Joan Rater, who wrote "I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watchin' Me," tells us a bit about how last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy came together on the writers' blog.

Below are some excerpts from Joan's column, with a link at the bottom to her full entry. It's always interesting to get a fresh take from the people who put it together:

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After Richard dropped the bomb that the hospital would be merging with Mercy West, we knew that this episode would have to deal with people’s paranoia. Because merger means change.

Change means fear. And the worst kind of fear is the kind that lives in your head.

The dark thoughts. The paranoia.

The worst case scenarios you play out that usually don’t come true. And with Richard holing himself up inside his office, it’s just a breeding ground for rumor, fear and paranoia.

When we started talking about this episode, the theme of paranoia emerged quickly.

Right away I thought of doing a story about a paranoid schizophrenic. So we knew what our main medical story was going to be and we decided that we wanted everyone in the hospital, the doctors, nurses, techs, everyone, to be scared. Scared to give up any edge. Just scared.

Izzie’s story was inspired by my friend Lynn, who has cancer and runs her own company.

A big concern for her is making sure her employees have confidence in her and don’t see her as sick or weak. She told me that that went into her decision to get a really good wig which looks exactly like her hair did before chemo. It’s to put her clients and employees at ease.

I love that scene where Alex brings Izzie her pill and a banana and water. Izzie wants to think she's fine, and doesn’t want Alex to hover, but he can’t help it. He loves her and that’s what you do for someone you love, especially when they’re trying to pretend they’re fine.

And I love it when he tells her at the end that she can’t pretend she isn’t sick, that she needs to take responsibility for her illness and he can’t be her nurse.

I loved the scene where Owen, Derek and Mark take Cristina, Meredith and Lexie to the baseball field. This is one of the first times Owen has seen Cristina’s intensity. And I love that he finally makes her leave the hospital, focus on something else.

That’s why he’s so good for her.

Follow the link for the entirety of Joan's blog ...

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