Beautiful Doom
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"Beautiful Doom" is the fifth episode of the ninth season of the American television
medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...
'' Grey's Anatomy'', and the show's 177th episode overall. Written by Jeannine Renshaw and directed by Stephen Cragg, the episode was originally broadcast on the
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...
(ABC) in the United States on November 8, 2012. The initial airing was viewed by 9.26 million people and garnered a 3.3/8 Nielsen rating in the 18–49 demographic, registering the show as the week's highest rated television drama. ''Grey's Anatomy'' centers around a group of physicians struggling to balance their professional lives with their personal lives. In the episode Meredith Grey ( Ellen Pompeo) relives the memories of her half-sister
Lexie Grey Alexandra Caroline Grey, M.D. is a fictional character from ABC's medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', portrayed by actress Chyler Leigh. Created by series producer Shonda Rhimes, the character is first mentioned in season 2 by he ...
(
Chyler Leigh Chyler Leigh West (pronounced ; '' née'' Potts), known professionally as Chyler Leigh, is an American actress, singer and model. She is known for portraying Janey Briggs in the comedy film ''Not Another Teen Movie'' (2001), Lexie Grey in the ...
) who died in the season eight finale plane crash when a patient with similar crush injuries comes into the hospital. The episode also focuses on Cristina Yang ( Sandra Oh) who deals with the death of her Minnesota mentor Dr. Craig Thomas (
William Daniels William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor, who is best known for his television roles, notably as Mark Craig in the drama series '' St. Elsewhere'', for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards; the voice of KITT in the tel ...
) in the middle of surgery. Meredith in spite of opposition from
Richard Webber Richard Webber, M.D., F.A.C.S is a fictional character from the ABC medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy''. The character was created by Shonda Rhimes and is portrayed by actor James Pickens Jr. since the start of the show in 2005. ...
(
James Pickens Jr. James Pickens Jr. (born October 26, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Webber on the ABC medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', and for his supporting role as Deputy Director Alvin Kers ...
) tries to treat the crash victim while dealing with her personal feelings relating Lexie. She also juggles her daughter Zola at the hospital with the absence of her husband,
Derek Shepherd Derek Christopher Shepherd, M.D., F.A.C.S., also referred to as "McDreamy", is a fictional surgeon from the ABC medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', portrayed by actor Patrick Dempsey. He made his first appearance in the pilot episode, " A Hard Day ...
(
Patrick Dempsey Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fil ...
), with
Owen Hunt Major (Ret.) Owen Hunt, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series' produc ...
( Kevin McKidd),
Callie Torres Calliope Iphegenia Torres, M.D. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the ABC in the United States. The character was created by series' producer Shonda Rhimes, and is portrayed by ...
(
Sara Ramirez Sara Elena Ramírez (; born August 31, 1975) is a Mexican-American actor and singer. Born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Ramírez moved to the United States at eight years old, eventually graduating with a fine arts degree from the Juilliard School. R ...
) and Miranda Bailey ( Chandra Wilson) helping her.


