Grey's Anatomy - Season 1

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"Look, I'm gonna go upstairs & take a shower & when I get back down here you won't be here." - MG

MG: Dr Shepherd
DS: Dr Shepherd? This morning it was Derek. Now it's Dr Shepherd.
MG: Dr Shepherd we should pretend it never happened.
DS: What never happened? You sleeping with me last night or you throwing me out this morning? Because both are fond memories is like to hold on to.
MG: No. There will be no memories. I'm not the girl in the bar anymore and you're not the guy. This can't exist. You get that, right?
DS: You took advantage of me & now you want to forget about it?

Meredith [voiceover] The game. They say a person either has what it takes to play or they don't. My mother was one of the greats. Me...I'm kinda screwed.

"Each of you comes here today hopeful. Wanting in on the game. A month ago you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today, YOU are the doctors. The seven years you spend here as a surgical resident will the best & worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say "hello" to your competition. 8 of you will switch to an easier specialty, 5 of you will crack under the pressure & 2 of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting. This is your arena. How well you play, that's up to you." - RW

CY: That's the Nazi?
GO: I thought the Nazi would be a guy.
MG: I thought the Nazi would be more, Nazi.
IS: Maybe it's professional jealousy. Maybe she's brilliant and they call her Nazi because they're jealous. Maybe she's nice.
CY: Lemme guess? You're the model.

MB: I have 5 rules. Memorize them. Rule number 1, don't bother sucking up to I already hate you that's not going to change. Trauma protocols, phone lists, pagers. Nurses will page you, you will answer every page at a run, a run. That's rule number 2. Your first shift starts now & pasts 48 hours. You're interns, grunts, bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, work every second night until you drop & don't complain. On call rooms. Attendings hog them, sleep when you can, where you can. Which brings me to rule number 3. If I'm sleeping, don't wake me unless your patient is actually dying. Rule number 4, the dying patient better not be dead when I get there. Not only would you have killed someone, you would've woken me for no good reason. Are we clear? Yes?
MG: You said there were 5 rules. That was only 4.
[pager beeps]
MB: Rule number 5, when I move, you move.

[Bailey hands out orders]
IS: Wait...what about me?
MB: Honey, you get to do rectal exams.

MG: You're an attending & I'm your intern. Stop looking at me like that.

DS: Like what?
MG: Like you've seen me naked. Dr Shaped, this is inappropriate. has that ever occurred to you?

"007. They're calling me 007, aren't they?" - GO

"007 is a state of mind." - CY

GO: Maybe I should've gone into geriatrics. No one minds when you kill an old person.

CY: Surgery is hot. It's the marines. It's macho. It's  hostile. It's hardcore. Geriatrics is for freaks who live with their mothers & never have sex.
GO: I've gotta get my own place.

"Next time you wake me, he better be so close to dead there's a tag on his toe." - MB

AK: God, I hate nurses. I'm Alex. I'm with Jeremy. You're with the Nazi, right?
MG: She may not have pneumonia you know? She could be splinting or have a PE.
AK: Like I said, I hate nurses.
MG: What did you just say? Did you just call me a nurse?
AK: Well if the white cap fits.

"I'm sorry. I get mean when I'm tired."- CY

MG: Did you choose me for the surgery cuz I slept with you? 
DS: Yes. [pause] I'm kidding.
MG: I'm not gonna scrub in for surgery. You should ask Christina. She really wants it.
DS: You're Katie's doctor. And on your first day, with very little training you helped save her life. You've earned the right to follow her case through to the finish. You shouldn't let the fact that we had sex get in the way of your shot.

MG: When I told my mother I wanted to go to medical school, she tried to talk me out if it. Said I didn't have what it takes to be a surgeon, that is never make it. So, the way I see it, super hero sounds pretty damn good.
GO: We're going to survive this, right?

RW: Can anybody name the common causes of post-op fever?
MG: Wind, water, wound, walking, wonder drugs. The 5 W's. most of the time it's wind, splinting or pneumonia. Pnuenomia's easy to assume especially if you're too busy to do the tests.
RW: What do you think's wrong with 4-B?
MG: The 4th W, walking. I think she's a prime candidate for a pulmonary embolus.
RW: How would you diagnose?
MG: Spiral CT scan, V/Q scan, provide with O2, dose with heparin & consult for an IVC filter.
RW: Do exactly what she says, then tell your resident I want you off this case. I'd know you anywhere. You're the splitting image of your mother. Welcome to the game.

