• ABC.com Recap
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  The interns are cramming for their boards and everyone wishes they could get their hands on Callie’s notes because she was ranked first in her year. Meanwhile, Burke is trying to get Cristina to sample cakes for the wedding, even though she doesn’t care.

  Meredith feels bad for telling Derek he was “hovering” so she says she’s going to communicate more, but she can’t see that he’s the one who’s being withdrawn and distant now.

  George and Izzie congratulate themselves on how they’ve put their mistake behind them and have gone back to just being friends.

  The chairman of the hospital board, Larry Jenning, is admitted with a delicate situation: His testicles are horribly swollen after his trip to the Amazon. Accompanying him is assistant, Celeste, who tells them she’ll need to be tested too since she’s having an affair with Larry. Addison and George examine her and she thinks they must be judging her for sleeping with a married man and they are quick to reassure her that’s not the case.

  Jenning wants Richard himself to work on him, not to delegate the job. He accuses Richard of losing his edge as a surgeon and becoming just a politician. And that maybe he was wrong to name Richard as Chief of Surgery in the first place and it might be best if he is stepping down after all.

  Jenning’s X-ray reveals a rare fish that swam up his penis when he urinated in the Amazon river! It’s now lodged in his bladder and could lead to sepsis unless they operate immediately. George tells Celeste that she’s not in danger but that Larry has gone into surgery. She admits that she’s thinking of leaving Larry, just as his wife shows up.

  A man who’s had a runny nose for weeks comes into the clinic for the fourth time and Izzie tells him it’s just a cold. Sydney, who’s running the clinic for the day, says that might have been fine with Miranda, but she’s going to make sure the patient gets full care under her watch. She orders Izzie to do a nasal lavage. Miranda stops in and wants to send the man home, but when she sees blood on the pillow, she orders a CT scan instead. It turns out he was leaking spinal fluid through his nose because of a brain herniation. Miranda feels terrible about having sent him home three times before and insists on scrubbing in.

  Mark reminds Addison of their “no sex with anyone else” bet and that there’s only 28 days left to go. She’s less than enthusiastic. Since Ava is on bedrest near the nurse’s station, she’s heard all the hospital gossip, including about their bet. She tells Alex, after she apologizes for yelling at him. Addison notes how attentive Alex is being to Ava and wishes someone were as concerned about her blood pressure. Alex says he’s pretty sure in 28 days, Mark will be.

  Addison confides in Callie that she wants someone who will barbecue and teach kids to play ball and she doesn’t think either Mark or Alex are that guy, even if she can’t stop thinking about Alex. Callie thinks Alex could be and that his bad boy days are behind him. She reveals that she knows George was with Izzie when he said he wasn’t. She’s sure it’s nothing but Addison tells her that her instincts are probably right.

  Ava overhears their conversation and urges Alex to go after Addison, since she wants him and not Mark. Just then, she starts seizing. The baby is in distress, so they need to do an emergency C-section. Ava panics but Alex assures her she’s ready and she’s not alone. After the delivery, they take the baby away and she starts to freak out. Alex goes to comfort her and her blood pressure returns to normal.

  Addison angrily confronts Alex in the hallway, demanding to know if she has another Denny Duquette situation on her hands. Alex insists that he needs to be that prepared if he’s going to be in her O.R. In the heat of the confrontation, she kisses him and pushes him into the nearest room and they start tearing each other’s clothes off. Mark sees them emerge from the room afterward and puts two and two together.

  He makes a move on Meredith, who turns him down, saying revenge sex is never the answer and he should just be an adult about it. Addison asks Mark out for a drink so they can talk, but he tells her no, he’s not the guy for her. He lies and says he slept with someone, so the bet is off.

  At lunch, Meredith says she thinks that the penis fish is “instant karma” for cheating. Cristina points out that she’s cheated on people and escaped karmic payback and then poses the question to Izzie and George that she can’t be the only one. They freeze, then turn the conversation to which wedding cake they prefer.

  Everyone leaves the table but George and Izzie, who say it’s no big deal that they didn’t answer the cheating question because everything is fine. Callie walks up, sees that they’re playfully feeding each other cake and keeps going in disgust.

  Cristina tries to get Callie’s notes but Callie says no. But when Cristina gripes that she’s just going to give them to George, who’ll only share them with Izzie since they’re “like an exclusive little unit,” Callie hands the cards over. Callie corners Izzie and says that she can’t compete with Izzie, since Izzie is George’s best friend. “Give me my husband back,” she begs.

