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So, at least a couple of weeks have passed since the last episode, and this week's episode is all about people from the past turning up like a bunch of bad pennies. First, we discover that Susan has gone into maternal overdrive with Meredith, constantly showing up at her house and buying her groceries. As you would expect, Meredith reacts by telling Susan to back off. But Susan is persistent, and ends up forcing Meredith to admit that she kind of likes having Susan around. And then Crush's parents show up after her new face is splashed around the news. She's pretty excited, but Alex is clearly not happy about letting her leave. Fortunately for him, her parents decide they're not really her parents after all, leaving her at the hospital. Unfortunately for him, Crush is kind of pissed off about this, and she takes it out on Alex.
Colin Marlowe also shows up (again), to try to convince Cristina that she's with the wrong man and generally lord his cardio-godhood over Burke. Cristina fights back by acting disgustingly girly in order to convince Marlowe that she's really committed to Burke. This actually works when Marlowe decides that Cristina is no longer the woman he once loved, and he departs the hospital and (I hope) the show.
The last person who shows up unexpectedly is Izzie's daughter. Yeah, I know! She has leukemia, and her parents ask Izzie to consider donating bone marrow. Izzie is overcome with emotion, and ends up telling the whole story to Bailey, who is as kick-ass and supportive as you would imagine. Izzie agrees to donate the bone marrow even after her daughter refuses to meet her. George, who has still been giving Izzie the cold shoulder after the awful, awful sex, gets suspicious that something is up and ends up butting into Izzie's marrow donation. This rekindles their friendship, but throws some cold water on George's relationship with Callie, who catches him lying about where he was for the day.
And in a storyline that really doesn't fit the metaphor about people from the past turning up, Derek continues to push Weber about winning the Chief's job. Weber is not especially supportive, and it turns out that he thinks that if Derek becomes Chief of Surgery, it will ruin his relationship with Meredith. This leads Derek to think that he has to choose between Meredith and his career. So we'll all see how that turns out. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously, on Grey's Anatomy, George and Izzie had sex. Some other stuff happened too, but the image of the very, very wrong sex has pushed everything else out of my brain.
We start with a little surgo-montage. Meredith's voice-over tells us that a patient's history is just as important as their symptoms, while we watch Burke and Cristina operate on some dude. Unfortunately, they spend more time making goo-goo eyes at each other than they do actually looking at the patient, so I don't think he has the best chance of making it out of this one alive. Mere's V.O. continues nattering on, telling us that ignoring a patient's history, or having the wrong facts about a patient's history, can mean the difference between life and death. And I was right about the patient -- one of the two surgeons does something that causes lots of beeping and a gusher of blood shooting out of his chest. It kind of makes me think of Jed Clampett. Red gold! Texas t-cells! There's hemoglobin in them thar hills! And speaking of death (which the V.O. was just doing), Cristina looks up at the gallery and sees creepy old man Colin Marlowe staring down at her. He seems unnaturally pleased by the sight of the patient bleeding out.
At Casa Grey, Susan (Meredith's step-mother) is...putting groceries away? While Derek sits on his ass and drinks coffee. He tells her, "Meredith, she'll accept a certain amount of help and then she starts to feel suffocated." Hey, Derek, you know who might also appreciate a certain amount of help? The woman currently putting the groceries away. Get off your perky ass, lazy. Susan worries that she's suffocated Meredith. Derek, who is going to be eating at least some of the free food, tells Susan that the groceries are just fine. In fact, he's more worried that he's going to suffocate Meredith. By helping her, I mean. Not by covering her tiny head with a pillow in the middle of the night. Susan thinks that it makes sense for Derek to want to help Meredith after everything that's happened. She also lets us know that she's given Meredith "some time" after her mother's death, so I'm assuming at least a couple of weeks have gone by since the last episodes. Meredith enters the kitchen and wonders if the huge mountain of food all came from Susan. Susan: "I just picked up some things to restock your fridge." And your cabinets, bread box, and spice rack. Meredith: "You bought groceries every week." Derek: "Yeah, you have to do it every week if you want more." And this is where Derek and Susan start to get a creepy, co-parental vibe to their interaction with Meredith, as they give each other this glance that just screams, "Kids today." Alex walks in and is pleased by the grocery haul. Derek announces that he's leaving because he wants to try to speak to Richard about the Chief of Surgery thing before things get too busy at the hospital. He asks Meredith to wish him luck. Susan: "You don't need it. Just make him listen to you. You deserve to be Chief." And once again she sounds more like Derek's wife and less like Meredith's stepmother.