Plot

Meredith is forced to juggle parenting with work when Derek has a lecture in Boston. Cristina is on the phone with Meredith again, bragging to her about the aneurysm. Meredith is in her car, and she passes an accident. It looks bad, so she parks her car and gets out to help. The driver is fine, but when Meredith runs to the other side of the car, she sees woman trapped under the car. This reminds her of Lexie, who was trapped under a part of the crashed plane. Meredith and Cristina lean on each other and maintain their long-distance friendship. The two friends continue to cope with life after the plane crash and their ever-growing responsibilities at their respective hospitals. Cristina and Dr. Thomas are explaining to a patient with the aneurysm that she needs to have two surgeries: one to repair the current aneurysm, and another surgery to fix the defect that formed the aneurysm. The patient and her husband turn out to be doomsday preppers, ready for the apocalypse. Cristina and Dr. Thomas leave the room when they've finished their story. Meredith is adamant about saving the life of her patient, Melissa, and while operating there's a lot of bleeding when Callie enters the OR. Callie looks at the scan of Melissa's break and she says there must be a lot of bleeding. Richard comes into the OR to tell Meredith that Melissa's parents have been found and that they're coming to the hospital. Meredith asks for more blood transfusion, but Richard and Callie think that it might be time to pack up Melissa and let her body rest. She keeps operating a little longer, until Richard calls her name. She then agrees to pack up the patient. He is worried that the case is hitting a little too close to home for her after what happened to Lexie. He's worried that her emotions are clouding her judgement, but she tells him that that's not the case. She leaves to go check on Melissa. Meredith and Cristina are on the phone, Meredith is leaving the hospital, and Cristina is in a liquor store. Cristina says that she fears that the patient will die, and that Dr. Thomas will be fired. Meredith is worried about her patient too, as she needs to go home with Zola because Derek is out of town. Cristina is on the phone with Meredith again, telling her that Dr. Thomas will do the surgery. She says that he'll get fired if he does it. Meredith says that she needs to find the perfect window to open her patient back up. Meredith is writing her surgery on the O.R. board, as it's the perfect window to go in. Richard stands next to her, and Meredith assures him that it's nothing like in the woods, as they're in a hospital with a lot of medical resources. He wishes her good luck, and says that it's a right call to go back in. Ultimately Meredith has found the source of the bleeding and clamps it. She then makes time for a 30-second dance party, and makes everyone, including Bokhee, dance with her. Meredith comes into the attendings lounge, but Zola isn't there. She runs down a hallway, and then she sees Owen carrying Zola. He explains that he took her as April had a surgery and that Zola's fever is down. Cristina assists Dr. Thomas with a cardiac case, when he suddenly suffers a heart attack during the operation, he collapses. This forces Cristina to keep operating on her own. Meanwhile, several nurses get to Dr. Thomas and try to revive him. Dr. Parker comes in, and starts CPR. Cristina has her back turned towards them, so she asks what's going on. Dr. Parker tells her to focus on her patient. Cristina informs the patient's family that the patient is okay. The patient's husband hugs her. Melissa is asking for Meredith. She leaves Zola with Owen, as he doesn't have to go anywhere, and she runs off. Melissa meets Meredith, saying she remembers how Meredith was there when she was trapped. Meredith just put down Zola for the night when someone rings the doorbell. She opens the door and sees Cristina. They hug and Cristina says that she drank all the tequila that she bought earlier. "Lexie is dead," Meredith says. "Yeah... Everyone's dead," Cristina says, and they hug again.


Production

"Beautiful Doom" was written by Jeannine Renshaw and directed by Stephen Cragg. The episode features many cross-overs between
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
(with Meredith at Seattle Grace) and
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
(where Cristina was practicing at Mayo Clinic). The cross-overs were depicted via split-screen sequences which later on release garnered positive reviews. '' TVLine'' in April reported that
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
winner
William Daniels William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor, who is best known for his television roles, notably as Mark Craig in the drama series '' St. Elsewhere'', for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards; the voice of KITT in the tel ...
will guest star on an episode of Grey's Anatomy at the end of season 8, playing a proctor for Cristina Yang during her medical boards. This marked the first acting role for Daniels since playing a judge on a 2008 episode of ''
Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal drama and comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004, t ...
''. Daniels has had several iconic roles before that, including Dr. Mark Craig on ''
St. Elsewhere ''St. Elsewhere'' was an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels as ...
'' for which he won two
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
in the 1980s. He was known to the younger fans as the wise teacher and neighbor Mr. Feeny on '' Boy Meets World''. He made his debut in the final episodes of the eight season, Daniels played one of the doctors overseeing the medical boards being taken by the Seattle Grace residents. “it’s actually really hilarious!” Sandra Oh told ''TVLine'' of the episode, which was directed by her scene partner Kevin McKidd. “I just shot the entire boards episode with the wonderful William Daniels, who played Cristina’s proctor. It was phenomenal to be working opposite him.” In ''Beautiful Doom'' Daniels made his last appearance as Dr. Thomas as he, after being persecuted by his boss into early retirement, suffered a heart attack while performing a surgery and dies in the OR right next to Cristina while she's forced to continue working on the patient, unable to save him.


