The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, November 15, 2017 — 5A

ABC

“Grey’s Anatomy” is still alive and well unlike most of its original cast
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ in critical 
condition after 14 seasons

As it hits the 300 mark, it’s time for ‘Grey’s’ to pass on quietly

After watching approximately 

one episode of “Grey’s Anatomy,” 
most feel as though they could 
perfectly 
execute 
a 
coronary 

artery bypass surgery (yes, I had 
to look that up). The show has been 
around for 14 seasons, and last 
week marked its 300th episode. 
Through all of the medical jargon, 
sexual scandals, dramatic deaths, 
complicated familial relationships 
and job competition, Meredith 
Grey 
(Ellen 
Pompeo, 
“Doc 

McStuffins”) is still, as they say, 
saving lives.

The episode made sentimental 

remarks on past characters, the 
deceased Dr. George O’Malley 
(T.R. Knight, “Genius”) and the 
two that left Seattle Grace Hospital, 
Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh, 
“Catfight”) and Dr. Izzie Stevens 
(Katherine Heigl, “Doubt”). Both 
characters were the main focus of 
the show until they were written 
off. “Grey’s Anatomy” revolved 
around these four, and Meredith 
is currently the only one left. Well, 
that depends if you count Dr. Alex 
Karev (Justin Chambers, “Broken 
City”) or not. He never seemed as 
close with the core four.

The main catastrophe plaguing 

the hospital in this episode is a 
roller coaster accident, in which 
two individuals remind the entire 
staff of George, Cristina and 
Izzie. Mini George and Christina 
are injured in the roller coaster 
crash, and Izzie’s look alike is 
their pregnant friend. All three of 
them surprisingly require serious 
medical attention.

Although the nostalgia of past 

characters makes both Meredith 
and the viewer hold onto emotional 
feelings, the plotline was forced. It 
doesn’t feel natural; if anything it’s 
coaxed. It felt like a last-ditched 
attempt to make viewers reflect 
on past seasons, and in doing that 
it reminded me of how “Grey’s 
Anatomy” used to be entertaining. 

This flashback is a reflection of 
how the old Greys worked, and the 
current one doesn’t. Now it’s just 
over-the-top and exhausted.

The medical drama has passed 

its expiration date. There are too 
many subplots, unrealistic health 
concerns and overplay of sexual 
promiscuity. The theatrics are 
laughable and very predictable. 
A patient cannot simply have one 
medical issue, instead he or she has 
12 and there is always a heightened 
moment of fear. The on-edge and 
tense medical procedures are 
only interesting when they are 
warranted.

It’s agitating watching all of 

these diagnoses come out of the 
woodwork when it was already 
exciting enough. The Izzie look 

alike is pregnant and passes out. 
So naturally, the doctors test and 
find her placenta has a tumor on 
it. They immediately go to surgery, 
and then they have to perform an 
emergency c-section when the 
baby is premature. The plot would 
have worked if they had her simply 
pass out. Not to mention her friends 
are on the verge of death after their 
serious accident. “Grey’s Anatomy” 
piles on the drama to the point 
where it only serves to convolute 
and overload.

The amount of sexual relations 

makes the show hard to follow. At 
every turn, someone is sleeping 
with someone else, not to mention 
during the workday. All the sex can 
make the show more interesting, 
but once again, it just feels overdone. 
Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina 
Scorsone, “The November Man”) 
walks in on her old flame, Dr. 

Owen 
Hunt 
(Kevin 
McKidd, 

“Tulip Fever”) and Dr. Carina 
DeLuca 
(Stefania 
Spampinato, 

“Two Wolves”) making out, naked. 
Dr. Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo 
Gianniotti, “Race”) gets it on with 
his ex-girlfriend, Dr. Sam Bello 
(Jeanine 
Mason, 
“Criminal 

Minds”), in the supply closet when 
their bosses, Dr. Miranda Bailey 
(Chandra Wilson, “Frankie & 
Alice”) and Dr. Richard Webber 
(James Pickens Jr., “For the Love 
of Ruth”) can hear them. Then see 
them come out. Awkward.

The 
predictability 
of 
both 

radical medical diagnoses and 
character decisions makes “Grey’s 
Anatomy” 
typical 
and 
spent. 

Meredith is up for a prestigious 
medical award, the Harper Avery 
Award. Instead of attending the 
ceremony, she stays behind to help 
with the roller coaster accident. 
Although the intention of this plot 
line was to show dedication, it 
largely fails. Of course, she didn’t 
go to the awards even though there 
were plenty of other qualified and 
capable surgeons to take care of the 
injuries. Not only does she miss the 
ceremony, but, spoiler, she wins. No 
surprise there.