At the hospital, a rather fetching young woman saunters onto the elevator with Richard. Hey, it's Carol. She tells Richard she likes his sweater, and he seems completely shocked at the notion that someone might notice what clothes he's wearing. We also see that Mark is in the elevator, and he watches the ensuing scene with some interest. Richard, after recovering from his shock, mutters, "My wife." Carol wonders what he's talking about, and he tells her that the sweater was a gift from his wife. And then he tells her that it's actually his ex-wife (so soon?), and that the divorce is amicable. Carol is getting more and more freaked out. He tells her that the divorce is friendly because he's a friendly guy. You say "friendly," I say "desperate." The elevator doors open and Carol runs off like her pants are on fire. Mark mocks Richard's feeble attempts at flirting and notes that Carol pressed the button for the fifth floor and got off at the third floor: "She'd rather walk up two flights of stairs than flirt with you. Hell, she'd rather climb up the outside of the building." Richard tells Mark, "I wasn't flirting." Mark: "You're telling me." And then Mark offers to be Richard's wing man. You know, way back when I was in college, I had this one acquaintance who was utterly beautiful and an utter asshole. It was always fun going to bars with him because he would attract these really cute guys who would eventually decide he was a jerk and turn to his more sympathetic friends for company. All I'm saying is, Richard might want to take Mark up on that offer.
Cristina looks at some X-rays while Marlowe says something smarmy about the surgery she just finished. Cristina: "Okay, you have officially become creepy. Creepy and stalking." She also tells him that she and Burke have set a date and are getting married in a month. He tells her, "We both know you're not the marrying kind." This is the surgical wing of a hospital -- shouldn't there be a scalpel around she can cut him with? He tells her that he wants her to know what she's giving up by marrying Burke and invites her to assist on some super-fancy cardiac surgery. Because I guess once she gets married she won't be allowed to operate on anyone, ever. Okay, maybe on ladies, but that's hardly real surgery. The surgery, by the way, is called "a piggyback transplant." He rubs in his cardio-godhood by pointing out that Burke will probably want to scrub in, "to see how it's done."
Meredith and Cristina enter the locker room. Cristina is griping about Marlowe and starts to use a bunch of chess terms to describe her battle with him. Meredith looks a bit confused, and Cristina notes, "You've never played chess?" Meredith: "I'm not a geek." While Cristina makes plans to annihilate Marlowe, Meredith complains about Susan's constant drop-ins. Alex interrupts, "You may be confused because you were basically raised by wolves, but this is what mothers do. They stop by, they stock the fridge. Dude, you think she might do our laundry?" Mere: "Hey, get your own fake mom." That would go nicely with his fake girlfriend. George enters and immediately notices Callie stretched out on a bench. I did not see her there until this. He asks if she had a bad night on call, and she complains about some abscess bursting all over her. And then Izzie walks in with her hair up in this severe bun, wearing a very white coat and saying the rosary. She looks like Eva Peron. Or a nun. Who sometimes poses for lingerie ads. Meredith and Alex both notice her freakish behavior and ask if she just came from confession. Alex: "Izzie Stevens does penance. You did something bad." I guess sleeping with your married friend requires a higher level of public remorse than, you know, killing your fiancé. As Izzie walks out of the room, George offers to make a coffee date with Callie. She can't help but notice the strange looks George and Izzie are giving each other. She ignores them, and thanks George for being so thoughtful.
Everyone is gathered around Crush's bed while Mark unwraps the gauze covering her face. Everyone talks about how beautiful she is. Eh. She's okay, I guess. I suspect they're all just sucking up to Mark. We do learn that the plan is to take some pictures of her to circulate in the media in an attempt to find her family or anyone who knows her. She wonders how people will recognize her with her new face, but Mark tells her that the bone structure is mostly the same, and her hair and eyes haven't changed at all.
George and Izzie are standing at a desk in the hallway. She's extolling the virtues of confession, telling George that it wipes away the sin as though it never happened. Except, of course, that you still have to deal with all of the consequences of whatever you sin was. Which is why your dead fiancé is still dead, Izzie. Izzie thinks that her newly confessed state means that George can stop avoiding her, but he tells her that he's going to do just that "until this whole thing blows over." They're in the clinic, and he calls out a patient's name. Izzie follows him and asks him what he means when he says "blows over." He tells her that after he had the wrong, wrong sex with Meredith, it all eventually blew over. Izzie: "You mean the sad sex? The sad, tragic, depression-inducing sex you had with Meredith is the same as [what we did]?" Actually, Izzie, the sad, tragic sex was better than what you and George did, because it was at least preceded by some indication that George was attracted to Meredith and the two of them had at least some degree of romantic chemistry. George tells Izzie to just back off, and then leaves to find his patient.
