Good Mourning (Grey's Anatomy)

"Good Mourning"is the first episode and theseason premiereof thesixth seasonof theAmerican televisionmedical dramaGrey's Anatomy,and the show's 103rd episode overall. Written byKrista Vernoffand directed by Ed Ornelas, the episode aired on theAmerican Broadcasting Company(ABC) in the United States on September 24, 2009.

"Good Mourning"
Grey's Anatomyepisode
Episodeno.	Season 6 Episode 1
Directed by	Ed Ornelas
Written by	Krista Vernoff
Featured music	"Wade In The Water" "The Fox" "Speaking A Dead Language" "This Sweet Love"
Original air date	September 24, 2009(2009-09-24)
Running time	43 minutes
Guest appearances
Shannon Lucioas Amanda Mitch Pileggias Larry Jennings Debra Monkas Louise O'Malley Zoe Boyleas Clara Ferguson

In the episode, the doctors of Seattle Grace Hospital grapple with the shocking revelation that a deadJohn Doeis actually their beloved co-workerGeorge O'Malley(T. R. Knight). Other storylines includeIzzie Stevens' (Katherine Heigl) recovering from hernear-death experience,andCallie Torres(Sara Ramirez) and Izzie debating whether to donate O'Malley's organs. Meanwhile,Derek Shepherd(Patrick Dempsey) is offered the position of Chief of Surgery, a role currently held byRichard Webber(James Pickens, Jr.).

Although the episode was fictionally set inSeattle,Washington,filming took place inLos Angeles,California.The episode is the first part of a two-hour season premiere, followed by "Goodbye".It marks the first episode without Knight following his departure from the series and the first to featureJessica Capshaw(Arizona Robbins) as a series regular. Guest stars includeMitch Pileggi,Debra Monk,Shannon Lucioand Zoe Boyle.

Upon its original broadcast, "Good Mourning" was watched by 17.03 million viewers in the United States, ranking #1 for the night, and earned a 6.7/17Nielsen rating/sharein the 18–49 demographic. The episode received positive reviews from television critics, with Ramirez's performance receiving high praise.

Plot

The episode opens with avoice-overnarration fromMeredith Grey(Ellen Pompeo) explaining theKübler-Ross model,also known as the five stages of grief.

The doctors at Seattle Grace are dealing with the aftermath ofGeorge O'Malley(T. R. Knight) being declaredbrain deadfollowing his injuries from being hit by a bus. Meanwhile,Izzie Stevens(Katherine Heigl), who flatlined at the end of theSeason 5 finale,has been revived.Callie Torres(Sara Ramirez), George’s ex-wife, is devastated by the news of his death and suffers an emotional breakdown. The situation becomes even more challenging when it is revealed that George'sorgan donorstatus is unknown, leadingRichard Webber(James Pickens, Jr.), the Chief of Surgery, to call George's mother, Louise (Debra Monk), to make the decision.

Stevens, still recovering from her near-death experience, remains unaware of George's death, and her husband,Alex Karev(Justin Chambers), decides not to tell her immediately, fearing it could negatively impact her recovery.Pediatric surgeonArizona Robbins(Jessica Capshaw) is introduced to a patient complaining of body pain, which she initially diagnoses asgrowing pains.

As George's mother arrives at the hospital, she asks Torres to make the difficult decision regarding the donation of George's organs. Meanwhile, aspeedboataccident victim, Clara Ferguson (Zoe Boyle), is brought into the hospital with multiple amputations, andplastic surgeonMark Sloan(Eric Dane) informs her that they may be able to reattach her severed limbs. Hospital president Larry Jennings (Mitch Pileggi) approachesDerek Shepherd(Patrick Dempsey) with an offer to take over as Chief of Surgery, citing Webber’s recent shortcomings in the role.

After learning about George's death, Stevens is devastated, but she joins Torres in deciding to donate George’s organs, believing he would have wanted to help others. As preparations for organ donation begin,Miranda Bailey(Chandra Wilson), George's former mentor, struggles to accept the loss but eventually comes to terms with it.

At George's funeral, the woman O'Malley saved, Amanda (Shannon Lucio) is shown hysterically crying, while Meredith,Cristina Yang(Sandra Oh), Karev, and Stevens, awkwardly laugh and joke, unable to process their true emotions.Lexie Grey(Chyler Leigh), George’s close friend and colleague, is tasked with clearing out his locker, but breaks down in grief. After the funeral, Bailey discharges Stevens from the hospital, and Robbins is left perplexed when her young patient returns with chronic pain that she cannot diagnose.

Torres is frustrated when she learns that her application for an attending surgeon position has been denied because the surgeon who was supposed to retire decided to stay. Feeling underappreciated, Torres vents her anger to Webber, declaring herself a "superstar". The episode concludes with Lexie comforting Clara Ferguson, the speedboat victim, as she faces her recovery.

Production

"Good Mourning" is the first episodeT. R. Knightdid not appear in.

Zoe Boyleportrayed Clara Ferguson.