The series began with Meredith 

and her friends as mere interns, 
and now they are full blown 
surgeons. The show used to follow 
their tribulations trying to prove 
themselves, sleeping at the hospital 
and working endless shifts. They 
used to camp out at a very specific 
location—a hallway removed from 
the intense environment of the 
hospital. After Meredith wins her 
award, she celebrates with one 
of the only interns from the first 
season to still be around, Dr. Alex 
Karev, on the very gurnees they 
started off on. They also kick the 
current interns out of their spot 
which is pretty cute. In addition 
to Karev, Cristina calls from 
Switzerland. 
The 
memorabilia 

should serve as a sign that “Grey’s 
Anatomy” was a good show while 
it lasted, but it’s time to wrap it up 
and move on. 

20TH CENTURY FOX

Anyone else remember Masterpiece Mystery Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on PBS??
‘Orient Express’ manages 
to entertain despite flaws

Branaugh succeeds in his retelling of the aged Poirot mystery

“Murder 
on 
the 
Orient 

Express,” both directed by 
and starring Kenneth Branagh 
(“Dunkirk”) is simultaneously 
a sleek re-mastering of a classic 
story as well as a throwback to 
a bygone era. Branagh stars as 
Hercule Poirot, one of Agatha 
Christie’s 
most 
memorable 

characters, along side an all-
star cast that includes Penélope 
Cruz (“Loving Pablo”), Willem 
Dafoe (“The Florida Project”), 
Judi 
Dench 
(“Victoria 
and 

Abdul”), Johnny Depp (“Pirates 
of the Caribbean: Dead Men 
Tell No Tales”), Josh Gad 
(“Beauty 
and 
the 
Beast”), 

Derek 
Jacobi 
(“Cinderella”), 

Leslie Odom Jr. (“Hamilton”), 
Michelle Pfeiffer (“mother!”) 
and Daisy Ridley (“Star Wars: 
The Force Awakens”). With 
witty 
dialogue, 
interesting 

characters and a mystery that 
is just as engrossing today 
as it was when Christie first 
wrote it, “Murder on the Orient 
Express” is a grand old time.

Opening in Jerusalem in 

1934, the film introduces Poirot 
with a prologue sequence that 
does an adequate job of setting 
the stage for the puzzle solving 
to come, without resorting to 
heavy-handed 
exposition 
to 

explain who Poirot is and why 
he does what he does. From 
there we are quickly introduced 
to a wide variety of characters, 
some of whom will play major 
roles in the drama to come, 
some of whom will play minor 

roles, one of whom will shortly 
be killed off, prompting the 
mystery, and all of whom are 
played by A-list talent. While 
some audience members might 
find this segment of the film to 
move at a ridiculous pace, with 
little time given for the audience 
to acclimate themselves to each 
new face before being whisked 
to the next scene, the story 
moves with such a sense of joy 
and excitement that this table 
setting doesn’t come across as 
such so much as it comes across 
as a fascinating roll-call of the 
passengers we are about to 

watch.

Once 
the 
titular 
murder 

occurs 
and 
the 
interviews 

with the suspects begin, the 
movie never lets up. Apart from 
certain narrative beats relating 
to Poirot’s deceased wife, no 
revelation or twist falls flat. 
Poirot’s 
personal 
storyline 

feels half-hearted at best, but 
truthfully that’s not what we’re 
here for anyways, and the 
time it would’ve taken to more 
thoroughly 
develop 
Poirot’s 

back-story feels like time the 

film doesn’t have. There’s so 
much mystery to get through 
and so many characters with 
secret 
identities 
and 
false 

histories and long lost relatives 
to uncover that the movie 
doesn’t have time for the simple 
personal 
story 
surrounding 

Poirot. Because of this his final 
decision, meant to represent a 
big change for his character, 
feels slightly underwhelming, 
if only because the overall 
solution to the central mystery 
feels so satisfying in contrast.

The 
production 
design 

and overall look and feel of 
the film couldn’t be more 
perfectly suited for the story 
being told. Cinematographer 
Haris Zambarloukos (“Denial”) 
makes creative use of the 
train setting to produce some 
seriously dynamic shots and 
sequences. In particular is 
the use of overhead shots to 
emphasize 
the 
“Clue”-like 

atmosphere 
that 
develops 

throughout the picture. The 
music by Patrick Doyle (“The 
Emoji 
Movie”) 
is 
suitably 

whimsical and mysterious in 
parts, fitting for the tonal shifts 
that occur during the length of 
the feature.

“Murder 
on 
the 
Orient 

Express” might not reinvent 
the wheel, but it does what it 
does very well, providing an 
entertaining murder mystery 
with a wonderful cast who ham 
it up as much as they can. It’s 
clear that everyone involved 
with the picture was having a 
damn good time. By the time 
the credits roll, everyone in the 
audience will be too.