As Izzie stands there, a man and a woman ask if she's Dr. Isobel Stevens. The guy is unfamiliar to me, but the woman is Suzanne Cryer, who played a girl but not the girl on Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place. Now that I know she's still working, I'm kind of hoping she'll show up this season on Drive, since Nathan Fillion was also a non-titular star of that show. ["You may also remember her, as I do, as the "yada yada" lady from that famous Seinfeld episode." -- Joe R] Izzie thinks they're clinic patients and directs them to George. The woman is near tears as she explains that their daughter has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. Izzie gives them directions to the oncology ward, and the woman just breaks down crying. Izzie tries to be empathetic and comforting, but the man tells her that the real problem is that Izzie looks just like their daughter. Can you guess why? Ding ding ding! Yes, it's because their daughter is the baby Izzie gave up for adoption lo those many years ago. Your prize for guessing is a brand new GE microwave. Just call Jack Donaghy's assistant and he'll arrange for delivery. Oh, and for future reference, Izzie's baby is named Hannah and her parents are named Dustin and Caroline Klein. Commercials.
And we pick up right where we left off, with Dustin explaining Hannah's medical condition to Izzie. It seems she was diagnosed with some serious leukemia a few months ago and desperately needs a transplant. A compatible donor had been located, but the donor up and died. Which normally facilitates organ donation, but I guess not for bone marrow. The donor registry told them it might take months to find a new match, so they decided to look up Izzie and see if she would consider being a donor. Izzie recovers from her shock far more quickly than I would if I were confronted by my lost baby's adoptive parents, and tells them that while she'd be happy to donate, the chances are slim that she will actually be a good match, as she only contributed half of Hannah's genetic material. Caroline: "When you gave her up, we promised to take care of her, to keep her safe. But I can't protect her from this. It's genetic. You have to take care of her." Izzie realizes that Hannah must be somewhere in the hospital and asks if she can meet her. Dustin tells her that it will be Hannah's decision, but that they have no objection. I would think the first question would be whether Hannah even knows she's adopted. I'm sure all the parenting manuals suggest informing adopted kids of their situation, but I'm guessing there are still plenty of parents who don't do that. Caroline points out that their daughter could die. I like the ambiguity of that -- it's not clear if she's talking about her and Dustin's daughter or her and Izzie's daughter.
Marlowe, Burke, and Cristina enter a patient's room. Marlowe introduces Burke to the patient as a doctor who will assist on the surgery. The patient is playing chess against himself. If a metaphor could be said to be chewing the scenery, I would say that the chess metaphor is approaching Ethel Merman levels of mastication. Marlowe introduces the patient to "Cristina Yang," and she obnoxiously tells the patient, "Soon to be Dr. Cristina Burke. We're getting married. month." She wraps herself around Burke as she says this. And if Cristina Yang changes her name, she is dead to me. (Assuming, of course, that they ever actually get married.) Marlowe is looking a little ashen (I mean, more than he usually does), and he asks Cristina to explain the procedure. As near as I can determine, the surgery involves putting in a new heart but leaving in the old one, so the patient ends up with two hearts. Like Spock! Cristina describes it as the two hearts pumping blood together as one glorious romantic unit. I think they should put that in their wedding vows. Marlowe tells her it's more accurate to think of the hearts as competing against each other in a vicious professional struggle that will leave them hating each other. Or something like that. The patient thinks the whole thing sounds risky. Marlowe tells him that since he'll be running the surgery, there's nothing to fear: "You've picked the best man for the job."
Burke and Cristina walk down the corridor, and he asks her what the scene was all about. She tells him, "That was my smug, passive-aggressive, limey ex-boyfriend trying to show me I picked the wrong guy." Burke understood all that -- he's actually asking what the hell was up with Cristina and the clinging and general grossness. Cristina: "You're gonna have to put up with me being...nice and sweet. For a little while." Burke: "That'll be a nice change of pace." She tells him to shut up, and he seems glad to have the real Cristina back.
On the bridge of sighs, Addison tells Alex that she saw Crush and that she looks terrific. He says that Mark did a great job, and Addison tells him, "Yeah, you had something to do with that, too." After all, Mark's coffees weren't going to fetch themselves. Alex deflects the praise, and Addison accuses him of false modesty. He tells her, "Well, I just don't want people thinking..." Addison: "What? You're trying to build a perfect woman." And then a nurse tells them that the police think they found Crush's family and are coming over.