"Good Mourning" was written byKrista Vernoffand directed by Ed Ornelas. Joe Mitacek served as editor, while Donald Lee Harris was the production designer for the episode. Featured music includesSweet Honey in the Rock's "Wade In The Water" andJoy Williams's "Speaking A Dead Language". This episode marked the first absence ofT. R. Knight's character,George O'Malley,following his character's death. Knight was released from his contract at the end ofSeason 5due to disagreements with series creatorShonda Rhimesover the lack of screen time for O'Malley. When asked to make aflashbackappearance inSeason 6,Knight declined.

Vernoff shared her perspective on O'Malley's death: "It's heartbreaking. I fell in love with George, like many of you did, inSeason 1.He was impulsive, big-hearted, and yeah, it's that heart that had him jump in front of a moving bus to save a life. It's a devastating end to a beloved character, but I would argue with anyone who said it wasn't a fitting end ".In the episode,Derek Shepherd(Patrick Dempsey) is offered the role of Chief of Surgery but postpones his decision out of loyalty to his friendRichard Webber(James Pickens, Jr.). Vernoff offered her insight on this:

"Derek was pretty freakin' noble. So noble! Cause you KNOW how much he wants that job. It was the promise of the Chiefdom that brought him to Seattle from NYC to begin with. And right here, the job was his for the taking. And out of loyalty and friendship, he went to [Webber] and warned him."

— Krista Vernoff,Grey Matter

One of Vernoff’s favorite scenes from the episode was the moment when O'Malley's colleagues laugh at his funeral. Reflecting on the scene, Vernoff noted: "Shonda gave me smart notes that enhanced the writing, and then the wonderful director Ed Ornelas and the amazing DP Herb Davis, along with the entire crew, made it visually beautiful. And then the actors… damn, did they all bring their A game to this scene. It's a collaboration. What it takes to make good TV is a huge coming together of a great many artists. What it takes to make great TV is all that plus a little magic and a little luck. And that’s what I feel like we had with this scene. It's so funny and so bittersweet and so, so sad".

Release

Aired back-to-back with the following episode, "Goodbye",as part of a 2-hour season premiere special," Good Mourning "was originally broadcast on September 24, 2009 on theAmerican Broadcasting Company(ABC) in the United States. The episode attracted a total of 17.04 million viewers during its 9:00 PM Eastern time-slot.It became the series' second least-viewed season premiere at that time, only outperforming theSeason 1premiere, "A Hard Day's Night".Compared to the previous episode, it saw a 0.08% drop in viewership.Despite this slight decrease, the episode ranked first in both its time-slot and across the entire night, surpassingCBS's juggernautCSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

In terms of ratings, "Good Mourning" achieved a 6.7/17Nielsen rating,placing it first in bothrating and sharepercentages for the 18–49 demographic. The episode also earned a 10.9/18 rating in the 18–34 demographic, outperforming CBS'sThe Mentalistand securing the #1 spot in both ratings and shares for the demographic.

Reception

Sara Ramirez's performance asCallie Torreswas highly praised by several critics.

"Good Mourning" received positive reviews from television critics, withSara Ramirez's performance asCallie Torresreceiving high praise.

Alan SepinwallofNJcommented on the decision to air the two episodes together, stating: "I keep going back and forth on whether it was a good idea to do that, or if we'd have been better off spacing out the tearful speeches over two weeks. That isn't to say there shouldn't have been tears, or speeches.George O'Malley's (T. R. Knight) death, no matter how marginal he had become last season, is and should be a huge event in the lives of these characters. "He noted that rushing through the Kubler-Ross model of grief would have felt disingenuous, but criticized the pacing:" When you put two episodes back-to-back, those rhythms—the pace at which the acts build to emotional crescendos and then briefly recede—start to become too predictable, and it sucks some of the life and emotion away. "Sepinwall praised the performances ofChandra Wilson(Miranda Bailey), Ramirez (Torres), andJustin Chambers(Alex Karev), and highlighted the funeral scene for its bittersweet and humorous tone, especially the laughter during O'Malley's funeral.

Michael Pascua ofHuffPostalso praised Ramirez's performance, calling her "the most genuine character".However, Pascua was critical of other elements of the episode, particularly the handling of the funeral scene, writing: "The funeral wasn't as sad as I thought it would be. There were so many pre-episode pictures up that I thought the funeral would take up half the show, then it was five minutes and it wasn't sad at all. The core group walked away andIzzie Stevens(Katherine Heigl) spread the giggles. She laughs at the fact that she has cancer, like this was all some really badly-written show. Oh wait, it is! "

Kelly West ofTV Blendwas also critical, writing: "I don't think based on the first episode that we can say thatGrey'sis headed in a new direction, nor do I think the writers are making much of an effort to bring the series back to the greatness of its earlier seasons. "West added that despite these concerns, the season premiere still featured the usual drama, romance, and medical mysteries that kept the show engaging for its core audience.

Glenn Diaz ofBuddyTVnoted that the two-part premiere foreshadowed a "very dark" season, highlighting the conversation between Louise O'Malley (Debra Monk), George's mother and Torres as one of the most heart-wrenching moments of an already emotionally charged episode.

External links

• "Good Mourning"atABC
• "Good Mourning"atIMDb