Grey's Anatomy: love-in with a but

So I have finally caught up on Grey's Anatomy and can now say I have seen every single episode. I'm still hooked. Yes, this is my fourth post about GA. I'm not ashamed. I love this show.

I love that they call sweet, naive George fetus and Bambi. I love that George is dating a hot Amazon woman and that skinny Meredith called her hot. I love that cold, calculating Christina won the hot dog eating contest by first eating the weiners, then watering the buns and squishing them into a smaller mass before eating it. I love that they had a hot dog eating contest when a world champion eater was admitted with a ruptured esophagus. I love that tough, tell it like it is Dr. Bailey has become "covered in mommy" but refuses to be mommy tracked. I love that Christina competed with the Chief of Surgery in a course on laproscopy or something like that; and that she was winning until the practical part when he wiped her ass with his eyes closed. I love that asshole Alex was the one who said exactly the right thing to Izzy when her fiance died. I love that Addison started out as Satan's whore but became a likeable human being.

Favourite Quotes:

"love means not using your girlfriend as a human shield"
"cashed in her V-card" (lost her virginity)

"covered in mommy"

"baby trumps husband?!?"

When Derek is trying to find Addison, who Bailey is treating for poison oak in a particularly... er... delicate place, he cajoes Bailey: "C'mon, I saved your husband's life."

Bailey: "She saved my baby's life."

Derek: "So... baby trumps husband?" [Bailey walks away.] "Baby trumps husband?!?"

So I love it. BUT...

But I'm troubled by the show's protrayal of Bailey's motherhood. I'm not smart enough to pull out the threads of exactly what troubles me. I just keep coming back to believing that the US needs way longer, paid maternity leave.

A few specific images stick in my mind that bug me. I know I've already posted about breasfeeding and Grey's Anatomy once but I've got more to say now that I've seen every episode. First, the scene when the Chief of Surgery gets squeamish when he notices that Bailey's breasts have leaked. This is a man who has put his hands in people's insides for what, like 30 years or something and he gets squeamish at the sight of breastmilk on a woman's shirt?!? (Now I've leaked so I know it's not fun but still). Second, the scene involving Bailey in labour. She hadn't even broken a sweat at 6 cm??

While I like the transition of Bailey getting more human, it bugs me that she calls it getting soft and that she has to blame the postpartum hormones when she's affected by a boy in brain surgery. Like I said, I can't pull the threads apart of exactly what makes me uncomfortable. I just know that it does. Anyone else?

Later: Ok. So I'm kinda sad that I have no more episodes to watch for the first time (except for tonight's). But I have just discovered something new to feed my obsession: a blog by the writers of Grey's Anatomy. Yay! I know I am so behind the times so chances are the real GA fans are already well aware of it. But if you're not, check it out.