Despite the fact that Derek left the house extra early to speak with Richard, they're just now talking in Richard's office. The gist of the conversation is that while Derek knows that Richard needs to appear as though he's considering all the candidates for his job, he really wants him to live up to his original promise and make Derek the new Chief. Richard deflects him, and Derek asks him to at least support him with the board. Richard doesn't make any promises, and points out that he only has one vote.
In the clinic, Izzie walks past Bailey and tearfully tells her that she's not feeling well. Bailey asks George what's wrong with her, but he doesn't know. So Bailey follows Izzie into the loo. There's some sobbing coming out of one of the stalls. Bailey looks under the stall doors (presumably to be certain she's not about to embarrass Izzie in front of a patient or coworker), and then says, "I can't talk to you when you're making all that noise, so pull it together and get out here." Lest you think she's gone soft, she adds a firm "now!" to that sentence. So Izzie comes out of the stall and tells Bailey the story: eleven-year-old daughter, leukemia, bone marrow transplant. She also asks Bailey not to tell anybody about these things. Izzie: "She's here. My kid. And I'm supposed to go up to pediatrics and meet her, right now. And I've thought about this moment. What I would look like, what I would say. But I thought I would be older. More together, more mature. And I thought she would be older, and I never thought that she would be sick. Oh, God, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. What do I do?" Really nice work from Katherine Heigl. We leave the scene before Bailey can tell Izzie what to do.
And now that we've met the parents of Izzie's baby, it's time to meet Crush's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Waring. They're in a conference room, speaking with Alex and Addison. They say that her name is Shannon, and that one day her husband packed up and left because he didn't want a baby. And even though she was pregnant, she chased after him. Her parents hadn't heard from her in months, and then they saw her picture on the news. In fact, they have a picture with them, and the young woman in it does resemble Crush to some degree. Alex starts to fish for confirmatory details, asking if they know Shannon's blood type. They do. (Or at least, the mother does.) And Addison asks about any other significant medical history. It turns out she had her tonsils out at age 12. The father wants Alex to confirm that Crush is their daughter. Alex looks pensive, and then we cut to commercials.
Susan walks through the hospital lobby. Meredith sees her and calls out her name. Susan: "Meredith! I'm so glad I found you." Well, that's the kind of thing that happens when you stalk someone, Susan. Didn't your stint on ER teach you anything about the dangers of stalking doctors? If you piss them off, they can have you committed. Susan hems and haws and Meredith just wants to know what's up, since she's always so busy at work. Although not so busy that she can't hide in a storage closet for a good cry whenever she feels like it. Susan finally breaks down and tells Mere, "You know, I'd really just love to talk with you." Meredith puts her foot down and tells Susan to back off: "This is too much. Way too much. You keep showing up. I cannot be your daughter or your charity case or the thing that you need to fix." Susan tries to cut in, but Meredith won't have it: "No, no. Stop talking, okay? Stop mothering. Just stop." I love it when Meredith stands up for herself, but she kind of crossed the line between "assertive" and "rude" in that scene. But Susan kind of had it coming.
Alex walks into Crush's room and finds her watching someone on the television spreading the word that she's looking for her family. They banter, and then he tells her to open her mouth. For an exam, you freaks. She wants to know what he's looking for, and he doesn't have a good lie already planned out. So she jumps to the conclusion that someone has come forward to claim her. She begs him for more information, and he tells her that some people looking for a woman matching her description have come forward. The confirming evidence will be whether Crush is tonsil-free. She opens her mouth and Alex confirms that she has not tonsils. And then Crush's alleged parents walk into the room, which would have been really awkward if Alex had found some tonsils down there. Alex tells them that they need to wait, but Crush tells him to let them in. So Mrs. Waring walks up to Crush and tells her, "Your name...is Shannon Marie." You know, they can't keep changing her name on me. Until I see a birth certificate, "Crush" she will remain. Alex leaves the Crush family to have their touching reunion in peace.
George sees Izzie standing...somewhere near the clinic. Bailey walks up to him and gives him instructions on some clinic patients and then asks him to hold down the fort for a while. As she starts to walk away (towards Izzie), George asks what's up with Izzie, and Bailey tells him to mind his own damn business. Except it sounds even harsher when she says it. Meredith approaches Bailey and asks if she can scrub in on some procedure, but Bailey tells her to help George out with the clinic. Meredith watches Bailey walk towards a worried looking Izzie and asks George what's going on. He just hands her some files and yells at her to treat some patients.
