Based on the flood of e-mails I’ve received in the past 18 hours with subject lines like, “WTF Denny!” and “OMFG Denny!” one or two (zillion) of you were surprised to learn that the late, lamented Denny’s return to Grey’s Anatomy did not end where it began last week.
Let me try and put it in perspective for you: Denny?! Seriously?!
When I broke the news last month that Jeffrey Dean Morgan would be popping up in the Nov. 6 episode, I was led to believe that it was just for that episode. Now, of course, it’s obvious that not only is the dearly departed sticking around for the foreseeable future, but he’s also the surprising Izzie suitor that series creator Shonda Rhimes teased over the summer.
“Izzie’s got a love story, and it’s a big one,” she told TV Guide back in August, “one that I’ve been kicking around in my head for a bit, one that required me to take a huge leap of faith in myself, one that is so secret that I have not told anyone. Not the writers, not anyone.”
Now that we all know, the big questions: How long will Denny continue to haunt Izzie? And where the heck is this story going? Although I haven’t been able to nail down the exact length of Morgan’s new lease on life, I’m told he’ll be in at least five episodes. As far as where the story is headed, the most logical theory is that Rhimes is giving Izzie a brain tumor, which if inoperable would grant Katherine Heigl’s (alleged) wish to go make movies full time.
But who says this story has to be logical? As Grey’s writer Stacy McKee opined at greyswriters.com, “Maybe this is one connection that gets to defy all… common sense. Maybe it just gets to be. Even if it does seem too good to be true.”
But is it too good to be true? Um, is it good at all? Or is it so preposterous and so decidedly not Grey’s that Izzie’s next patient is likely to be the shark that she just jumped? Me, I’m somewhere in the middle right now. But where are you? If the show starts to resemble Supernatural Anatomy (or, if you prefer, Grey’s Whisperer), will it still be appointment TV for you? Share below!
More Grey’s Anatomy:
Read a recap of last night’s episode
Brooke Smith sounds off on her firing
Who will Mary McDonnell’s doc fall for?
Hello – Shonda you totally stole this story from General Hospital. Nikolas Cassidine had a brain tumor and kept seeing dead wife Emily. It was one of the most romantic stories ever told on daytime. Maybe Grey’s should be a little more original.
This ploy of bringing back Denny to recall the show’s “glory days” from Season is ALMOST as desperate as “Heroes” trying to remind us how much better the show was in season 1 during the latest episode that awkwardly (and sometimes nonsensically) fused new scenes with events from the first season.
GH Fan-
It’s funny you should say that. For YEARS now, I’ve been telling anyone who’ll listen that Grey’s is basically a daytime soap dressed up as a prime time drama. It’s basically “General Hospital” with only slightly better acting, equal quality in writing and franker sex talk.
What about Alex and Izzie, Ausiello? Please tell us there’s still hope for them?! I hate this! Give us Alex and Izzie- get Denny out of here!
Ah, no! If he is going to appear as a spirit I’d much rather he show on a show that is all about that stuff! JDM needs to head back to “Supernatural” and spend his time haunting Sam and Dean!!
I told my roommates last night, they have one episode to explain this Denny thing and then I’m out, because it’s a preposterous story line. I think it’s ridiculous. I also think it was a waste to get Izzie and Alex together if she’s just going to be pining for and getting all sweaty with her dead ex.
Unless this ends up being something truly amazing and unique and NOT a brain tumor/brain aneurism (sp?) and there’s a rational, realism-based reason for this plot, I’m out. It’s dangerously close to jumping the shark- like hovering midair over the shark kind of close.
I love that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is back, I’ve always loved the character Denny (his death was the first time I sat in front of the TV sobbing my eyes out), but right now this storyline confuses me. All the time I was thinking “Now she’s gonna wake up”. Still, the last scene had me crying, it was so beautiful.
However, this story-line is maybe a little too soapy and if the solution really is that Izzie has a brain tumor and Katie Heigl is gonna leave the show, then I hate it (but still love Denny)
ok so i thought we had moved on from the denny obsession and great love and moved on to new possibilities with alex… seriously… move on… not that i dont love j.d. morgan but still… its WAAAAAYYYYYYY too soap opera-y
I love JDM, but I refuse to follow this story line. I’m not taking that leap of faith!
It’s Jeffery Dean Morgan. I don’t exactly care in what stupid twist (and it IS indeed stupid) that he has been brought. It’s JDM!
Now, I campaign he move his ghostly butt to Supernatural and haunt Dean and Sam some.
Still, JDM on the silver screen. I am appeased.
So they tease Alex/Izzie just to shove their delusional Greatest Love Ever BS down our throats. No thanks. I cannot believe that ABC OK’d this. As an Alex/Izzie fan, I am beyond pissed off and insulted and even more annoyed that you, Ausiello, are even remotely acting like this is funny or cute. Its stupid.
Its preposterous, I’m done.
As someone who has lost their partner unexpectedly, I love that they’ve brought back Denny because it reflects that you don’t stop thinking about your partner after the funeral is done. You struggle with thoughts about them everyday – and somedays your thoughts can be overwhelming. And you didn’t break up with them – so when you start to seriously date someone else there is anxiety and guilt. I look at this as a new Act about Izzie’s grief regarding Denny and I think that Shonda and the writers are doing an awesome job exploring the grieving process.
This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen on this show. I didn’t like Denny the first time, I don’t like him now that he’s dead, and I won’t be watching as long as he’s on.
Wow, Shonda really blew it this time. The Dead Denny/Izzie storyline is horrible. Don’t want to see K.H. leave, but if she’s going die give the character some dignity. Seriously!