Seattle Grace: Message of Hope

Seattle Grace: Message of Hope is the second webisode series of Grey's Anatomy. It takes place after the hospital shooting.

Short Summary
Richard and P.R. rep are trying to create a commercial for Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. They want to use the commercial to lure people back into visiting the hospital for their medical care, since people don't seem to want to come to a hospital where a shooting has just happened.

Part 1 - "No Comment"
In a conference room at the hospital, Karen, a P.R. rep, tells Richard that the shooting has been a nightmare for the hospital's public relations and that the hospital is still in crisis methode, and that thereby people are afraid to come to the hospital. Richard tries to brush her off, saying that he knows what to say. Karen tells him the board doesn't think so and therefor hired her. She then shows him a news interview with Richard.

The interviewer asks him how a gunman could've gotten into the hospital. "Anyone can just walk in with a gun?" the interviewer asks. Richard assures him that that's not possible as the hospital has security guards. "Unarmed security guards", the interviewer says. Richard then tries to change the subject and to respond as good as possible to the interviewer's questions. Only his answers are in the montage, making him look bad. The montage ends with Richard screaming "No comment!".

"Dealing with the media is like catching a bus. You do it right, you get where you wanna go. You do it wrong, you will get run over," Karen says. She then says they need to control the message and show the hospital's positive side. She proposes to make a couple of sizzle reels, explaining to Richard these will be like commercials for the hospital. Richard declines the offer, saying he doesn't need a sizzle reel, nor a P.R. expert. He thinks his interview on the news was good.

Suddenly, April comes in. She realizes she's disturbing and wants to go, but Richard asks her about the interview before she can do so. She smiles awkwardly and clearly makes up some good notes. Richard then realizes it was bad. The first part of this webisode series ends with Richard doubting about whether or not he should take Karen's offer.

Part 2 - "Take One"
The second part opens with Owen being prepared for an interview with Richard and Karen in the room. They are in a patient's room. Karen tells Owen to sit on the patient's bed. Karen says to Richard that she knows it's difficult, but that the commercials will give people a message of hope, making them forget the shooting. Richard says that Owen is not an actor, but Karen says that that's what she wants to show: real emotions, real solutions, real life. When she says this, a guy walks in with cards with the text that Owen's supposed to say written on them.

The camera is turned on, but Owen doesn't say anything. Karen makes a gesture to make him start. "Aren't you supposed to say "Action!"", Owen asks. Richard smiles. She then says the word and Owen starts reading the text. While doing so, he questions if the wording is right. Karen just tells him to read the cards. However, Karen interrupts to ask if he can make it look like he's not reading. Owen says that it might if the cards are more in the back, so the guy with the cards takes a few steps back. They start filming again, but Owen stops because the cards are now to far away for him to read.

Karen asks Richard to go outside with her. She asks if someone else is available for the job. Richard says that Owen was kind enough to give them an hour and that the rest of his staff is busy saving lives. While Owen keeps on practicing, Richard says he'll get the hang of it. Karen then says that Owen isn't exactly the type of person she had in mind because he's serious and the audience likes happy faces. Richard says that she wanted real emotions, but Karen interrupts him saying that they need someone younger, who has energy. Owen then comes out too. He asks if it was good this time. Karen goes back inside, leaving Owen with Richard. Owen repeats again that he thinks that he did it right this time. Richard then makes it clear to Owen that they don't need him anymore for the commercial.

Part 3 - "The Face"
The third part opens with April promoting the hospital in a scanner room. Jackson is in there with a patient, while April  is promoting the hospital's patient care and facilities. Behind the camera, Richard says that Karen was completely right. Karen is looking at Jackson and says that that's the face. Richard thinks that she's talking about April, and agrees, saying she's bright and perky. Karen then yells "Cut!" and makes some changes to make the next take more dynamic. She switches April with Jackson. She tells the make-up girl to do something about April's lips as they look dry. She then says to another make-up girl, who wanted to start working on Jackson, that that won't be necessary as Jackson doesn't need any touching up.

Karen then suggests to give Jackson the lines as he's in the front. April asks what she should do as she learned the lines, but Karen says she gets to operate the scanner. Richard asks to have a word with her, saying that April is a doctor, not a tech. Karen says she knows that, but that she'd like a doctor as Dr. Avery to take out her gallbladder. Karen then mentions a very good hospital, saying that that hospital is so succesful because they listened to her from the beginning. She then suggests that Richard fires "bright and perky" from the campaign as well. April overhears her talking, and asks who they are gonna send off. Richard then asks her to have a word, clearly feeling uncomfortable with what he has to do.

Part 4 - "Nerves"
Jackson is repeating his lines before filming. Karen starts cheering him up and giving him compliments. She then opens a button of Jackson's shirt. When Richard asks her about this, she says that women choose the hospital for their family, and that Avery's eyes will make them choose Seattle Grace Mercy West. The crew then gets ready for filming, but Jackson is still somewhat uncomfortable. He starts laughing, saying he's just nervous when the camera is on him.

Richard tries to ease him, suggesting to try it with his eyes closed. Karen says that would be crazy as she really likes his eyes. She tells Richard to let her handle it and gives Jackson 5 minutes. While Richard suggests that they may have already get something out of what they recorded from April and Owen, Karen suddenly realizes that Richard should be the one on screen. Richard is still doubting. "Chief, you wanna fire me? No hard feelings, Hunt and Kepner already told me the drill", Jackson says, while he's getting snacks at a small snack buffet. Karen then asks herself why she didn't think about Richard sooner.