Grey's Anatomy

The Heart of the Matter

Season 4, Episode 4, Aired 10/18/07

Episode Summary

A face familiar to one of the year-twos shows up and dredges up issues that were never really dealt with. A teen football player needs counseling because of his father and surgery for an injury he sustained while playing the game. The girl who was the reason for the prom at Seattle Grace finds out her cancer is back and she brings her aunt Adele with her.moreless

9.1

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Cast & Crew

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Ellen Pompeo

Meredith Grey
Sandra Oh

Cristina Yang
Katherine Heigl

Isobel "Izzie" Stevens

Fan Episode Reviews (27)

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This episode had several story lines involving all the major characters. Callie reacts to George's 'mistake'. Derrick wants more than sex from Meredith.

10

"Perfect"

By franksmama, Jan 21, 2012 Report Abuse

Superb acting and great story lines made this my favorite episode of Grey's ever.
Callie's performance was first rate! She displayed a broad range of emotions (hurt, rage, detachment, disappointment) with her facial expressions and body language as well as delivering her lines in a very believable fashion. The camera close-ups of Richard's face were also excellent. His concern and love for his niece were very apparent with his expressive eyes, voice, and tilt of his head. The interchanges between Christina and Lexie added a great new dimension to the show. Christina is a terrific Nazi - it fits her personality so well. I liked it when Lexie stood up to her saying; "My name is Lexie." after Christina kept calling her '3'. Just when we thought Christina might soften, she calls her '3' again at the end. Nazis never change. I also liked Derrick standing up for Lexie and 'making' Christina be a good teacher instead of just an arrogant condemner. Dr. Bailey is consistently a wonderful actress and it is always a pleasure to watch her work. As usual her performance was dramatic, energetic, and realistic. Of course, the final scene where Derrick lets out his dreams for Meredith and then her typical response was one of the highlights of the show. Their continuing love saga will always be the main part of this show. I've also enjoyed watching the evolution of Alex's character. He finely acts the well-written script for his character. He is finally maturing and not being so selfish.
Izzie had a good show also - she portrayed a screwed up person really well.
Adele, George, and the old guy intern are my 3 least favorite characters - they are just plain goofy.moreless

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A really lousy episode, with excellent but brief parts.

4.0

"Poor"

By g_anatomy, Oct 28, 2011 Report Abuse

The beginning of the episode was just dumb. The nothingness followed on, and then Camille's storyline touches you; then Callie unleashes her wrath in an unexpected way...
About the nothingness, I think the first 30 minutes were an absolute waste of time. Even though the sports guy storyline didn't catch my eye, I think this storyline unearths a very controversial issue: parents pushing their kids too much, over the edge. This happens more than we think, even in CHESS.
Cristina being rude for no reason, and not being able to respond to her duties, was just as bad as treating Lex as a number. If she's studying under you, then you should be teaching! She's not less because she's an intern.
Also, hating Lexie has no use or reason. Lexie starts to be under the spotlight, and she is proving that she is a goog person, a good student and a good friend. About this, Mer states that "We hate the idea of her, but we don't hate the actual person"... (And I start to wonder, why do they hate her if she didn't harm her in any way?) That's the second stupidest statement ever said in Grey's Anatomy... Being the other said in 03x22 (A guy says "You can't date Addison, she's a person. or sth like that).
Cafeteria drama was just lame, and it seems like a tennager's quarrel. I don't know why Izzie thought about fighting since Callie said clearly at the very beginning "We have to talk" This makes all this drama inconsistent.
I liked what Derek said to Meredith, but I couldn't understand at the time why she would just...ignore him? And Callie is unrescogniscible... She's not the strong, fierce and independent woman whe could see in the first episodes she appeared, now came down to ashes and without a possibility to run away with dignity (what happened to Mer)

Camille's story was the best part of the episode. Twas' emotional and touching. I think she made a great performance. This and the scenes in which the song "Hawaii" is played are the best moments of the episode. Also, I liked how Alex reacted, truthful and always in his style.
Then, after the break, it goes down again...
Mer's narration was just fine.

