The third series of the Emmy- and Golden Globewinning medical drama continues, following the trials and tribulations of Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and her fellow interns at Seattle Grace Hospital. In this week’s episode, Izzie’s past comes back to haunt her, Jane Doe is claimed and Marlow tries to drive a wedge between Burke and Cristina.

It is a week since Izzie’s illicit night with George and she is still feeling raw with guilt. She decides that going to confession is the answer. But George does not even want to address the significance of the issue at all. He even goes so far as to liken his encounter with Izzie to the one-night stand he had with Meredith. “The sad, tragic, depression-inducing sex you had with Meredith is the same?” Izzie asks incredulously.

Later, Izzie receives some unsettling news from a mysterious couple who introduce themselves as Dustin and Caroline Klein. They seem to know exactly who she is, but Izzie has never laid on eyes on them in her life. When they tell the young intern how much she looks like their daughter, the penny drops. These are the parents of the baby Izzie put up for adoption 11 years earlier.

Later, a distraught Izzie reveals her secret to Miranda. “I’ve thought about this moment –what I would look like, what I would say,” she says. “But I thought I would be older, more together, more mature.” However, the meeting does not take place as her daughter does not want to meet her. The only thing Izzie can do is donate bone marrow for the transplant the girl so desperately needs. But will she be a close enough match?

Elsewhere, Jane Doe has recovered from her facial-transplant surgery and everyone is happy with the results. Now the hospital can begin a full-on publicity campaign to find her family. After snapping some pictures, Mark assures Jane that her original bone structure has been retained – and she still has the same hair and eyes. It is not long before a couple come forward to claim her as their daughter, Shannon. Like Jane, Shannon had Bpositive blood and no tonsils. But, after speaking with Jane, Shannon’s mother voices her thoughts to Alex, saying: “That girl is not my daughter.”

With her hopes dashed once again, Jane turns on her only friend in the world – Alex. “You want to keep me all to yourself,” she seethes. “Well, here I am – your pathetic captive audience. Isn’t it sad that I’m the best you can do?”

Also this week, Marlow remains determined to come between Burke and Cristina. When the talented surgeon asks Burke to assist on a heart transplant, he jumps at the chance. But Cristina is suspicious of her ex-boyfriend’s motives.

In theatre, Marlow wastes no time in criticising his assistant, “I should never have allowed you to scrub in,” he complains. Predictably, Cristina leaps to Burke’s defence, but this only gives Marlow more ammunition to use against her. “The Cristina Yang I knew was concerned with excellence. She would never play the part of the helpless girl trying to build up a grown man’s ego,” he says. Has Cristina become a shadow of her former self just to please a man?