GREY’S ANATOMY: ‘Disarm’

Welcome back everyone! Though it’s been a month since the last episode of GREY’S ANATOMY, this week’s GREY’S picks up right where we left off, and before we know it, we’re diving back into the dramatic and crazy lives of our favorite surgeons, who have an extra helping of stress to deal with due to a mass shooting that just took place at a local college. Needless to say, this brings back a lot of bad memories for everyone at Seattle Grace — except Dr. Stark, who probably wouldn’t know a compassionate feeling if it hit him in his scrunchy little face (sorry Peter MacNicol). More on Dr. Stark later.

We’re first alerted to the fact that something terrible has happened while we’re following Cristina, who’s feeling super energetic after her fishing sob fest. And what’s the best thing to do when you’re feeling cheerful?  Why, finally explore the city you’ve been living in for the last seven years, of course! As she’s trying to find the Space Needle (because a giant iconic needle-shaped building is so hard to find), she sees a herd of ambulances rush past and finds herself running after them. Either she was just around the corner from the shooting, or she’s developed Flash-like superpowers, because she’s able to follow the ambulances to the scene and finds herself surrounded by trauma cases. When the ambulances arrive at Seattle Grace, Teddy and Owen are shocked to find Cristina inside one of them with her hand in a guy’s chest.

And just like that, Cristina is back. She scrubs in on the surgery and does her thing like a pro. There’s just one hitch: in the middle of surgery they discover that their patient is actually the guy who just shot all the other victims in the hospital. Surprisingly, Cristina doesn’t even flinch. The same cannot be said for Jackson, who shall be referred to as Whiny Jackson for the remainder of this recap. Whiny Jackson says he can’t help save the life of an attempted mass murderer and walks out of the OR. Excusable? Maybe, if it weren’t the latest in a string of incidents in which Whiny Jackson acts like a complete baby. At least he partially makes up for it by being the only one who cares enough to update the distraught shooter’s mother about her son’s condition.

Meanwhile, Arizona is back, and totally kicks Dr. Stark’s ass when he decides it’s easier to amputate a girl’s leg than do a little extra work to save it. While Alex literally body-blocks Dr. Stark, Arizona runs to Chief Webber and gets him to reinstate her hospital privileges. After he does, she boots Dr. Stark out of the OR (leading to some very satisfying angry sputtering on his part), recruits Callie, and together they save the girl with all her limbs in tact. Take THAT, evil Dr. Stark! You SUCK!!! (Sorry Peter MacNicol.) Sadly Arizona doesn’t have as much success in her personal life. Try as she might to win Callie back, Callie refuses to forgive her. Gotta say, I don’t know if I could either. The one bright spot for Arizona is that the Chief agrees to hire her back…under Dr. Stark. Maybe not such a bright spot after all. (Apparently Dr. Stark is under a year-long contract and the Chief can’t just waste that money. Except he’s wasting the money anyway because by hiring Arizona he now has a surplus of Pediatrics attendings. But hey, who needs logic when you can have character arcs? Oh GREY’S, your flaws are loveably transparent sometimes.)

The only other major development concerns Teddy, who makes good on her promise to marry Noel even though he’s probably still in love with Felicity who’s in love with Ben, who…crap, I’m mixing up shows again. That’s right, here  Scott Foley is the chronically ill guy who needs better insurance. He and Teddy have a very brief ceremony at city hall, and that night he charmingly makes her celebrate with a drink. Who smells a marriage-of-convenience-turns-into-marriage-of-love plotline? I do, I do! Hey, cliché or not, I’m a fan of any plotline that brings Scott Foley back to my TV where he belongs.

In other news, Meredith and Cristina finally make up, in true Meredith-and-Cristina fashion (i.e. no mushy apologies, just back to normal as if nothing happened). And Lexie tells Mark she loves him. Awww (I guess). Oh, and probably the best moment of the episode: when Dr. Stark comes crying to the Chief that Arizona stole his patient, Chief Webber yells at him to “be a damn doctor” and go save some people instead of whining. Love it! (Sorry Peter MacNicol.)

All in all, I thought it was a pretty solid first episode of 2011. What did you all think? Will Callie ever forgive Arizona? Should she forgive her? And is it just a matter of time before Teddy falls hopelessly in love with her cute new hubby? Leave your comments below!