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It's one of those episodes with a dozen plots. A week has gone by since Callie came over to the house, and George is getting a little sick of having her around. But he's too much of a wimp to tell her he's not interested in living together -- that is, until they have a fight about a patient who keeps getting unnecessary surgeries, and all of the living-together angst explodes all over them. Needless to say, she moves out. One of the kids from Heroes drops by -- she's a pre-teen who can feel no pain and gets hurt an awful lot because of it. This teaches Alex a valuable lesson about the importance of pain, which he shares with Izzie, who spends the entire day standing in front of the hospital trying to get over how own pain so she can speak to the Chief about getting back in the program. Needless to say, she never makes it in. Cristina is getting sick of taking care of Burke, who seems depressed and fairly uninterested in his own recovery. Watching a patient, she realizes just how hard recovery can be and how important it is to have someone to provide support in that process. Needless to say, she decides to kick Burke's ass and push him to do the work he needs to do to take care of himself. Addison has apparently spent the entire week having sex with McSteamy, but now she wants him to head back to New York. He wants to stick around and try to make it work with Addison. Needless to say, he checks into a hotel in Seattle at the end of the episode. And Meredith tries to date Finn and McDreamy, only to have the two of them spend the entire time ignoring her and cockblocking each other. Meredith makes an impassioned and slightly self-centered speech before telling them both to shove off and work on their wooing technique. Needless to say, she ends up cuddling in bed with Izzie, George, and a quart of strawberry ice cream. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Last week, on Trees in Men, Bailey told Izzie that she should return to the program, Callie got kicked out of the hospital basement, and Meredith told Finn and McDreamy that she wanted to date them both.
The Meredith voice-over tells us about a surgeon's typical fantasy, which apparently involves performing lifesaving surgery using only the contents of a small grocery store. Or something. While she's talking, the camera is moving over her bed, and we get a really lovely swirly series of shots of her artfully posed in bed with a sheet just up to here, if you know what I mean, and one leg delicately sticking out from beneath the covers. Very nice. Meredith V.O.: "But every now and then, some other kind of fantasy slips in." Mere rolls over to find McDreamy mcdreamily staring at her. He wishes her a good morning, and they kiss. And then he looks over her shoulder and says "Good morning" to Finn, who's in bed on the other side of Meredith. Both men are shirtless, by the way, and there's a bluesy harmonica and guitar composition playing in the background. Finn agrees that it is a good morning, and Meredith rolls over and gives him a kiss. Finn asks her, "Did you get any sleep last night?" Meredith: "Not really." McDreamy: "You want to get some now?" Meredith: "Not really." Do I really want Meredith in this scene? Not really. We cut to an overhead shot, and both men move in to kiss Meredith. I fully expect (hope? dream?) that they'll both miss her and end up finding each other, but what really happens is that some loud noise wakes up Meredith. When she awakes, we see that she's wearing her Dartmouth t-shirt and is covered with a heavy down comforter. Mere's VO tells us that most fantasies dissolve upon waking, but sometimes you can be certain that if you try hard enough, you can slip back into that dream. She firmly closes her eyes, trying to find her way back to her mini-harem, but the noise that woke her up continues, so she decides to get her ass out of bed.
Mere emerges from her room to tell George that he ruined a really good dream. The hallway is lined with boxes, and George tripped on a couple of them (which is the noise that woke Meredith). George tells Meredith that all the boxes belong to Callie. Mere thinks he's apologizing to her for having a long-term guest, and she tells him she really doesn't mind. He claims not to mind either, but he clearly does. And then he walks up to Mere and whispers to her, "Kick her out." Meredith is a bit confused, since George was the one who told Callie she could move in. But what George really told Callie was that she could stay for a couple of days. It's now been over a week, and Callie's boxes have shown up, and she's using George's computer, and he's desperate for Mere to kick her out. Callie chooses that moment to emerge from the bathroom, chastely wrapped in a towel. She tells them that she's used up all the hot water, so they may want to wait to use the shower. George gives Mere a look and quietly begs her to kick Callie out. And then Izzie walks up and asks if she can get a ride to the hospital. She's decided to go in to speak to the Chief and see about returning to the program. Meredith looks genuinely thrilled at this news. After Izzie leaves, Callie turns back to George and Meredith. She thinks that Izzie coming back to the hospital is good news, but seems confused by the fact that George does not look happy. He just tells her, "That's my towel." She apologizes, walks up them, and hands the towel to George. George and Meredith are both speechless. George takes the towel and walks into the bathroom. Callie tells Meredith, "He's really moody in the mornings." Mere, laughs, agrees, and checks out Callie's ass as she walks away.
McSteamy and his large, pale chest (and tiny little nipples) are in bed, telling Addison that he doesn't really have to fly back to New York that day. She's getting dressed, and she tells him that he really does, because while all the sex was great, she has to get back to work and get back to her life. And while McSteamy is just as hot and moist-making as his nickname implies, I would probably be itching for a little alone time after a solid week of sex with him. So I can see where Addison is coming from. But McSteamy can't -- he smiles, reaches up, and pulls Addison down to the bed with him. By the way, what is up with his facial hair? It reminds me of the fuzz on my old G.I. Joe, which was basically velveteen glued to Joe's face. Does that style have a name? I'll call it the Velveteen Joe. Also, I think I would be suspicious of a plastic surgeon with a beard. What's he trying to hide? Some scars from a bad surgery? Or does he have some terrible flaw that can't be corrected by modern medicine?