Burke, Cristina, and Marlowe are in the cardiac patient's room. Burke is going over the details of the surgery with the patient, but Marlowe keeps correcting him and taking away responsibility for things Burke was going to do. Marlowe asks Cristina to hand him a copy of a journal article he wrote on the procedure. As she does so, he can't help but notice the fifteen different shades of pink she's painted her nails. Her fake nails. He asks her what's going on, and she sweetly tells him that she's testing out colors for the wedding. Cristina sounds so sweet, but it's got a nasty artificial bite to it. Kind of like aspartame.
In a hallway, Mark grabs Richard and tells him that he needs to show him something. The Chief is resistant, but Mark pulls him up to a nurses' station and asks a rather mousy looking nurse for some information on a patient. And then he gives a demonstration on how to flirt, quickly reducing the nurse to a puddle on the floor. Of course, it probably helps that he's got the physique of a god and is a known man-slut (meaning that the nurse likely knows she has a chance to get with him if she really wants to). I'm not sure Richard would get the same results if he tried Mark's technique. As the nurse walks away, Mark once again offers his services as Richard's wingman.
Izzie and Bailey are up in pediatrics, waiting for Dustin and Caroline to come tell them that Izzie can meet Hannah. Izzie is sad, and Bailey comforts her. While pointing out how nice it must be for Izzie to know that Hannah has such great parents, Bailey also reminds Izzie, "Doesn't mean you don't want that girl to want you." And then Caroline and Dustin emerge from Hannah's room to tell Izzie that she doesn't want Izzie. She's decided not to meet her bio-mom. I'm completely unspoiled, but I'm betting these people are lying, and that Hannah doesn't know she's adopted. Time will tell. Izzie takes it better than I would, but she freezes up when Dustin asks her if she'll still go through with the transplant. Bailey calls her over and reminds her that if Hannah dies, Izzie will never get the chance to meet her. Izzie takes in Bailey's wise words and tells Hannah's parents that she's ready to start the tests to see if she's a match for Hannah.
Commercials. Really, bingo on television? Truly, we live in an age of wonders.
Crush's "father" is sitting with her when Alex walks into the room. Crush excitedly tells Alex that she's learned that she's a second-grade teacher. Her "father" asks Alex when they can take Crush home. Alex hesitates, and Mr. Waring tells him that they've got a room all ready for her, and have all the diaries she kept over her life. She asks Alex whether she can go, and he comes up with some feeble medical reasons she should stay. She's not hearing his bullshit, and asks if he can't arrange for those things to be taken care of at her house. (And I have to assume she lives relatively nearby, if her "parents" saw her picture on the news and arrived at Seattle Grace within a few hours of her picture being taken.) Alex hesitates, and she pleads, "Come on, Alex. Don't doctor me. Help me get outta here." Alex tries to shift the blame to Addison, pointing out that she ordered straight bed rest until Crush delivers the baby. But he relents and tells her that he'll talk to Addison and see what they can work out. Crush giggles at the idea of going home.
Derek runs into Meredith in a hallway and asks how she's doing. She tells him she's in a horrible mood: "I yelled at Susan. I think I scared off my fake mommy forever." He asks if she needs some cheering up. I think he means the dirty-loving-in-the-supply-closet kind of cheering up. I wish I worked at a place where there were available men and empty supply closets. I wonder if it's too late to have some installed in TWoP Tower? Meredith leers at Derek and tells him that she's fine on the cheering up front, and they hug. Richard sees them from down the hallway and looks distressed. Richard walks away, unseen by our protagonists, and Meredith asks Derek how his conversation went with the Chief. He tells her it sucked. Meredith: "Wow, we make a good team." With one last leer, she walks away.
Alex walks up to Meredith and Cristina in the clinic and tells them that he's been waiting in Really Old Guy's room for twenty minutes to eat lunch. Meredith and Cristina announce that they decided to eat lunch in the clinic. George, who's actually working, tries to get them to move out of his way and then asks if they know what's wrong with Izzie. Meredith tells him to ask Izzie himself. George: "Fine. I would if I knew where she was." Meredith picks up a cup of yogurt and notices Cristina's painted nails. She asks what's going on, and Cristina tells her, "I'm trying to scare away Cardio God." Mere: "With pretty, pretty fingers?" Cristina claims this is actually a chess move. Ah yes, the famous L'Oreal gambit. And then she tries to shift focus to Alex (whom she calls "Pouty Head"), asking if he's upset because Crush is being taken away by her family. Meredith is genuinely happy to hear this good news, noting how relieved Crush must feel. Cristina points out that it's only good news if Crush's "parents" aren't "psycho killers." Meredith: "Or over-sharers." Alex sullenly denies caring about Crush in any way, shape, or form.
