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The key to being a successful intern is what we give up: sleep, friends, and a normal life. We sacrifice it all for that one amazing moment, that moment when you can legally call yourself a surgeon. There are days that make the sacrifices seem worthwhile. And then there are the days where everything feels like a sacrifice. And then there are the sacrifices that you can’t even figure out why you're making. A wise man once said – “You can have anything in life if you’re willing to sacrifice everything else for it.” What he meant is nothing comes without a price. So before you go into battle, you better decide how much you’re willing to lose. Too often going after what feels good means letting go of what you know is right. And letting someone in means abandoning the walls you’ve spent a lifetime building. Of course the toughest sacrifices are the ones we don’t see coming. When we don’t have time to come up with a strategy to pick sides….or to measure the potential loss. When that happens, when the battle chooses us, and not the other way around, that’s when the sacrifice can turn out to be more than we can bear.

Blues for Sister Someone is the twenty-third episode of the second season and the 32nd overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary[]

Burke has to operate on his idol, Eugene Foote, causing him to conflict his views between potentially killing his idol or risk letting Foote find somebody else. Bailey continues to be mommy-tracked, while Alex has to deal with a strict Catholic family where the mother wants a tubal ligation without her husband knowing. Meanwhile, a divorce attorney is reading Derek like a book about his marriage as Izzie grills George about his living arrangements.

Full Summary[]

George and Callie finish having sex in her room in the basement. She thanks him.

Addison and Derek are in the same situation, but Derek doesn't want to be thanked for the most boring sex ever. Addison says they used to be really good at this. They want to go at it again, but bump their heads against as they move to do so. Derek's phone rings. It's about Doc. Derek says he can pick him up today. Addison grabs the phone and tells the vet they'll call him back, because they're really busy trying to have some decent sex.

Meredith hangs up the phone as Finn walks into his office with Doc. Doc looks good. Finn wants to get Doc's test results back. Doc can go home today. Finn asks Meredith if she's together with Derek. Meredith says he's married. And she's knitting a sweater. Meredith confirms she's single. Finn would like to go out on a date with her tonight. She repeats everything he says. He thinks she wants to let him down. She says that she's not dating.

Bailey says it's another day without her name on the board. She asks Richard if there's a reason for that. He pats her on the back and says it's a slow day. He walks off and Bailey asks Burke since when she's someone who gets patted on the back. Burke offers her to watch Denny today. She thanks him and walks off as Cristina comes over with coffee for Burke. He's a little bummed because he only did 2 miles this morning, while he did 6 with George. He denies he misses George, though. George comes over with cappuccino. He has great news: Eugene Foote is in the hospital because of problems with his pacemaker. Cristina has no clue who that is. George says he's a brilliant violinist and Burke's hero. Burke offers George to scrub in, but George is on neuro already. Cristina wants in. Burke says sure.

Meredith's asking Alex if she should go out with Finn. Alex doesn't care about her tingling feelings and says as long as he's not a junkie or a psychopath. Meredith won't do him, because she's knitting. Meredith then goes to talk to Cristina about McVet. Cristina is against vets, so no dating them. They overheard Addison teling herself she needs hot sex. She requests an intern. Cristina and Meredith walk off. Alex says he doesn't do vagina as a doctor. Addison hands him the chart and says he's just earned himself a case for backtalk.

Bailey enters Denny's room. He really wants off the machines. Meredith asks Bailey if he's a candidate for a portable LVAD. Denny likes the sound of that. Izzie appears in the doorway and says he's not ready for that. Bailey is surprised to see Izzie there since she assigned Izzie to neuro this morning. Izzie wants Meredith to go over the risks of the portable LVAD. There could be a kink in the tube, and then they'd have to rush him into emergency surgery. Bailey throws Izzie out.

Eugene wants Burke to remove the pacemaker. Ever since Burke put it in, it's changed his rhythm. He's unwilling to make that sacrifice. Cristina can't believe he's willing to sacrifice his life for his music. Eugene says they're one and the same. Burke wants to try one more setting on the pacemaker before doing anything drastic. Eugene agrees to that.

