BAH HAHAHAHAActually, it wasn’t that bad. The musical element worked fine. We accepted the explanation. We could see how it could have been emotional, if there had been more dialogue and better songs. Let’s break down what worked and what didn’t on the Grey’s Anatomy musical episode. Shonda Rhimes said she would like to do another musical episode. This is what she needs to fix.
The Good: Chyler Leigh was surprisingly good. Sara Ramirez was unsurprisingly good. Her cover of “The Story” was the best musical moment here, and probably the strongest part emotionally. The plot was also fine. The baby was a little gross-looking, but that’s what you get when you don’t wear your seatbelt, right? We loved Cristina one-upping Teddy. Thus begins what we will call The Teddy’s Ego storyline. We also loved Mark and Arizona finding some common ground through the struggle.
Plus, the voices sounded really raw, which means that they laid off the autotune. Glee, take note.
The Fixable: The worst things about this effort were the song choices. “How to Save a Life” was ok, but it didn’t sound that great. If it weren’t for the TRAGEDY, the sex sequence and the cute song accompanying it would have worked. Take a note from Glee: What works in a dramatic musical episode? Big, loud, aggressive numbers and powerful ballads. Not hippie, tuneless indie music.
Grey’s has had so much good music on the show. We can’t believe the songs they picked. The K.T. Tunstall one was especially boring. If it had just had the three songs mentioned, plus Lexie Grey’s “Breathe,” it would have been perfect. You should only use up time with songs if they are good. Also, the singing stopped drama from building. There should have been a few more scenes with talking to BUILD the tension and emotion that they were singing about. The songs should have been the catharsis.
We are ticked at Justin Chambers (Alex Karev) for not singing more. Apparently, he lied about not being able to sing, so there was no time to incorporate his voice into more of the episode. Did he take himself too seriously to participate?
Kevin McKidd (Owen Hunt) had a voice that couldn’t decide if it was for rock, Broadway, or light opera. But hey, major props for effort/balls. The singing was decent. Much better than any of the guys in the Mamma Mia movie. His character was the LEAST likely of the guys to burst into song, in our opinion, since it’s such a serious character. But it looks like he was the only guy willing to really try. He directed an episode earlier this season, and now he did this. That actor seems down for anything. After all the complaining snots in the acting world, it’s nice to see someone who isn’t a prima donna.
And no McDreamy singing? What?!! No balls. Sara Ramirez needs to be on belt-mode when she sings. When she uses her quiet voice, it’s a little breath-y. Bailey wasn’t as good as we expected either.
Hey, at least they didn’t bring back Dead Denny and the ghost of Mandy Moore to do a number, right?
And were you not entertained?
Episode grade: B- for quality, A for effort
Personally, I felt that this episode was seriously awkward, perhaps the most awkward in the Grey’s canon, which is saying something. I totally agree with all your suggestions, btw. “Not hippie, tuneless indie music.” Heh.
ReplyDeleteI don’t blame the actors for the episode’s inherent awkwardness: Sara Ramirez was fantastic (and her hair looked amazing). I also loved Meredith’s breakdown in the elevator. No, I blame Shonda Rhimes for not realizing that this was a stupid idea for a melodramatic nighttime soap (#ProducerEgoTripsThatOnlyHurtYourActors). It was just so self-conscious! Ugh.
What do you guys think of the Lexie-Avery (“Lavery”? “Axie”? Definitely Axie!) thing? I’ve made my peace with the demise of Lexie-Mark, but I have some irrational dislike of Avery that I can’t put my finger on. He’s pretty, yes, but he seems kind of vapid. Something about that “relationship” isn’t clicking for me.
Speaking of which: Bailey and that nurse, that’s awkward and implausible in every way, yes?
On a positive note: yay for Calzona! They’re my favs ;)
Oh yeah, it was super awkward. We cringed. But that kind of humor makes a killing with some people. Just ask anyone who watches The Office. Yeah, yeah, it was supposed to be emotional, not awkward/funny. But the entertainment factor was still there. And we expected it to be a lot MORE awkward.
ReplyDeleteWe think it's about time Avery got some. We think if they are going to keep him around, they'd better put him in the story more. We don't think Avery seems vapid, but he does seem dumb, in that he always says the wrong thing and pulls the wrong move out of his pocket. Unwise.
It wasn't that bad?! Oh, it was that bad. It was such a trainwreck. I just couldn't look away! I'm just glad it's over.
ReplyDeleteHahahaha shonda rhimes has already said she wants to do it again
ReplyDeleteomg, i counldnt beleive my eyes/ears, i had no idea it was going to be a musical when i watched it so it shocked me, its going to be hard to watch the next episode and look at the charactors the same way lmao, why the hell did they do a musical, i was cringing the whole time, i loved all their voices but seriously? it was awful, it was surposed to be a sad, emotional episode but when they are all singing, its hard not to laugh, and if all the good doctors are in the room with callie, what about the other patients hahaha it was interesting to watch ><
ReplyDeleteIf she does another one, it will prove that she doesn't give a darn about feedback from her fans. And also that she's insane. You should have seen the nasty things people were saying on twitter.
ReplyDeleteanonymous- we wondered how people who weren't expecting it would react. But we thought very few people would be surprised. It was advertised like crazy! And we warned everyone here. We were cringing too.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Potts- It does seem like everyone hated it! Call us sick, but we enjoy a good trainwreck. At least it wasn't boring. We didn't love it, but it wasn't something the show can't survive. We can see Shonda wanting to prove it was a good idea by trying to do it again and making it a success.