Everything's going to be fine. Seriously.
Updated 2006-11-21 16:00:00
Mere and McDreamy are on their fresh start, but they decide to hold off on the sex because Meredith wants to be bright and shiny (and frustrated, apparently). But the bright and shiny thing doesn't last long. Meredith visits Ellis, who refuses to speak to her -- but she lights up when the Chief drops by, reminding Meredith how little time her mother spent with her as a child. A little girl gets run over by her nanny, who knows the little girl better than either of her parents, throwing the mother into a tizzy. And reminding Meredith about her own mommy issues. The parents fire the nanny, in part because the little girl won't stop asking for her. The little girl goes through two surgeries and still only wants the nanny. So the parents rehire her. This whole incident also pushes Bailey's buttons about being a mommy, and she goes through some angst about whether she's neglecting her son.
Izzie is assigned to shadow Alex, who is assigned by McSteamy to take care of an obnoxious guy that just got pec implants. Alex takes advice from the guy and makes a grand gesture by letting Izzie perform a procedure (despite Bailey's rules) and then follows up by planting a kiss on her. But she freaks out and tells him she's not ready for anything like that. But they still wind up on a friendly note.
George's dad is in the hospital because he fell and broke his clavicle. But treatment for that ends up leading to the discovery that he has cancer. And preparations to treat that lead to the discovery that he needs a new heart valve (before they can operate on the cancer). George asks that Cristina be assigned to his dad's case, but then realizes that something is wrong with Burke and that Cristina is covering for him. While that's going on, Callie bonds with George's brothers and then helps them understand the severity of their dad's condition. And Cristina ends up telling George's dad that George is the best intern of them all.
And on the marriage front, Derek and Addison agree to be civilized (which he's willing to do because he's so happy to be back with Meredith). And the Chief decides he can no longer visit Ellis because he needs to try to make his own marriage work. Of course, he's a coward, so he leaves Meredith to give her mother the bad news, leading to a bit of a rapprochement between Mere and Ellis. And after Derek notes that Addison is still wearing her wedding and engagement rings, she obsesses about what to do with them. Eventually, she takes them for a ride on a ferry boat and throws them into the water.
And Bailey sings!