Addison walks into Rose Ward's room. Her husband Chris leaves the room with their six children to get ice cream. Addison notices something's up. Rose says she's tired. She needs the seventh baby to be her last. She wants Addison to tie her tubes during the C-section and her husband can't know about it.

Addison tells Rose that her husband is not her legal guardian, so telling him would be up to her. Rose says he'd see if Addison charged her insurance. She's been saving for this and she can pay Addison privately. There can't be any record of the surgery. Alex suspects that Chris is abusing Rose, but she says he's anything but abusive. She thinks God understands what she's going through, and He'll forgive her. Religion is not a buffet for Chris, and the Pope says no to birth control. Alex says she can't lie to her husband and blame it on the Pope.

Outside the room, Alex says he's happy to be thrown off the case since he has no interest in OB. Addison says she's the best in the field, so until he can top her, he's going to keep quiet and do his job.

Derek greets Gwen Graber, who's working on her laptop. She hasn't slept in three days. Gwen is here for brain mapping, which means locating the part of the brain where seizures originate. Gwen says it's not working and she's losing billable hours. She's an excellent divorce attorney. She asks about the doctors' marriage. Derek says he doesn't need a divorce, but Gwen's noticed the look between George and Izzie.

Derek orders George and Izzie to induce a seizure. They'll have to do research. He doesn't care how they do it, but he needs Gwen to have a seizure. He cannot operate before she has one, and he doesn't like to start his mornings with her. Izzie notices that Derek is in a bad mood, just like Addison.

Izzie and George are doing research. Izzie asks George where he lives. He says he only has time for doctoring. Callie comes in and greets George. They speak quietly and start giggling. Izzie asks George how all the doctoring is going.

Burke is listening to Eugene playing the violin. Eugene finds that his timing and rhythm is off, so he has no business calling himself Eugene Foote. Burke tells Eugene that scar tissue has formed around the pacemaker, so removing it is more difficult than it sounds. Eugene talks about the first time he held a violin when he was a kid. He was hooked then and there. Eugene is aware he could die on the table, but he also knows that Burke is the best, meaning Burke is his best shot. If Burke won't do it, he'll find someone else.

Burke tells Cristina that Eugene is right about losing his rhythm. Burke admits he's thinking about letting Eugene go somewhere else. Cristina asks him what if he couldn't be a great surgeon anymore. Another surgeon might be average, but Burke is great.

Bailey tells Denny that he's cleared to walk. There's no harm in waiting a few weeks if he has worries. Denny says Izzie gave him medical advice, but Bailey's advice is that which he wants to hear. Meredith says it's safe to listen to Bailey, but Bailey knows that Denny is scared he's hurting Izzie's feelings. Denny says that's wrong, but he can't sell it.

Outside the room, Bailey asks Meredith what the deal is between Denny and Izzie. Meredith says Izzie likes Denny, but she can't imagine that she'd act on that. Bailey says she couldn't imagine that she and Cristina would be stupid enough to fall for their attendings, but it turns out she was wrong about that. Meredith says she's knitting and thinking about dating a vet. Bailey doesn't care.

George and Izzie place a TV screen right in front of Gwen's face. The flickering and flashing can cause seizures. Gwen says she usually doesn't have time to watch TV, but now she's discovered Oprah, who's famous in her line of work for not marrying her boyfriend. George and Izzie sit down on the couch. Izzie asks George when and why she'd ended up on the outside of his life. He says she's not, she's just paranoid. Gwen says she's not seizing, but she's having an acid flashback.

Addison is doing an ultrasound on Rose. She says maybe Chris also feels that seven children is a lot. Rose says they were so broke once that she went on the pill. Chris stopped going to Communion, which made him feel like he was going to hell. They haven't had a baby in four years because they abstained for three. Rose says she can't hide the pill. Alex says Chris sure won't divorce her if he found out. Rose tells Addison to look at Alex. That looks on his face, is the look that Chris would have on his face if he knew any of this. She can't have him look at her like that.

