| Series: | Grey's Anatomy |
| Season: | 3 |
| Episode: | 13 |
| Length: | 47 minutes |
| Guests: |
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| Director: | Michael Grossman |
| Music: | "Ships" "Love Show" |
| Season Article: | Grey's Anatomy season 3 |
| Episode List: | List of Grey's Anatomy episodes |
| Prev: | Six Days (Part 2) |
| Next: | Wishin' and Hopin' |
"Great Expectations" is the thirteenth episode of Season 3 of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and the show's 49th episode overall. It was written by Eric Buchman and directed by Michael Grossman. The central storyline is the competition between surgeons for the position of chief of surgery. Further storylines include Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) mourning his father, Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) trying to get financial support for a free clinic, and Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) dealing with her troubled relationship with Burke.
Although the episode is set in Seattle, filming took place in Los Angeles, California. The title refers to the song, "Great Expectations", by American hard rock band Kiss. The episode received mixed to favorable reviews, with the storyline involving O'Malley's grieving being particularly highlighted. Running for 47 minutes and seven seconds, the episode was viewed by 21.50 million Americans in the United States upon its original airing on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States on January 25, 2007. It ranked first its time-slot and garnered a 7.6 Nielsen rating in the 18–49 demographic.
"Great Expectations" opens to a voice-over narration from Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) about the expectations on becoming a surgeon. Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), is seen using sex as way to cope with the death of his father, Harold O'Malley (George Dzundza), much to the displeasure of his girlfriend, Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez), who seeks help from Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), O'Malley's best friend. When they hear that Chief of Surgery Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) is retiring, Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) and Dr. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) all compete to fill his position. Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), who are in a relationship, are ignoring each other. Resident Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) expresses her desire to open a free clinic adjacent to the hospital, but meets rejection from both the chief and the attending physicians, who find no practical reason for funding.
A young woman, Jillian Miller (Jessica Stroup), is admitted in obstetrics and gynaecology, supported by her best friend Rachel Meyer (Rachel Boston). Jillian is diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer. When it's suggested her parents should be contacted, Rachel objects, revealing that she and Jillian ran away from their Amish village years ago. Stevens quickly becomes emotionally involved in the patient's situation and encourages her to return home. A runner who is admitted in orthopedics has to cope with the news that he will never be able to compete in races after his surgical procedure. Sloan announces his plans of returning to New York City, but abruptly decides to stay in Seattle on learning of Webber's retirement plans. Shepherd is displeased with Sloan's decision, which results in an argument between him and Grey, which threatens to damage their relationship. Webber returns to his wife, Adele (Loretta Devine), seeking forgiveness, but is devastated to learn she has been spending the night with another man. Bailey ultimately finds support in Stevens, who proves enthusiastic to spend her entire US$8 million inheritance to open the free clinic. At the conclusion of the episode, Yang confides in Burke, who unexpectedly proposes to her, whereas O'Malley, who finally admits how affected he was by the death of his father, proposes to Torres.
The episode was written by producer Eric Buchman and directed by Michael Grossman.[1] Buchman explained how his main concept was to describe O'Malley's grieving in a different way than depicted for Stevens, but in a manner that would be both bothering to her and painful for his partner, Torres. Torres' emotional state during the mourning was also significant: "We wanted Callie to feel some remorse. She finally got George, but not in the way she wanted. She's gotten his body, but the underlying relationship isn't there anymore." Buchman had originally intended that Yang and Burke's cold relationship would be "kept alive" by having silent sex, but this was rejected as being "boring, neither dramatic, nor comedic", and also as not being descriptive of the character's feelings. The story line involving the four attending physicians fighting for the title of chief of surgery, was intended as comic relief, to emphasize a childish side of the characters' personalities which had not been previously developed. In addition, Buchman described Webber's retirement as an attempt to reconcile with his estranged wife, which leads to emotional devastation at the discovery she had moved on with a different man.
The concept of Grey and Shepherd's fight was described by Buchman as having "no more taboos", compared to the other story lines: "Even though it was a minor fight, it's very revealing for Meredith. This is probably the longest relationship she's every been in, and the first with someone she feels a genuine connection with. We might know Derek will come back, but she doesn't." Their last scene has been deemed "a milestone of sorts for Meredith", with the goal to bring her to admit how new to this romantic development she actually is, after years of being known as the woman with habitual excessive drinking and sexual relationships with inappropriate men. Also noted was the aftermath of Alex and Addison's kiss in the previous episode: "What's most painful about that scene? Not that Alex effectively shut Addison down in such a cold and direct manner. But that it seems like such a waste of chemistry. When they went into that closet, the last thing we wanted to see them do is pour water on their fire", stated Buchman, noting how the scene was written to be "frustrating, shocking, and therefore unexpected".
