Grey's Anatomy: Season 2 (2005 - 2006)

Season Two of Grey's Anatomy picks up exactly where Season One left off, with the unexpected arrival at Seattle Grace Hospital of brilliant surgeon Addison Shepherd (Kate Walsh)--much to the dismay of Addison's estranged husband Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), to say nothing of Derek's current amour, surgical intern Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo). Naturally, Meredith feels betrayed by Derek, and keeps on feeling that way throughout the rest of the episode. Meanwhile, chief of surgery Dr. Webber (James Pickens Jr.) recovers from his operation with the special help of intern George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), who has been appointed official bearer of gossip from the hospital; and Meredith's friend and coworker Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) has big news for her boss Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington)--and vice versa. Finally, arrogant intern Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) displays a hitherto untapped streak of compassion when the team's favorite bartender Joe suffers a heart attack.

The OR staff has its hands full with the victims of a spectacular car crash caused by flagrantly careless driver Bob Seibert. In the course of events, it is revealed that Seibert is a drug abuser, wife beater and all-around louse--and he is also in desperate need of a liver transplant. Ironically, the perfect donor turns out to be the very man whom Seibert killed on the road, placing the surgical interns smack in the middle of a major ethical dilemma. Elsewhere, George (T.R. Knight) is forced to work side by side with the same nurse who gave him syphillis; Webber (James Pickens Jr.) gets what-for from his wife (Loretta Devine) for having brain surgery without her knowledge; Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Cristina (Sandra Oh) do their best to lose themselves in their work and forget their romantic travails; and we finally find out the reason for the rift between Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Addison (Kate Walsh).

Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Cristina (Sandra Oh) open the episode by cryin' the blues over getting romantically involved with their control-freak bosses. Back at Seattle Grace, Meredith's mom Ellis (Kate Burton), a brilliant surgeon struck down by Alzheimer's, is treated for diverticulitis--which unexpectedly becomes the catalyst for several revelations on the part of several secret lovers. Cristina resists the notion of telling Burke (Isaiah Washington) that she is pregnant, but this becomes a moot point when she collapses in the surgery room and Addison (Kate Walsh) is forced to perform an emergency operation. A young female patient (Angela Goethels) who suffers from uncontrollable blushing finds herself in the middle of a few interdepartmental intrigues. And George (T.R. Knight) is finally able to get the best of the insufferable Alex (Justin Chambers) when he is handed an unusally difficult assignment.

On the verge of signing their divorce papers, Addison (Kate Walsh) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) have second thoughts--and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) fumes from the sidelines. Recovering from her miscarriage, Cristina (Sandra Oh) proves the old adage that doctors make the worst patients. Kindhearted George (T.R. Knight) is run ragged by Meredith's delusional mother Ellis (Kate Burton), who imagines that she is still a busy surgeon with tons of patients. Bailey (Chandra Wilson), aka "The Nazi", shows her human side when she is reunited with a young cystic fibrosis victim (Thomas Ian Nicholas). And Alex (Justin Chambers) worries that his medical career may end before it even gets properly under way.

A power outage at Seattle Grace traps George (T.R. Knight) in an elevator with a seriously wounded police officer (Daniel Bess), forcing him to perform emergency surgery. The outage also causes another patient to lose his "pain medication"--to be exact, his collection of video porn--forcing Cristina (Sandra Oh) to do some clever improvising. Elsewhere, after trying to convince a religious zealot to authorize surgery for his daughter, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) has a showdown with Derek (Patrick Dempsey). And Meredith's delusional mother Ellis (Kate Burton) waxes nostalgic over her long-ago love affair--with Seattle Grace's chief surgeon Webber (James Pickens Jr.)

A planned romantic rendezvous for Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) is interrupted by a train wreck which brings dozens of victims into Seattle Grace. Among these are a twentyish woman named Bonnie (Monica Keena) and a middle-aged man named Tom (Bruce A. Young), who form an unusual bond while impaled together on a pole. Meanwhile, a critical operation is put on hold while Cristina (Sandra Oh) searches for the patient's missing leg; Addison (Kate Walsh) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) struggle to save the life of a burn victim's unborn child; and Alex (Justin Chambers) tries to care for his patient Mary (Juliette Jeffers), despite the obnoxious interpolations of Mary's friend Yvonne (Kym Whitley)--whose ceaseless carping about Alex's medical skills and bedside manner cause him to wonder if he has chosen the right profession after all.

Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) sullenly continues to cool her jets while Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Addison (Kate Walsh) consider giving their marriage a second change. Back at work, Meredith and the other interns are nonplussed by a male patient named Shane (Joe Sikora), who is convinced that he is pregnant. Meanwhile, Alex (Justin Chambers) tries to persuade an 18-year-old girl named Nicole (Michelle Ongkingco) to undergo corrective surgery--and at the same time, Nicole gives Alex advice on his relationship with Izzie (Katherine Heigl); George (T.R Knight) finds himself identifying with the long-suffering husband (Reni Santoni) of an overbearing heart patient (Elaine Kagan); and Cristina (Sandra Oh) and Burke (Isaiah Washington) aren't sure whether to let everyone know about what's going on between them.

Addison (Kate Walsh) is caught in the middle when her old friend Esme Sorrento (Janet Rotblatt) wants to have her uterus removed to prevent cancer, while Esme's husband Joe (Shelley Berman) is dead set against the operation. Elsewhere, George (T.R. Knight) is saddled with another eccentric patient, this one a suicidal window washer (Geoffrey Rivas); try though she might, Meredith can't avoid running into Derek (Patrick Dempsey); and Cristina (Sandra Oh) prepares for an important date with Burke (Isaiah Washington). The episode's pivotal moment occurs when Dr. Bailey discovers why she has been so unusually lethargic (a plot twist dictated by actual events in the life of actress Chandra Wilson, who plays Bailey).

As Izzie (Katherine Heigl) busies herself preparing for a lavish Thanksgiving dinner, both Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Cristina (Sandra Oh) sneak back to the hospital. Upon arrival, Meredith helps Derek (Patrick Dempsey) look after a man who has awakened from a coma after sixteen years--only to determine that he would have been better off remaining asleep. Meanwhile, George (T.R. Knight) is strongarmed into joining his father and brothers on a turkey shoot, with disastrous results. And Bailey (Chandra Wilson) finally realizes that the "Nazi" everyone is always talking about is none other than herself. George Dzundza appears unbilled as George's dad.