Izzie tells Meredith that George sucks. Cristina says that Burke would disagree. Meredith asks if Izzie actually dumped Alex for the heart patient. Izzie says no. Cristina thinks dating a vet is equally bad. Meredith warns Izzie to be careful, because Bailey's on the warpath about her and Denny.

Alex and Addison are operating. There's a small bleed, but he takes care of it. Addison says there's a little bleeding near the tube. She asks for the Bovie. Alex says he doesn't see any bleeding. Addison says he's not the surgeon here. She asks for the Bovie. He gives it to her. She ties Rose's tubes.

Addison is holding baby Joseph. She hands him to Rose. Addison tells Rose that there was a complication. Some unexpected bleeding caused damage to both fallopian tubes, so she won't be able to have any more children. Rose thanks her.

As they leave the room, Alex says that was one of the most bizarre obstetric complications ever. Addison says their obligation is to their patient only.

Meredith ends up on the elevator with Derek. They talk about Doc, who seems to be doing good. Meredith laughs about the bad sex and says that the wives usually don't want the dirty ex-mistresses to know about the bad sex. Derek says they're all friends. Meredith says the vet asked if her and Derek were dating. They wish each other a good day.

Gwen is now doing espresso shots. She also has some doughnuts so the coffee doesn't burn a hole in her stomach. Gwen enjoys the donut. She says she couldn't have donuts earlier because she didn't have time for exercise, so she stayed clear of carbs. She had to stay on top of her game, so she couldn't afford a sugar crash in court. Derek appears in the doorway, and he's disappointed to see there are no results yet.

Richard enters Denny's room. Bailey tells him everything's looking good.

Gwen's playing video games, which she finds exhilarating. She only has 12 more levels to go before she hits seizure potential. Izzie's having fun, like she used to have at home when George still lived there. George doesn't want to talk about it. He's pissed at Izzie for suggesting he talk to Meredith about his feelings for her.

In the OR, Burke's listening to Eugene's music while performing surgery. He calls it brilliant.

Chris approaches Alex. He's just heard about the complication during his wife's surgery and would like to hear more.

Izzie clarifies to George that she didn't advise him to climb into bed with Meredith. He thinks Izzie wanted to humiliate him by sending him in there. He wonders what kind of friend does that.

Chris says it was shocking. It changed everything.

Denny starts wheezing. He's having runs of V-tach, indicating it's a possible air embolism.

Eugene has a tamponade because of a full ventricular perforation. Cristina replaces Burke's hand to apply pressure.

Izzie yells at George that he wanted to keep on loving Meredith, so he didn't want any other advice. Gwen recognizes some of the fighting from her job.

Bailey, Richard, and Meredith rush to help Denny.

Chris tells Alex that Rose thinks it's God's will and a blessing. Maybe it is. Alex could see why.

The anesthesiologist informs Burke that Eugene has no signs of life. His blood pressure is nonexistent.

Richard thinks the tubing is kinked. Bailey assures him she's got this.

While Izzie and George keep on arguing, Gwen falls to the floor. She finally has a seizure. Izzie goes to page Shepherd.

Alex tells Chris that the complication was God's way of getting his seven kids to college. He advises Chris to get a lawyer.

Denny refuses an oxygen mask.

Burke calls time of death on Eugene.

Meredith tells Denny that everything's looking good. He wants her to thank Bailey again. Meredith wants to talk about Izzie. This isn't coming from a high horse. This thing between him and Izzie, there are strict rules about that. Denny says that Izzie wouldn't listen to him saying this is bad for her career. Denny says he was healthy for his whole life until he wasn't. He's had a lot of time to remember his life. The things he remembers best are the things he wasn't supposed to do. Life is too short to follow rules. Meredith smiles.

Bailey would like to know why Richard undermined her authority in front of her patient and intern. Richard says he did no such thing. He's just not convinced that Bailey's back on her game, having just come off her maternity leave. This is not a punishment or a reflection of how high he values her. A nurse informs Richard that Chris wants to talk to him. Richard walks off.

Meredith enters Finn's office. She announces that she's dating him, if he still wants to. He says it's fine that she shows up here without calling. He has an errand to run, though. She says she can accompany him.