At Burke and Yang's House of Love, Cristina walks into the kitchen and sees a disheveled Burke lying on the sofa, bouncing a rubber ball off the wall. He's clearly planning his big prison break. He's also using his left hand to bounce the ball, which is not the hand that was injured in the shooting. Cristina suggests that he try to throw the ball with his injured hand, since the whole point of the ball is to help him regain strength and dexterity. Using his right hand, he whips the ball at an innocent coffee mug that's sitting on a table in the living room. He nails it, knocking over the mug and spilling coffee anywhere. Cristina is as shocked as I am at the fact that he just spilled coffee in his own house. Even more shocking is that Burke doesn't want her to clean it up, telling her, "It doesn't matter."
Izzie, George, Callie, and Meredith walk towards the hospital. Callie tells George that since their shifts end at different times, she should probably get a copy of the house key. He immediately says, "No!" and then tells her that it's more romantic if they go home together. Izzie is wearing the hideous sweater she made for Denny, which is sweet and all, but perhaps not the best attire for an important meeting at which her professional future will be decided. She stops a little ways back from the front door of the hospital. Meredith notices, and tells her that everything will be fine. George and Callie come back, and George tells her that everyone wants her to return to work. The Chief will act all mad, but he'll eventually let her back in. Izzie tells them that she just wants to think about what she's going to say to the Chief, and tells them to go ahead without her.
Speaking of the Chief, he's in his office discussing Izzie with Bailey. He doesn't actually seem that interested in meeting with Izzie, but Bailey points out that it was all her (Bailey's) idea. The Chief is still resistant, and Bailey tells him, "She's an intern. My intern. You want to blame someone, blame me. But that girl is coming in here today, and you are going to talk to her. And you're gonna remember all the other surgeons you've known who've ever had a lapse in judgment that lead to someone dying, or someone's arm falling off. Most importantly, you're gonna remember all the mistakes that you made when you were young, and stupid. And you're gonna be filled with patience and compassion." Bailey is yelling by the end of this speech, in a very impatient and noncompassionate way. The Chief asks her if that's really what he's going to do. Bailey: "Yes!" He reminds her that he's the boss, and she apologizes for the shouting and the telling him what do to. But she tells him that this is very important to her on a personal level. Chief: "Being the boss isn't as gratifying as it used to be." He dismisses her, and she leaves.
In a corridor, Cristina is telling Meredith about her morning with Burke. Cristina: "I'm on my knees in a puddle of coffee, and he's lying on the couch playing with himself. And not in a good way." Meredith points out that it's normal for a patient going through recovery to become depressed, but Cristina thinks Burke should be abnormal. She thinks he's throwing a pity party for himself so Cristina will take care of him. The elevator doors open, and McDreamy emerges holding two cups of coffee. Mere tells him that she had a dream about him, and he asks, "What was I doing? Bringing you coffee?" No, but there was definitely some sugar involved, and if George hadn't interrupted there might have been some cream. Yes, that's right, I'm making nasty sex jokes. I've decided that as long as Shonda wants to gross me out by showing me the inside of human bodies, I'm going to gross out some other people by making jokes about bodily fluids. If you don't like it, complain to her -- I'm ready to call a truce whenever she is. McDreamy tells Meredith that he's heard rumors that it's common practice to ask someone out on a date over a casual cup of coffee. So he takes a sip of his coffee and asks her if she'll go to dinner with him that night. Cristina watches all of this and looks as though she might throw up. Meredith accepts the invite, and he tells her that he'll pick her up at 8:00. And it's been a week since Meredith told McDreamy that she wanted to date and this is the first date he's asked her on? What is he, a Rules girl? I assume that means Finn has been spending the last week pressing his case.
As McDreamy walks away, the other elevator opens and Finn walks out. Mere is a) surprised, b) happy, c) worried that McDreamy will see Finn, and d) suspicious that she's still dreaming. And Ellen Pompeo conveys all four of those feelings in about 1.5 seconds. He makes a lame joke about being in the neighborhood, and then she tells him that she had a dream about him. Cristina hears this and immediately realizes that Meredith had a little REM ménage à trois. Or perhaps she thinks Meredith had a dream in which Finn and McDreamy were going at it. In any case, Cristina knows what a dirty girl Meredith is. Finn asks what he was doing in the dream, and Cristina wonders the same thing. Meredith sees a small bag in Finn's hand and takes the opportunity to change the subject, asking him what he's got. What he's got is apparently coffee cake for Meredith. And then he asks her to dinner that night. Because he also apparently decided to wait a week. (Or the people in charge of continuity on this show were all fired or are all drunk or stoned.) Cristina wonders whether Meredith might possibly be free for a date that evening. Mere isn't, of course, so she declines the invitation. And then Finn suggests that they have lunch together. At the hospital. Because nothing says "romance" like a meal at your beloved's place of employment. That is the worst date idea ever. Meredith accepts, and Finn walks away. Cristina thinks it's very cool that Meredith had a dirty, dirty dream about Finn and McDreamy. "Just when I think you're boring, you rise." Meredith: "I'm dating. And it comes with snacks."
