I'm going to skim right past Meredith and Derek having sex in the back room and then talking post-coitally about (you'll never guess!) her near-death experience, and go straight to Callie lecturing the Bridezillas. ''You shouldn't have to fight this hard for a wedding,'' she said, winning the State the Obvious Theme of This Surgery Award of the night but also making a good point. ''You fight this hard for a marriage, and sometimes that doesn't even work....Just freakin' let go.''

In fact, that was so wise that I chose to go ahead and ponder it to distract myself from the rather disturbing awake open-heart-surgery sequence. Really not for the squeamish (i.e., me). I still couldn't help paying attention, though, once the guy got all nervous and chattery, thus reminding us all why anesthesia is a wonderful modern invention we should all be thankful for. Why they wouldn't work harder to calm a guy down and maybe have someone to talk him through it, I don't know. And is it too much to ask to clear the gallery for this sort of thing? Does he have to be able to see people staring down at him getting cut open? Or could somebody, I don't know, make out instead? I mean, somewhere else. I'd really just like to watch that instead. But, no, Izzie finally talked him down by having him tell her what kind of birds ('cause he was a big birdwatcher) each of the folks in the gallery would be. Which naturally came with all kinds of incisive character assessments — Cristina was shadowing Hahn's hand movements, so she'd be...some kind of bird that does that sort of thing; and Derek would be this sad-eyed bird....

It's no wonder he's sad, really. I would be, too, if the love of my life refused to be with me and preferred to just whine about not being with me. Especially when she had the nerve to tell Skydiver Guy, who'd just gotten through his appendectomy and, we learned, was secretly in love with his instructor, ''If you never find out how she feels, then that won't be your only scar.'' Meredith's sister, however, had no problem telling Alex how she felt, did she? Came right out and asked him out. I suppose that just proves she doesn't have any Daddy Issues, right? That somehow we should feel even more bad for Meredith? And to skip to the very end for a second, why was it such a massive-shock moment when Meredith discovered them together at home? What difference does it make to Meredith whether those two are hooking up?

Wow, but I have so many more questions about George and Izzie's sex night. First, what was that weird pink bathing-suit-ish thing she was wearing? Cute, but really not sexy. Second, is George going to develop a complex soon about women crying anywhere near sex with him? Because that was a pretty serious breakdown to match Meredith's legendary crying jag two seasons back. And, um, his hand hurts from holding the dress? That is his reason for putting off sex? How do these people not see that it's not going to happen for them?

The only thing worse, really, than them and their non-sex was Meredith and her blah-blah-blahing more about how she wants to be with Derek but can't. ''Does that make me sad and weak and pathetic?'' she asked. Let me answer: Yes. Yes, it does.

What do you think?

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