A Change Is Gonna Come

Season 4, Episode 1, Aired
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Episode Summary

Entering their first year as residents, Meredith Grey, Cristina Yang, Izzie Stevens and Alex Karev now have interns of their own to mentor. The interns are welcomed by new chief resident Callie. Among the new interns are George, forced to repeat his internship after failing his exams, and Lexie Grey, Meredith's half-sister. Many new interns will be introduced in this season premiere. And they'll have their hands full when a three-car accident sends multiple casualties pouring into Seattle Grace. Some of the doctors need to deal with their new stressed out interns. A young boy brings his bleeding deer to the hospital in the hope a doctor will save her. Cristina searches for Burke. Richard resumes his post as chief of surgery. Derek and Meredith reach an impasse. Bailey wrestles with things at the hospital not turning out like she thought they would.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (59)

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  • What was that?

    7.0
    "Good"
    By lozza1525, Oct 21, 2011 Report Abuse
    Last night the S4 premiere of Grey's aired here, and one word would describe what I felt about this episode: disappointment. Frustration would also sum it up for me. If you compare this episode to one from S2 or S1 then you'll see just how crappy it was. Aargh, I can't vent how much I hated this episode! Just to rant here is a short list of the characters that annoyed me the most:

    1. Lexie: Me, me, me, me, me. Okay, we get it, your Meredith's sister, but did you have to bombard her with this information as she was trying to get a critical patient into the ER? Oh yes you had to didn't you? I can tell you are going to annoy me so much. :(

    2. George: Get over yourself, your pathetic lovelife and just freakin' do your job. Stop complaining that you have to repeat your intern year and deal with it, it happens, and perhaps you should've concentrated more on studying than Izzie or Callie, or choosing between Izzie and Callie. :roll:

    3. Izzie: Where to begin? You need to get over this disgusting obsession with George and concentrate on getting your interns to pay you some respect, and your hardly going to achieve that by treating a deer, what a ridiculous storyline. :roll:

    However, it wasn't all bad IMO. I loved, loved, loved Bailey and Cristina in this episode. I loved how Bailey kind of took a stand to Callie by showing her weaknesses and also siding with Alex. Cristina is definitely the new Nazi, bravo to her, I enjoyed her authority over Lexie and setting her straight. Bravo to Sandra Oh for that performance too!

    The absences of Addison and Burke are felt terribly in this episode, I am really going to miss my Addie, but not to worry, I shall be watching Private Practice when it airs here.

    Oh, and what a terrible ending...moreless

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    1 2

  • A new set of interns arrives at Seattle Grace Hospital.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Valentine_76, Mar 14, 2011 Report Abuse
    This episode proved that this show plans on growing bigger as the years pass.

    Bailey's "Residents" give HER SPEECH to their interns, which includes Meredith's step sister Lexie. George starts the first day of his internship, again. Lexie introduces herself to Meredith and then runs into Dr. Shepherd (the guy in the bar). A dead guy breathes and has to have surgery. The only thing holding his head on his shoulders is skin. His wife and two children come to see him before surgery. One Blink is yes, two is no, and three blinks means I Love You. His daughter leans over so he can see her and blinks three times. Izzy saves the life of a deer for a little boy. Meredith and Derek break up. Then kiss and have break up sex. George tells Izzy he loves her.moreless

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    0 0

  • This season premiere was good, we get to see changes (nwe people, looks, relationships), still is not good enough. Grey's Anatomy is getting further and further from the previous seasons (and that's no good)moreless

    8.0
    "Great"
    By g_anatomy, Jan 10, 2011 Report Abuse
    I am from Latin America and I waited exactly 5 months to watch this episode. It was good, but not good enough, and this series is in a rut (if we are taking into consideration the last episodes of season 3, that were worse than the rest of the series).
    This rewiev has two parts: good and bad things.
    Good things are: the deer drama, Christina's performance and George's confesion at the end of the episode, Izzie's lesson to their interns
    Bad things are: everybody being (or trying to be) nazis (that wasn't necesary and certainly that isn't like most of them), some new looks, MerDer break up scene, Callie suffering and LEXIE GREY (:@).
    1
    A)Deer drama/Izzie: Izzie tried to play a role that is very different from her, the nazi and teacher role. This is why their interns were so bored to death. When she tried to save the deer she was trying to show something about her, that she never looses hope. This lesson was really important, and she, sadly, had to take care of bad interns. This is a good start, and she's not a bad teacher.
    B)Cristina: her new look, and her nazi attitude was great! She and Alex are nazis, they have it on their blood, and the rest does not. We get to see her human side and I loved what she says to the man in surgery. C) "I love you too": finally, I was waiting for that! It was a good thing, he said how he had been feeling since the beginning of this story.