Outside the hospital, a very rushed-looking Alex greets Izzie. She tells him that she's going to go in to see the Chief any minute now. He's running late, so he doesn't do much besides congratulate her on her return before running into the hospital.
Alex, now dressed in his scrubs, walks up to Cristina, Meredith, and George, who are eating Meredith's coffee cake. He grabs one piece, but when he tries to grab a second, Cristina nearly takes his hand off. She knows how to set limits. Bailey walks up to them and very firmly gives them their marching orders. In brief, Meredith is doing paperwork, Cristina is working with McDreamy, Alex is working with Addison in OB-GYN, and George has been specially requested by Callie. Bailey walks away, but not before giving them all the tiniest hint of a smile. Cristina is confused by the good cheer, but Alex thinks it's because Izzie's coming back. George is hacked off that he's going to have to spend the day with his hot, dirty girlfriend. Meredith tells George to just tell Callie that he's not ready to live together. Meredith: "And then try dating. Dating's fun." It is if the guys you're dating don't wait around forever to actually ask you on a date.
Alex is snarfing down the last of the coffee cake when Addison calls his name and asks him if he's ready. She looks a bit disheveled and not in a very good mood. He asks her if she's not getting sick of making him work on all those lady parts. (The lady parts of the patients, I mean -- I don't think Alex has been anywhere near Addison's lady parts). Addison's phone rings -- whomever she's speaking with is having some kind of problem and needs her for five minutes. She tells Alex to entertain himself in the pit, and he asks her if she's having "personal problems." She tells him to beat it and then looks very tired. She must be worn out from all the sex. Alex literally skips away from her, by the way. Do you think someone's happy that Izzie is coming back to work? (Especially now that her fiancé is dead).
In the pit, a nurse hands a chart to Alex and tells him that it's the patient's fourth visit in three months. Alex walks up to Little Miss Sunshine and her foster parents. LMS, a.k.a. Megan, is the patient. She immediately tells Alex her injury's not as bad as it looks. Foster Mom says that she fell on the playground and that there was a lot of blood. And Foster Dad tells Alex that he knows it must look like they are a couple of child-abusers, but they really aren't. It's just that Megan "plays rough." Foster Dad is prepared for Alex's suspicion and presents Megan's case file, which shows that her history of injuries began way before she became their foster child. Alex still doesn't believe them and gets rid of them by sending them to the nurses' station to get Megan's file copied while he examines her. Alex starts to chat with Megan, noting all of her nasty-looking bruises. He sees what looks like another injury on her arm. (The edge is just peeking out from under the sleeve of her cute little sweater). She claims she fell off her bike and snatches her arm back, but he holds her hand and slides her sleeve up. There's a deep cut on her arm, with three staples holding it together. It's revolting. I will get you for this, Shonda. Alex is gobsmacked and angrily asks Megan if her foster parents did this to her. She denies it and tells him that she did it herself because she didn't want to go to the doctor. Alex is doubtful. I'm wondering how the hell her foster parents didn't notice the enormous weeping gash on her arm. She asks Alex to stitch up her leg so they can leave, and he tells her that he's going to see to it that her foster parents never hurt her again. She tells him that they're the best foster parents she's ever had. Megan: "They don't hurt me. I can't be hurt!" She senses that Alex doesn't believe her and tells him to punch her in the stomach. Alex does not punch the little girl in the stomach. Instead, he prepares a shot of local anesthetic and tells her that he'll have to give her a shot to numb the pain while he removes the staples. Again, she tells him that she's immune to pain. And then to prove it, she reaches into her arm and pulls out each of the three staples. Of course, she doesn't have a staple remover, so she has to use her teeth to remove the last one. (I do the same thing at work -- but with legal documents, not arms.) Alex is stunned that she shows no sign of pain. She looks around stealthily, pulls him in close to her and whispers, "I have super powers, okay?" And now I'm expecting to see Bad Glasses Man. If he brings Mohinder along with him, I won't mind. Although perhaps all the continuity problems could be explained if we learned that Hiro was hanging around and messing with the space-time continuum.
Cut to the non-credits. Oh, how I miss you, ironic eyelash curler. I also worry about those poor foot models, who have now lost their residuals.
