Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response
Grey’s Anatomy is filled with drama. Whether it be between the characters or with the patients there is always something happening.
In episode 26 of the second season there is a lot of drama. The name of the episode is Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response. The Fight or Flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to perceived harmful event, attack or threat to survival.
The narrative structure of Grey’s Anatomy follows Bathes Narrative Theory and it goes with the hermetic code. Grey’s also uses viewer anticipation because you are constantly wondering what will happen next.
In every episode there is always a story told about two or three patients. In this episode the three patients are Burke, Denny and Camille. Burke is in the hospital because he got shot, Denny because of his heart and then Camille is at the hospital because she has ovarian cancer. Camille is Dr. Weber’s niece and throughout the episode it tell her story about how she has cancer. The events throughout the episode go back and forth during the episode.
In this episode there are people who are heroes and some who are considered villains. The guy who shot Dr. Burke and some other people at the hospital is considered a villain. He is not represented well and we actually do not really get to see him only when he is in the ER because he tried to shoot himself too. They do try to save him though and Cristina says something while she is helping him. He shot Burke and she is Burke’s girl friend so she was really upset that he shot him. She says “What? I want to be able to tell his family I did everything I could to save his pathetic, miserable life. Give him three of epi. Now.” (Christina Yang) This shows how Christina felt about the villain in this episode Another villain in this episode is Izzie. She did a really bad thing and she let her emotions get the best of her. She ends up having to suffer the consequences because of her actions. Also the other interns cannot believe what Izzie has done and are not happy with her but they still do everything they can to try and help her fix it. That is how she is represented for what she did.
Every installment, typically, commences with a voice-over narrative from Meredith Grey or a season regular, foreshadowing the theme of the episode. This is how the all of the episodes of Grey’s start and end.
This video shows some of the best openings for Grey’s and how the opening and beginnings of each episode make you want to watch the episode because it is usually really dramatic and intense and also shows you what the episode is going to be about. Most of these openings is Meredith talking but there is also one where Christina is talking and one when Denny talks. The episode I watched is the last one (starts at 6:22) and many of the characters talk.
The opening credits is really catchy.
The song used is called “Cosy in the Rocket”and you mainly hear just the instruments. In the opening though the song says over and over “nobody knows where they might end up” which I think is really crucial and true when it comes to this show. The opening credits also shows that this show isn’t just about being a doctor but about the sex and relationships in the show. You know this because at the end it shows two peoples legs and it looks like they are doing something sexual. When I watch the opening credits it makes me wonder but I think it is calm unlike the rest of the show which is very dramatic and intense.
According to Barthes Narrative Theory and the Television Criticism text book, there are three stages to the hemeneutics code. Those are, the enigma, the delay and then the resolution. First, the text book states that the enigma is suppose to engage our interest and cause us to want to see how it is resolved. There are many enigmas in Grey’s. In this episode of Grey’s the enigma is that Izzie cut the LVAD wire of her patient and that Burke got shot outside the hospital on his way to get Denny’s heart for the transplant. The delay is what stalls or postpones the solution to the enigma. In this episode the delay is when it shows the parts about Camille. Although Camille is important the other two patients, Burke and Denny are more dramatic and I think the viewers are more interested in finding out what happens to them. There is no resolution to this enigma because we do not find out what happens to Izzie or Burke until the next episode.
During this part of the episode all of the interns find out about what Izzie has done and they all try everything they can to try and help Izzie save Denny. While they are all trying to find out what to do it is very stressful and chaotic. The enigma in this part of the episode is that Izzie cut Denny’s LVAD wire and now they are trying to figure out how to save him. The delay is when they inject the medicine into him and they are waiting looking at the monitor to see if it is going to work. The monitor beeps and shows nothing for about 10-15 seconds and creates a lot of suspense and wonder. The whole time when I was watching this part I was freaking out because you don’t know if he is going to die or not. Then after the long dramatic wait the monitor beeps and we know that he is okay which is the resolution. But then after Dr. Bailey comes in and says “you fools better have a good explanation for this.” which then causes another enigma because then you wonder what is going to happen to them. Like I said before this show is FULL of enigmas.
There are a ton of different stories told during each episode of Grey’s. The way the show tells its stories and how the story is told is by using dramatic and intense scenes from the hospital and by making bad things happen so that you feel empathy for the characters and want to keep watching to see what will happen. Grey’s anatomy uses drama to tell it’s stories because it keep its interesting and it keeps people attentive and makes them want to keep watching. The drama in this show is one of the reasons why I am so obsessed with it and binge watch it everyday!