Brave New World (Grey's Anatomy)

"Brave New World" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the ABC series, Grey's Anatomy. It aired on October 16, 2008.

Episode recap

Richard reminds the residents that they can no longer specialize. Cristina is upset about being assigned to the clinic, but shares her best cardio tips with Meredith, including how to perform a complicated procedure she's never done before. Erica lets Meredith do the procedure but advises her, "If you lie to me again, the next heart you'll see will be your own as I cut it out of your chest with a steak knife!"

Callie is nervous about her first date with Erica, and confides her nerves to Miranda, who suggests she regard it as a trip to a foreign country. At dinner, Erica promises Callie there's "lots of undiscovered territory above the belt."

Izzie is mad at Alex for stealing a case that she diagnosed, but Mark tells her, "Surgery is like the Wild West. Karev's a cowboy, you're not," and that she's out of luck. Derek won't help either, so Izzie goes back to her patient and tells him that Alex has been "off his game." The ploy works: the patient asks for her to be reassigned to his case. When Alex protests, she tells him she's done "wiping up your snot and covering your ass." Derek reminds them both that he's not their roommate when they're at work. "You two ever pull that crap again on one of my cases, I will have you thrown out of the program," he warns.

A patient with a rash brings Cristina to the dermatology department. When she sees the special privileges that the department gets, including massages, long lunch breaks to head to the spa, and a much more calm and care-free environment, she cannot believe it's the same hospital. Meredith, Izzie and George all marvel at how relaxed and civil the department is, with no fighting over surgeries. At the end of the day, however, they admit how bored they'd be without life and death cases.

George passes his intern exam—and Lexie is anxious to celebrate but is crushed when he goes to tell Izzie and Meredith first. At Joes, instead of sitting at George's table, Lexie drinks at the bar by herself.

Derek starts clearing out the home office that used to belong to Meredith's mother and comes across an old diary of hers. Meredith is not happy that he's been "snooping" and Derek offers to move out. After thinking it over, Meredith insists he should stay. "I may not always be so graceful about it, but I want you here." Meredith takes the diary and reads it aloud with Cristina.

Alex finally apologizes to Izzie for how he's treated her since his breakup with Ava. "I know I'm being an ass. But you can't be pissed off at a chick for losing her mind, so there's nobody else to be pissed at but you," and all her resentment seems to melt away.

Title reference

This episode's title refers to songs by New Model Army, Kings of Convenience, Glenn Frey, Iron Maiden, Charlotte Church, Styx, Reagan Youth, Richard Ashcroft and Hedley. Brave New World is also the name of a 1932 science-fiction novel by Aldous Huxley. The original quote is from Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Music

Patrick and Eugene - "Altogether Now"
The Bird & The Bee - "My Love"
Emiliana Torrini - "Big Jumps"
The Whitest Boy Alive - "Done With You"
Joshua Radin - "One Of Those Days"
Brett
Dennen - "Ain't Gonna Lose You"
Bernadette Moley - "Love to Me"
The Rescues - "My Heart With You"