McDreamy is quizzing Cristina about the procedure that's going to be performed on Taylor. Basically, they're cutting the corpus callosum in half to sever the connection between the two halves of his brain. Leanne, Taylor's wife, is in the room, holding their utterly adorable baby. She tells the baby, "Daddy's letting them chop his brain in half because Daddy's a big dummy." That's a bit of an oversimplification, even for this show. What we learn in the ensuing argument is that the procedure will prevent seizures that Taylor has been having up to five times a day. He points out that Leanne won't leave him alone with the baby, because his seizures make him dangerous. I would think they also prevent him from doing things like driving a car or holding down a job. But Leanne thinks it's a stupid, risky procedure that he doesn't need to have. McDreamy tells them that they can delay the surgery if there's any uncertainty, but Taylor wants to be able to take care of the baby. And maybe, you know, operate a stove without fearing that he's going to burn down the house.
Alex tracks down Bailey and tells her about Megan, claiming that either Megan is psycho or her foster parents are abusing her. Why does it have to be either/or? Couldn't both things be true? Alex tells Bailey about the bruises and the staples, and Bailey asks if her parents stapled her. Alex tells her that Megan did it and that she also believes she's a superhero who can't be hurt. Bailey tells him that while Social Services speak to Mr. and Mrs. Foster Parent, he should run a "cold pressure" test. Alex is as confused as I am, and Bailey tells him to use ice water to test Megan's responsiveness to pain.
George reports for duty with Callie. She tells him he was weird that morning, and he denies being any weirder than he ever is on any other random morning. And I think he's telling the truth there, because he's always a little bit weird. He goes on about how difficult morning is, what with the light and the hordes of people crowding their house. She looks doubtful, and then tells him that they have "a radical case" to work on. Whoa, dude! Is it, like, a gnarly procedure? And why am I suddenly recapping Bill and Ted's Anatomy? (Although that would be a wicked fun show to recap). Callie leads George into a patient's room. Callie and the patient (whose name is Jasper) greet each other with some enthusiasm. Jasper is very excited about the triathlon he's training for, but before he can compete he needs the new ankle that Callie is going to install for him. (And the triathlon is coming up on June 12th. Since the prom was just a few weeks ago, doesn't that mean the triathlon should be happening any minute now?) George seems put off by the number of surgeries Jasper has had in the last year (three so far), but Jasper and Callie are completely unfazed. Jasper asks whether he can meet "his guy" -- by which he means the week-old cadaver that is providing his new ankle joint. Callie thinks Jasper and the dead mean would have little to discuss, and then she leaves the doubtful George to run Jasper's labs.
Alex carries a basin of ice water to Megan's bed. She asks where her parents are. He tells her that they're speaking to "some grownups," and she demonstrates that her powers include super sassiness when she points out that she's smart enough to know that her parents are speaking with a social worker. Alex tries to bring her back to reality by noting that her injuries aren't normal, but she responds that she gets in a lot of fights because she has a duty to use her powers to defend the weak and wimpy kids on the playground. She wants to know why he wants her to stick her hands in the ice water. When he tells her it's a test of her super powers, she once again demands that he punch her in the stomach. He convinces her to do the ice water thing by agreeing to compete with her to see who can leave his or her hand in the longest. He tells her to remove her hand when it starts to hurt, and she responds, "What are you, deaf? It won't. Start. To hurt." She then explains her theory of superheroes, which is that they are all kids who are orphans that discover they have powers at around her age. Alex, with his hand in the ice water, is squirming.
Addison enters Joe's bar. What do you know, McSteamy is there. He tells her that his flight was grounded on account of bad weather. She points out that it's a perfectly cloudless day, and he claims that New York is experiencing its first-ever typhoon. He asks her to stay for a drink (in the middle of the workday, very professional), and she declines. (Because she is, in fact, very professional). But he's persistent, and calls over to Joe to bring her a coffee.
Back in Megan's room, she continues to prattle on about superheroes. After a while, she notices that Alex is biting his lip, and asks him what's wrong. He holds out for a few more seconds before pulling his hand out of the water and screaming about how much it hurts. After he recovers his composure, he tells her to pull her hand out before she gets frostbite. She tells him that nobody ever believes her, which is why she's always having to demonstrate her powers. Why, just the other day she had to let a kid punch her in the stomach 25 times and hit her with a baseball bat.
Cristina is performing one last test on Taylor so he can be cleared for surgery. As she finishes, he reaches out and takes his adorable baby in his arms. Taylor tells the baby that they're almost done, but Leanne points out that this is just the beginning, what with the surgery and the recovery. Cristina tells them that Leanne is right: "Recovery's hell on a spouse. It's gonna be harder for you than for him." Cristina starts griping about all the ways Leanne is going to have to take care of Taylor, and she's clearly talking about all the things she has to do for Burke. Cristina: "It's the caretakers who are the silent victims!" Meanwhile, Taylor is trying to attract their attention -- he's about to have another seizure. Cristina emerges from her own self-centered fog just long enough to catch the baby as Taylor collapses. Commercials.
McDreamy examines Taylor. He thinks the seizure shouldn't interfere with the surgery, assuming Taylor still wants to go forward. Taylor looks over at Leanne for approval, and she agrees that it doesn't look like they have any choice.