  Richard successfully removes the penis fish from Jenning. George tries to chat up Izzie and she tells him he’s her penis fish: He’s latched on and she can’t get rid of him, so things are not okay. Meanwhile, Jenning’s wife tells George, “The wife always knows.” Celeste leaves Larry and it appears that his wife might be leaving him as well.

  Richard orders Miranda to go home and stop beating herself up about the one case she got wrong, adding that if she doesn’t go home soon, she might not have a family to go back to. Izzie is sadly eating wedding cake samples when Burke asks which one she likes best. He says no one ever tells him anything, so she tells him she slept with a married man and that it was George. He just keeps talking about the cakes, saying how much his wedding day and Cristina mean to him. Cristina is busy studying with Callie’s notes when Burke asks her which cake she likes best. She finally picks the same one Izzie did and he seems pleased.

  Addison finds Alex studying and volunteers to quiz him. He tells her she’s not his girlfriend and that he’s busy.

  Meredith goes to see Derek at his trailer, apologizing again for the hovering remark. But when she finally notices he’s not happy, he tells her he can’t get over the fact that when she fell in the water, she didn’t swim. Ever since then, he’s been trying to breathe for her, he says and he doesn’t know if he can keep doing that. She says she should go and he doesn’t stop her.

• Adam’s Immediate Reaction
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  Talk about set-up episode. Don’t get me wrong, tonight’s episode was awesome, but it’s so obvious that “Desire” was used as a last-minute resort to set up any changes made to the final 3 episodes of the season – Gizzie love, Addison moving to LA, etc. I did love tonight’s episode, however. The Addisex hook-up, or what we saw of it, was hot. The Mark/Meredith encounter kinda freaked me out though. I was like “Oh God…” But thankfully Mer was smart. Derek, on the other hand, has gone from Mc-Total-Dreamy to McAss. Seriously! I mean, I do like the fact that he’s addressing that Meredith didn’t try to save herself. But give the girl some credit. She’s trying. She’s changed. Right? She was communicating! She was getting naked in his freaking bed! They had McSex for God’s sake! But at least this problem is realistic and addressing pleas of the fans. I do like that. The cake thing cracked me up tonight. I feel so sorry for the actors for having to eat cake non-stop for eight consecutive days, but the whole storyline made me laugh. The fish-in-the-penis storyline, while I thought it was hilarious (and kinda gross), seemed to play a little too much off of the Gizzie affair. And, seriously, WTF? George transferring to Mercy West? Uh, HELLO! I don’t think – no, I KNOW he won’t go, but still. This concerns me. But, did you notice? Izzie kisses George in the next episode! Wait – not time to discuss “The Other Side of This Life” promo yet. Back to “Desire.” Yah. At first, I thought the whole Mer communicating thing was cute. And so Meredith. And then it started to annoy me. But then, it made sense and was totally cute – no, not cute, hot. God do I love her. I think it’s a little bit scary how much I love Mer. Callie…I just don’t even know how to feel about Callie. I didn’t like her at all during Season Two, and I loved her in Season Three pretty much up until around the time Gizzie slept together. Now I just don’t like her again for some reason. So, while I feel sorry for her, at the same time I don’t. Oh well. And Bailey. God I hated how Richard and Sydney kept bitching about her tonight. She’s obviously one of the best surgeons in that hospital. But Richard’s last line to her tonight does make me wonder – will Bailey have marital problems next season? Sounds like a lot of shake-ups are already in the works for Season Four.
  OK, now onto the promo for “The Other Side of This Life.” This is the episode we cannot wait to see. TWO FREAKING HOURS. Addison in LA with the hot cast of her new show. Meredith freaking getting SLAPPED by HER DAD. [Hopefully McAss will turn back into McDreamy based off that fact.] Trying on wedding dresses! Oh man, next week is going to be the freakin’ bomb and I cannot wait for it. Grey’s has only got 4 hours left on the air this season, and they’re making sure they’re going to be great ones. Way to go Shonda. Way to go.
• Blanca’s Immediate Reaction
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  wonderful. amazing. perfect. and then “i don’t want to breathe for you.” that jerk. that freak. that man that i can’t hate. i swear if he wasn’t good looking he would be dead. just like thatcher is going to be for slapping poor meredith. oh the things i could say right now. but no. no profanity here. anywho back to mcjerk. derek pretty much used meredith. basically it’s like let’s have sex. let you make me a happy man. and then let me tell you how i really feel and make you leave. real nice. bet you’re gonna regret that next time you get lonely. just likeaddison. once again i could say so much but i won’t. i’ll keep it all in for the sake of my critiquing career. she was lonely. she wanted someone to prove that she was needed, that she was wanted and desired. so she sleeps with alex [ew.] come on addison?! remember the “perfect 12 year old” comment you made to derek awhile back. yeah who’s sleeping with the intern now? but i did love how mark rised above that. above addison. yes he may have askedmeredith to sleep with him but he’s a manwhore. it’s who mark is. but he was willing to change that for addison. um that kinda screams commitment right there. and correct me if i’mwrong but didn’t addison say that’s what she liked about alex? she’s so blind. the man you want is right in front of you, ready to change his life just for you and you screw another man because you don’t think he’s the guy for you. idiot [rolls eyes] i did however love some parts of this episode. burke and cristina…absolutely smitten in love. george and izzie. hate to say it but they are growing on me. but poor callie. i still feel for her. yes she may have tried to beat up meredith awhile back but come on guys. she doesn’t deserve that. no sir. nobody deserves that. seeing your husband, the man you love whole heartily, fall in love with another women. and not just fall in love, but fall in deeper love. don’t tell me she deserves that because she doesn’t [sigh] ava. i actually liked her this episode she was funny. and she had a girl! how precious. haha p e n i s fish guy. now that was funny. and then the wife knowing about the assistant. that made me giggle. that guy deserved it. just like meredith said. karma :] so now we wait. until next week. which i am beyond excited for. thatcher slapping meredith. GRR! that man is dead. he does not live breath or have a pulse anymore. and derek chasing after meredith and she runs off. and mark. after all addison has done to him he still freaks out when he learns that she is gone. now that is a good guy. sorry for seeming so angry. hah you guys should have seen me after that episode. but all in all my point is…derek is a jerk. an unhateable gorgeous jerk. meredith is so strong and she doesn’t deserve all of this. burktina = adorable. george and izzie. sweet but wrong. very wrong. addison is so blind and [sigh] she’s beyond help. finally mark. poor mark. sweet mark. commited mark. you didn’t deserve that dear. i say 9.999999 stars out of 10 stars. for sure.
• Music Guide
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  “The Secrets of Amanda Prine,” The Reddmen
  You hear this song as the interns are studying for a big exam.