All in all, the episode was bad, but near the ending it was very well written, and aimed straight to the heart.moreless

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Adele brings the chief's niece, Camille to the hospital because her cancer is back. Izzie prepares herself for the showdown with Callie when she finds out George told her about sleeping with Izzie. Derek propositions Meredith.moreless

10

"Perfect"

By breezy2281, Nov 19, 2010 Report Abuse

So the episode starts out with Callie telling George that she forgives him for sleeping with Izzie. Personally, i already saw that one coming. The next thing that popped into my head though, was will George stay with Callie now and try to work things out, or will he still decide to go back and be with Izzie? George runs all over like a chicken with his head cut off trying to find Izzie. He really starts to panic when he finds out that Callie is looking for her also. Everyone starts making bets and whispering behind doors when Callie confronts Izzie and says she wants to talk to her at lunch. When Callie walks into the cafeteria Izzie prepares to fight Callie street style, but Callie responds by saying she only wanted to talk, so she leaves. Later, Izzie tries to talk to Callie but Callie tells her not to come looking for forgiveness from her. Derek propositions Grey by telling her he wants to take her away for 2 days on a bit of a vacation. Tension rises with Meredith when she realizes that Derek seems to be getting to know Lexie and might even start to be friends with her. Yang tries to step in but Derek keeps coming to Lexie's defense and overriding Yang's decisions. I personally think Derek is stepping out of line and interfering where he shouldn't be. Does he honestly think if he get's close to Lexie that Meredith will want to get back with him or something? The chief's niece Camille gets brought in by Adele and we find out there's a mass in her throat so big that Camille couldn't breathe. We find out the cancer is back and Adele begs Richard to talk their niece into doing everything she can to survive. Richard had to make the hard decision of being her doctor rather than her uncle by respecting her wishes when she told him she didn't want to fight anymore and just wanted to go home. Adele was not very happy with this, and that might be it for him trying to save his marraige. A young football player comes into the hospital with his father/coach and we find out he's paralyzed. His father is so harsh and pushes the boy so hard that the kid breaks down and tells them to make his father leave. The boy needs to have his spine pulled back in place or he might not ever walk again. Lexie made a mistake here by touching his hand while trying to calm him, which could've moved him and screwed everything up. Yang threw her out but Derek stepped in again. A young woman comes into the hospital and reports that she fell off her stairmaster while reading, but her foot is almost completely blue. After finding out that the woman's boyfriend agreed to move in with her only if she got back down to the size he wanted, we realize that she has basically been starving herself. After the woman starts vomiting up a lot of blood we find out she has a very bad bleeding ulcer, which ultimately resulted in her death. Callie freaks out on the boyfriend and Bailey confronts her, telling her she almost lost her career. We also find out that Callie obviously doesn't forgive George. I think part of it is because he really doesn't want to be forgiven yet either. Alex finds out that Izzie slept with George and tells her that he is embarassed for her. I actually think he might be a little bit jealous since he told Izzie that she told him she wasn't ready after Denny's death, and the first guy she sleeps with is George. However, when Izzie is crying at the end of the episode Alex hands her a box of tissues and askes her to keep it down. Could this be a tiny glimpse of compassion? Izzie also brought up Jane Doe in this episode to throw back in Alex's face when she was telling him not to judge her. Derek tells Meredith that this might not be the best weekend to get away, and she gets a little annoyed that he and Lexie have been talking about her. When Grey asks what they talk about Derek told her all the things she was afraid to hear, such as that he wants to marry her, have kids with her, build a house and die old together. He says he'll wait for her, but basically lets her know that it might not be forever. This actually sparked me to wonder even more if we are going to see something happen between Derek and Lexie? Another great episode.moreless

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My favorite episode besides the last two, of season 4. I felt for Callie in this episode. Mostly because I've been in her situation before.