Meredith and Finn are at a stable. They're birthing a horse. He didn't mention it before because he didn't want to scare her back to her knitting. She doesn't want to sit back and watch. She wants to help.

Addison tells Richard that Alex's attitude has hit an unacceptable low. Richard tells her she's got a bigger problem than Alex. Chris Ward has been speaking to an attorney regarding his wife's surgery. Richard's read the chart and nurse's notes. He wants to know what kind of complication lead to her severing both fallopian tubes.

Derek tells Gwen she had a grand mal seizure. They've mapped it, so they can operate now. Gwen says she's opted against the surgery because she doesn't like the risk. Derek says she has to weigh those against the detrimental effect the seizures have on her life. She thinks her life may have a detrimental effect on her seizure disorder. It's like Derek and his wife: is the bad sex causing the problems, or is it the other way around? Derek decides not to answer that. Gwen says she's had more fun today than she can remember. She only has work. When work stopped, so did the seizures. Watching people fight's been her life for 15 years. She's gonna change her life, and if that doesn't work, she'll allow Derek to cut her open. He agrees to that.

The foal whinnies as Finn and Meredith look on. She smiles at him.

Rose is holding her baby as Addison comes in. Rose apologizes for having told Chris about the complication. She thought he should know that Joseph would be their last so he could savor it. She didn't know he was going to do this. Addison needs Rose to tell Chris she asked for it. Rose says it's just insurance for her, but Addison says it's her career and reputation. Rose says people will still come across the country to see her. She really can't tell Chris. She is really grateful to Addison, though. Addison leaves the room.

Burke sits down in an on-call room to listen to Eugene's music.

Meredith and Finn are back at his office. The horse blood is not coming off her shoes, but she thinks it was a great date after all. Finn says that was the errand. They can go up to his place and he'll cook for her. She says she doesn't want to go up to his place. Finn says she has two options. She can come with him, shower, borrow a shirt of his, and enjoy dinner, or she can go home. He advises her to take door number one. She's kind of offended that he'd think she'd go upstairs with him, and he should know that she's celibate. He tells her to shut up. She says she absolutely can't have sex with him. He promises there's no sex if she chooses door number one.

Gwen's packing her stuff. George comes in. He hopes changing her life will work for her. She tells him that she doesn't know much, but people who fight love each other. Izzie really misses her friend.

Addison passes Alex, who tells her that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. She turns around and tells him that he did such a good job today, that she's gonna have him assigned to her service for as long as she wants.

Izzie sees that Denny got his portable LVAD. He's really happy about it. They hug. She notices now that he's tall. Bailey passes by the room and sees them hugging.

Cristina tells Burke that he did everything he could. He mentions an interview with Eugene that he saved. Eugene said that he wasn't the most talented student at school, but what he lacked in natural ability, he made up for in discipline. He practised all the time. Burke says he wasn't like Cristina. He wasn't the brightest, but he was the best. Cristina lies down on his chest. "You practised," she says.

Derek arrives at Finn's office with Doc. He hasn't eaten all day and he's listless. Meredith comes down the stairs wearing one of Finn's shirts. Derek looks at her and confirms that Doc's sick again.

Izzie is happily surprised to see George enter the house. She's disappointed to see that he's followed by Callie. George says Callie's just here for tonight, but he might be returning. Izzie welcomes him back home.

Derek enters the trailer. Addison talks to him about her bad day. He keeps undressing and tells her to get in the shower with him if she wants hot sex. She happily accepts and starts taking her clothes off. They kiss and enter the shower.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Special Guest Star[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Featuring[]

Medical Notes[]

Denny Duquette, Jr.[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Congestive heart failure
  • Treatment:
    • Portable LVAD

Denny was debating the pros and cons of a portable LVAD. He ultimately decided to have it placed.

Eugene Foote[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:
    • Pacemaker extraction

Eugene came into the hospital after having trouble with his pacemaker. He wanted to have it removed because he was a professional violinist and felt the pacemaker was changing his rhythm. Burke agreed to remove it after changing the settings on his pacemaker didn't work. Because scar tissue had formed around it, removing it was complicated and he died during the surgery.

