SPOILER: Who Died in the Eighth Season Finale of Grey's Anatomy

SPOILERS Recap of Grey's Anatomy: Flight

I am completely in shock. Not only did they kill off a main character, but they did it in the first fifteen minutes! Lexie died while holding Mark's hand, and while he promised her that he really did love her (not just because she was dying). Shortly after that, Mark went into severe shock, presumably due to the massive blunt force trauma that he suffered on his chest. Everyone had been completely unaware of it, because he was walking around as though he wasn't injured at all. Meanwhile, Derek's hand was severely injured, and Meredith pulled it closed by weaving a safety pin in and and out of his skin. Thank goodness we didn't actually have to watch that happening.

The episode ended with a massive cliffhanger.

Watch This: The Daly Show

It's almost summer, which means many of our favorite comedies are gone until September. Don't get too worried though, because I have a solution! Or rather, Tim Daly, Sam Daly, and Ben Shelton have a solution. Guess I can't take all the credit. What I can take credit for is introducing you to one of the funniest series of web videos*.

Grey's Anatomy's "If/Then" Universe Mimics Reality

"...nothing is turning out the way I thought it would, it's like I don't even recognize my own life."-Meredith

Last night 'Grey's Anatomy' pulled a 'Fringe' and handed us an alternative universe. The writers clearly had fun coming up with if/then scenarios: Meredith was engaged to Alex, Dr. Webber was her step-father, Bailey was completely over-powered by Meredith's still-living mother, and Callie was married to Owen (with three kids!).

That being said, a lot of the alt-reality scenarios weren't that different: Addison and Derek, while still married, were on rocky ground throughout the episode. Mark Sloan even showed up at the end, admitting that he was the father of Addison's baby. Basically it was just a slightly alternative version of what happened in the First Season of 'Grey's'.

Other very familiar scenarios? Alex cheating on Meredith with Kepner. He's always been portrayed as a bit of a hound-dog, and having sex with colleagues in hospital rooms? Very 'Grey's Anatomy' Season One. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been wondering for a while if Alex and Kepner will get together, so seeing them making out wasn't a real surprise. They certainly have more chemistry than Meredith and Alex who, we all now know, should never, ever get together on the show for real. Seriously, no chemistry. At all.

Avery flirting with screwed-up/drug-addict/alt-reality Lexie was clearly a throwback to their relationship earlier this season, while the scene where Mark Sloan tried to save her life just made me wish harder for a Lexie/Sloan reconciliation.

At the end of the episode, we were left with the distinct feeling that lots of things were going to change, and that current reality wasn't too far away: Cristina knew Owen's secrets, and Callie was clearly attracted to Arizona. Also, Meredith and Cristina did shots of tequila at a bar (again, hello Season One!), and even quoted verbatim from the pilot episode. Oh, and at the very end of the episode, drunk Derek met drunk Meredith in a bar, and we all know where that led.

The episode concluded with Meredith's voice-over:
"Some things are going to work out as though they were destined to happen"

And that's fine. But, while the hour was fun for die-hard fans, I'm not sure what the purpose of this episode really was. Unlike on 'Fringe', this alternative reality is going away as quickly as it came. I do know one thing though, if the pilot episode of 'Grey's' had been this episode, I still would have watched the show.

Sarah Drew, "Grey's Anatomy", "Glee", and Typecasting

Sarah Drew probably isn't someone you've heard of before. She's certainly not a household name. But she is someone who you'll be seeing a lot of this year. She's Dr. April Kepner on "Grey's Anatomy". Dr. Kepner is slightly nerdy, slightly childish, slightly whiny, and apparently a virgin. All of this is probably why I immediately recognized her when I was re-watching "Glee" last night. Sarah Drew (the actress who plays Kepner) was playing a nerdy, childish, whiny, definitely-a-virgin character named Suzy Pepper. Suzy was a student who had a massive crush on the teacher Will Schuster, and was competing with Rachel for his attention ("Glee" S1E10).

Drew is interesting because she graduated from a university (in my hometown!), and then almost immediately started doing voice-work and acting. In 2004, just two years after she graduated, she was in a 38 episode arc of "Everwood". She was also in 4 episodes of "Mad Men" and 2 episodes of "Private Practice". Her role on "Private Practice" is the most confusing, considering that the show often does crossover episodes with "Grey's", yet Drew plays different characters on the two shows.

All I can say is that Shonda Rhimes must really like Drew a lot. After her role on "Private Practice" Rhimes cast her in a new pilot ("Inside the Box") which never got the green light.

Another interesting tidbit is that Kepner's love interest on "Grey's" is played by Peter MacNicol. MacNicol appeared on the incredibly successful "Ally McBeal" as a character much like the one he plays on "Grey's": socially awkward and apparently appealing to attractive women (de Rossi played his love interest on "Ally").

So, are Kepner and MacNicol typecast at all? Possibly. But they're both appealing to watch, and so I don't think anyone will really care.

Reviewing the Grey's Anatomy Muscial Episode & Looking Forward to a Grey's Anatomy Wedding

Was the Grey's Anatomy Musical Episode Bad?
(warning: spoilers!)

Unfortunately, I have to say "yes". Normally I watch "Grey's" sitting on the edge of my seat. Sure, I know that a lot of the drama is completely unrealistic and melodramatic, but I still find myself wanting to know what is going to happen next. Are they really going to take it so far that Meredith Grey is alone in an operating room with her hand on a bomb? Oh, they are? Well, then...
It's things like that which I have come to expect from "Grey's". And I didn't get any of that last night.

The drama surrounding Callie being hit (almost literally) by a truck and going into pre-term labor could have been shocking. I could have been sitting on the edge of my seat. But I wasn't, because every two minutes someone was singing. Singing next to Callie as she lay bleeding halfway through a windscreen, singing as they were in the operating room, singing and 'dancing' about sex (?) while life-threatening decisions were being made. Honestly people, do you want to distract me from the drama? How am I supposed to get sucked into such a melodramatic/improbable moment if you are making it even harder to believe? And, lets be honest, your singing isn't that great either. I wasn't even very impressed with Sara Ramirez (Callie) and she is a brilliant singer!

Shonda Rhimes, the show's creator, suggested that she'd like to do another musical episode. No thank you! I know that you drew a huge audience to this episode (13 million viewers!) but if last night's episode was anything to go by, those viewers won't be coming back.

Now, on to more important things. Is a "Grey's" wedding in our future?



Will Callie and Arizona really get married? I think we could use a wedding. Everyone knows you need at least one a season, and who else could possibly follow Cristina and Owen? I wonder how "Grey's" would handle a lesbian wedding, since gay marriage is illegal in Seattle (where the show takes place). The show has barely touched on political issues (probably for fear of alienating viewers). Sure, Callie's dad was not excited about Arizona, but other than that everyone has been fine with it. Is it really possible that none of the doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital are republicans or religious conservatives? I know Seattle is liberal, but none?? I'm not suggesting that "Grey's" should become a political battlefield (in fact, if it did I would probably stop watching the show out of pure frustration), but I am curious to see how they would deal with a lesbian wedding. For that reason alone I'm hoping the Callie and Arizona will really get married.