Dissecting Grey's Anatomy: Escape from Man Camp!
Episode six settles a longstanding real estate debate: Where would Burke and Cristina's minimalist condo exist in "real" life?
When Derek picks up Burke for a camping trip, we learn Burke/Yang reside in Pioneer Square, which is a little off, if you ask us. That condo is totally Belltown.
McDreamy's planned man-cation gets supersized when Burke invites most of the male SGH staff. Even the chief is invited, which makes for a nice shot as he wheels his suitcase over the picturesque bridge that looks more like Northern California than flood-drenched North Bend.
Back at the hospital, Grey's ladies mock their men. "A guy named Preston is going to get his ass kicked by a squirrel," says Cristina.
But it's not long before she's picking monopoly pieces out of a little kid's poop. Wiping Bailey's name off the white board to protect Burke has its consequences.
While Yang scoops poop in search of Park Place, Meredith is assigned to work on a sex change operation with McSteamy. That's not all Dr. Sloane wants to change. He tries to win Meredith over with his, uh, charm. Or whatever.
Assigned to "dialogue" with a counselor, Izzy would rather shovel shit with Cristina.
Back at Man Camp, the chief doesn't bring a tent, and learns that Joe and Walter are actually longtime boyfriends. He claims to be down with the homos, "Brokeback Mountain and all that."
Meredith learns that the wife of wannabe sex-changer Daniel/Donna continues to stand by her (wo)man. But when she is diagnosed with breast cancer, it seems Donna will have to give up hormone treatments, and thus, her shot at womanhood.
George and Alex get into a scuffle after Alex tells George Callie's been doin' McSteamy. Fearing for their hands, the chief makes them fight open-palm, which results in some silly bitchslaps.
Meanwhile, a weepy Addison struggles with the news that a happy couple's unborn child is actually dead. Callie tells her to let them be happy a little longer, and they both bond over having done the dirty deed with McSteamy. McNasty!
The Man Camp slapfest gets ugly as bystander Walter takes a hit. He needs stitches, and Joe insists that the famed Dr. Burke scrub in with the fishing wire. Can Burke do cowboy sutures sans the helping hands of Dr. Yang?
The man can, and he does. He's always had it, he says, and it seems Burke is truly back when he tells George that he holds people (Callie, Meredith, everyone) to unreasonably high standards. You got to be part of a team, or you go through life playing alone. Thanks, Coach!
The question, then, is which team are you on? McSteamy wants Meredith to quit Derek and start fresh, which is kind of what sex change patient's wife, Vicky, is trying to do when she gives up on the stubborn pre-op tranny.
But Vicky finally chooses to be with hubby Donna, because, penis or no, they're best friends. Aww... And then there's Happy Campers Joe and Walter, so committed to each other, after all these years. Those gay and transgendered folks are so sweet, why can't the heteros get it together?
And hey, since everybody's getting along, why not let Izzy open up to the psych doc who's been dogging her all day? Yes, Izzy misses Denny. She's scared she won't be a surgeon again. There, there. Sharing is caring, k?
Fresh starts, there aren't any of those, the chief declares. But at least at Joe's there's fresh drinks, and even fresher docs. McSteamy throws his game at our girl Grey, baby, one more time, but when McDreamy returns from being a mountain man, he brings with him the ol' tabula rasa. That's latin for "do-overs."
Sometimes, you need to break free from what ails you. And sometimes the sickness is the cure.
