Mark Sloan (Grey's Anatomy)
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| Dr. Mark Sloan | |
|---|---|
 Dr. Mark Sloan, portrayed by Eric Dane |
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| First appearance | "Yesterday" |
| Created by | Shonda Rhimes |
| Portrayed by | Eric Dane |
| Information | |
| Aliases | McSteamy |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 39 or 40 |
| Occupation | Head of Plastic Surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital |
| Title | M.D., F.A.C.S. |
Mark Sloan is a fictional character on the ABC television series Grey's Anatomy. The character is portrayed by actor Eric Dane.
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[edit] Background
Mark was born to an upper-class but emotionally distant family in New York City. At a young age, he befriended Derek Shepherd and became like a second son to the Shepherd family, although he would eventually sleep with at least one of the Shepherd sisters, Nancy. Their friendship lasted throughout childhood and into their adult years, and Mark was Derek's best man at his wedding to Addison Montgomery. Mark attended medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, completed his residency in otolaryngology, a fellowship in plastic surgery, and quickly became one of the most highly-regarded plastic surgeons on the East Coast with a thriving private practice. As Derek and Addison's marriage became strained, Mark and Addison grew closer, and eventually Mark slept with Addison, only for Derek to catch them in the act.
After Derek declared his marriage to Addison and friendship with Mark over and left town, Mark and Addison lived together for two months. During this time, Addison became pregnant with Mark's baby. He was initially excited about the pregnancy, but Addison had an abortion amidst rumors of Mark's infidelity, and soon left Mark to follow Derek to Seattle.
[edit] Overview
Professionally, Mark is regarded as a very successful and competent surgeon. Alex Karev referred to him as the "go-to-guy" for plastics, and Richard Webber proposed that the addition of Mark to Seattle Grace's plastics program would double the revenue of other departments. He is skilled at delicate and complex reconstructive procedures, but also performs cosmetic procedures. Of his personal philosophy, he says: "People don't come to me to fix what's on the outside. They come to me to fix what's on the inside."
Mark portrays himself as a confident and often arrogant man, but admits to Meredith Grey that: "My 400 dollar an hour shrink says ... behind this rugged and confident exterior, I’m self destructive and self loathing to an almost pathological degree." Mark has commitment issues, likely stemming from his emotionally challenged relationship with his parents. His friendship with Derek was his single longest relationship. He has a long history of womanizing and one-night stands, and is somewhat indiscriminate about his partners, admitting to affairs with not only Addison but also his tennis partner's wife. Mark is impatient and shows disdain for the responsibility of training interns, but he is also intelligent and conniving, and not above using others to advance his own agenda.
[edit] Character History
Mark first appeared in Seattle shortly after the bomb scare at the hospital with the sole intention of bringing Addison back to New York. During this visit, Meredith, Cristina and Izzie discussed a nickname for Mark. They came up with such names as "McSexy" and "McYummy". Meredith was the one who came up with the name "McSteamy". From that moment on, the interns regularly used the nickname behind Sloan's back. He eventually found out about the nickname when Meredith, who was under the influence of painkillers, called to him "McSteamy! Woo hoo!" to which he replied, "Is that what you're calling me now? McSteamy?" She responded by saying, "Yeah, but I don't think you're supposed to know that." Addison rejected Mark's offer to bring her back to New York and Derek rejected his apology, leaving Mark to return empty-handed to New York.
Mark returned to Seattle at Addison's drunken behest, an action she would later refer to as a "transcontinental booty-call." Addison rejected him yet again, but Mark was determined not to give up so easily and after a quick trip back to New York to sublet his apartment and sell his practice, Mark took over the plastics program at Seattle Grace.
He was not warmly welcomed by Addison or Derek, although he desperately wanted to repair his relationships with both. He carried on a brief fling with Callie Torres before she reconciled with George O’Malley, and developed a friendship with Meredith, although he hit on her before she and Derek resumed their relationship. Mark disliked Seattle, annoyed by the weather and the perceived inadequacies of the city in comparison to Manhattan, and was also discouraged by the continued strife among himself, Derek, and Addison. Mark was on the verge of terminating his contract with Seattle Grace and returning to New York when he learned of Richard Webber’s pending retirement. Mark entered the race for the chief position and set himself apart by not following the examples of the other candidates, and his unconventional strategy paid off following his board interview, when his “right-now” plan for the hospital was hailed by the board members and Chief Webber alike.
In addition to work and the race for Chief, Mark’s focus remained on repairing his relationships with Addison and Derek. In an effort to stray from the sexual nature of their past attempts, Mark entered a sixty-day abstinence pact with Addison with the agreement that if at the end of two months’ time they had remained celibate, Addison would agree to give a relationship with Mark another chance. However thirty-two days into the pact, Mark witnessed Addison and Alex leaving an on-call room together, and realized what had happened between them. Hurt, he lied to Addison about breaking the pact. While he and Derek were still estranged somewhat at the end of the third season, they had made some progress, especially after Mark’s support during Meredith’s drowning, and they were able to remain civil at work.
In season four, we begin to see some character growth in Mark. Firstly, he rekindles his friendship with Derek almost completely. This is made easier by the absence of Addison, and the emotional turmoil Derek is in due to his failing relationship with Meredith, making Mark's support indispensable. He also forms a friendship with Callie - who often feels like an outsider at Seattle Grace, much like Mark. Callie enjoys the easy company of Mark, where there is comfortable frankness and no pretentiousness.
In episode 4.07, Sloan suddenly and unexpectedly finds himself attracted to Dr. Erica Hahn, who he thinks is "sassy", and is not like the majority of people that he's dated. She, however, tells him that he is not attracted to her, per se, but rather her talent, confidence, and the fact that she's not attracted to him. This speech has the opposite intended affect though, as Mark just pursues her with greater passion. She continues to reject his advances, bordering on cruel in some of her responses, but he does not give up. Eventually, in episode 4.11, she throws him a bone and tells him that if they didn't work together she probably would date him, but as they do work together, it's not going to happen.[1] Comments made since by Shonda Rhimes, indicate that Mark is not ready to give up on her just yet though. But the real question that is yet to be answered is if Mark genuinely likes her, of if he only wants her because he can't have her.
[edit] References
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