"All right, everybody. It's a beautiful night to save lives. Let's have some fun." - DS

Meredith [voiceover] I can't think of any one reason I want to be a surgeon, but I could think of 1,000 reasons why I should quit. They make it hard on purpose. There are lives in our hands. There comes a moment when it's more than just a game and you either take that step foreword or turn around & walk away. I could quit but here's the thing I love the playing field.

"We don't have to do that thing where I say something and then you say something and then somebody cries and there's like a moment." - CY

CY: You should get some sleep. You look like crap.
MG: I look better than you.
CY: That's not possible.

MG: That was amazing.
DS: Hmmm...
MG: You practice on cadavers, you observe and you think you know what you're gonna feel like standing over that table but that was such a high. I don't know why anybody does drugs.
DS: Yeah.
MG: Yeah.
DS: I should, uh, go do this.
MG: You should.
DS: I'll see you around.
MG: See you around. See ya.

Meredith [voiceover] So, I made it through my first shift. We all did. The other interns are all good people. You'd like them. I think. I don't know, maybe. I like them. Oh and I changed my mind. I'm not gonna sell the house. I'm gonna keep it. I'll have to get a couple of roommates but it's home, you know?

Meredith: [voiceover] It's all about lines. The finish line at the end of residency, waiting in line for a chance at the operating table, and then there’s the most important line, the line separating you from the people you work with. It doesn’t help to get too familiar, to make friends. You need boundaries, between you and the rest of the world. Other people are far too messy. It’s all about lines. Drawing lines in the sand and praying like hell no one crosses them.

"No one holds a scalpel until I'm so happy I'm Mary Freakin' Poppins." - MB

George: Who here feels like they have no idea what they're doing?[Everyone except Alex raises their hands]

PB: Anything you say in the next 30 seconds is free...starting right now.

MB: I think you’re cocky. Arrogant. Bossy and pushy. You also have a god complex and don’t think of anybody but your damn self.

PB: But I—

MB: But what? I still have 22 seconds and I’m not done.

Meredith: [voiceover] At some point you have to make a decision. Boundaries don't keep other people out; they fence you in. Life is messy, that's how we're made. So you can waste your life drawing lines or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines that are way too dangerous to cross. Here's what I know, If you're willing to take a chance, the view from the other side is spectacular.

Meredith: [voiceover] We live out our lives on the surgical unit. Seven days a week, fourteen hours a day, we're together more than we are apart. After a while, the ways of residency become the ways of life. Number one: always keep score. Number two: do whatever you can to outsmart the other guy. Number three: don't make friends with the enemy. Oh, yeah, number four: everything, everything is a competition. Whoever said winning wasn't everything, never held a scalpel.

"This is a men's room. Either whip one out, or close the door." - PB

Meredith: [voiceover] There's another way to survive this competition. A way no one ever seems to tell you about. One you have to learn for yourself. Number five: It's not about the race at all. There are no winners or losers. Victories are counted by the number of lives saved. And once in a while, if you're smart, the life you save could be your own.

"You wanna see it? You really want to see it? Fine! Let's look at that tattoo up close and personal, shall we? What are these? Oh, my God! Breasts! How does anybody practice medicine hauling these things around? And what have we got back here? Let’s see if I remember my anatomy. Glutes, right? Let’s study them, shall we? Gather around and check out the booty that put Izzie Stevens through med school! Have you had enough, or should I continue, because I have a few more very interesting tattoos. You want to call me Dr. Model? That's fine. Just remember that while you're still sitting on two hundred grand of student loans... I'm out of debt." - IS

Meredith: [voiceover] I wish there were a rulebook for intimacy. Some kind of guide to tell you when you've crossed the line. It would be nice if you could see it coming, and I don't know how you fit it on a map. You take it where you can get it, and keep it as long as you can. And as for rules, maybe there are none. Maybe the rules of intimacy are something you have to define for yourself.

Meredith: [voiceover] Remember when you were a kid and your biggest worry was, like, if you'd get a bike for your birthday or if you'd get to eat cookies for breakfast. Being an adult? Totally overrated. I mean seriously, don't be fooled by all the hot shoes and the great sex and the no parents anywhere telling you what to do. Adulthood is responsibility. Responsibility, it really does suck. Really, really sucks. Adults have to be places and do things and earn a living and pay the rent. And if you're training to be a surgeon, holding a human heart in your hands, hello? Talk about responsibility. Kind of makes bikes and cookies look really, really good, doesn't it? The scariest part about responsibility? When you screw up and let it slip right through your fingers.