10

"Perfect"

By sibowittz, Oct 03, 2010 Report Abuse

I love this episode! It's amazing! I always re-watch it every chance I get. One of my favorites of the entire series. It really gave me a new perception of Callie. The scene that really sticks with me is when Callie and Izzie are talking in the hallway of the hospital, while (Hawaii by Meiko) plays. I love that song! I also liked the stuff with the Chief's niece...sad. I've been in Callie's shows before...it's very awkward, especially when you really love the person who cheated on you with someone you know, a friend, and you act like you've forgiven them, but you can barely look at the person. And you want to pretty much kill the person they cheated on you with. It's so messy! So I definitely felt for Callie in this episode. Very good!moreless

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Loved it. My favourite of the season so far!

9.4

"Superb"

By stewie1423, Jun 18, 2008 Report Abuse

I loved every minute of this episode, it was funny, emotional and the medical cases were good to. There was not one character I didn't enjoy this episode. The whole fight at noon thing was so funny, Izzie putting up her fists, taking of her shoes and earrings was all just hilarious. But then Callie came and thought Izzie just stop before ... but then it was too late. I think it was fair what Callie said to Izzie, though I am routing for Gizzie. Alex I guess had a right to be angry she did turn him down, the tissue thing at the end was nice. The start with George running was again just so funny. Cristina and Lexi, what a pair. I liked the way Cristina had the power but it kept being taken away by Dereck. I'm glad she said sorry in her own way. Derecks speech was great and about time he said it as well. I liked Merediths reaction as well, it hinted that they could back together but on the other that they might not. Like her relationship with Norman in this episode. So as you can tell I loved this episode and hope the rest of the season will be as good (I have a feeling it will be). Next weeks sounds brilliant!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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Notes
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- International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: Jádro pudla (The Heart of the Matter) Slovakia: Jadro veci (The Core of the Matter) Edit
- Original International Air Dates: Italy: Monday, January 7, 2008 on Foxlife Saudi Arabia: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 on ShowSeries Australia: Sunday, February 18, 2008 on Network 9 Latin America: Monday, March 3, 2008 on Sony Entertainment Television Germany: Wednesday, March 5, 2008 on ProSieben Finland: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 on Nelonen The Netherlands: Monday, March 31, 2008 on Net 5 Croatia: Thursday, April 3, 2008 on RTL TV Israel: Monday, April 7, 2008 on YES Stars 1 Czech Republic: June 1, 2008 on Prima Norway: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 on TV2 Romania: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 on TVR1 Edit
- Music Featured In This Episode: 1. Sun Comes Up by John Legend 2. Hawaii by Meiko 3. Better Already by Northern State 4. Milk and Honey by Prince Fatty feat. Hollie Cook 5. The Absence of Your Company by Kim Richey 6. Rockers to Swallow by Yeah Yeah Yeahs Edit
Quotes
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- Lexie: I just wanted to say thank you for saving my ass in surgery today. Cristina: That's my job, 3. Edit
- Adele: I already lost one baby, now I have to lose Camille, too. Richard: I am not going to use to Camille to try and make up for the fact that I never gave you children. Adele: I didn't ask you to. I asked you to talk to her, to convince her-- Richard: I can't do that. ... I can't do that Adele. I can give her all the options in the world, but I cannot make her do what I want her to do. I'm her doctor. Adele: I thought being a doctor was about saving lives. After all these years, of choosing your job over your family... The one time that I ask you to do your job to save this family. Richard: Adele, I'm sorry. I'm truly, truly sorry. Adele: So, am I, Richard. (walks away) Edit
- Mark: I'm writing you both up. Meredith: It wasn't Norman's fault, He's my responsibility, I'm the resident, I'm the only one that you should write up. Mark: That's very noble of you, Dr. Grey. Stupid, but noble. (walks away) Norman: For the record, Dr. Grey, I don't find you stupid at all. I find you quite smart. (Meredith smiles) Edit
Allusions
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- Episode Title: The Heart of the Matter The title of this episode is a reference song by Don Henley, released in 1989. The Heart of the Matter is also a famous song by soul singer India Arie. Edit