We’re Moving!

Hey readers,

Behind the scenes, athebeach and I have been working on moving all of these posts over to a new site.  I’ve transferred all the posts, comments, and so on to this new site.  I think you’ll get a kick out of the website name.

I’ll be posting new posts there.  In addition, we’ll have posts on other shows, so you’re more than welcome to join in on those discussions as well.

Hope you guys like the new site!  (And please update bookmarks accordingly.  Thanks!)

Link

“That’s Me Trying” (That’s Me Worrying, That’s Me Quitting)

Cristina and Owen in "That's Me Trying."

Owen kicks the residents’ asses into shape.  Roy lives.  April calls AAA.  Meredith gets yelled at.  And Cristina quits.  All in all, a pretty eventful episode.  So, you know what that means…  Yep, dear readers, this is going to be a long blog post with plenty to discuss.

I’m a total spoiler junkie.  I make no apologies for it, and I certainly don’t hide it.  Yet I was completely surprised when Cristina told Owen that she quit the program.  Before this episode, I had no idea this was happening.  And now that I know this to be the case, it certainly explains why there hasn’t been too many spoilers about Cristina in the recent Grey’s Anatomy scoops (and also why she was noticeably missing from all the promotional pictures from the upcoming episodes).

“Almost Grown” (and Almost Healed?) Sourpuss

Cristina and Owen in "Almost Grown." (Property of Team JayZee)

Five for five, baby.  Yep, we have had five Cristina/Owen kisses in a row.  Season six is eons away in my memory (excepting the few awesome moments we had between them, of course – you know which ones I mean).  Now, I wasn’t expecting anything on the Cristina and Owen front, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t desperately hoping for one.  And boy did we get a great one!  But (a lot) more on that later.  First, let’s talk about Cristina.

“Can’t Fight Biology”: Make Love Not War

House hunting with the Hunts. (Property of Team JayZee)

Cristina and Owen are moving out!  And hopefully, it will be a faster transition than Meredith and Derek’s.  (How is the dream house construction going?)  At least Owen and Cristina have a head start since they’re not building from the ground up.  And I have a feeling that we’ll see them move into it this season.  (And, if the writers love us, someone will slide down that pole.  Maybe in celebration of Cristina’s healing?  That would be the ultimate double hitter of awesomeness.  Yes, Riss, I used a baseball term…I think.)

There wasn’t too much Cristina and Owen in this episode, but the tapeworm patient’s storyline was clearly a not-so-subtle parallel for Cristina’s current struggle with her loss of who she was.  And to keep from sounding repetitive, I’m simply going to summarize that entire plot instead of going scene by scene.

“Superfreak” and Cristina’s Super Supportive Family

Owen earning his husband stripes and supporting his wife. (Property of Team JayZee)

We passed the three-episode test, ladies and gentlemen!  Already, this season is kicking last season’s butt in a major way.  And it’s all because … Cristina and Owen are married!  There are some serious perks to having our favorite couple being married.  I love it.

Even though we didn’t get too much screen time with Cristina and Owen, I don’t think anyone really noticed.  Because the two scenes they did have together?  They were perfection.  And the sense of Cristina and Owen wanting to be with each other was very much present in scenes that they weren’t in together.  It’s like season five … only better.  We do not have to be satisfied only with stolen glances and loaded exchanges – though those were fantastic.  They’re married!  They can touch each other all they want.  So awesome, right?

“Shock to the System” (Shock to Cristina and Owen’s Storyline?)

 

Cristina and Owen in "Shock to the System." And oh what a joyful shock it was to see them have a great storyline again. (Property of Team JayZee)

 

What a great episode.  Without trying to jinx it, it really seems like this season is starting off on the right foot and heading in a great direction for our couple.  (Next episode will be the true test of the season, as that was when things started going downhill a bit last season.)  There was so much good stuff in this episode: funny, sweet, heartbreaking – it had it all.  This was the jumpstart that Cristina and Owen’s relationship – and the show – needed.  And boy were we spoiled with Cristina and Owen awesomeness.  Let’s get this post started and jump right into the goodies.  And needless to say, this is going to be a super long one.  (Yay!)

“They say that lightning never strikes twice, but that’s a myth.”  And it really is.  Who would’ve thought that Cristina would ever walk down that aisle again?  Without needing to be kicked down it, no less – as Meredith was prepared to do the last time around.  Say it with me: Cristina and Owen are married.  And as we fade into the scene of them waking up in their hotel room bed, with proof of their nuptials from the night before, the fact that they really are married just gets driven all the way home.

Cristina’s wedding dress and Owen’s white button-down shirt lay at the foot of the bed.  Champagne sits in an ice bucket to the side of the bed.  Owen strokes Cristina’s hair as he watches her slowly wake up.  I love the look on Cristina’s face when she responds to Owen’s “morning” with one of her own.  Her brows furrow in slight confusion as the fact that she’s married hasn’t quite caught up to her semi-awake brain yet.  And Owen’s just lying there, waiting for the inevitable moment of realization that, yes, they are really married.

“With You I’m Born Again” (Hallelujah! They’re Married!)

Cristina and Owen got married! (Credit for screencaps used goes to athebeach.)

Season seven is here!  And the blog is back up and running.  Hopefully, people still care enough to read this…

No, you’re not dreaming.  Cristina and Owen really got married (and legally – sorry, Meredith/Derek fans, couldn’t resist).  They got engaged, they planned the wedding, and they walked down the aisle.  Three out of three – one more than Burke and Cristina (and the most important one, really).

