posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_dala at 12:03pm on 13/10/2007
the_dala at 12:03pm on 13/10/2007Watching "Grey's Anatomy" this season is difficult. I mean, on the whole I"m really liking the writing except for That One Damn Storyline - even the Grey family drama. I like Lexie and I like her interaction with Meredith, who is by far the best teacher among the former interns and is really developing as a person besides. I love Alex, I'm hopeful that Christina will soon be back to the Christina we all know and love, Bailey continues to be the most awesome, Derek is actually tolerable again, and I kinda sorta like Mark.
But the George/Izzie thing is just...gag-inducing. It's not just that it's poorly written and requires the sacrifice of a great character in Callie and ignores the continuity of two and a half seasons. I have this visceral reaction to the sight of them together, even when TR Knight and Katherine Heigl are on point (although she's hitting way more false notes this year; more on that in a minute); I think it's not only that they're like brother and sister on the show, but in real life too. It's like double incest, and it squicks me deeply.
Also? Concurrent with this storyline and in general, I am quickly approaching Christopher Hayden-levels of hate toward the character of Izzie Stevens. Take this week's episode for example - First, she is a selfish, thoughtless bully toward her friends and the man she supposedly loves. Calling Meredith and Christina's problems "fake drama"? What the hell?! Christina's fiance left her at the altar and abandoned the hospital entirely, and Meredith has her whole slew of family issues exacerbated by the prescence of the sister who is the product of the man who was a horrible father to her (now completely estranged, thank god) and a woman who managed to be a surrogate mom to Meredith before DYING under her care (not to mention the walking, talking, operating flurry of drama that was Ellis Grey). I mean, it seems less immediate to us because one year in canon has been stretched out over three in real time, but Meredith's two mommies died and her deadbeat dad SLAPPED her very recently. And the irony of it, of course, is that Izzie's drama is the fake one - manufactured just a few months (if that, in the show's timeline) after the death of HER fiance, because once again the stupid show is trying to convince us of the fact that Adultery --> True Love.
Second - and this is new - she's become a shitty doctor. Leaving aside the whole LVAD thing, her lack of professionalism with Charlie/Really Old Guy is astounding. It seems that we were supposed to find her arguments and her mocking of his pain/exhaustion funny and her self-absorption interesting, but...NO. The last human interaction that old man had before he died was Izzie being a total bitch to him and rambling on about her stupid adulterous foibles. That's not funny, that's not in-character, and it's a shame that we have to waste a good quarter on an episode on it when there great characters just around the corner.
What's more, I've had high opinions of Katherine Heigl in the past - I thought she was great in S1 and S2 and much of S3 (not that she deserved an Emmy over Chandra Wilson and Sandra Oh, or even Ellen Pompeo). But she's not managing to sell this writing at all. Her performance is by turns smug and irritating, and it's leached away what little sympathy I had left.
Sigh. It's just a shame, because the amount of love I have for this show's good history and its remaining good characters is keeping me hanging on, but the aforementioned plot elements make me want to scratch my eyes out. One of the reasons I'm enjoying "Private Practice" so much is because so far, I don't despise any of the characters.
But one good note about this week's episode - my TV grandpa came back!
ETA: Okay, please, PLEASE tell me somebody is getting Johnny Depp vibes off of Freddy Rodriguez. It's not all in my head, right?
ETA2: Apparently I am not done commenting on my TV. Holy crap, the blond chick looks like Virginia Madsen. She also gives off a faint whiff of Kristen Bell, but the person she most strongly reminds me of? Dean Winchester. Heh, good one, show.
Also, if there's anything more frightening than creepy children, I don't know what it is.
But the George/Izzie thing is just...gag-inducing. It's not just that it's poorly written and requires the sacrifice of a great character in Callie and ignores the continuity of two and a half seasons. I have this visceral reaction to the sight of them together, even when TR Knight and Katherine Heigl are on point (although she's hitting way more false notes this year; more on that in a minute); I think it's not only that they're like brother and sister on the show, but in real life too. It's like double incest, and it squicks me deeply.