Meredith and Cristina walk out the front door of the hospital. Izzie is still standing there. She's taken the sweater off in the hot sun and wrapped it around her waist. They naturally assume that she must have already spoken with the Chief, but she tells them that she's going to go in any moment now. Izzie asks what they're up to. Cristina: "She's dating everyone with a pulse, and I'm trying to get Burke out of the bell jar." Speaking of dates, Meredith leaves because she's late to her lunch date with Finn. Cristina continues complaining as Mere leaves: "She's playing the field, and I've got a wife. Where's the justice?" And then Cristina realizes how insensitive that comment might seem to the woman whose fiancé just died. As per usual, that makes her act awkward and run away.
Back at Joe's, Addison is trying to explain to McSteamy that although they "really enjoy each other," they shouldn't try to have a relationship. (She also calls his trip to Seattle "an intercontinental booty call.") While she speaks, McSteamy strokes her hair. She freaks out and tells him to knock it off. He asks the obvious question: "Why?" She tells him that his big sexy hands make it hard for her to think. He presses his case, and she continues to resist. He tells her to come back to New York, and she insists that she's not coming back to New York. He pulls his chair even closer to hers, leans in real close, and whispers, "'Cause it was just about sex?" She's getting all fluttery, and they lean in to kiss each other. But just at the moment of contact, she reaches out and slaps him right across the Velveteen Joe. And then seems utterly shocked by what she just did. He may be suffering from the same condition as Megan, because he just smiles. She stands up, says goodbye, and walks away.
Bailey works on a chart at a nurses' station. The Chief wanders up and asks where Izzie is; she was supposed to be in his office at 9:30. Bailey is sure that Izzie will track him down when she decides to drag her ass in to the hospital. As the Chief leaves, Alex walks up to Bailey and tells her that Megan needs an abdominal CT. Bailey wonders what Megan's belief that she's a superhero has to do with her tummy, pointing out that she herself believed in Santa Claus until she was 11. Alex: "Really? Did Santa ever hit you in the gut with a baseball bat?" If Santa did that, bad little boys and girls would behave a little better, don't you think?
George reports to Callie that all of Jasper's labs are fine, and then asks why he's getting four surgeries in one year. Callie says that it's because he's a super intense athlete whose body takes a beating. See, that would make sense to me if he were getting paid millions of dollars to be a super intense athlete. But if you are constantly having to replace joints and shit and you're not getting paid lots of money, you need to stop doing whatever it is you're doing to your body. George agrees. We also learn that Jasper is 55. Callie thinks that after replacing tons of hips for losers who lost their hips because they couldn't be assed to get any exercise, it's refreshing to replace joints for someone who's actually getting some use out of them. He obviously doesn't agree with her, but also doesn't push the dispute. And then she asks him, "Hey, I was gonna go home for lunch. You want to come?"
Cut George throwing himself down at a table in the cafeteria (with Cristina and Alex). He can't believe that Callie had the nerve to refer to the house as her home. Cristina and Alex shush him up; they're both staring at another table -- the one at which Meredith is having her date with Finn. Alex and Cristina have placed a bet on whether McDreamy will show up to interrupt the date. (Or, as Cristina says, to "challenge Finn to a duel.") They see Meredith laugh, and Cristina thinks Meredith must be faking it because Finn could not possibly be funny. As Cristina does her Meredith impersonation, Mere looks over and stares daggers at her. George is trying to get in on the bet, but all he has on him is $5. The rest of his money is at home, which he can call "home" because he lives there. Alex: "Hey, you're a loser. You like comic books?" George says "no" and then shakes his head yes. That was adorable. Like a toddler. Alex explains about his superhero patient, and George gives a very passionate and non-stammery speech about how superheroes look like anyone until some magic moment during which something that was dormant within them emerges, setting them apart from everyone else. Cristina calls their attention to the main event: McDreamy has entered the cafeteria. He sees Finn and Meredith but walks right on by. He buys something from the cashier and then walks past the lovebirds on his way out. Cristina clearly bet on him to interrupt the date, because she keeps muttering under her breath for him to do something. McDreamy appears to be leaving, so Alex starts to rake in the money. But then McDreamy turns around and approaches Meredith's table. She apologizes in advance for whatever assy thing he's about to do. In fact, his strategy is to invite Meredith to scrub in on a brain surgery. Finn is smart enough to realize that the brain surgery is probably just about to start. Meredith is clearly stoked to scrub in. She apologizes to Finn and says, "I'm an intern. I still have a lot to learn." Finn: "Apparently, so do I." He tells Mere that he doesn't mind if she leaves. She tells him that she'll call him that night, and McDreamy reminds her (and Finn) that she won't call him because she has a date. Finn seems to be taking this in stride, but Meredith looks like she just realized that McDreamy is kind of being an asshole. Cristina and Alex watch this, and Alex thinks he might actually owe Cristina more money.
Izzie is still standing in front of the hospital. Burke walks up to her and asks her if she's coming or going. She's not sure. Neither is he. But I'm sure that we're going to commercial.
