Well, everything appears to be back to normal on "Grey's Anatomy" after that whole ferry boat incident. It's almost like Meredith didn't even "die"! With all of the regulars still living and breathing, it's time for them to refocus on what really matters: doomed relationships, drinking, and inappropriate sex.

I was glad to see my lighter-hearted "Grey's" back, but it seemed like things went back to pre-sweeps days a little too fast. It's a little like the whole clinic-opening-in-eight-days debacle — can't we all just have a moment to talk about how Meredith almost died? All of this is really just a way of stalling so I don't spoil the big, humongous, scream-at-your-TV moment that came at the end, though, so if you want to talk about that, read more

OK, guys: George and Izzie. I hate to invoke the signature "Grey's" phrase so early in the recap, but: seriously? I've always thought all the sweetness of their relationship came from them being friends without sexual tension, and to have them sleep together kind of kills that for me. On the other hand, if the writers were going to take that direction, I'm glad they went the drunken sex route rather than the "I've always had feelings for you" path. Also, if I'm not mistaken, this makes George — George! — the character who has slept with the most others (Meredith, Callie, Izzie). Even Mark Sloane isn't reaching those levels.

Meredith — who, yes, is back at work already — decides to use her mom’s death and her own "near-death whatever" to try to be nicer. "People are what matters," she deadpans to Izzie after Izzie yells at her for letting Alex move in. "Paint with all the colors of the wind." The kinder, gentler Meredith even agrees to have dinner with Thatcher and his wife, despite the fact that she ducks into a broom closet to avoid them.

Cristina has her own reason to hide: Colin Marlowe, her former professor-slash-boyfriend, who arrives at Seattle Grace as a candidate for chief. Burke gets suspicious that Cristina is just jumping from one powerful heart surgeon love interest to another, especially when he finds out Cristina and Marlowe were together for three years, until one day Cristina just decided it was over. Burke tells Cristina that if she’s just marrying him to placate him, he wants no part of it, and in the end, Cristina seems to sincerely wonder whether she’s screwing up her engagement on purpose.

But their troubles seem small compared to George and Callie. George finally gets around to asking Callie how she can afford for them to stay in the hotel, and Callie admits gets boatloads of money from her parents. George yells at her for making him pay his share when she's practically an heiress; Callie says this must be about Izzie, who clearly has feelings for George. It’s pretty much every argument they’ve ever had wrapped up into one, and it ends with George getting kicked out of the hotel room.

Izzie is assigned to a patient who has a bullet stuck in his shoulder from being shot by his own men during war, and he's devastated that when the bullet finally comes out, it's too worn down to prove it. Izzie tells him there's something to be said for letting go, and of course she's talking about Denny. Meanwhile, all of the other attendings continue to bicker like children in the race for chief. The surgery plotlines seemed to be lessons about pushing people too hard: Alex recommends that Jane Doe have a surgery that nearly kills her baby, and Derek almost loses an old friend when he attempts a radical procedure.

Meredith's dinner goes fine until Thatcher confuses a childhood picture of her with one of his other daughter. Luckily, the power goes out, allowing Thatcher to escape to the basement while Meredith and Susan bond. Thatcher and Meredith eventually have a tender moment, when he fixes the porch swing that hasn't worked since Meredith was a kid.

George comes to Izzie with liquor and a request that she get over her problems with George's marriage, because George is having problems with his marriage and he needs Izzie to fix them. They get drunk, and George confesses that Callie thinks Izzie has feelings for George! How crazy is that! Cue sex eyes. The last thing we see is Izzie waking up in bed, naked (she checks under the covers to be sure, hilariously), with George next to her. Uh-oh.

Photos copyright 2007 ABC, Inc.

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