    2 (Bad thigs).
    A) Nazis: Only Alex and Cris were true nazis. Izzie? It doesn't fit for her, and Meredith probably realised, and what she did was cool: she was so herself when she said "but sleep alone, but not with attendings, it's not a good idea" or something like that. Not everybody can act like nazis.

    B) Looks: Callie seemed a book, Alex a porn star (of a really cheap movie), Cristina a box fighter. I liked Mark's hair.

    C) MerDer break up scene: I really don't understand where such drama and problems come from. They're meant to be togheter, and they're always fighting, but I don't know why!
    When this started in 03x19 and in 03x20 I really didn't understand what was goin' on. They shouldn't have had that break up sex, because it means that there are posibilities to believe in that relationship, or that they gonna have a hard time from that moment on... They should have broken up and go to their own places (and take a cold shower).

    D)Lexie Grey: She was annoying from the very beginning. She kinda interrupted everything they were doing to see her. Okay, she's your sister...but you're in a hospital! Please back off! They were only two moments when I liked her: was when she talks to George, but at the end of the conversation, and in the lockers when she talks about bringing that baby to the world. The rest was...annoying.

    All in all, it was just and Ok episode. I hope everything gets better soon!moreless

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    2 1

  • Season 4 Premiere where everyone deals with the aftermath of what happened in the season 3 finale.

    7.5
    "Good"
    By Starghella, Sep 10, 2010 Report Abuse
    I seriously don't even know why I watch this show. I hate Izzie, like I really hate her character. I also hate George. I strongly dislike Meredith, oh so sad, she's damaged. She's also 30 and needs to deal with it already. Derek was once a hot doctor and now is a whiny baby. I like Christina and did really feel bad for her about Burke leaving. I like Karev well enough although I don't think they give him quite enough screen time and obviously I love Bailey. I think I watch this show because it is addictive but I felt as though the season premiere was kind of a let down overall. I will obviously continue to watch because, like I said, I can't stop myself, but overall I think the quality was subpar.moreless

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    1 4

  • Lexie is Cristina's intern, George is Meredith's intern. Alex misses Rebecca and Cristina misses Burke. Callie struggles as Chief Resident whilst Bailey is still dealing with not getting the job. Meredith and Derek are broken up but not broken up...moreless

