Kung Fu Fighting

"There’s this thing about being a surgeon. Maybe it’s pride or maybe it’s just about being tough. But a true surgeon never admits they need help unless absolutely necessary. Surgeons don’t need to ask for help because they’re tougher than that. Surgeons are cowboys. Rough around the edges. Hardcore. At least, that’s what they want you to think. Deep down, everyone wants to believe they can be hardcore. But being hardcore isn't just about being tough - it's about acceptance. Sometimes you have to give yourself permission to not be hardcore for once. You don't have to be tough every minute of every day. It's okay to let down your guard. In fact, there are moments when it's the best thing you can possibly do - as long as you choose your moments wisely."

- Meredith Grey

Kung Fu Fighting is the sixth episode of the fourth season and the 67th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary
A man survives a parachute accident without serious injury, two women refuse treatment because of a wedding contest, and Cristina and Izzie jockey for inclusion in Hahn's surgeries.

Full Summary
The Chief is feeling the need to spice things up. We're talking about guys night out. Now crashing at Derek's trailer in the wilderness and not keen on eating fish for breakfast, the Chief suggests to Derek that they have a "gentleman's evening" to take their mind off of their troubles. A little uncomfortable with that concept, Derek convinces Mark to come along for backup. This should be good.

Meredith tells Cristina that she can't sleep anymore without nightmares and panicking. Cristina tells Mer that she has severe abandonment issues, and suggests she quit having the sex with Derek. Good luck there.

The more Derek makes himself available, the more she pulls away. Mer tells us as much. But she makes another sex date in the call room with him later that day anyway. This girl just can't quit her McDreamy.

At the hospital, Izzie watches George sleep and snore in the on-call room. Izzie thinks it's absurd they aren't having sex yet. She wants to have hot, perfect sex, tonight. At least she's to the point!

Two women arrive after getting into a fight over a wedding dress. They were engaged (in more ways than one) in a contest where each has to hold onto a dress for as long as she can, and the last to let go wins $100,000 towards a wedding. Mark tells George to be a proxy, holding the dress while Callie treats one of their shoulders... so he spends most of the day holding onto a torn, bloody wedding dress. That's symbolism for you!

George and one of the brides-to-be are still holding onto the dress when she faints. George and Richard operate on her and after saving her, and in a nice moment, the Chief praises George for being tough and not buckling under the humiliation that Callie and McSteamy doled out earlier.

Another patient named, Rick, is brought in after skydiving and a parachute didn't open, causing him to fall 12,000 feet but sustaining only a ruptured appendix as he happened to land in shrubbery. You'd think that such a crazy medical case would appeal to Cristina, but she wants to switch patients and give Izzie the skydiver because Izzie - who Yang says isn't tough enough for cardio - is helping Dr. Hahn with Mr. Arnold.

A problem arises as Hahn can't get the stent into Mr. Arnold's artery, but can't open him up either because he's allergic to the anesthesia. Cristina, trying to get into Hahn's good graces, does research and finds that they can do the open-heart surgery while he's awake, giving him an epidural to numb him. Hahn agrees to the surgery - but Dr. Hahn still picks Izzie to assist.

Alex finds Lexie hiding in a closet from Cristina. Alex gets her to help work on the blonde would-be bride, who refuses to have surgery to fix her shoulder. Lexie convinces her to go through with the surgery by telling her that she's going to have a hunchback otherwise. A fairly compelling reason.

The shoulder surgery also goes well, but the first thing she asks after she wakes up is if she won. Callie bitches her out and tells her to let it go. In a moment obviously stemming from Callie's own struggles, she says that if she has to fight that hard for a wedding, it's not worth it.

Mark and Derek hang out outside the trailer, worrying about what to expect of their "guys night out." Richard arrives to explain that a gentleman's evening is simply an evening enjoyed by gentlemen, without any ladies. Of course, it's not happening because Dr. Hahn shows up to ridicule them and their old boys' club. The four spend the night playing monopoly. Awesome.

Lexie asks Alex what he's doing tonight. He bluntly tells her that the only thing she's ever going to get from him is sex, and that's not enough for a girl like her. He says he's not a nice guy, won't call her the next day, best of all, he's still not over someone else. At least he's up front.

Izzie and George are about to have sex, with candles everywhere, but she starts crying and says she's so exhausted after spending six hours doing surgery. George says his hand is killing form holding the dress all day. Surgeons' lives require sacrifices each and every day, it seems.

Meredith says that you have to give yourself permission not to be hardcore sometimes. She and Cristina snuggle in bed together and she tells Cristina that it's not about the sex, but she can't stop seeing Derek. For whatever reason she feels safe with him and she's not ready to give that up.

Then she gets out of bed to find Lexie and Alex, half-naked and fooling around in the hallway. You know that's not going to go over well.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey
 * Sandra Oh as Dr. Cristina Yang
 * Katherine Heigl as Dr. Izzie Stevens
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev
 * T.R. Knight as Dr. George O'Malley
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
 * James Pickens Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres
 * Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan
 * Chyler Leigh as Dr. Lexie Grey
 * Brooke Smith as Dr. Erica Hahn
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd

Guest Starring

 * David Denman as Rick Jacobs
 * Cullen Douglas as Mr. Arnold
 * Marina Black as Sally
 * Tommy Dewey as Mike
 * Amanda Loncar as Jackie Escott
 * Steve Sandvoss as Jason
 * Chryssie Whitehead as Helena Boye

Co-Starring

 * John Balma as Contest Judge
 * John Cappon as John the Paramedic
 * Nicole Rubio as Paramedic Nicole

Notes and Trivia

 * This episode's title originated from the song Kung Fu Fighting, originally sung by Carl Douglas.
 * This episode scored 19.31 million viewers.

Quotes

 * Cristina: OK, what are your other symptoms?
 * Meredith: OK...there’s the father thing. The mother thing. The sister thing...mm...the dying and coming back to life thing.
 * Cristina: You have too many things.
 * Meredith: I can’t sleep. I can’t sleep without the dreaming.
 * Cristina: And the panic attacks
 * Meredith: One, one panic attack. What’s wrong with me?
 * Cristina: As far as a I can tell...severe abandonment issues.
 * Meredith: That’s crap. Psych is crap. Issues.
 * Cristina: It’s in the book. The book said it not me. Have you consider maybe you and Derek should stop having break-up sex? OK…
 * Meredith: The more available he gets...the more I pull away.
 * Cristina: What do you mean?
 * Meredith: Nothing. It’s a Derek thing.


 * Lexie: Alex please tell me that you don't live with Meredith Grey.