Meredith: [voiceover] Responsibility. It really does suck. Unfortunately, once you get past the age of braces and training bras, responsibility doesn't go away. It can't be avoided. Either someone makes us face it or we suffer the consequences. And still adulthood has it perks. I mean the shoes, the sex, the no parents anywhere telling you what to do. That's, pretty damn good.

Meredith: [voiceover] A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. “Never leave that till tomorrow,” he said, “Which you can do today.” This is the man who discovered electricity. You’d think more of us would listen to what he had to say. I don’t know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I’d say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure. Fear of pain. Fear of rejection. Sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you’re wrong? What if you make a mistake you can’t undo? Whatever it is we're afraid of, one thing holds true: that by the time the pain of not doing the thing gets worse than the fear of doing it, it can feel like we're carrying around a giant tumor. And you thought I was speaking metaphorically.

DS: Miranda.

MB: Excuse me?

DS: Well, that's your name right? It's on your jacket. Fine, I'll just call you Bailey then.

MB: You know, you think you're charming, in that talented, neurotic, overly moussed hair sort of way. Good for you. But if you think I'm gonna stand back and watch while you favor her...

DS: I don't favor her. She's good.

MB: I'm sure she is.

DS: You know, can I point out, technically, I'm your boss.

MB: You don't scare me. Look, I'm not gonna advertise your extracurricular activities with my intern. However next time I see you favoring Meredith Grey in any way, I'll make sure she doesn't see the inside of an OR. For a month. Just for the sake of balance!

Meredith: [voiceover] The early bird catches the worm; a stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we haven't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to ‘seize the day'. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore, until we finally understand for ourselves like Benjamin Franklin meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping. And that even the biggest failure, even the worst most intractable mistake beats the hell out of never trying.

Meredith: [voiceover] OK. Anyone who says you can sleep when you die, tell them to come talk to me after a few months as an intern. Of course, it's not just the job that keeps us up all night. I mean, if life's so hard already, why do we bring more trouble down on ourselves? What's up with the need to hit the self-destruct button?

GO: You get any sleep?

IS: She should oil the bedsprings, as a courtesy, or at least buy a padded headboard.

GO: So, who's the guy?

IS: You think it was just one guy doing all that work?

GO: Do you mind if I don't think about that?

IS: Aw, you jealous?

GO: I'm not jealous.

IS: Well, I am. Least I know she'll be having a long day at work.

[They see Derek leave]

IS: Well, at least we know brain surgery isn't his only skill.

"You don't know this yet, but life isn’t supposed to be like this. It’s not supposed to be this hard." - MG

Meredith: [voiceover] Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we're wired that way. Because without it, I don't know, maybe we just wouldn't feel real. What's that saying? Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop.

Meredith: [voiceover] You know when you were a little kid and you believed in fairy tales? That fantasy of what your life would be – white dress, prince charming who’d carry you away to a castle on a hill. You’d lie in your bed at night and close your eyes and you had complete and utter faith. Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, prince charming –they were so close you could taste them. But eventually you grow up and one day you open your eyes and the fairy tale disappears. Most people turn to the things and people they can trust. But the thing is, it’s hard to let go of that fairy tale entirely because almost everyone has that smallest bit of hope and faith that one day they would open their eyes and it would all come true.

Meredith: [voiceover] At the end of the day, faith is a funny thing. It turns up when you don't really expect it. Its like one day you realize that the fairy tale may be slightly different than you dreamed. The castle, well, it may not be a castle. And its not so important, happy ever after, just that its happy right now. See once in a while, once in a blue moon, people will surprise you, and once in a while people may even take your breath away.

Meredith: [voiceover] Secrets can't hide in science. Medicine has a way of exposing lies. Within the walls of the hospital, the truth is stripped bare. How we keep our secrets outside the hospital – well, that’s a little different. One thing is certain, whatever it is we're trying to hide; we're never ready for that moment when the truth gets naked. That's the problem with secrets – like misery, they love company. They pile up and up until you don't have room for anything else, until you're so full of secrets you feel like you're going to burst.

DS: [he sees Addison] Meredith, I am so sorry.

[Addison walks over]

DS: Addison. What are you doing here?

AM: Well you'd know if you'd bothered to return any one of my phone calls. [she turns to Meredith] Hi. I'm Addison Shepherd.

MG: Shepherd?

AS: And you must be the woman who's been screwing my husband.

Meredith: [voiceover] The thing people forget is how good it can feel when you finally set secrets free. Whether good or bad, at least they're out in the open, like it or not. And once your secrets are out in the open, you don't have to hide behind them anymore. The problem with secrets is even when you think you're in control, you're not.