When I first heard about the Grey’s Anatomy Music Event, I have to admit that I was really excited and anxious to see how amazing it was going to be. It was a genius idea (not the most original, but genius nonetheless). They weren’t going to simply do a song and dance episode, but rather take songs made famous by the show and perform them in what was supposed to be a dramatic episode, dealing with the life of Callie Torres and her unborn baby. It had classic Grey’s written all over it, and I for one couldn’t wait until it premiered. I even started to get a little emotional seeing the little snippet online of the opening “Chasing Cars” sequence.
Maybe I was so excited about this episode because I think of myself as a very optimistic person (or just a big Grey’s Anatomy fan). Maybe I was so excited because Glee happens to be my favorite show, and if they can pull it off every week, then Grey’s can do it for just one. Sadly though, in my opinion the music event didn’t live up to any of the hype surrounding it.
What makes Glee work is the fact that the show revolves around singing, so of course they have to find actors who can sing (or singers who can act). The writers have the challenge with every episode to tie in the lyrics of a song to the storyline and the characters’ growth. While it may have gotten a little fuzzy in this second season, there’s no denying that Glee still manages to pull of that tough task. What also makes the show work is that when it’s time to get serious, the acting comes through in the singing voice and not just the facial expressions. Only some of the time does it come across as cheesy. The same can definitely not be said for Grey’s musical.
It started off very promising. It was the song that everyone knew they were going to cover: Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars”, and what an emotional opening sequence it was! (You can watch it down below and marvel at it the same way I still do) Starting right where the last episode ended, we see Callie Torres (played by the extremely talented Sara Ramirez) lying out of the windshield, obviously traumatized by the car crash. Arizona (played by Jessica Capshaw) obviously is in shock (after all she did just propose, and then life throws them this curve ball.) From there, they arrive at the hospital and the music softly begins to play. No one can deny that Sara Ramirez has a beautiful voice (winning a Tony award for being in Spamalot and all). She carried the song with great poise, quietly standing in the background of the chaotic mess going on at the same time, trying to bring Callie back to life. And it was one shock right after the next for me. Who knew Dr. Hunt could sing too?!!! And when Callie, Dr. Hunt, and Bailey do the 3-part harmony towards the end of the sequence, it was some very powerful stuff! For me, that was enough alone to call it a musical event, but unfortunately they dragged it out for another 45 minutes.
Every song break turned into a cheesy mess. It doesn’t come across as being very natural when you boldly declare what the name of the next song is, and then go right into singing it (I’m talking to you Lexie Grey!) If you’re going to do a serious episode where singing is involved, make sure that you have voices that blend well together and that can pull of that kind of strong emotion. We’ve all known since the first season that these actors are great at portraying this soap-opera primetime drama. The show has had its fine share of intense, dramatic times. But when people who have never sung before are trying to sing with meaning behind it, it came across as an early April Fool’s joke.
Surely, no one in the Scrubs cast really had a lot of experience singing before, but it was a campy episode where it didn’t matter that they sang well or not. The whole joke was that it was a big, musical production (dance numbers and all) that made their musical episode a hit. But Grey’s wasn’t trying to be campy, they were trying to do something profound. Nothing else in the episode could live up to the opening sequence with “Chasing Cars”, especially with the horrible rendition of Grey’s signature song “How To Save A Life”. I found myself in an awkward state throughout the rest of this episode, constantly in fear for everyone on screen, and it wasn’t fear that Callie or the baby would die, or that Arizona and Dr. Sloan wouldn’t reconcile and come to the same terms. It was fear that this musical risk wouldn’t go over so well with the rest of the die-hard Grey’s fans.
Yes it was different, and I respect creator (and writer of this particular episode) Shonda Rimes for taking a chance on this musical event, but it didn’t have the payoff it should have deserved with a prime show like this. It really only served one purpose: to highlight what a great voice Sara Ramirez has.
What I am proud of is the fact that this season has been one of the best so far. After years of awkward storylines and unnecessary baggage (Izzie who?), it’s great to see Grey’s Anatomy stepping out of their comfort zones and going in unexpected directions. This might not have been the right direction to go towards, but I think it’s safe to say they won’t be taking this musical side any farther than they have already. What did work well in this episode were the moments when there wasn’t singing, it was just the great performances back and forth in the dialogue alone, which is why it’s safe to say that this won’t affect the number of people tuning in to see the drama unfold every week now. After the sneak peek we saw for the next episode, it’s safe to say that Grey’s still has a few shocking tricks up their sleeves.