Elsewhere in the clinic, George sees Bailey and runs over to ask her what's going on with Izzie. She tells him to bug off, and he "demands" to know. Bailey: "I hope I didn't just hear you say you demand. Are you her father? Are you her husband? Then stay here and keep your mind on your job." And then, while George is standing about ten feet away, Bailey asks Meredith to run a sample to the lab, get the results, and bring them to Bailey. Meredith sees Izzie's name on the sample and asks what's going on. Bailey: "You will be discreet and not ask a bunch of questions." Bailey, have you met Meredith? Bailey tells Mere that it's a private matter and sends her off to the lab. George has seen all of this, although it's not clear how much he overheard.
In some room somewhere in the hospital, a doctor gives Izzie a shot in the ass (okay, the spine) with a huge needle while Bailey stands by and supports her. Izzie babbles nervously, and Bailey asks if Izzie's sure that she can't call someone or tell one of her friends what's going on: "You're gonna need somebody to hold your hand." Little martyr Izzie declines, but she gladly takes Bailey's hand when she offers it.
In the ambulance bay, George ambushes Meredith and demands to know where Izzie is. Meredith doesn't have nearly a good a response as Bailey -- she squirms around for a bit and then gives George the location. Meredith would make a terrible spy.
We see Crush animatedly chatting with Mr. Waring while Mrs. Waring watches from outside the room. Alex walks up to Mrs. Waring and tells her that Addison has agreed that Crush can go home provided Addison has the chance to make arrangements with a local doctor. Mrs. Waring: "I can't." There's some typical miscommunication until Mrs. Waring clarifies, "I can't take her home. That girl is not my daughter." Commercials.
We return to Mrs. Waring telling Alex that while Crush looks and sounds an awful lot like Shannon, Mrs. Waring is just certain it's not her. Alex tries to explain about the whole plastic surgery and amnesia thing, but Mrs. Waring cuts him off: "A mother knows her own child, Dr. Karev. And that is not my child." Well, that's conclusive. I don't know why Maury Povich just doesn't use this method for his "who's your daddy" shows. It's too bad there's not some kind of blood test that could be used to determine paternity. Even if there were, I guess you'd need some kind of medical professionals to administer it. By the Hammer of Thor, these people are stupid! Mrs. Waring worries about how she'll tell Mr. Waring that he's completely wrong, and she asks Alex to have Mr. Waring meet her in the lobby. She asks Alex to give her apologies to Crush. I wonder if Hallmark makes a card for that?
Derek is back in Richard's office. Richard tells him that things have changed since Derek came to Seattle Grace. Derek disagrees and demands that Richard support him in his quest to become Chief. And then it comes out that Richard thinks that making Derek Chief would ruin his relationship with Meredith. Richard promised Ellis that he would look after Meredith, so he's decided not to promote Derek in order to preserve her somewhat fucked up relationship. So, on Richard's theory, only sad, friendless, loveless losers should get to be Chief. I guess Mark gets the job, then.
George marches into Izzie's procedure room. Izzie is now laying on her stomach, and a doctor is draping her back with surgical towels. (Or whatever those blue cloth/paper things are called.) Bailey and Izzie both tell George to get the hell out, but he refuses. He bends down so his head is to Izzie's and lets her know that he's glad that nothing is wrong with her. (Somehow he figures out that she was donating bone marrow.) He tells Bailey that she can leave. She does not strike him down where he stands, but just tells Izzie, "Fine. Stevens, I'm going, unless you need me to call security." Izzie thanks Bailey as she walks out the door. George crouches down so he's at Izzie's head level and tells her, "You didn't tell me you were having a hole drilled in your damn hip. For who?" She refuses to answer, and the doctor performing the procedure starts drilling a hole in her damn hip. Ouch.
Callie wanders into the clinic and looks around. Meredith walks up to her and tries to palm off some patients, but Callie explains that she's not there to work (and that she hasn't slept in two days), and asks where George is. Because it's time for their coffee date. Meredith explains that he's with Izzie, without clarifying that he's holding her hand through a painful medical procedure. And then she takes the charts back and wanders away.
