Don't Ask, Don't Kiss: "Grey's Anatomy" goes gay with military smooch

Grey's Anatomy is following the same clichéed storyline as always: Make sure that the gays have the tragic ending, and satistfy all the homophobes by showing clearly that the gays are punished in the end by having at least one of them die. No progress here.  The to drive the point home, have the very next line of dialogue after the gay character's inevitable death be how it was such a good night. 

Just to make sure you don't feel alone - I loved the story, loved the passionate kiss, cried at the imperceptible head shake in the hallway heading for surgery, and again at the goodbye kiss. I can't believe I cried for television. So hot, so touching, such damningly effective political statement about DADT.

I'm not a fan of hospital shows because they have that Fantasy Island/Love Boat single-episode guest spot thing going on without any of the Puerto Vallarta or supernatural overtones. This one in particular grates on me because the characters are even more self-obsessed than usual, and this ep was no different. So while I was irked that the gay soldiers got about 3 minutes of screen time in all and their story was just there to make Meredith think even more about herself, at least those 3 minutes were full of passion, dedication, and real conflict.

And not for nothin', but those guys were hawwwwwwt... 

Did you and I even watch the same show?  Meredith's comment, that it was a good day, had nothing to do with the death of the soldier.  If you watched this show for more than 5 minutes, you'd understand her warped way of rationalizing things.  And, did you pay attention at all to Ellen's flawless work last night?  Her attachment to the soldier and desire to cure him was heartbreaking.  You took a very complex, beautifully scripted and acted episode and reduced it to something so ridiculously trite.

Watch it again.  See the look on Meredith's face when the two men are kissing.  As moved as I was by the passionate kiss, I was even more touched by Meredith who stood their watching, probably thinking, "who wouldn't want to be kissed like that?" and then by her attempt to arrange a last moment between soldiers before the surgery.  (As much as Meredith is beaten down by the viewing public for her angsty ways and selfishness, no one can argue that Ellen doesn't do a fabulous job with what she's given.  Her performance last night, for me, bordered on brilliant.  Sandra Oh too knocked it out of the park.) 

Any gay storyline can be a cliche.  We've seen the gay soldier thing done quite a few times.  Grey's however breathed life into a very relevant and immediate storyline and handled it better than any gay storyline on network TV this year.

If all you got out of this episode was a cliche and a message that we should be punished, I hope that it was because you weren't watching closely.  Because if you are so bitter that you missed the beauty in this, I feel sorry for you.

I had no idea who David Giuntoli was before I started reading about this episode here at AE, but after watching him last night I hope he becomes a huge star. Both actors were fantastic, but his Todd really broke my heart. I'm going to be all melancholy all day.

Wow. I have to give Kudos to the writers because this was an incredible storyline. They captured something that happens all the time, a secret love, that only the two of them will ever share. Having lived under Don't Ask, Don't Tell twice, I know the incredible strain that is put on someone because they are gay, and even more so when they have a relationship. I am glad that the subject is being talked about in hopes that someday soon, congress will get rid of this antiquated law.

-Jason K 

 

Define your own normal.

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Even though Grey's Anatmot has its faults last night's epsiode was actually really good and not just because of the gay content.

First off I love ho wmeredith reacted to the kiss. She didn't look at it as homosexual, she looked at it as a great kiss and was jealous that she didn't have that passion with anyone. Even though people say she is selfish, I won't go into details of why she is(growing up with that kind of mother, etc)but at that moment on that tv show homosexuality was truly accepted and embraced as something normal. As something that wasn't a big deal, just a niormal kiss between two lovers not a kiss between two men. I lvoe the show and have stuck with it through its faults and I really really appreciate how they handled the whole scene. If you can't see how simply handled it was with such normalcy they you ar ejust jaded and dislike the show for other reasons.

As for my own reaction I didn't cry but I was really moved. First off the kiss was great, really passionate. One of the strongest, most believeable kisses I have seen on tv for a while. Maybe they were really pushing for it to be a real kiss and not look like something rehersed, I don't know. But they did a great job at it! That is was a true kiss shoul dbe between two people in love!