  “Better Off,” Let’s Go Sailing
  Callie and Addison talk about relationships while this song plays.

  “Again & Again,” The Bird & The Bee
  You hear this song as the interns continue studying, while testing out wedding cakes.

  “Nausea,” Beck
  You hear this song as the characters participate in various operations.

  “How Am I Doing,” Anna Waronker
  This song plays at the end of the episode. Cristina is studying and picks a cake. George and Izzie talk about the future, and Addison tries to get Alex to hang out with her.

• Writer’s Blog, by Mark Wilding on 04.26.07
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  Desire.  It can wreck your life.  It can be, as Izzie rightly says, your Penis Fish.  It can crawl up inside you and… yeah, you pretty much know the rest… So that’s what I’m gonna talk about in this blog.  Desire and the metaphor we came up with to represent it.  The Candiru.  Or Penis Fish.  I won’t call it a Candiru.  I’ll call it a Penis Fish because that’s a lot funnier to say than Candiru.  I’m not sure if Penis Fish should be capitalized, but if you had one in you, you’d probably think it’d be worth capitalizing.  In fact, ALL the letters in it probably deserve to be capitalized.  PENIS FISH.  However, I don’t want to be accused of sensationalism so we’ll just keep it at Penis Fish.

  First some background.  My personal desire has been to do this story for a long time.  In fact, it’s been the whole writing staff’s desire.  We actually had the story in a couple of previous scripts but it never quite worked out.  It either didn’t work with the theme of the episode or we’d just done a show with someone having penis troubles and we didn’t want to do penis overload, as it were.

