‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Man Hunt

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Was there anybody in the hospital that Hunt (Kevin McKidd), a.k.a. the cocky new head of trauma, DIDN’T tick off in last night’s episode of “Grey’s Anatomy”?! I mean, besides Anatomy Jane.

First, the guy goes and stabs a bunch of poor pigs, all as a teaching exercise for the residents and interns during a mandatory skills lab. That sent a horrified Izzie, who refused to participate, into an ideological tizzy and prompted her to label him a “murdering, sadistic bastard.” Then he had the audacity to kick Derek and Mark out of the ER after they’d been paged for help with a head injury and burn victim. He’d prefer the residents learn how to treat trauma victims without the help of any attendings save himself, thank you very much. And finally, there was the former military doc’s bumpy reunion with Cristina. Just a few weeks ago, he was heroically removing an icicle from her chest and wrapping her up in a steamy kiss. This time around, he couldn’t even seem to remember her name. Not OK. So not OK.

And yet, you couldn’t really hate Seattle Grace’s newest addition. Or at least I couldn’t. Yes, the guinea pigs were disturbing. (Enough so that ABC felt the need to remind us not once, but twice, during the episode that no animals were harmed during filming.) But ‘Grey’s’ needs a fresh antagonist, and Hunt is emerging as a potentially complex one. How awesome was it when Derek and Mark went to yell at him for encouraging Alex to glue together that patient’s scalp wound -- and, instead of getting defensive, he earnestly asked what else he could’ve done. “This is day 1 for me,” the latest scrubs stud told them. ‘So if you think there’s a better way, then tell me and I’ll listen.”

Or how about when Cristina called him on the name thing and he wound up getting all emotional and explaining that yes, he had remembered, but that was Before. As in before his last tour in Iraq, when his surgical unit got caught in an ambush and he was the only one of 20 who made it out alive. Yikes. Let’s see: Emotionally wounded, whip-smart, kinda jerky but not just for the sake of being jerky, and scruffy-hot -- check, check, check and check. There’s no way Cristina’s not falling for this guy.

Speaking of falling, Izzie and Alex could be doing that too. Though he, at least, clearly has no idea how to go about the whole thing, what with asking Izzie if she’s “all in” or if he should go on sleeping with Michelle somebody. (Class-y.) But at least he admitted he was clueless, and at least he seems willing to learn. That’s progress. And what to make of Callica, the episode’s other newbie couple? I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it’s probably not the best of signs when Callie spends most of the episode hooking up in the on-call room not with Erica, but with Mark.

What did you think of the episode? Are you feeling Hunt or do you wish he’d be sent back to the war zone? Where do you think all this Meredith’s mom’s diaries stuff is going? And finally, how odd/cool was Mer’s removable organ doll, Anatomy Jane??

--Shawna Malcom