Meredith and McDreamy walk down the hall. She busts his chops for his display of macho superiority in front of Finn, but I don't think she really wants him to stop. Because if she did, she wouldn't have gone along with it. And then he does a little more dick-waving, talking about how Finn is out of his league and how cute it is that he thinks he can compete with the Great and Powerful McDreamy. And then he points her in the direction of Taylor and tells her to start prepping him for surgery. She tells him that she was under the distinct impression that the surgery was imminent, but he tells her it actually doesn't start until 4:00. And that's where I call foul play! It was stupid of Finn to schedule a date in the hospital where his rival works, but that's no excuse for McDreamy to lie to Meredith in order to break that date up. That was an assy move.
Cristina walks down a corridor and sees Burke in the Chief's office. The Chief appears to be sitting on his desk. Cristina smiles, but I can't tell if the smile says "I'm happy Burke is off his ass," or "I can't believe he acted all lame and infirm when he was actually fit enough to come to the hospital."
Alex preps Megan for her CT scan. She's nervous about how much all of the procedures are going to cost her foster parents, and once again proclaims that the whole thing is stupid. And then she asks the tech to punch her in the stomach. Alex really wishes she would stop doing that. At this point I'm kind of wishing someone would take her up on it.
Bailey is in the CT control room when Addison walks up to her. Apparently, Bailey wanted a consult. From the OB/GYN specialist. Are they thinking that Megan might be pregnant? Because I don't think getting hit in the stomach with a non-metaphorical baseball bat really poses any danger of that. And what is Addison's specialty? Sometimes she's dealing with pregnant women (or women with various lady-part issues) and sometimes she seems to be taking care of tiny babies. I know the lady-part doctors and the tiny baby doctors have a moment of connection, but I thought they were pretty distinct types of medicine. In any case, Addison seems a bit sheepish. Bailey notes that she hasn't seen Addison since she was at Joe's sucking down martinis. Which was a week ago. Or a day ago. Or three weeks ago. Addison claims to be over her martini-drinking phase, and she asks Bailey, "We talked about...?" Bailey: "A lot of things." Addison: "And I remember...?" Bailey: "None of them." They both agree that's a good thing. Alex enters the room and they start talking about the patient. As Addison and Bailey are speaking, an image comes up on the screen. Alex asks what they hell they are seeing.
Burke walks across the Bridge of Sighs. He runs into George, who seems excited to see him and asks how his arm is. Burke gives a non-cheerful non-answer, and George tells him that everyone misses him. Burke starts to walk away, and then turns back to tell George that Izzie is still standing outside the hospital.
McDreamy, Cristina, and Meredith perform Taylor's surgery. The interns answer some medical questions, and then McDreamy notes that he saw Burke in the hospital. Cristina notes that he was there meeting with the Chief, and McDreamy asks if he was working out the details of his leave of absence. Cristina seems shocked at the very notion.
George walks out of the hospital and tells Izzie that she's been standing there quite a while. Yeah, about eight hours by my count. What kind of shoes is she wearing? Because those suckers must give some great support. Izzie claims that she's stood in different spots over the course of the day, and gets pretty angry when George suggests she sit down. And then Izzie gives a speech about how she never got into the whole girly bride thing. In fact, she claims to hate the idea. But now that her fiancé has died in this hospital, she can't seem to think about anything but that crap. George tries to pull her to a seat, and she looks like she might deck him. Izzie: "I'm going to do it, George. I'm going to walk through those doors. I just need to make sure that when I'm standing in front of the Chief of Surgery, I am not thinking about my wedding dress." She thinks she may need another minute or so to get to that point.
George is with Jasper, giving him the standard precautions about the risks of surgery. Jasper is familiar with the speech and just asks for the consent form so he can sign it. George really wants to give the whole speech, so Jasper tells him he can give it to him when he comes back in for hip surgery. He's planning on doing that in the fall, after some other triathlon. George looks a bit upset, and then asks Jasper if he still wants to meet his ankle donor.
Bailey is telling Mr. and Mrs. Foster Parent that Megan is suffering from abdominal bleeding. Foster Dad gets defensive, thinking that Bailey is once again accusing him of hitting Megan. She clarifies that she's not, and apologizes for suspecting them in the first place. But all the times Megan got punched in the stomach have had a serious effect, and if they don't perform some surgery right away she will die. Foster Mom gets a bit weepy, but Bailey stresses the need to perform the surgery immediately. And then Alex notices that Megan has disappeared from the wheelchair in which she was sitting.
Cristina gets off the elevator and runs into Burke...who has been wandering around the hospital the entire time she was in surgery? He explains that he was making notes on all his open cases so the Chief could reassign them. Which I guess explains why he's still there, but leaves open the question of who's been handling his cases in the week or three weeks (or whatever) since he was shot. Cristina asks him if he's really taking a leave of absence. She wonders if he's going to need more than a week, and notes that he's already three weeks into physical therapy. Which means that he was shot at least three weeks ago, all other evidence that only days have passed since the prom be damned. Unless he started his physical therapy before he was shot, which is entirely possible given the lack of attention this show gives to continuity. Burke tells her that recovery from the kind of surgery he had will take months or years, not weeks. He starts talking about all of the obstacles to full recovery, but she thinks that he won't have to face any of those because he's just a superior kind of guy. And then he leaves. Commercials.
