Grey had some choices to make in this season finale, and while circumstances have made some of those choices for him, he appears to be embracing his dark side going forward. Which will be necessary, because the threats are only rising. This first season was somewhat introductory, but it did resolve much of what it introduced. And it managed to overcome a mediocre premiere to evolve into something worth watching.

The series has been driving forward with solid momentum since the pilot, but this episode inexplicably slows things down to a near crawl. And since it's the penultimate episode for the season, that's a strange choice. The episode seems to set up a lot more than could possibly be handled in a season finale, but I've been surprised before. Maybe this seeming lack of urgency is deceptive.

Adding Bradley Whitford to the cast helps to add a bit of weight and tension. And parts of this episode are incredibly tense. I think some of the character choices don't quite add up, but there's been enough improvement since the pilot for me to see how it plays out.

I still have some quibbles about this show; the pacing is a bit too slow, for example. But at least the story is becoming more interesting. The end of this episode promises a lot more complication for Grey, so I'm willing to see where this leads. But I'll be honest: if it wasn't for Giancarlo Esposito, I wouldn't be giving this much thought.