(Spoiler alert: Do not read this post if you have not yet watched last night’s conclusion to “Grey’s Anatomy: Code Black,” but still intend to)
After scoring the highest post-Super Bowl ratings in a decade with last week’s tension-drenched cliffhanger, “Grey’s Anatomy” delivered an equally satisfying finale to the two-part episode. With almost too many nerve-wracking storylines to keep track of — Meredith holding onto a live bazooka shell inside the body of a patient; Miranda Bailey about to give birth while her husband undergoes brain surgery in the operating room right next to the active artillery; top surgeons Preston Burke and Derek Shepherd risking death to save their respective patients; Chief of Surgery Richard Webber suffering an apparent heart attack (okay, that one was too much) — there was no way every single plot line could end happily, tied up in a shiny little bow festooned with hearts and flowers. Someone had to die.
But whom to kill off? Obviously, it couldn’t be a cast regular. They can’t kill Meredith, Burke, Shepherd or Bailey, and we all knew that supposed heart attack wasn’t going to slow Webber down. That still left a handful of appealing options, though: Christina Ricci’s freaked-out paramedic was ripe for some redemptive sacrifice, after abandoning her post and putting the regular cast members’ lives at risk. The patient housing the bazooka shell seemed a likely — if less exciting — candidate, based on sheer stupidity alone. And offing Bailey’s husband just as she gives birth to their child would have been a poignant, satisfying choice — and one with interesting long-term ramifications for her already prickly character.
And yet, none of these characters drew the short straw. That honor went to Kyle Chandler (who is better known for his work in CBS’s “Early Edition,” and who owes his agent a giant french kiss for getting him this part on the heels of his “King Kong” coup), the good-looking, no-nonsense guy from the bomb squad, who deals with this kind of thing every day.
After talking Meredith into removing the bomb from her patient, Kyle carefully takes the shell from her, tells her “You did good,” gingerly walks the live ammunition down the hall…and promptly explodes into a million tiny pieces.
It. Was. So. Freaking. Awesome.
The only problem is: How are the writers ever going to top this episode?
The honest truth is, they may not be able to. But I can’t wait to watch them try.
