I had the same thoughts as you but Shonda Rhimes, the show’s creater and writer, claimed in this interview she followed SWAT protocol to the letter. I don’t know any better so I guess I have to take her word for it.

That said, I’ve always liked the show but no longer get the channel. Guess I’m going to have to do some backtracking on hulu. I heard from tons of people how incredible this episode was. And, the thing is, I have a friend who works in the ER, and crazy stuff happens there all. the. time. It just does, so the unreality of the show doesn’t bother me so much.

At first I thought the same about cell phones but then there was that scene which showed even if they’d called, help couldn’t come right away. Shonda Rhimes said in this interview she wrote it following exactly the SWAT protocol she was told by consultants. As for Yang rushing the shooter, people react differently in a life-threatening situation. Some people freeze, while others take action. She’s a petite woman, she may have thought she couldn’t take on a big guy wielding a gun.

Love you back and big hugs to all!

I have to admit I don’t like Michael O’Neill’s acting. As you said, he gives the same performance in everything. It’s always ACTING, while I prefer the subtle approach (see above comment re: McKidd).

I don’t watch PRIVATE PRACTICE but didn’t feel like this was a shark jump. I’m glad they didn’t have a cliffhanger, which I think is overused.

OMG!!! I couldn’t believe it!!

“Do you know how to get to Dr. Shepherd’s office?”
“Sir, I’m very busy. You shouldn’t even be back here-”
BLAM!

“Hey, what’s going on?”
BLAM!!

Geez! That was wild!! It got kind of all we-going-for-the-emmy-speech quite a few times toward the end, but the story itself stayed strong.

Really glad I recorded to watch so I could do the rewind thing on Owen.

Great job to the crew of Grey’s Anatomy!!

Suddenly no one had cell phones?? Not one person picked up a cell phone during this crisis. I thought Karev would have pulled out his cell and called for help instead of dragging himself to an elevator he couldn’t operate.

Bailey (brilliant as always) just gave up when the elevators didn’t work? Why didn’t she call and try and get some outside help.
Why did it take the SWAT teams so so so so long to get into the hospital. Why would Yang not slice his jugular and her scalpel when his back was to her??

I felt there were so many holes along the way. I’ve loved Grey’s from the beginning, and loved the Denny episodes and the bomb in the chest bit. Those killed me. I was disappointed in this finale.

I also question why these shows revert to so much violence?? Remember ER? The helicopter falling out of the sky? The Congo executions? That’s when I stopped watching. It just became so disturbing.

I’m not usually so picky. I really enjoy sitting back and being entertained but this stuff really bugged me!

Love you!!!

I’ve not been pleased with GA overall recently and have stuck with it only through habit. But, you are right, this episode was edge-of-your-seat compelling. One plot flaw that had an easy fix was the SWAT guy not stopping Clark when he had the chance. That could have been fixed by having practically any other character, from a central to an extra, pick up a dead security guard’s gun and shoot Clark in the shoulder.

The Best Acting Award of the Night goes to Kevin McKidd when Owen talks to Meredith and Kepner before entering the OR where Christina is working on Derek. We had to back the DVR up and watch that scene again once we knew what he was looking at. Honorable Mention goes to Chandra Wilson when Bailey told Clark she was a nurse and in the second half when Bailey loses it since Bailey NEVER loses it.

Any episode of any program with Michael O’Neill in it is a good episode to watch. I know that he graduated from the Sam Elliott/Tommy Lee Jones School of Acting where he always plays each character the same, but damn, he does it so well!

I have to wonder though, was this episode a potential shark jump? Even though (thankfully) it didn’t leave us with a major cliffhanger, think of other shows that ended their seasons with mass shootings, explosions, crashes, etc. Did those other shows survive another season?

I agree that, much like the season ender of Private Practice, they resolved a handful of relationship issues rather abruptly. But, I guess that’s where the “choices” theme comes into play.

PS – When we watched the season finale of Private Practice, I assumed that they had been canceled because SO MUCH got wrapped up in the last five minutes. They weren’t canceled, but I wondered if they thought they would be.