Hey, it's a Cardassian. Or a corpse in the morgue, which George is now entering with Jasper. Jasper asks if the corpse is his guy, and George tells him that's another guy that died the night during his liposuction surgery. Jasper is all sexist and surprised at the idea that lipo is performed on men. Personally, I'm surprised that it's performed on someone as skinny as that corpse. Unless maybe he didn't die until after they sucked all the fat out of him. George opens one of those morgue drawers and shows Jasper a fairly old looking guy. Of course, he's dead and completely pale, which may make him look older. Jasper is shocked at the idea that they would be giving him an ankle from such an old guy. George points out that the cadaver is two years younger than Jasper. Which I guess is supposed to make Jasper feel bad, or something. I would think it would make him feel good about still being such a stud at his advanced age.
Callie is looking at the board. She asks all and sundry what happened to her ankle surgery. She had an O.R. booked for 3:00 (which we know is in the past at this point) and it's not on the board. A nurse tells her the surgery was canceled because Jasper went home. Callie wonders why the hell he would do that, and then thinks she knows the answer when George walks around the corner. But he's saved from her wrath when Bailey tells him to start looking for Megan, who is still lost.
Meredith and McDreamy are leaving the 4:00 brain surgery, and she asks him if he's sure he severed all of the fibers he was looking for. He tells her that if he didn't, there will be another surgery. She asks, "Do I get to scrub in on that too, or only if I'm in the middle of a date with somebody else?" McDreamy denigrates the idea of lunch in the cafeteria as a "date." They bicker, and then we see Addison walk around a corner and see the two of them together. She pulls back with a stricken look on her face. We switch back to McDreamy, who tells Meredith that Finn showed some courage by trying "to woo a woman with a tuna salad." He tells her to keep an eye on Taylor, and then Alex runs by and asks Meredith to help him look for Megan.
Alex runs around shouting Megan's name. George tails after him, looking in different corners and continuing his superhero speech. He thinks that a superhero wouldn't really want someone to perform surgery because it might mess up her powers. He tells Alex that if they took away Green Lantern's ring, Hal Jordan (his alter ego) would still be a hero but might suffer "a crisis of confidence." And then George starts off on a rant about how Robin just moved in with Batman, demanded a pair of tights, and then used Batman's towel. Which is just not fair, since Batman had to work so hard for his "powers." And George of all people should know that Batman has no powers. That's what he's famous for. That and having inappropriate relationships with teenage boys way before Mark Foley made it cool.
Callie walks up, pissed at George, and Alex takes off. She's pissed because she arranged for him to participate in a super cool surgery and then talked the patient out of it. George tries to deny responsibility, but she just talks over him and accuses him of going behind her back because he didn't agree with her. He tells her that all he did was express the opinion that not everything has to go at warp speed. Callie is still fighting about Jasper when George blurts out, "I'm not ready for us to move in together." Callie: "And if you weren't a toddler, if you could use your words, you might have said that the first four times I asked you." This scene would be more convincing to me if we saw any one of those four times so we could understand the context a little bit better. She tells him that if he had said something to her she would have told him that she agreed and would have also told him she was looking for a place and planned to be out in a week. And then she tells him she'll be out in an hour. Well, it's a good thing her surgery was canceled. Now she has time to go home and pack.
Meredith is looking for Megan, calling out her name and sticking her head in various doors. She opens a supply closet and finds Addison having a quiet cry. Addison: "Weren't you just on the third floor?" She was, but then Hiro teleported her downstairs. Meredith starts to explain about the lost little girl, and Addison just tells her to pick a floor and stick with it. Addison: "Because I really need a moment or two without you. Your face shows up in my head, your panties show up in my husband's pocket. Really, you're everywhere, and I need a moment or two without you." Meredith tells her that she understands and leaves her to cry.
Alex walks down an empty corridor and spies Megan's green socks sticking out from under a gurney. He throws the sheet aside and bends down to talk to her. He pulls her out from under the gurney and she calls him a hosebag. I think her real power is super perception. She tells him he doesn't want the surgery. And then she tells him to stop telling her foster parents that she's "defective" because she's scared that they won't want to keep her. Alex pauses and then tells her, "Dude, that's stupid. They've got their own personal superhero. Nobody sends back a superhero." She points out that he told her she didn't have superpowers, and he whips out the Hal Jordan example to tell her that even without them she can still be a hero.
McDreamy and Cristina are performing a neurological exam on Taylor. Just to note, the surgery was at 4:00 and McDreamy's date with Meredith is at 8:00. Taylor must have powers of super recuperation, because there's no way he should be this awake and alert so soon after having a man's hand in his brain. Taylor's physical responses are all fine, and Leanne makes a joke about him always testing well. Taylor boasts about kicking ass on the S.A.T., but can't remember what the actual test is called. So McDreamy asks him to identify a cup, and he can't name that either. (There's a tiny moment where Cristina asks him if he's having trouble seeing the cup -- very good doctoring, that.) And then he can't name his wife or son. Leanne is freaking out and pressing him to come up with names that he should know. But it doesn't really help. Commercials.