The episode was originally broadcast on January 25, 2007 at 9:00 ET, and averaged 21.50 million viewers, ranking third in weekly viewership with a 7.6 rating, according to Nielsen ratings.[2] It was the sixteenth most-watched episode of the season, airing in the third week after the winter hiatus.[3] Showing a significant decrease in ratings, the episode attracted approximately half a million less viewers than "Six Days (Part 2)", which received a 7.7 rating.[4] "Great Expectations" was also the lead in the time slot, with approximately one-fourth more viewers than CBS's juggernaut CSI, which ranked fourth in weekly viewership with a 7.5 rating.[2]
Staci Krause of IGN had mixed perspectives on the episode's story arcs, comparing the advanced development in the personal story lines to the disappointing medical cases.[5] She described the story line involving Yang and Burke as "finally showing resolution, taking pleasure to the next level", adding: "It was shocking to see Cristina be the one to break, but even more shocking was Burke's two-word response: marry me. I'm really not sure why Cristina didn't just say yes, since two minutes before had said she was in it for the long haul. It seems like they are dragging this out for the sake of dragging it out."[5] Bailey's evolution, mainly her interactions with the competing attending physicians, were described as "a reminder of why they called her the Nazi, something that was easy to forget with recent events."
Krause deemed the revelation of Adele's moving on "an interesting twist, with unexpected repercussions", whereas Stevens' offering Bailey the money for free clinic, was negatively reviewed; looked upon as the most predictable event of the episode.[5] Krause noted that both medical cases were confusing, assessing that "it would have been nice to learn more about the severe dehydration that caused the runner's legs to swell." In addition, Krause explained how the Amish angle was unexpected, but significantly helpful to the entertainment level, while a lack of realism in the medical case was highlighted: "No one bothered to really mention that it would have been nice, had it been caught earlier. It was, but she allowed herself to deteriorate."[5] The fight between Grey and Shepherd was deemed "a tiff that Derek was entirely responsible for", but also a proof of "how damaged Meredith really is". Krause expressed disappointment in the storyline involving O'Malley proposing to Torres: "Callie certainly didn't look thrilled. If she believes George is proposing as a means to get over his grief, she's probably right and should likely run in the opposite direction." Considering each of the attending physicians' chances of becoming the chief of surgery, Krause noted the possibility of Sloan being chosen as "hilarious, but a tad unbelievable", whereas assessing that Montgomery's "great traits" might suffer, due to her relationship with Karev, which was described as "certainly bringing into question her ability to stay on the straight and narrow". Krause characterized the whole as "one of those guilty pleasures that many may not admit to".[5]
Kelly West of Cinema Blend also expressed mixed views, having different opinions on each storyline.[6] She noted how the scene which sees Torres "desperately trying to escape George's room after three rolls in the hay with the grief-stricken intern" helped the episode reach a high level of entertainment: "The look, or should I say, looks on Izzie's face as Callie rambled on about legs being bent the wrong way and needing to heal after too much sex were priceless and could only matched by the look she gave to George when he opened the door, clearly ready for Callie once more." She highly praised the scene that concludes Stevens' storyline, seeing "a heart to heart in which she agrees to back off".[6] Shepherd's enraged attitude was described as "unhealthy" for the evolution of his "fresh relationship" with Grey. West positively received the storyline involving the race for the title of chief, noting that "it was kind of funny to see like the attendings were the kids in the episode".
She deemed Bailey's storyline "not surprising": "He tells Bailey that it's her that will eventually be Chief when she’s ready. Miranda's reaction could only be described as shock. While the other residents were running around trying to get information, she was so busy working on the free clinic project that she hadn’t even heard he was retiring."[6] The story of the two Amish girls was deemed "a little side story, which was actually quite touching and well written", and praised for the realistic portrayals and the effects the storyline had on Stevens.[6] "I don't think I've ever realized that Callie and Cristina never really interacted before. When they did speak to one another the episode, their personalities clash right away. At first they were snippy to one another but the two bonded after slicing open a runner's legs and then operating on him.". Torres and Yang's arc was described as "an obvious parallel to the rest of the episode".[6] West compared the reaction of Yang and Torres following the proposals, by noting that the former was "surprised and maybe a little bit touched", whereas Torres expressed fear and concern: "She's worried that he's only proposing because he's still getting over the loss of his dad and just needs someone to cling to. I adore George, but he's a mess right now and needs to get stuff straightened out before he makes any lifelong commitments."[6]