IAN HARRIS
Daily Arts Writer

OLIVIA ASIMAKIS

Daily Arts Writer

TV REVIEW
FILM REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW
‘The Doll’s Alphabet’ an 
enjoyably grotesque read

Grudova’s collection of stories leaves the reader’s skin crawling

Camilla 
Grudova’s 
“The 

Doll’s Alphabet” is a deeply 
weird and completely brilliant 
book. 
You 
find 
its 
images 

replaying in your head on an 
endless loop long after turning 
the final page, and for good 
reason: It’s kind of terrifying. 
Women unstitch their own skin 
clean off their bones, they turn 
into werewolves and eat their 
own children, and they give 
birth to alien tubers (eyeless 
and mouthless, but nonetheless 
alive and squirming). There’s a 
sewing machine powered by the 
blood of the young seamstresses 

using it — and a grotesque half 
spider/half man obsessed with 
keeping the machine alive at 
any cost.

The stories rarely follow a 

clear narrative path, but they 
make an awful visceral sense, 
pulsing with the internal logic 
of a nightmare. They’re distinct, 
but the stories share a world 
filled with rot, decay, rusty 
machines 
and 
bloody 
open 

wounds. Grudova’s characters 
are rarely heroes; they form dark 
fixations and obsessions that 
tear their lives apart. Sometimes 
they’re 
literal 
monsters, 

sometimes they’re just people 
in a bad situation — but they 
always feel real, lived-in. The 
characters are often just barely 
scraping by, living on carefully 

rationed food in tins and selling 
their very bodies to survive. 
There’s 
a 
vague 
dystopian 

atmosphere 
permeating 
the 

whole collection, but we never 
find out exactly what happened. 

In fact, a lot of the book’s world is 
sketched out through carefully-
chosen but sparse details, where 
we’re left to fill in the rest 
ourselves. But this is intentional, 
a 
classic 
horror 
technique: 

There’s nothing scarier than the 
unspoken.

Grudova’s 
writing 
has 
a 

rhythm to it, a perfectly even 
rise and fall that is equal parts 
graceful 
and 
hair-raisingly 

creepy. The first story in the book 
opens with a casual narration: 
“One afternoon, after finishing 
a cup of coffee in her living 
room, Greta discovered how to 
unstitch herself. Her clothes, 
skin and hair fell from her like 
the peeled rind of a fruit, and her 
true body stepped out.” As you 
keep reading, you find yourself 
simultaneously mesmerized by 
the cadence and meter of the 
writing, and completely repulsed 
by the contents.

But Grudova is too smart to 

disgust her readers without 
a purpose. Every harrowing 
description, 
every 
piece 
of 

brutal body horror has a clear 
focus. At its core, this is a book 
about the danger and existential 
panic 
contained 
within 

women’s bodies. It’s a vivid 

externalization of female pain 
and anger. 

In “The Mouse Queen,” our 

protagonist starts transforming 
into 
a 
werewolf 
after 
her 

husband leaves her alone to raise 
their twin baby boys. She goes 

out every night, eating women 
and children and all the other 
vulnerable people she can find. 
There’s “The Sad Tale of the 
Sconce,” which starts with a 
wooden mermaid who has been 
carved into the masthead of a 
ship, until the sailors, “... ate 
her lips, her hair, her shoulders, 
and, using a knife, gave her the 

anatomy a mermaid does not 
have.”

Or 
there’s 
“Unstitched,” 

the short tale that opens the 
collection, about women learning 
to tear their skin off to reveal a 
secret, more truthful self within. 
“Men were divided,” she writes, 
“between those who ‘always 
knew 
there 
was 
something 

deceitful about women’ ... and 
those who lamented ‘the loss 
of the female form.’” Grudova 
is angry, with the kind of anger 
that’s never quite made explicit. 
It boils under the surface of 
everything she writes. “The 
Doll’s Alphabet” is a tribute to 
the fact that women are brutally 
hurt all the time — and too often, 
nobody cares.

It’s a testament to Grudova’s 

skill that it never feels heavy-
handed, it only ever feels true. 
And that’s really what makes 
“The Doll’s Alphabet” induce 
goosebumps: it’s giving voice 
and form to a barely-contained 
rage, and a very real violence.

“Do not come here by yourself 

again,” a man tells a young girl 
in “Edward, Do Not Pamper the 
Dead.” “Remember you are a 
vulnerable person.”

It’s a familiar warning. 

ASIF BECHER
Daily Arts Writer

“The Doll’s 
Alphabet”

Camila 
Grudova

Coffee House 

Press

October 17, 

2017

It’s a tribute to the 
fact that women 
are brutally hurt 
all the time — and 
too often, nobody 

cares

“Grey’s 

Anatomy”

300th Episode

ABC

Thursdays @ 8 

p.m.

“Murder on 
the Orient 
Express”

20th Century 

Fox

Rave Cinemas, 

Quality 16