  Second, the Penis Fish is a real thing.  It’s more of a parasite than a fish.  It likes to swim up the little eddies created by a fish’s gills.  Then it stops and latches on to the insides of the unsuspecting fish.  The unsuspecting, unlucky fish.  And then it, well… feeds.  Yeah.  Very yucchy.  It’s found in South America.  However, unlike, say, telenovellas, it’s not coming to America anytime soon.  You will not find it at your local swimming hole or the YMCA.  It’s strictly Amazon.  But it does exist.  Look hard enough on the Internet and you’ll find a picture or two of the thing.  It’s thin enough to get in your urine stream, slippery enough to avoid capture and agile enough to work its way inside you.  Where it gorges on your blood or tissue.  And gets bigger.  So when the Chief pulled it out at the end, that’s about what it really looks like.  Hey, we do our research.  The Discovery Channel even has some web site where they do a re-enactment of the thing swimming into some poor guy.  Even that fake re-enactment gives you the willies.  At least I hope it’s fake.

  So George and Izzie make the mistake of thinking they can somehow quench their desire.  That by ignoring it and saying it’s not there, they can simply move on.  Be best buddies again.  It’s not that nothing happened.  Something did.  But they think they’re strong enough and wise enough to deal with it.  It was a one time thing.  A simple mistake that can be rectified by their own determination to put it behind them. The trouble is… their desire keeps getting in the way.  And that’s why George has hit upon a new way to deal with it.  Go West, young man.  In this case…Mercy West.

  It’s not just George and Izzie that suffer from this affliction.  All our couples in this episode suffer with some form of metaphorical Penis Fish – a desire that’s hooked into you and won’t let go.  Look at Derek and Meredith.  They got what they desired.  Each other.  But once you get what you want, is it really what you want?  Because, unfortunately, love isn’t just about desire. At some point it’s about other stuff, too.  Getting through the day to day.  Putting up with your partner’s snoring.  Wondering if they have, well, some kind of death wish…

  Those things tend to complicate relationships.  Eat away at them.  Make you wonder if you’re getting out of it what you put in.  How many problems can you take before the taking gets too hard?  Derek tells Meredith he doesn’t know if he can keep breathing for her.  It’s not just costing him the chiefship, it’s also…wearing him out.  She’s his Penis Fish.  Does he want to get rid of his Penis Fish?  That’s impossible, right?  It’s Meredith and Derek.  It’s just a bump in the road.  Or is it?  Well, all I can say for now is stay tuned…

  Addison and Alex have been desiring each other for what seems like forever.  And we finally pay it off with a tryst in the on-call room.  How about that?  THEY FINALLY DID IT (now that deserves all capital letters).  We’ve never done a tally of the various places where our people have done it in the hospital.  I have to think the on-call room leads the way, with storage closet a close second.  But Alex clearly has major issues with girls who like him.  So he detaches himself pretty quickly from any possible entanglement.  He won’t let Addison be his Penis Fish.

  And finally Burke and Cristina.  Burke wants his relationship with Cristina to work.  He wants her to choose that wedding cake.  We know what that cake means to him when he sits down with Izzie in the conference room at the end of the episode.  This cake.  For this day.  With this woman.  And in the end, Cristina does choose a cake.  The red one.  The red velvet.  And Burke has hope again.  He’s wanted this wedding all along.  And he’s thinking, hell, maybe now she’s finally on board.  Maybe she finally wants this thing just as much as he does.  Maybe, just maybe, they’re finally heading in the right direction.  The question, of course, is does Cristina feel that way?  She loves the guy enough to have made little compromises along the way (see Stacy’s great episode last week).  But is this whole wedding thing her Penis Fish?

  Okay, even though I said this blog would just be about desire and the Penis Fish, I lied.  Only because I really liked the scene at the end with Bailey and the Chief.  Where he’s leaving for the night and he runs into her filling in surgeries on the OR board for the next day.  And he’s told her earlier in the day that she has to delegate and she just can’t.  SHE CAN’T.  It’s not in her.  And, truthfully, it’s not in him either.  The question is, will Bailey suffer for that?

  The answers to that question and a lot more will be coming up in the next three weeks.  I promise, it’s going to be a GREAT ride.  Next week’s our two hour episode and it’s moving and funny and all things Grey’s Anatomy.  And that’s not even the finale.  In the meantime, if you find yourself in the middle of the Amazon and you have to take a pee, stifle whatever desire you have to go in the river… and just find a nice thicket of trees or a large bush.  And that way, you can avoid being what no one desires – being another odd medical story on the Discovery Channel.

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