McDreamy, Cristina, and Leanne are in the corridor outside Taylor's room. Leanne notes that Taylor was the one who named the baby. McDreamy explains that cutting the linkage between the two halves of the brain may have made it hard for Taylor to access the names of things, but that with a lot of work he'll grow new pathways and recover those names. McDreamy tells Leanne, "Recovery's hard work. It's a learning process. You need to be patient. You need to help him. He can't do this without your support." And what do you know, Cristina hears all this and gets a thoughtful look on her face. Who could have anticipated that a patient's condition could have some relevance to the lives of one of our characters? This show's just full of surprises.
Bailey and Alex perform Megan's surgery. She's pretty messed up inside. Bailey reminds Alex that pain exists for a reason â to tell us when we're in trouble. And now Alex looks thoughtful. And he looks thoughtful some more as he watches Mr. and Mrs. Foster Parent sitting by Megan's bedside in recovery. He walks up to Bailey to tell her that Megan is stable. Bailey is looking out a window, and asks if Izzie has been standing there the entire day. At least she had the sense to put her sweater back on when it got cool.
On the porch of Casa Grey, Meredith is telling McDreamy how nice dinner was. Meredith asks if McDreamy is coming in, for a drink or maybe a coffee. And then we hear Finn's voice. He walks up to them with a pint of ice cream in his hand. He claims that he didn't think they'd be there and that he just wanted to deliver some strawberry ice cream that a patient made for him. McDreamy clarifies that it was a patient's owner. I don't know -- maybe a cow ate a bunch of strawberries and sugar and then spent a few hours in a walk-in freezer. It could happen. Strawberry ice cream is Meredith's favorite, which Finn naturally remembered because he's the considerate one. Although I have to say that while McDreamy's interruption of their lunch date was assy, Finn is kind of creepy right here. How long was he hanging out in the bushes to Meredith's porch waiting for this moment? McDreamy and Finn start bickering back and forth. I wish they would just kiss and get it over with. Meredith finally tells them to shut up: "This is not dating. I want moonlight, and flowers, and candy, and people trying to feel me up. Nobody is trying to feel me up. Nobody is even looking at me!" And that's true, because Finn and McDreamy were staring deeply into each other's eyes. Meredith tells them that as an intern she's incredibly busy and it was really hard to find the time to look halfway presentable, and now the two of them are staring at each other. Mere: "My fantasy is not two men looking at each other." Speak for yourself, sister. They both try to apologize, but she tells them to shut up until one of them figures out how to put on an actual date: "I want heat, I want romance! Damn it, I want to feel like a freakin' lady!" Hee. She walks into the house and then comes back for the ice cream. Which mysteriously turns from a pint to a quart, I swear to God. Would it have been too much to ask for some fisticuffs between Finn and McDreamy in this scene? Or maybe some wrestling in which their shirts get kind of torn off?
Mere V.O.: "The fantasy is simple. Pleasure is good. And twice as much pleasure is better. That pain is bad, and no pain is better." We see Addison arriving at Seattle's only hotel and telling the desk clerk that she absolutely doesn't want any calls put through. I love that she can barely remember her room number, due to all the alcohol and sex from the past [days] [week] [three weeks] since she first checked in. And then we see Callie checking in, the Chief checking for messages, and McSteamy checking in -- and trying to get a room on the same floor as Addison. The Chief recognizes McSteamy and asks him what he's doing in town. McSteamy: "I don't know. I have a thing for ferry boats."
We see Cristina arrive at Burke's (which I guess I should stop calling his place, since it's her place now, too). She plops three chickens down on the countertop and Burke asks her if she's going to cook for him. She tells him that she certainly is not, but that she is going to make sure he works very hard to recover so he can return to work. And then she takes a cleaver, chops a chicken in half with one blow, tosses him a suture kit, and tells him to put it back together.
Mere's V.O. continues, telling us that reality can't live up to the fantasy. Pain actually serves a purpose. Izzie is still standing in front of the hospital. Alex walks up to her and puts his coat on her shoulders. She starts to tell him that she knows she'll be able to go in the hospital. He asks her if it hurts, and she collapses in on herself a bit and sighs, "Yeah." He tells her that maybe it hurts for a reason. And then he takes her by the arm and leads her home.
Meredith is sitting on her bed. She's just cracked open the ice cream. Maybe it didn't turn into a quart -- maybe it's just a perspective thing. Like, in Finn's massive hands it seemed like a tiny little pint and now in Meredith's tiny little mitts it looks like a massive quart. I don't know. Meredith sees Izzie in her doorway. Izzie admits that she didn't go into the hospital. Meredith is unfazed and tells her that she might be able to do it the day. And then Izzie hops onto the bed for some ice cream. George is now in the hallway outside Meredith's room. He tells them that Callie moved out. He says that it's a relief, but he doesn't look very relieved. Izzie holds out the ice cream, and George joins them in the bed. And it's all very cozy and sweet. And I think this is a much better threeway for Meredith than the one that started the episode.