GREY'S ANATOMY: BREAK ON THROUGH (TV)

Summary

One in this dramatic medical series about the lives and loves of a group of surgeons at a Seattle hospital. In this episode, the doctors face the nurses' scorn as they cross the picket line into the hospital, while elsewhere Meredith is taken aback to see Richard sharing a warm moment with Ellis at the nursing home. Alex, Cristina, Izzie and Meredith are annoyed by Bailey's temporary replacement, the cheery Sydney Heron, who believes in "healing with love." With the nurses absent, Meredith recruits a nervous student to help her intubate a frightened elderly woman, Grace. George dithers on the strike line and eventually decides to join the nurses, and Izzie and Addison tend to a pregnant teenager, Cheyenne, whose baby requires surgery. Richard awkwardly dodges Meredith's comments about her mother, and Alex and Cristina treat a young newlywed, Claire, whose "adventure honeymoon" has been interrupted by a strange rash on her leg, which turns out to be necrotizing fasciitis, a powerful flesh-eating bacteria. George is frustrated when the nurses ask him to sneak into the hospital and check on their patients, as they themselves cannot cross the line, and Meredith is roundly scolded by Grace's elderly friends for unknowingly defying Grace's "do not resuscitate" order and preventing her from "crossing over" to her late husband.

George arrives but states that he is "not really there," as he is still supporting the nurses in spirit, much to Richard's annoyance. Cristina tells Claire's husband Wade that she will likely require amputation, but Sydney overrides her and promises that they will attempt to save her leg despite the danger. Izzie talks with Cheyenne, who admits that she intends to drop out of school once the baby is born, and Cristina, offended when Sydney tells her to show compassion and be more like the brown-nosing Alex, tells Burke that Sydney is recklessly endangering Claire's life. Burke looks in on the surgery, but Sydney firmly defends her treatment plan and ousts him from the OR. Grace's pals assure Richard that their friend wishes to die naturally, though he explains that only Grace's out-of-state daughter, who has power of attorney, can provide the necessary signature. At the bar, Meredith frets about having to "kill" her patient as Cristina butts heads with the angry nurses, though a distracted Izzie heads back to the hospital and visits Cheyenne again, confiding that she too grew up in a working-class neighborhood and gave birth to a child as a teenager, a daughter whom she gave up for adoption, wanting a better life for her than a Chehalis trailer park.

Burke acknowledges that his inappropriate attending/intern relationship with Cristina caused him to cross a line in questioning Sydney, and Izzie tells Cheyenne's angry mother that while the choice is ultimately hers, she believes that Cheyenne can "have more" than the challenging life of a teen mother. Claire's condition improves, and Grace's daughter arrives to authorize the tube removal and say goodbye to her mother alongside Grace's friends. Meredith finally questions Richard about his frequent visits to Ellis, but she is shaken by Grace's death and tearfully confesses to a sympathetic Derek that she does not want her mother to die alone, after which she urges Richard to continue seeing Ellis, as he clearly makes her happy. After Cheyenne's successful surgery and delivery, Izzie assures her that she does not regret giving up her daughter, and on Burke's urging, Cristina forces out an apology to Sydney in front of an amused Alex. Richard ponders how he will find the "spare change" to meet the nurses' demands, and Izzie and Meredith, emotionally drained by their days, join George in bed for some roommate bonding time. Includes commercials and promos.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: January 28, 2006 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:57:36
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:88418
• GENRE: Drama, medical
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, medical; Romance; Asian American Pacific Islanders Collection
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2005-
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - AT&T wireless services
  • TV - Commercials - Carnival cruise lines
  • TV - Commercials - Chevrolet automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - Chili's restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Cingular wireless networks
  • TV - Commercials - Citi banks
  • TV - Commercials - Ford automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - Habitat for Humanity organization
  • TV - Commercials - Hallmark Gold Crown stores
  • TV - Commercials - Help Hospitalized Veterans program
  • TV - Commercials - Kia automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - March of Dimes association
  • TV - Commercials - Maximum Strength Zantac heartburn medication
  • TV - Commercials - Pizza Hut restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Red Lobster restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Subway restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Target stores
  • TV - Commercials - USO organization
  • TV - Commercials - Verizon Wireless services
  • TV - Commercials - Walt Disney World theme parks
  • TV - Commercials - Wendy's restaurants
  • TV - Promos - "Dancing With the Stars"
  • TV - Promos - "Eight Below" motion picture
  • TV - Promos - "Freedomland" motion picture
  • TV - Promos - "Grey's Anatomy" upcoming episode
  • TV - Promos - "InStyle Magazine: Celebrity Weddings"
  • TV - Promos - "The Bachelor Paris"
  • TV - Promos - "Unscripted"
  • TV - Promos - "Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" home video
  • TV - Promos - "Wife Swap"
  • TV - Promos - Super Bowl XL

CREDITS

• Mark Gordon … Executive Producer
• Betsy Beers … Executive Producer
• James Parriott … Executive Producer
• Shonda Rhimes … Executive Producer, Created by
• Peter Horton … Co-Executive Producer
• Krista Vernoff … Co-Executive Producer
• Mark Wilding … Co-Executive Producer
• Kip Koenig … Supervising Producer
• Gabrielle Stanton … Supervising Producer
• Harry Werksman … Supervising Producer
• Mimi Schmir … Supervising Producer
• Rob Corn … Producer
• Joan Rater … Producer
• Tony Phelan … Producer
• Tammy Ann Casper … Co-Producer
• Lisa Taylor … Associate Producer
• Linda Klein … Medical Producer
• David Paymer … Director
• Zoanne Clack … Writer
• Danny Lux … Music by
• Psapp … Theme Music by
• Ellen Pompeo … Cast, Dr. Meredith Grey
• Sandra Oh … Cast, Dr. Cristina Yang
• Katherine Heigl … Cast, Dr. Izzie Stevens
• Justin Chambers … Cast, Dr. Alex Karev
• T.R. Knight … Cast, Dr. George O'Malley
• Chandra Wilson … Cast, Dr. Miranda Bailey
• James Pickens Jr. … Cast, Dr. Richard Webber
• Kate Walsh … Cast, Dr. Addison Montgomery
• Isaiah Washington … Cast, Dr. Preston Burke
• Patrick Dempsey … Cast, Dr. Derek Shepherd
• Betty Garrett … Cast, Eleanor
• Rae Allen … Cast, Ruth
• Monica Calhoun … Cast, Mrs. Wood
• Leisha Hailey … Cast, Claire Solomon
• June Lockhart … Cast, Agnes
• Kenneth Mitchell … Cast, Wade Solomon
• Kali Rocha … Cast, Dr. Sydney Heron
• Steven W. Bailey … Cast, Joe
• Regine Nehy … Cast, Cheyenne Wood
• Robin Pearson Rose … Cast, Patricia
• Sarah Utterback … Cast, Nurse Olivia Harper
• Kate Burton … Cast, Ellis Grey
• Zibby Allen … Cast, Temp Nurse
• Kate Anthony … Cast, GI Nurse
• Dona Hardy … Cast, Grace Bickham
• Cathy Lind Hayes … Cast, Nurse Debbie
• Moe Irvin … Cast, Nurse Tyler
• Amy Cale Peterson … Cast, Nurse Home Staffer
• Jeremy Rabb … Cast, ER Resident
• Pamela Roylance … Cast, Alice Bickham
• Teddi Siddall … Cast, Anne