    9.7
    "Superb"
    By spongebodge, Sep 10, 2010 Report Abuse
    I waited (along with many of us out there) for months on end for this premiere and I must say, it fulfilled my expectations just fine. I only started watching Grey's like 4 months ago and I finished the first 3 seasons in a grand total of 2 weeks. As for this premiere, I'm glad it's going down the road that makes it less dark and twisty and depressing than Season 3 was. There were plenty of classic Grey's funny moments. The whole deer debacle made me laugh. Personally I'm not a huge fan of Gizzie; I liked them better as best friends. I'm not big on George with Callie either though. I think George should stay single for a while though I have a feeling something may happen between him and Lexie.
    Meredith and Derek..what can I say. I can't wait for next week to see how their relationship plays out, I love their chemistry and I don't think they'll break up for real...I hope not. I'm looking forward to this season, I have a feeling it's going to be more laid back and relaxed than last season. Going back to how it used to be in the first two seasons :)moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • A fake deer was used for all the scenes when the injured deer was lying motionless in the truck. However, they used a real animal for the brief shot of the deer standing up, magically recovered. According to associate producer Karin Gleason, Katherine Heigl (Izzie) had to sit in the truck for hours while filming, waiting for the deer to be "in the mood" and stand up for them. Heigl passed the time by reading a book, and when the deer finally jumped up unexpectedly, Heigl was ready with her character's shocked and happy reaction. Gleason has stated previously that she was very impressed with the actress's patience and performance in this scene. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • This episode takes place 17 days after the previous episode: Didn't We Almost Have It All? Edit
    • International Titles: Czech Republic: Měním se, tedy jsme (I am Changing Anyway I Am) Slovakia: Čas zmien (Time of Changes) Edit
    • Original International Air Dates: Italy: Monday, December 10, 2007 on Foxlife Portugal: Thursday, December 20, 2007 on Foxlife Australia: Sunday, February 10, 2008 on Channel 7 Latin America: Monday, February 11, 2008 on Sony Entertainment Television Sweden: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 on Kanal 5 Germany: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 on ProSieben The Netherlands: Monday, March 10, 2008 on Net 5 Croatia: Monday, March 17, 2008 on RTL TV Czech Republic: May 11, 2008 on Prima Norway: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 on TV2 United Kingdom: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 on Living Romania: Tuesday, October 7, 2008 on TVR1 Thailand: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 on Star World Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Meredith: I...uhm.... Derek: You're not ready for this. Meredith: No. Derek: I asked for too much. Meredith: I think so. Derek: So, this is it? Meredith: Yeah. Derek: We're breaking up? Meredith: We're breaking up. Derek (walks to Meredith): We're broken up. Meredith: It's done. (they start kissing) Derek: Break-up kiss. Meredith: Break-up kiss. Derek (removes his jacket): And some break-up sex. Meredith: Yeah, break-up sex. Edit
    • Callie: What? You wanna humiliate me some more? 'Cause I get it. I suck. I suck at my job, I suck as a wife, I suck all around, so... go ahead, humiliate me some more, please. Bailey: Hope tomorrow's better. Edit
    • Alex: I filled this entire bag with coins from my patients stomach today. Cristina: No kiddin'. Alex (long pause): I miss Rebecca. Cristina (long pause): I miss Burke. Alex (holds up the bag of coins): You want some money? (Cristina smiles) Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Cristina (to her interns): I have five rules. Memorize them. Rule number one, don't bother sucking up. I already hate you, that's not gonna change. Izzie: Traumas protocol, phone lists, pagers. The nurses will page you, you answer every page at a run. A run. That's rule number two. (notices the interns are not following her) You're supposed to follow me. Alex: Your first shift starts now and lasts 36 hours. You're grunts, nobodies, the bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, work every second night until you drop. And you don't complain. Meredith: On call rooms. Sleep when you can, where you can. You know, but not with anybody. Not attendings, especially not attendings. Sleeping with attendings, not a good idea. Where was I? George: Er, rule number three. If you're sleeping, do not wake you unless the patient is actually dying. Cristina: The dying patient better not be dead when I get there, because not only will you have killed someone, you will have woken me for no good reason. Are we clear? (Lexie raises her hand) Yes? Lexie: That was four rules. You said five. Cristina: Rule number five. When I move, you move. (awkward pause as nobody moves) Go! (Cristina's interns scramble off) This is a reference to the very first episode, "A Hard Day's Night" in which Bailey tells Izzie, Meredith, Cristina, and George the same thing. And Lexie, does what Meredith did. (From "A Hard Day's Night") Bailey: I have five rules. Memorize them. Rule number one, don't bother sucking up. I already hate you, that's not gonna change. Trauma protocol, phone list, pagers, nurses will page you. You will answer every page at a run. A run! That's rule number two. Your first shift starts now and lasts 48 hours. You're interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, run orders, work every second night until you drop, and don't complain. On-call rooms. Attendings hog them. Sleep when you can where you can, which brings me to rule number three. If I'm sleeping, don't wake me unless your patient is dying. Rule number four: the dying patient better not be dead when I get there. Not only will you have killed someone, you would have woke me for no good reason. We clear? (Meredith raises her hand) Yes? Meredith: You said five rules. That was only four. Bailey: Rule number five: When I move, you move. (looks at pager and starts running) Edit
    • Izzie: I'm not doing it for him I'm helping Bambi. Bambi the animated story (1942 movie) of Bambi, a young deer hailed as the 'Prince of the Forest' at his birth. As Bambi grows, he makes friends with the other animals of the forest, learns the skills needed to survive, and even finds love. One day, however, the hunters come, and Bambi must learn to be as brave as his father if he is to lead the other deer to safety Edit
    • Episode Title: A Change is Gonna Come The title of this episode is a reference to the song A Change is Gonna Come by Otis Redding. This is also a song by Sam Cooke, released in 1965. and a song by Leela James, released on her album A Change is Gonna Come in 2005. Edit

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