Secondly I appreciated the storyline. People say the dont as dont tell storyline is cliche and over done but sadly it is still the policy in the army. At the very least we didn't see the father screaming "faggot!" at his kid and storm off before he went to get the surgery. The sad truth behind it is he has to live with himself for the rest of his life for denying his son the love he had and live with knowing his son died knowing that. Its a sad story but it happens in real life and not just with homosexual couples.

The storyline was meant to just be part of the lcinical trial. It was never going to be a major storyline like Denny or the other patients who were on the show for a while. Remember though this isn't the first gay character they have had on the show(the black man who hit on George any chance he got for example)and so far, throught he shows faults, they have handled homosexuality pretty well putting Isaiah Washington's homophobia to the side. In fact it handled Isaiah Washington well too, trying to push through what he did but then firing him for not stopping.

All ina ll I loved every minute of Greys Anatomy last night!

I loved the storyline of the two soldiers in this episode, and I never watch Gray's Anatomy! I also appreciated the contrast between everyone working in the hospital being forced to reveal who they are sleeping with (and they obviously have done quite a bit of it) versus the gay soldiers, who are forced to keep that a secret, although their love was perhaps the strongest seen during the episode.

While I will agree that Grey's really suffered last season, they've really picked up steam this year.  All of the things I loved about this show are back: the depth of emotion in the various relationships, the multi-faceted characters, the humor, the surprises...

And yes, I will agree that Mer and Der are the LEAST enjoyable thing about the show, but when you have characters like Bailey, Alex, Izzy, Callie and (my new surprise fave) Dr. Hahn, it more than makes up for it.  And is it me or does the episode get exponentially better every time Loretta Devine guest stars as Adele?

This episode was another in a series of solid eps.  This show's got plenty of life left in it.

I, too, have never watched a single episode of this program but I caught a clip of last nights kiss on You Tube ... and thought it ws great.  It brought memories to mind and many tears to my eyes.

Has there been any confirmation from TPTB that Hahn has feelings for Callie or vice versa? That certainly seems to be what they are implying, and I would be really excited if they did that, but I'm wondering if we know for sure? When Hahn started talking about making friends, I thought maybe they were never implying any romantic feelings, but that it was always about her not being able to make friends, but the awkward laugh between the two women when Callie told Hahn what Addison had said made me think again. In any case, it's about time!

A beautiful episode. The kiss was hot and incredible and yes I cried ... BUCKETS!!!!!

VIVA ABC!!!

However, between the Callie & Hahn possible thing...and the soldiers...it was must watch TV! Have to say, I don't think the gal that is playing Hahn is playing her part much different from the doc she played on Crossing Jordan. Didn't like that character much at all. Course, I'm a huge Jill Hennessey fan, so maybe I was annoyed...lol Anyhow, now I'm stuck watching next week to see what happens to the gals. In the meantime, the soldiers kissing...HOT...and very sad at the end. Well done.

Most of the post-strike shows of the shows that I liked have sucked big time, but Grey's (along with the amazing Lost) have been the exceptions to my perception. This episode is among the show's strongest ever, and not just because of its gay inclusiveness as it was nice to see all the characters geting some airtime and having their "stuff" truly resonate with what was happening with the patients.

Side-bar: I fell in love as soon as I saw the sick soldier and still have the episode on my DVR to watch it again and again. Unlike a certain daytime snoozefest called Nuke, these guys will stay with me for a while. Thanks Rhonda! After the mess of last season and the underwhelming spinoff (Private Practice), you've clearly shown that Grey's has still has a bunch of life left..... More gays, Yang, Hahn, Callie, Miranda, and the Mcguys having guy talk.

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This episode was well done and worked because the actors were really good, they actually showed them kiss passionately, keeping it real, and they used the character of Meredith and the parallels to her personal life to provide greater context (the audience was seeing the event through her eyes).

This show and this episode really contrasts to that Gossip Girl's episode where they avoided showing the kiss, even though two main characters "witness" it and then they have a character scream faggot which made the entire episode seem homophobic (dropping the f-bomb you should at least SHOW the kiss even in flashback especially when the character homophobically using the f-bomb is one of the guys involved in the kiss).

I've never had a bad day in my life

 

And this episode, showing the love, made this old gay mans' heart jump! I am so glad to be alive in these times and pray that they just get better, for all gay youth. WE ALL have to help!