I Saw what I Saw (Grey's Anatomy episode)
Encyclopedia
I Saw What I Saw is the sixth episode of the sixth season of Grey's Anatomy
. This episode's format is different from the usual format of episodes from the show, since it depicts the events in a whodunnit
style, exposing them from different points of view in a fast-paced way. It is also the second episode featuring the Mercy West residents, who play an equal role with the Seattle Grace residents throughout the episode.
) about to be discharged dies after a medical negligence mistake committed by one of the many surgeons who treated her. Chief Webber then starts a witch hunt to trace back the culprit and identify the cause of death. Each doctor gives his point of view of the chaotic scene that happened in the ER that day: Owen, Cristina, Bailey, Alex, Callie, Lexie, Charles (better known as Charlie), Jackson and Reed. The case of the patient then starts to be reconstructed. Her deep second degree burning, her chest pain, her pneumothorax
and the cricothyrotomy
Alex had to perform on her are exposed, as well as several other parallel storylines and medical cases linked to the fire.
Reed ultimately realizes that the mistake was committed by April, who forgot to check the patient's airways, already swelled by the smoke, after being distracted by a patient with an axe stuck in his chest. Richard then fires her. The residents are shown having various reactions, as some complain about the absurdity of April's mistake, while Cristina shows empathy for her former enemy. Derek then criticizes Richard, telling him he was initially responsible for the situation by setting chaos in the ER with the merger.
A subplotline of the episode includes Alex desperately seeking Izzie and calling her frequently to convince her to come back, even threatening to file a missing person report.
A review posted on tvfanatic.com says:"The question is whether it worked. We're going to go with a definitive yes ... and no."
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
. This episode's format is different from the usual format of episodes from the show, since it depicts the events in a whodunnit
Whodunit
A whodunit or whodunnit is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final...
style, exposing them from different points of view in a fast-paced way. It is also the second episode featuring the Mercy West residents, who play an equal role with the Seattle Grace residents throughout the episode.
Plot summary
After victims burned in a hotel fire are brought to the hospital, Seattle Grace and Mercy West residents compete to get the best cases. Unexpectedly, a woman (Cathy Becker, played by Erinn HayesErinn Hayes
Erinn Hayes is an American actress from San Francisco, California, known for her role as Melanie Clayton on the CBS comedy series Worst Week...
) about to be discharged dies after a medical negligence mistake committed by one of the many surgeons who treated her. Chief Webber then starts a witch hunt to trace back the culprit and identify the cause of death. Each doctor gives his point of view of the chaotic scene that happened in the ER that day: Owen, Cristina, Bailey, Alex, Callie, Lexie, Charles (better known as Charlie), Jackson and Reed. The case of the patient then starts to be reconstructed. Her deep second degree burning, her chest pain, her pneumothorax
Pneumothorax
Pneumothorax is a collection of air or gas in the pleural cavity of the chest between the lung and the chest wall. It may occur spontaneously in people without chronic lung conditions as well as in those with lung disease , and many pneumothoraces occur after physical trauma to the chest, blast...
and the cricothyrotomy
Cricothyrotomy
A cricothyrotomy is an incision made through the skin and cricothyroid membrane to establish a patent airway during certain life-threatening situations, such as airway obstruction by a foreign body, angioedema, or massive...
Alex had to perform on her are exposed, as well as several other parallel storylines and medical cases linked to the fire.
Reed ultimately realizes that the mistake was committed by April, who forgot to check the patient's airways, already swelled by the smoke, after being distracted by a patient with an axe stuck in his chest. Richard then fires her. The residents are shown having various reactions, as some complain about the absurdity of April's mistake, while Cristina shows empathy for her former enemy. Derek then criticizes Richard, telling him he was initially responsible for the situation by setting chaos in the ER with the merger.
A subplotline of the episode includes Alex desperately seeking Izzie and calling her frequently to convince her to come back, even threatening to file a missing person report.
Reception
The review posted on TV Squad says:"There was a lot of potential that this episode could have gone with.[...] The thing about what made [...] the Grey's episode poor was the fact that in Grey's all perspectives were the same."A review posted on tvfanatic.com says:"The question is whether it worked. We're going to go with a definitive yes ... and no."