Blues for Sister Someone

"The key to being a successful intern is what we give up: sleep, friends, 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."

- 'Meredith Grey

 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 Foot, causing Burke to conflict his views between potentially killing his idol or risk letting him find somebody else. Bailey continues to be mommy-tracked, while Alex has to deal with a strict Christian family where the mother wants a tubes tied 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 are spending more and more time together. In the previous episode, Izzie and Meredith have finally realized that George is Callie's McDreamy.

Addison and Derek are having really boring sex problems. Addy and Derek agree that they used to be really good at the hot sex thing but when the try again they just end up banging their heads together. When the phone rings, while they are still in bed, Addison grabs it thinking it is the vet, Finn Dandridge, calling about Doc. But it is really Meredith calling Derek to see how Doc is doing. Unfortunately Meredith has to listen to Addison giggle into the phone that they are trying to have some decent sex. She doesn't reveal herself to Addison and looks mortified as she hangs up the phone.

Dr. Bailey is looking at the OR board and is still frustrated by the fact that she feels the Chief is Mommy-Tracking her. Especially after he gives her what seems like a condescending pat on the shoulder. So Dr. Burke assigns her to take care of Denny Duquette for the day. Izzie stops by to warn Denny about switching to the portable LVAD, that he isn't ready for that big of a step, but Dr. Bailey sends her on her way reminding her that she is not Denny's doctor today. She was assigned to Neurology for that day. Izzie leaves reluctantly but not before she can whisper to him to not do anything stupid.

The divorce attorney being treated by McDreamy sees a prospective client in her team of tending doctors. Derek at first says that he doesn't need her services. Later George and Izzie are working on her case to help map her brain when she has seizures. The problem is she isn't having any. So Derek tells them to do anything they can think of to get her to have a seizure. After spending most of the day feeding her espresso shots, getting her to play video games known to induce seizure activity, and more, the patient remarks that she hasn't had this much fun in ages.

Only after George and Izzie start to have a major argument does the patient experience a seizure. She eventually opts not to let Derek operate because she realizes that all the stress from her job, the arguing between bitter couples and the anger and negativity surrounding Divorce Law actually makes her seizures worse. She tells Derek that she is going to get out of the Divorce Biz and go try to have a real life, hoping the seizures won't come back. But if her seizures return she promises to come back to Seattle Grace and have the surgery.

As the Lawyer Lady is preparing to pack up and leave she tells George that when two people fight as passionatly as he and Izzie just did that it means that they must really love each other. She also tells George that it sounds like Izzie really misses her best friend.

Meanwhile, Dr. Burke has been treating his musical hero and finally gives in to the man's wishes when he asks to have his pacemaker removed. Mr. Foote feels the pacemaker has changed his heartbeat and rhthym and he can no longer play as well as he did before the pacemaker. Dr. Yang is surprised that the man would pick his music over his life. However, Burke understands but asks to be allowed to try one more pacemaker setting and Mr. Foote agrees. But in the end he asks to have it removed anyway, but does not survive the surgery. Burke is seen in the on-call room, looking devastated that he could not save a man he had so much respect for.

Dr. Karev irritates Addison at the start of the day and ends up on one of her cases. Addison agrees to help a mother of a very large family after learning that the woman can't bear the thought of having any more children. And that the patient's husband won't use birth control other than abstinence because they are Catholic. Addy decided to help the woman out and during her surgical delivery she ties the woman's tubes calling it a complication.

Alex crosses the line when he ignores the patient's, and Dr. Montgomery Shepherd's requests for privacy regarding the Tubal Ligation. After the surgery and the safe and successful birth, the woman tells her husband there were complications and she won't be able to have any more babies. He is upset and goes to the higher ups to have them explain how both fallopian tubes could have been damaged in a routine surgical delivery.

Alex then leaks information about the supposed C-secion complications to the Catholic woman's husband. Karev tells him that he could use the 'complication' as a way to pay for all of their children's college educations. Addison gets in trouble after the patient's husband gets wind of this from Alex. Addison is reprimanded by the Chief and then finds her own special way to punish Dr. Karev.

In the end, Meredith gives up on her No Dating rule and goes to visit McVet and he cooks for her. But she swears that there is no way, under any circumstance, that he is going to get her to sleep with him that night.

Finally, Derek and Addison are back at home in the trailer. Derek comes in and asks Addy to get in the shower with him. She is puzzled until she realizes what his intentions are...to finally find a way to spice up their love-life.

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
 * Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd
 * Isaiah Washington as Dr. Preston Burke
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd

Special Guest Star

 * Chris O'Donnell as Dr. Finn Dandridge

Guest Starring

 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres
 * Jayne Brook as Gwen Graber
 * Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Denny Duquette
 * Albert Hall as Eugene Foote
 * Jean Louisa Kelly as Rose Ward
 * Andrew Borba as Chris Ward

Co-Starring

 * Kathleen M. Darcy as Burke's Anesthesiologist
 * Noelle McCutchen as Nurse
 * Bryce Robinson as Timothy Ward

Gwen Graber

 * Diagnosis:
 * Doctors:
 * Treatment:

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.

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.