Also? Concurrent with this storyline and in general, I am quickly approaching Christopher Hayden-levels of hate toward the character of Izzie Stevens. Take this week's episode for example - First, she is a selfish, thoughtless bully toward her friends and the man she supposedly loves. Calling Meredith and Christina's problems "fake drama"? What the hell?! Christina's fiance left her at the altar and abandoned the hospital entirely, and Meredith has her whole slew of family issues exacerbated by the prescence of the sister who is the product of the man who was a horrible father to her (now completely estranged, thank god) and a woman who managed to be a surrogate mom to Meredith before DYING under her care (not to mention the walking, talking, operating flurry of drama that was Ellis Grey). I mean, it seems less immediate to us because one year in canon has been stretched out over three in real time, but Meredith's two mommies died and her deadbeat dad SLAPPED her very recently. And the irony of it, of course, is that Izzie's drama is the fake one - manufactured just a few months (if that, in the show's timeline) after the death of HER fiance, because once again the stupid show is trying to convince us of the fact that Adultery --> True Love.
Second - and this is new - she's become a shitty doctor. Leaving aside the whole LVAD thing, her lack of professionalism with Charlie/Really Old Guy is astounding. It seems that we were supposed to find her arguments and her mocking of his pain/exhaustion funny and her self-absorption interesting, but...NO. The last human interaction that old man had before he died was Izzie being a total bitch to him and rambling on about her stupid adulterous foibles. That's not funny, that's not in-character, and it's a shame that we have to waste a good quarter on an episode on it when there great characters just around the corner.
What's more, I've had high opinions of Katherine Heigl in the past - I thought she was great in S1 and S2 and much of S3 (not that she deserved an Emmy over Chandra Wilson and Sandra Oh, or even Ellen Pompeo). But she's not managing to sell this writing at all. Her performance is by turns smug and irritating, and it's leached away what little sympathy I had left.
Sigh. It's just a shame, because the amount of love I have for this show's good history and its remaining good characters is keeping me hanging on, but the aforementioned plot elements make me want to scratch my eyes out. One of the reasons I'm enjoying "Private Practice" so much is because so far, I don't despise any of the characters.
But one good note about this week's episode - my TV grandpa came back!
ETA: Okay, please, PLEASE tell me somebody is getting Johnny Depp vibes off of Freddy Rodriguez. It's not all in my head, right?
ETA2: Apparently I am not done commenting on my TV. Holy crap, the blond chick looks like Virginia Madsen. She also gives off a faint whiff of Kristen Bell, but the person she most strongly reminds me of? Dean Winchester. Heh, good one, show.
Also, if there's anything more frightening than creepy children, I don't know what it is.
cranky
(no subject)
She can hardly be blamed for the route and stories her character has been given by the writers, and it is no coincidence that Izzie's decline as a character is linked with the show struggling to find its feet at the moment. In fact some of her perfomances have saved a lot of poor characterisation and writing.
She was very worth of her Emmy - certainly over the rest of the Grey's cast - though beating the Sopranos was a bit of a surprise. Chandra as good as she is had nothing to do last season and Sandra had little to work with (apart from the last episode). Over the season Heigl was head and shoulders above everyone else on the show and it seems the Emmy voters agreed.
(no subject)
Look, I like Katherine Heigl, and I appreciated her acting much of last season despite the George/Izzie storyline - she was excellent in the episode where she had to donate bone marrow to her daughter. But in this episode in particular I really thought her choices were off, in scenes that had nothing to do with George/Izzie. For the doctor who used to get too attached to her patients, she was downright cruel in many of her scenes with Charlie; even as written, Heigl could have delivered those lines with a bit more compassion. Likewise, when Christina made her nasty comment about the LVAD wire, she played Izzie's reaction as mere annoyance - not a hint of pain or shame or regret in her eyes at the reference to Denny.
I know the woman can act, and I know it isn't her fault that they've written the character into such a hateful corner. But she's brought such a degree of self-importance and smugness to Izzie over these past few episodes that my patience is worn thin. Some of Izzie's qualities that have annoyed others in the past and didn't bother me have become amplified, and I no longer sympathize with the character or want her to be happy.
(no subject)