The First Cut Is the Deepest (3 Apr. 2005)

The surgical staff tries to be optimistic as a young woman clings to life after a brutal attack. Meanwhile, Meredith puts her career on the line to save a newborn in the hospital nursery, ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Horton

Writers:

Shonda Rhimes (creator), Shonda Rhimes

Stars:

Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Ellen Pompeo	...	Dr. Meredith Grey
Sandra Oh	...	Dr. Cristina Yang
Katherine Heigl	...	Dr. Izzie Stevens
Justin Chambers	...	Dr. Alex Karev
T.R. Knight	...	Dr. George O'Malley
Chandra Wilson	...	Dr. Miranda Bailey
James Pickens Jr.	...	Dr. Richard Webber
Isaiah Washington	...	Dr. Preston Burke
Patrick Dempsey	...	Dr. Derek Shepherd
Alice Lo	...	Qing Lu
Scarlett Lam	...	Ahn
Robin Pearson Rose	...	Patricia
Kerry Carney	...	Intern #1
Kerri Higuchi	...	Dr. Elizabeth Chen
Dennis Gubbins	...	Paul

Storyline

The surgical staff tries to be optimistic as a young woman clings to life after a brutal attack. Meanwhile, Meredith puts her career on the line to save a newborn in the hospital nursery, and the other interns learn that it takes more than just medical knowledge to be good at their jobs.

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Plot Keywords:

mother daughter relationship

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

3 April 2005 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark Gordon Company, The, Touchstone Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Every episode of the show is named after a famous song. "The First Cut is the Deepest" is a song by Cat Stevens

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Goofs

At the end of episode 2, Meredith has her hair tied in a ponytail when talking to Dr. Sheperd but as she exits the building to join her friends, her hair is let down.

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Quotes

Dr. Cristina Yang: I need a drink, a man, or a massage... or a drunken massage from a man.

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Connections

References Mary Poppins (1964)

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Soundtracks

"You Wouldn't Like Me"
Written by Tegan and Sara
Performed by Tegan and Sara

User Reviews

A step in the right direction

The pilot episode was watchable but occasionally irritating for its Meredith-centric script. In the second show, series creator Shonda Rimes seems to have understood the supporting characters are much better and sidelines the heroine, while still, unfortunately, feeding her chunks of nearly indigestible narration.

Among the highlights of the episode we have Dr. Burke's (Isaiah Washington) discovery of the fact he might not become chief of surgery once the boss retires, Cristina (Sandra Oh) being forced to work with the unbearable Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) taking care of a Chinese woman who can't afford proper medication (one of the few truly moving moments of the season). As for Meredith, she is stuck with the dullest job of all: looking after the severed penis of a rapist, whose victim is struggling to survive in the O.R., until the police arrive.

The penis storyline provides several laughs, most of which are quite cheap - a clear sign of how badly that kind of comedy matches with a medical drama. Only Dr. Shepherd's remarks to the rapist near the end of the episode are likely to raise a sincere smile, thanks to Patrick Dempsey's faultless charm, a weapon he employs repeatedly, especially in the doc's hilarious attempts to seduce Meredith. Not that he's alone in the scene-stealing: Oh, playing the most interesting of the interns, has a ball squaring off with Chambers, who injects his role with a "bad boy" charisma that makes up for any lack of depth, and Chandra Wilson is simply unmissable when her character, Dr. Miranda "The Nazi" Bailey, tells Burke what a jackass he really is - in less than 10 seconds! So, how does this rank in the end? Well, it's above "good", that's for sure, but still not quite "highly recommendable".

7,5/10