Grey's: no longer gray

I gave up on Grey's Anatomy back in December, but I figured I'd be back, so I saved all the episodes my DVR recorded between then and now. On Sunday, I sat down and watched them all -- and I'm so glad I did. Grey's. Is. Back.

I don't know why I was frustrated with it before. Maybe it was all the blood during sweeps in the fall. I didn't sign up to watch gross ER-like scenes. (Seth Green, I love ya, but the exploding artery storyline was dis-gusting.) But I honestly think the Grey's writers had gone a bit astray.

Why? Logically, it makes sense to blame Private Practice, Shonda Rimes' Grey's spinoff, for distracting Shonda from her moneymaker. Note that the eps are getting good again now that Private Practice is off the air. You could also blame the Isaiah Washington scandal for distracting the whole Grey's staff and screwing with the chemistry on the show. Or maybe Shonda lost sight of what Grey's viewers really want to see (Strong Cristina, Izzy the Fighter, Lovelorn/Psychotic Meredith, Humanized Bailey, Sensitive but Also Asshole-ish Derek, Unmarried George, and a lot less of the minor/new characters).

Regardless, we're finally back. There's less blood, a little humor, a lot more heart, and I heard that Derek and Meredith are getting together for real at the end of the season. Maybe this is one show that was helped and not hurt by the writers' strike. Seriously.