For those of us who have stuck by the cast of Grey's Anatomy's side for the past 5 seasons--through ferry crashes, train wrecks (emotional and a real one), bomb scares, death-by-hiccups, the cutting of LVAD wires, and brides left at the alter-- last night's episode held a certain catharsis, and a vague promise that the show, muddled and confusing over the past season, will soon get back on it's feet.

In last night's season premiere, opening with George's death (who, generous and kind til the end, jumped in front of a bus to save the life of a total stranger), Grey's Anatomy explored the degrees of grief in a far more significant way than usual. The death of one of the show's most beloved characters (despite his weirdly increasing marginality throughout last season) affected the rest of the ensemble in different ways, though ultimately brought the characters together in an authentic way that we haven't seen lately (uncontrollable laughter at the funeral, to be precise).

And of course it's Grey's Anatomy, so there was some steamy sex in inappropriate places, crying in elevators, and various appendages not attached to the bodies on which they belong. Plus the couples of Seattle Grace-- Izzie and Alex, Meredith and Derek, Christina, and Owen, Lexie and Mark, and Callie and Arizona-- carry on with their twists and turns and tears and therapy.

Callie switches to Mercy West Hospital to separate herself from the memories-of-George-laden Seattle Grace, and when the Chief's minor car accident lands him in her care there, he formulated the idea to merge the two hospitals, thus endangering the jobs of many doctors. Can we not even escape the dour economy in Grey's Anatomy? What good is dramatic television if we can't forget reality for an hour or two?

What did you think of last night's premiere?