The game is on today. The residents are competing in a contest, complete with a points system, to see who does the most in surgery this week. The contest is over at the end of today (with Cristina Yang in the lead of course) and the unknown "prize" hanging in the balance. They are off and [almost] running through the halls at the start of the day to get first dibs on the good surgeries. The first ambulance pulls up and Cristina quickly opens the doors revealing an old male with a sprained ankle which she quickly gives up to an over-eager Izzie Stevens who is determined to turn into a medical mystery in a sad attempt to win the most points of the day. She spends her whole day putting the poor guy through an extensive panel of useless [and painful] tests only to reveal he has a flu. The patient (Cheech Marin), is terrified at the thought of what he must have with all the extensive work up and gives Izzie a serious tongue lashing at the end of the day when there is really nothing wrong and he's wasted a whole day alone at the hospital in fear of the many diseases he might have had. It's like Bambi all over again. Will Izzie ever learn?

After the ambulance leaves, Meredith Grey, Alex Karev, and Cristina Yang are left wanting- nothing to do for the day, but wait! All of the sudden a car pulls up with three people inside. They drove in straight from the mountains where they were mauled by a bear. The man in the back seat is obviously the most critical as he steps out of the vehicle and his intestines literally fall out in Cristina's hands. The three are rushed in to reveal a most interesting story. Cristina and Alex are helping the man with his intestines falling out who has obviously lost a lot of blood in the process of getting there. They get him semi-stable and the two are sharing a day of stitching up his insides (hundreds of stitches at one point per stitch in the contest), but Cristina has promised Erica Hahn that she'll give her hourly updates on the patient in anticipation of a heart surgery later. The man reveals that his brother had touched a bear cub while out camping, which he knew better than to do, and the mother bear came and attacked them. Obviously this guy is in really bad shape. Cristina dutifully gives Hahn her updates is offered a chance to "just watch" her cardio surgery and Cristina, who is still in the lead for the contest, gives up all her stitching points to watch Hahn's surgery (worth only 5 points). Good move to get on Hahn's good side, but it costs her the game.

Meanwhile, Alex Karev is left to the hundreds of stitches on his own. The points he needs to try to catch up in the contest. Chief Richard Webber is there with him to observe and he comments that Alex is the underdog of the bunch. He says, "You have the skills, but you're scrappy, you're a fighter." Alex explains, "I'm a fighter, but I'm no underdog. . ." He goes on to explain that he's like this patient. It's not his fault that he ended up in this situation. It was his brother who put him here and that doesn't make him an underdog, either, it "makes him have to work harder to overcome the cards he got dealt." Alex always seems on the verge of finally opening up to someone and telling them of a troubled past, but never really comes out with it. And so we're left with one more clue in the mystery of his dark past.

This leaves Meredith Grey who is helping the brother who started all of this mess. The man who knew better than to touch a baby bear cub, but did it anyways. The man who "lovingly" refers to his new wife as "my rebound girl" that he married after knowing for only 10 days. The thought of which, I'm sure, send chills up Meredith's spine (thinking of Derek and Rose all day). She knows something must not be right, here, right? She briefly speaks with the wife in the hall, who admits that she feels so undeserving of this man who is attractive and wealthy and wonders if he could really have married her for what she is. Meredith notices blood dripping from under her hat and reveals that the woman has been partially scalped in all this mess. Don't worry, she's alright, but Meredith starts to wonder about what kind of man marries a "rebound girl" in ten days then goes camping and makes a mistake he "knew better" than to do. She begins some neurological tests and finds he has a vision impairment as well which may very well mean he has a brain tumor. George O'Malley thinks she's looking for something that's not there to make herself feel better about her relationship issues. After all, he of all people, knows about getting married quickly to someone. She does some further tests and reveals that he does, in fact, have a brain tumor. Of course she sends George to tell Derek Shepard about it, not wanting to have to see him if she doesn't have to, but finding the brain tumor, a "medical mystery," does earn her some serious points in the contest.

When the day is over, the residents gather around Miranda Bailey's office to see who "won" the contest. Miranda steps out, with son, Tucker, in arm, to reveal the coveted "prize" is actually a really bedazzled glittery pager. The catch is that this pager must be paged for every single surgery and gives the holder the option to steal the surgery from any other resident. Go Meredith! Now she's got an upper hand.

more from this episode. . .