George O'Malley continues at a run this episode. Going all over, doing the Chief's business, when he finds himself looking through Chiefs office and he stumbles upon the files of all the residents in the hospital. He looks for a moment longingly, then he gets back to what he's doing. Later, he is venting to Lexie Grey (who has given him temporary permission to complain although he promised to stop), about how he has "supposedly has all this power. . .fake power" and happens to mention that he has access to all the files, but he can't look at the files because he hasn't really got the power. The next thing you know, Lexie has paged him to a supply room where she's hiding out with all the resident files laid out in front of her. George quickly starts picking them all back up while she explains that she's already read them all and that she has a photographic memory and they are burned onto her brain. She blurts out, "George, you failed the intern exams by one point. . .1 point!" As they try to get them all back in the office, Lexie starts spewing out all the new information she's acquired. "Cristina is dyslexic, but she got straight A's all during med school and she has a PhD. It's pretty amazing - 8 letters of recommendation in her file. Izzie went to college at night, it took her 6 years to graduate and she volunteered as a candy striper, patients wrote her letters of rec. And Alex, he wrote this essay to get in - this moving, beautiful essay about how his grades weren't that good during med school because he suffered from testicular cancer. He said he lost a ball, but I've seen him naked, he has two mangerines, George, 2 pouch potatoes - he lied, he's a liar." George interrupts, "Stop telling me information I don't want to know." She continues, "One point, how can they keep you back for one point." "Just forget about it," George tells her. "Photographic memory. . .I can't," says a naive Lexie.

Lexie tries to confront George about it again later, but now he's upset. "You didn't do me a favor," he tells her,"you just made it clear that I'm still me - the 'almost guy.' All that separates me from my class is one point. One point! I mean I'd be okay if it was 50 points or 1 points, but one? That means it was right there in my hand and I let it slip away. I didn't want to know that. Do you get that? That knowing if I had just checked A instead of B then. . . that one point separates me from freedom. I've been running my tail off, busting my a** to make up for one lousy point, proving. . .you didn't do me a favor. Don't kid yourself." He walks away, but she doesn't let him drop the whole thing. She finds him again, "You had 14 letters of recommendation. Cristina had 8, Mer had 4, Izzie had 10, but you had 14 and the words that they used to describe you - nobody had recommendations like yours. People said the others were 'smart' that they were 'hard workers' they said that they were 'good,' but your letters, they said you were 'great.' They spoke of your kindness, your attention to detail, they talked about how hard you try, that you never give up. They painted a picture of the kind of doctor that I hope to become. It was an honor to read those letters because now I know that what separates you from the others isn't one stupid point. What separates you from the others is greatness, so don't you dare let one point hold you back.

George spends the whole night in the cement patient's room monitoring his status, to which Chief Richard Webber tells him, "good job." George has something else to say about it. "It's not a good job, its not a good job for me, sitting by his bedside recording urine output and giving anti-anxiety meds all night. Its not a good job for me - running labs for Meredith Grey. That's not a good job for me. It's not a good job for me because I'm better that that and you know I'm better that that. Maybe if I wasn't good at my job or maybe if I had struggled and was lagging behind. My personality, I'm not Karev, I'm not Yang, I'm not Meredith, I'm not hardened, I get that, I get it, I don't have the personality of a surgeon. Maybe that's why you made the mistake of not thinking that I deserve a second chance when everyone else around here has gotten one, but sir, it is a mistake because I'm excellent, I'm excellent at my job and I did fail my test, but I deserve a second chance." Chief looks at him thoughtfully for a moment then agrees, "Okay, you can retake the test." George is elated and when he finally goes home to Lexie, in his excitement, he gives her a kiss. He moves on to continue to celebrate with alcohol and Lexie touches her lips softly realizing what she just received from him. Maybe there's love to come for these two? But as with all the plots we've now begun, we must all wait until next season. . .

more from this episode . . .