Grey's Anatomy - Invasion - Recap

(Here's Desi's recap of tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy "Invasion")

We pick up in Seattle this week on Grey's Anatomy with the Mercy West/Seattle Grace merger in full effect. Going into the episode, fans know that one of the surgeons is being fired in the merger. The new residents show up to work on their first day of work in orange scrubs. I almost expected a reference back to season two, because seriously, what self-respecting surgeon wears orange scrubs? Meredith's voiceover compares them to a virus that keeps multiplying. The Seattle Grace residents who are still standing after giving part of their liver to their estranged alcoholic father (in Meredith) or dying in a bus accident (George) stand overlooking a balcony, trying to stand their ground.

Alex, Izzie, Cristina and Lexie start fighting right away. Each of them seem to have a counterpart from Mercy West to compete with. Dr. Avery, a new doc, rushes to an incoming trauma to claim it as "his." He explains to Owen that if a resident is in the "zone," that the trauma becomes theirs. Hunt agrees, so Avery walks off with the patient and Cristina finds her rival.

Izzie might have two other doctors working against her, and one of them is her husband, Alex. He constantly goes out of his way to try to protect her, either from people hurting her feelings or any patient case that he doesn't feel she is ready for.

Returning senior resident Callie Torrez' problems with her father have been well-documented in the past. He first disapproved of her Vegas wedding to George and went on to disown her when she came out as a lesbian. He returns tonight, not to make things better with his daughter, but with his pastor to preach Bible verses at her about how homosexuality is wrong. She starts by telling him that "you can't pray away the gay" and goes off on him for basically attacking her.

One of the featured patients in this episode is a woman awaiting a kidney transplant. Izzie and new resident Denman take on the case, disagreeing on the course of treatment. He starts following her around in a filrty manner, and Izzie thinks he might not be like the other residents.

Cristina's ache to get back in the OR is still not resolved as she is beaten out for a surgery by Avery, who takes down an angry patient before he is able to hurt his daughter's boyfriend. She winds up crying in Meredith's hospital room, and long-time viewers will recall the last (and probably only) times Dr. Yang has cried: once resulted in her calling for sedation, and another finds her being cut out of a wedding dress. This time, she merely winds up curled up by Meredith's side in bed.

The biggest problem for Lexie is a patient who is a bit of a kleptomaniac, stealing a notebook belonging to another resident. It's filled with self-affirming statements, and Lexie's photographic memory allows her to use the information against her ("and your nose... I can tell.")

Arizona catches up with Mr. Torres as he leaves the hospital, explaining to him how her military family accepted her even with her homosexuality. In the end, she's able to get through to him, and Callie and her father reconcile.

The Chief is faced with the reality of having to fire more doctors with the increase in employees. Having waded through nurses and auxiliary staff first, he moves on to doctors. First on his hit list... Izzie Stevens. Richard outlines why he has to let her go, beginning with her husband, who continually questions her readiness to be back at work. "Is it because I have cancer?" she asks. Attending doctors Shepherd and Hunt have also expressed concerns, so she is removed from the program.

Alex's story closes the show as he walks into the locker room to change out of his scrubs after his shift to find a note stuck to his cubby. We then see him walking into Meredith's room, eventually choking out that Izzie has not only left the hospital, but has also left him.

The writing for Grey's Anatomy still isn't what it was in the early seasons, but it's regaining steam with some dramatic storylines (including bears attacking a trailer.) I wonder if Shonda is trying to make it an ER-type dynasty with a changing cast and sending cast-offs to her spin-off, Private Practice. Next week's preview is for a 12 person storyline. I wonder how they'll manage to pack all of that into 44 minutes.