Rose Ward[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Pregnancy
  • Treatment:
    • C-section delivery
    • Tubal ligation

Rose was in the hospital to have a c-section birth for her seventh child. Before the surgery, she asked Addison to perform tubal ligation secretly while she did the c-section. She agreed and both procedures went well.

Gwen Graber[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Seizures
  • Treatment:
    • Brain mapping

Gwen was in the hospital for brain mapping to see which part of her brain was causing seizures and cut it out. When it was discovered that seeing people fighting caused her seizures, she decided to quit her job instead of having surgery.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Love" The Sunshine
  • Callie and George finish having sex.
  • Addison and Derek have just finished having boring sex.
  • Derek answers the phone and Addison thinks it's Finn, but it's actually Meredith.
"Police and the Private" Metric
  • Addison watches as Alex walks away.
  • Meredith walks to Derek in the elevator. She laughs at the bad sex phone call that morning.
  • Izzie and George give their patient espresso and donuts.
  • Derek peeks in on them in shock.
"Partita For Violin Solo No. 2 in D Minor, BMW 1004: Part I Allemande" Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Burke listens to music as he operates.
  • Alex talks to Chris Ward about his wife.
  • Izzie and George argue.
  • Denny struggles to breathe.
  • Eugene Foote starts to code and dies in the OR.
  • Bailey is able to stabilize Denny.
  • Izzie and George's arguing triggers a seizure.
  • Alex suggests that Chris get a lawyer.
"Better Man" James Morrison
  • Denny talks to Meredith about his relationship to Izzie.
  • Bailey is upset with Richard for "Mommy-tracking" her.
  • Kate tells Richard that Chris Ward wants to talk to him.
  • Meredith enters Finn's practice and says she'd like to date him if he still wants to.
  • He takes Meredith to birth a horse.
"Follow Through" Hotel Lights
  • Gwen gives George advice on Izzie.
  • Addison tells Alex he's on her service indefinitely.
  • Izzie sees Denny's portable LVAD.
  • Bailey sees them hug.
  • Cristina reassures Burke that he did everything he could.
  • Burke talks about Eugene Foote inspiring him.
  • Derek brings Doc to Finn and is shocked to see Meredith there in Finn's shirt.
  • George brings Callie home to Meredith's to spend the night.
  • Derek comes home and initiates shower sex with Addison.

Notes and Trivia[]

  • This episode's title originated from the song Blues for Sister Someone, originally sung by Lenny Kravitz.
  • This episode scored 20.76 million viewers.[1]

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Quotes[]

Addison: I need an intern. Now.
Meredith: I'm with Bailey.
Cristina: I'm with Burke.
Addison: Karev.
Alex: I don't do vagina. Not as a doctor anyway.
Addison: Oh. Back talk. You know what? You just bought yourself a case.

Miranda: It would concern me if you were making medical decisions based on how Dr. Stevens might feel about it.
Denny: Well, in that case, I say that we do this thing. Screw that dizzy, blonde, doctor girl!
Miranda: That's not helping, Denny.
Denny: No?

Miranda: Dr. Stevens, unless Mr. Duquette's heart has just grown a brain, you are currently not doing your job.

Alex: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Addison: Dr. Karev, you did such a good job today that I'm going to talk to Dr. Bailey and have you assigned to my service.
Alex: What? For how long?
Addison: For as long as I want. Your ass is mine until I say otherwise. Congratulations.

Preston: I wasn't like you. I wasn't the most talented student in school. I wasn't the brightest. But I was the best.
Cristina: You practiced.
Preston: I practiced.

Meredith: Obviously I can't go out with him, right?
Alex: Do I look like a chick to you? Do I look like I care about yeast cream or tingling feelings? He's not on drugs or in jail or keeping body parts in his basement. If you wanna do 'em, do 'em.
Meredith: Not do him. Date him. I'm not doing anybody. I'm knitting.

See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.

The Grey Matter blog post on this episode can be found here.

Transcript


References[]

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