When I first heard about this, my jaw obviously hit the floor – followed quickly by the rest of me.  Could it be?  Could something this good really happen for us?  There had to be a twist, right?  But there was no twist.  (At least, not really.)  Cristina and Owen really got married.  Maybe it’s not at the most opportune of times (which I’ll go into later), but they went through with it.  Owen and Cristina are officially husband and wife.  And you can bet that there were a gazillion squees around the world at that bit of news.

Shonda called the Cristina and Owen wedding an “award” for fan loyalty – all fans – but we know that it’s mostly us, the Cristina and Owen fans.  We were put through hell the season before, what with the disjointed and frustrating storylines that came in the shape of the merger and Teddy.  (And this grievance is compounded upon with the fact that we were supposed to have a Cristina and Owen baby storyline – which I totally called, by the way – instead.  Damn Shonda and whatever vision she got that caused her to change her mind.  But I think, in the end, we will appreciate the fact that marriage came first because it sets up any potential baby storyline that may be in the works to be less angst-ridden and more joyful.)  And yet, we held on.  Because we love this couple – and sometimes, we all love the show.

Anyway, back to the episode.  And as usual, in the order that they appeared onscreen (not chronologically).

Season Six: Triangles, and Mergers, and Teddy! Oh My!

I think that it’s safe to say that this season was a bit of a disappointment for most Cristina and Owen fans.  Season five left us with high hopes as our couple started on their path in the right direction – only to be jerked off-track with the merger and the introduction of Teddy.  I hear it being called “Season Sucks” – a far cry from its original nickname of “Season Sex” (though, you have to admit, we certainly did get quite a bit of that).

I’m not going to lie; I was frustrated right alongside all of you.  (Thus, the missing gap of episodes 19 to 22 from the episode reviews that I may attempt to go back and write.  But for now, I’ll do an overview.)  But having experienced the whole season and having been able to step back and process it for a month after the very explosive season finale, I have begun to see the reasons – albeit unpopular and unnecessary at times – for the choices the writers made in regards to Cristina and Owen’s journey in the most recent season.

Let’s be clear – Cristina and Owen are essentially at the same place in their lives as they were at the end of season five.  Yes, they’re stronger as a couple.  But in the grand scheme of things, they have mostly remained stagnant.  Instead of a major step forward, the season finale featured the two of the ultimately reaffirming their love for one another – a demonstration of the unnecessary aspect I mentioned earlier.  And this was done by putting them through the wringer that was the triangle – the unpopular aspect.

“Sanctuary”/Love, Not “Death and All [Her] Friends”

The epic love story of Cristina and Owen. (Credit for screencaps used goes to freakyx@livejournal. Credit for textures used goes to yunhe@livejournal.)

Oh.  My.  God.  Before I jump into this episode review, can I just say that this episode blew my mind?  Not only were the Cristina and Owen scenes epic, but the whole two hours had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.  I think I’m still having heart palpitations over this episode, and it’s been a couple days.

I’m sorry I haven’t been keeping up with the reviews.  It was a combination of real life getting in the way and not much (positive) Cristina and Owen scenes for me to make into a full blog post.  But I will start with the season finale and work my way back because this season finale is totally worth a blog post.  An epically long blog post because I’m going to end with my wish list for season seven, and I’m a greedy little coconut who wants a lot for our favorite couple.  Also, I’m going to take a look back on this season as a whole and try to see if I can reason out why certain choices were made (like that cursed triangle).

Note: Okay, so I got to writing the episode analysis, and it’s already getting way too long.  I’m going to put my season seven wishlist and overall look on the season as a whole in a separate blog post as to not overwhelm the system – and all you readers.

Let’s start off with a bang.  (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

“Suicide is Painless” but Life is Not

Cristina and Owen in "Suicide is Painless." (Credit for screencaps used goes to freaky_x.)

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a very real disorder, and many war veterans have to live with it for the rest of their lives when they return home from war – no longer the same people that their families first sent off overseas.  And I really admire Grey’s Anatomy for not just touching upon this topic then dropping it – especially since it’s not the usual storyline that we find in this show.  For the first time that I can recall, this show is being recognized for portraying a story that holds social relevance.  I applaud them for that.  As we fans know, Grey’s Anatomy has a reputation for being a primetime soap opera.

Now, being in the field of psychology that I am, I get real sensitive when people talk about mental disorders.  So, when I read comments on other blogs or columns about how they find this whole storyline boring or make comments about how “Teddy and Owen should be PTSD together,” I see red.  So, I’m calling these people out.  I don’t care if you don’t like Owen’s character or the Cristina and Owen relationship, but to treat this topic matter with anything less than respect is disgusting.  Yes, Owen is a fictional character, but he’s representing a very real situation that exists for many people.  Are we so far removed or desensitized that we can’t recognize this?  I certainly hope not.

This episode was far from boring.  Boring is listening to a professor drone on and on about how a desk is somehow related to cultural anthropology in monotonous, heavily accented English that you can’t understand for two hours, three times a week.  (Can you tell I sat through that?)  No, this episode was powerful and moving – and if you didn’t feel even the tiniest of twinges, I think it’s time to go to the Wizard, Tin Man.

Unlike my usual reviews, I’m not going to follow the chronological order of scenes in this episode because of all the flashbacks.  It’d get just too confusing.  So, I’m going to ramble and hope that you guys will be able to follow my (questionable) logic.  Here we go…