It's the piggyback surgery. Burke and Marlowe are both cutting away when Marlowe criticizes Burke's surgical decisions. Marlowe essentially orders Burke to stop cutting and just observe. You know, I would think that peeing all over the patient during the surgery wouldn't be very hygienic, but if that's how Marlowe has to mark his territory....
The hip-drilling is finished and Izzie is sitting up and trying to pull her pants on with one numb hand. George is trying to get her to agree to use a wheelchair until she has sensation in her spine and control over her limbs, but Izzie is way too hardcore for that. She claims that she's fine, but George notes that she can't even get her pants on. So George comes over and slowly pulls her pants up for her. The camera lingers on his hands slowly ascending to her lady bits, and it totally creeps me out. Friends can help each other put their pants on, but maybe not the friends who've had shameful adulterous trysts. Izzie at least pushes him away when it's time to tie the drawstring. And then she sits back down and he starts to untie the top of her smock. That's when she tells him that she donated the bone marrow to help out her eleven-year-old daughter. She explains about the adoption and about how her daughter is sick, and then she tells George that Hannah refused to meet her. George is speechless. Izzie: "I didn't think I really cared. And then she said 'no.' How about that?" George still says nothing, and then Izzie tells him that no matter how much she confesses and prays, she still misses him. She tells him that she can live without the sex, but "I won't make it if you can't be my friend." George finally breaks his silence and tells her that she should be proud of donating marrow for her daughter. And then he tells her that he'll get an orderly to take her downstairs: "But I have to go. You understand?" Izzie nods, but she's still crying hard.
Cut to George walking out of Izzie's room. He takes a few steps, but then stops. Back in her room, Izzie is still crying, and in a lot of pain. And then George marches back in.
Burke is still hanging out in the O.R. after the piggyback surgery is finished. Cristina walks in and starts to tell him that Marlowe was a complete asshole, but Burke cuts her off and says that he was actually brilliant. Cristina gets a look on her face, kind of like she's trying to screw up the nerve to do something that she finds completely abhorrent, and then she asks Burke to clarify some technical point about the surgery. He answers her, and she thanks him for the clarification. He tells her that he'll see her at home and holds her hand a second before walking out of the room. Marlowe walks in through another door, clearly having heard everything that just transpired. He tells her that everything else he saw between Cristina and Burke that day was part of the game he was playing, but he believed that what she just did for Burke was genuine. And what did she just do for Burke? Why, she asked him a question to which she already knew the answer, just to make him feel like more of a man. Marlowe is clearly disgusted by the fact that Cristina "played the part of a helpless girl, trying to build up a grown man's ego." Finally, something Marlowe and I can agree on. Cristina tells him, "I have learned that sometimes, you have to think about other people." He accuses her of having compromised herself, and then announces that he's leaving because he no longer wants to chase after "a woman who apparently no longer exists." And then, with a voice that is full of utter bitch, he tells her, "Best of luck...with the wedding." Commercials.
So, George apparently didn't march into Izzie's room to disembowel her. Instead, we see him wheeling her down a corridor. Through a large window, they see Hannah's parents putting on surgical gowns and entering Hannah's room. George encourages Izzie to get closer to the window so she can watch what's going on, but she's too scared and asks him to watch for her. He peers around the corner and tells her that Hannah's getting an infusion -- I'm guessing this is somehow part of the bone marrow transplant process. Izzie asks how she looks, and George tells her that she can look for herself, because Hannah really can't see them where they are. Izzie stays rooted in her wheelchair. George: "She's got your eyes. And your mouth. Oh, that means she probably talks a lot and eats a lot, then. If she's in pain, she's not letting on. Man, she's tough." He holds out his hand to Izzie and helps her stand up. She steps up to the window, and sees her daughter for the first time. Hannah is indeed a beautiful little girl, and she's totally rocking the bald look. Izzie and George agree that she's a real knockout.
Bailey's in the clinic...making beds? That's not really an efficient use of resources. People should do what they do best, which means orderlies should make beds, nurses should care for patients, and Bailey should kick ass. Derek, dressed in his civvies, wanders into the otherwise empty clinic and asks if Bailey needs some help. Bailey: "I know you didn't wander in here to help me change pillowcases." Actually, it's his turn to mop the floors. What kind of cheap-ass clinic is this? And why are there no patients -- do they really only treat people during business hours? Man, $8 million does not buy very much these days. Derek: "You warned me she could become a problem." Bailey, no fool, instantly realizes he's talking about Meredith. Surprisingly, Bailey tells Derek that she thinks the two of them have actually done all right. But Derek is freaking out that dating Meredith is screwing up his chance to become Chief. Bailey tells him, "This turns into an either-or, you pick the person you love. End of story. All of this means nothing if you're alone." Once again, my mother seems to have found her way onto the writing staff.
