A dream is fulfilled. But first, the background. At the onset of the episode, Seattle Grace is infiltrated by Mercy West-ers. The merger has forced the chief to lay off even more people, and so both staffs are trying to undercut one another in order to survive. Dressed in orange scrubs, the no-mercy Mercy West residents quickly outmaneuver our old friends from Seattle Grace.
Izzie falls prey to a resident named Charles — he manipulates her into thinking they’re friends, and uses her for information and favors. Once Izzie discovers the ploy, she’s so upset that she sucks the potassium out of a kidney-transplant hopeful, nearly killing her, not to mention killing her chance at a healthy kidney. Way to go, Iz.
Lexie ends up stealing the notebook-cum-diary of the Mercy West chick on her beat, makes fun of her with it, and eventually apologizes, telling the burglar patient she’s doing surgery on that she’s not into stealing anymore. After that ridiculousness passes, we get some meaty developments with Cristina, who’s still in search of a cardio surgeon who can show her the ropes. She cries to Meredith (laid up in bed after a liver transplant — actress Ellen Pompeo recently gave birth) that she misses Burke — not for the romance, but for their working relationship. We miss Burke, too! Remember when this show used to be so good? Sigh.
Callie’s suspiciously Caucasian-looking but Spanish-speaking dad returns, and tries to convince her that the Bible says she shouldn’t be a lesbian. Arizona gives him some speech about being a good person in a storm, and her cute lip quivers convince him to accept Callie for who she is: a pretend homosexual.
And finally, we get what we’ve been long hoping for: the firing and subsequent disappearance of Izzie Stevens, a.k.a. Katherine Heigl. After Izzie’s near-fatal mistake with the kidney-transplant woman, the chief gives her the ax, mentioning that Alex was concerned about her mental and physical well being. And so ever-dramatic Izzie leaves Alex, writing him a note saying she’s gone for good. Since Heigl is signed on for another a year, we know she’ll be back — but at least we should have a few Izzie-less episodes coming up. And meanwhile, there are all those Mercy West-ers to hate.