Reception


Broadcast

"Beautiful Doom" was originally broadcast on Thursday, September 27, 2012 in the United States on ABC. On its initial airing the episode was watched by 9.26 million viewers and ranked 20th in the overall viewership and was among the top 10 in the 18-49 key demographic placed at no. 9. The episode scored a 3.3/8 in the
Nielsen Ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
and was also ranked as the no. 1 most watched drama. The episode had an increase in viewership from the previous installment which was watched by 8.76 million viewers and was also up in the viewership ranks.


Critical reception

The episode was well received among television critics, the major praise was directed towards Ellen Pompeo and Sandra Oh. '' Wetpaint'' wrote, "''Beautiful Doom'' was all about our favorite friendship. That's right, it was the Meredith Grey (Pompeo) and Cristina Yang (Oh) show, and it was nice to spend some quality time with the twisted sisters. Overall, we enjoyed the episode. The split screen was used well, and we loved seeing Cristina and Mer talk to each other about their lives. Dr. Thomas continued to be a delight, and his death really struck home." '' TVLine'' gave the episode a positive review as well stating, "After months of hype, Grey’s Anatomy at long last pulled the curtain back on its big Mer/Cristina-centric episode Thursday night. The memorable hour divided its time between Seattle Grace, where Mer was tending to a super-critical patient, and the Mayo Clinic, where Cristina was also tending to a super-critical patient. Before the end credits rolled, there was a pivotal death, a long-awaited comeback, and more split-screen action than an episode of 24." ''TwoCents'' also gave a positive review to the episode mainly for directing the praise to Oh and Pompeo as well saying, "After the first episodes of the seasons stuffed to the gills with new interns, new doctors, all cast members, and new locales, I found this hour to be refreshing in its simplicity and directness. Because regardless of the distance, I don’t know that they’ve ever been closer or more mature with one another. And Cristina Yang is finally home where she belongs. Meredith and Cristina are each other’s person, and tonight they were our people and focus. right now I’m just so happy to see our twisted sisters reunited in person, that I can’t find much else to complain about!" The site also praised
Sara Ramirez Sara Elena Ramírez (; born August 31, 1975) is a Mexican-American actor and singer. Born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Ramírez moved to the United States at eight years old, eventually graduating with a fine arts degree from the Juilliard School. R ...
and Chandra Wilson adding, "Callie and Bailey fantastic in their limited appearances, reminding Meredith that they are both working mothers, trying to find the home-work balance." ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' called it a "wrenching episode" adding, "It was undoubtedly by exactly perfect design, but Cristina uttered the most poignant line of Grey’s Anatomy’s ninth season so far in the last few seconds of last night’s episode – a line that sums up everything that’s happened so far: "Everyone’s dead," she said to Meredith without much fanfare, as the two best friends – separated by half a country for five episodes – embraced for the first time this fall." Writing about the death of Dr. Craig Thomas the site wrote, "Grey’s decided to pull his plug much more dramatically, with him literally keeling over mid-surgery. Also thankfully, considering everything, Yang was successful in her surgery. If it hadn’t gone well, it might have sent me over the edge to have Feeny and the patient die minutes from each other." The site also praised the closing scene of the episode, "I guess the moment – a good one, with Cristina liquored up on tequila – was a good one regardless, just seeing these good, old friends cross paths once again, as they should." '' E! Online'' praised the Pompeo and Oh's characters saying, "Tonight's episode was all about Meredith and Cristina. Even half a country apart, these two are still each other's people. A lot of the episode featured a split screen between Meredith in Seattle and Cristina in Minnesota, while each leaned on each other to get through some emotional times." Wrirtng about Dr. Thomas' death the site added, "If he's going down, he wants to go down fighting. Unfortunately during surgery, Thomas goes down…literally. Why does Shonda Rhimes do this to us?! Maybe because this is what sends Cristina back to
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
." ''SpoilerTV'' praised Pompeo, saying, The ensemble format of Grey's Anatomy works well for me. I love the inter-twining of the characters and the ongoing multiple stories. It's a hospital and hospitals bustle with constant activity so a large cast works well. But Meredith centered episodes always work too not just because she is the original key protagonist in the show but because her character has been so well developed over the show's long life. This episode was no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed Golden Hour in season 7 and Ellen Pompeo does an equally good job here sharing the screen, literally and metaphorically with Sandra Oh."


References

{{Grey's Anatomy episodes 2012 American television episodes Grey's Anatomy season 9 episodes