A very tired and confused (but still hot) Callie is standing in the lobby. George emerges from the elevator, sees her, and instantly realizes that he forgot their coffee date. He apologizes and makes vague excuses. And when she presses for more detail, he lies and tells her he was taking care of patients. She looks hurt, but she accepts the lie and tells him that she'll see him at home. You know, at this point I'm starting to feel like Callie would've been better off with Mark. He's an asshole, but at least he's honest.
Crush is playing solitaire when Alex walks into her room. He comments on the game, and she tells him, "My dad taught me. That sounds so weird. 'My dad.' Good weird, though." She asks if she can go home with her "parents." Alex hesitates, and then calls her Ava. She immediately starts to freak out. The accident may have given Crush amnesia, but I think it also gave her the power to instantly jump to the correct conclusion. She realizes that Mr. and Mrs. Waring have gone, and she tells him, "Those are supposed to be my people. I belong with them, Alex. I'm supposed to go with them." He tries to comfort her, but she accuses him of not wanting her to find her family so he can keep her all to himself. Which, you know, seems kind of true. Crush: "Isn't it sad that I'm the best you can do?" Very. He calls her "Ava" again, and she starts screaming at him and telling him to go.
Mere's V.O. tells us, "Some people say that without history, our lives are nothing." The rest of the V.O. is pointless, so I'm skipping it. Richard and Mark walk into a bar. The Chief wonders why the hell Mark dragged him there. Mark talks about "the ladies," and Richard comes to a conclusion: "You think if you get me laid, I might make you Chief." Mark doesn't deny it.
At the Burke/Yang household, Cristina is brushing her teeth when Burke tells her that Marlowe has left the hospital. He congratulates her on the effectiveness of the niceness offensive, and tells her that she can go back to being herself. Cristina looks like she's thinking just a little bit of not going back to that.
In his trailer, Derek mopes around on his couch. His cell phone rings, but he ignores it. The caller is Meredith, who's sitting around on her couch. There's a roaring fire in the fireplace. I love that these people apparently can't buy groceries, but they always have firewood. Meredith hangs up the phone, and her doorbell rings. Maybe it's the firewood deliveryman. Actually, it's Susan. Meredith: "Seriously." Susan: "Okay. That stops, right now." I think you have to tell the writers that, Susan. Meredith tries to brush Susan off, but she demands to be let in. Meredith is shocked to meet someone as rude as she is, but Susan tells her, "It's freezing out here, and I have been working myself up to saying this, well, for a while now. So I need you to let me in now, please." Meredith does. And what is it that Susan has to tell Meredith? It's that she feels that she's the reason Thatcher ignored his daughter, because she was in a new marriage with him and wanted him to focus on that. But did she actually interfere with his relationship with Meredith? No, she just didn't push him to be a better father. So he was a lump, and she let him be a lump. I'm still thinking the blame belongs with Thatcher. Meredith doesn't say anything, and Susan tells her that she's just trying to be there for Meredith in the only way she knows how. "And if you can't accept that, fine. But just stop being so rude." Meredith smiles a little bit, and Susan thinks she's coming on too strong. I think she crossed that line at the top of the episode. But Meredith tells her, "As mothers go, I've only known overbearing, never overprotective. This is a little new. It's okay."
Back at the bar, Mark is talking Richard up to a fine young thing. Richard is still pretty lousy at flirting. So Mark leaves him on his own with the FYT. Richard falls back on cliché and asks her if she comes there often. She tells him, "Sometimes. It's on my way home from bio class." Richard chokes on his drink when he realizes how Y the FYT is. He's rescued when Addison sits to him. He wishes the FYT well and turns his attention to Addison. Richard: "The last time I tried to pick up a woman, I had a Harvey Wallbanger in one hand and an afro pick in the other." Hott. She tells him to practice on her. He resists, but she tells him, "Mark's right. I mean, he's wrong about so many things, but he is right about this. You need to get back out there. So, practice." He doesn't know where to start, so she tells him to start by dancing with her. He notes that there's no dance floor, but she tells him to ask her anyway. So then they start dancing like giant dorks. If this were New York in the '90s, Rudy Giuliani would burst through the doors and shut down the bar over this. Credits.