Credit: ABC