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Callie's father is in town to visit, and he's none too happy to learn that his daughter is now a lesbian. After a whole lot of ranting and arguing in Spanish, he ultimately cuts off Callie's trust fund since she won't quit her job and move home. It makes for a full day for Arizona, who is also dealing with a father who can't face that his 6-year-old daughter is going to die. Bailey has come in on her day off to create more strife in her marriage... I mean, to come see some sort of procedure that Arizona is doing. What she winds up doing, however, is cradling the dying child while her father desperately tries to get her to Mexico for some experimental surgery. She finally manages to convince the dad to do the right thing and be there for his little girl when she dies, but this is after an entire day of choosing to be away from her own baby. I can't help but feel that this isn't going to go well for her, especially with her admitting to Arizona that she hasn't yet told Tucker that she's changing her specialty. Keeping secrets is always good for a marriage on the brink, right?
Mark and Derek are still fighting, but they are forced to work together on a surgery and both get through it acting as ridiculous and immature as possible. Meredith tries to yell at them to make up but that doesn't work -- it takes Mark saving the patient's life with some crazy speedy surgical move to impress Derek enough to forgive his best friend. Despite their men fighting and a dumb storyline involving Lexie eating too much because of all of the tension (and conveniently timed to Chyler Leigh's real-life pregnancy weight gain) Mere and Lexie are getting along, and there's a really sweet moment between the sisters when Mere tells Lexie that she's going to be a bridesmaid in the wedding.
Ah, the wedding -- even though Meredith isn't a big-wedding type of girl, she's let Izzie take over the planning to take her mind off the whole cancer thing. She should have known better, because a big white wedding is just what Izzie has in mind. She uses her cancer to convince a vendor to leave a bunch of gowns for Mere to try on, which Mere does all the while hating every one of them. Izzie plays a couple of tasteless pranks along the way pretending that she's dying, but ultimately it turns out that the chemo she is getting knocks her on her ass and she has to admit that she's really, truly sick. Of course at the same time, Meredith finds a dress she seems to actually like and she, Izzie and Cristina have a moment of zen together.
Alex and George also have their own moment, but it takes a while to get there. Owen puts Alex in charge of the pit, and George is pretty pissed to have to report to his nemesis. A patient is brought in who seems potentially suicidal but Alex brushes this off and only grudgingly allows George to call a psych consult. Owen, who put Alex in charge in the first place, is a little bit distracted himself since he's started therapy with Dr. Amy on account of his trying to choke Cristina. It turns out the patient is in fact suicidal, and he proves it by running off and then throwing himself out of one of the hospital windows, interrupting a fight between Alex and George about who hates who more. Owen is impressed by George's ability to stay calm and think a bunch of steps ahead to help the guy, and it looks like a mentorship is born. Alex finds George at Joe's afterward, and admits that he's no good under pressure, which is an exceptionally bad thing right now given everything that Izzie is going through. They seem to come to an understanding over Guinness, though, since Guinness is the universal healer.
Does Grey's make it OK to sleep with your boss? Our vloggers investigate.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!We fade in on a scene that I honestly never thought I would ever see -- Meredith, looking genuinely happy while she examines her engagement ring. "Defeat isn't an option. Not for surgeons. We don't back away from the table 'til the last breath's long gone." While Derek sleeps to her, she continues to hold up her ring and gaze at it.
"Terminal is a challenge. Life-threatening is what gets us out of bed in the morning." Izzie is in a chair getting a chemo treatment and reading a bridal magazine, while Alex sits to her, clearly uncomfortable but acting supportive nonetheless. He looks around, however, to see a bunch of very sick-looking people in other chairs in the unit. They're arranged in a circle like any moment, someone is going to get up and start tapping everyone on the head in a bizarre game of duck-duck-goose, but no one seems to be paying attention to anyone else.
"We're not easily intimidated. We don't flinch, we don't back down," Callie and Arizona run into each other in the stairwell and after some saucy smiling, grab each other in a kiss -- so I guess that relationship is going well, then.
"And we certainly don't surrender." Cristina is in the elevator and when the doors open, she looks out to see Hunt. When he looks up and sees her she averts her eyes and starts jabbing at a button so the door will close on his tortured face. "Not at work, anyway."
Derek has woken up and he and Mere are cuddling when she asks him if he minds that she doesn't want to actually wear the ring, adding (as if it's taking every ounce of strength she has) that she'll wear it if he wants her to. But showing that miraculously he does finally know the woman he's going to marry, Derek tells her he doesn't want her to, since she's not a ring kind of bride. That said, I feel like I could see her wearing it around her neck or something, not like Carrie Bradshaw when Carrie just didn't want to be engaged, but as a quirky-Meredith thing since she is clearly finally in love and as comfortable with her life as we've seen her. But alas, I just write the recaps, not the actual episodes. Mere turns to Derek and admits that she's also not a big white-dress, church-wedding kind of bride. Derek knows this too, and suggests they get married naked in a field, but Mere also draws the line at being a naked bride. When he suggests scrubs, she laughs that it would be more her speed. They get up to get ready for work, and she finally puts the ring down -- dropping it casually onto her nightstand. Mere tells Derek that she's letting Izzie help with the wedding to take her mind off the cancer, and that she'll tell her about the theme they've clearly decided upon: simplicity. She's never met Izzie, apparently.
Mark and Lexie are making out in the kitchen when Derek and Mere come downstairs joking about a bouquet made of scalpels; when the guys see each other, everyone clams up and gets uncomfortable. Lexie, with a rounder face on account of Chyler Leigh's real-life pregnancy, grabs a piece of toast and works her way through half of it while she heaves a worried sigh. Ah, so rather than taking the Gossip Girl route of only halfheartedly even pretending to hide an actress' real life pregnancy since hey, we all know she's pregnant anyway, they're actually addressing her weight gain with... nervous eating.
I'm relieved from a story standpoint and thrilled from a personal, viewer standpoint that Hunt is now seeing the awesome Dr. Amy. It doesn't come as a surprise that he has trouble opening up, and he claims he feels nothing. She lists some possible emotions --happiness, unhappiness, guilt, survivor's guilt. He twitches at this but tries to tell her that it's not about his platoon, so it's time for her to bring out the big guns: she lays her notebook down and leans forward. She tells him that he's pushed his feelings aside for far too long and she's asking him to "claim them," adding that it's totally about his platoon. He retorts that in fact it's about how he tried to choke Cristina to death, and that the way he feels about her and his platoon are not the same. But what he's clearly not ready for is that she can retort as well as he can, and asks how he could know that until he names his feelings? He tries to stutter a denial but winds up shaking his head, at a loss for words.
I forgot to mention a key detail about Izzie when we first saw her -- now that it's been a couple of days since her brain surgery, her "bandage" amounts to a piece of gauze wrapped around her head like a kicky little headband, and she's got a full head of hair pulled into a ponytail. Derek should be in a medical journal just for his ability to leave all of his patients with luxurious manes after having cracked their skulls open. She's on the phone about some wedding gowns and when she is told the boutique doesn't deliver gowns just to try on, she starts to cough and plays up the cancer card so they will agree. She of course is doing all this while pacing around in her room, which is covered in cutouts from bridal mags, and looks pretty much the opposite of someone with stage four cancer. The chief has been watching her from the door and Swender joins him, and both look a little bit stunned by how perky Izzie seems. Swender warns her to take it easy, but Izzie brushes her off to make some more calls. The doc then turns to the Chief and explains to him that it was chemo plus IL2, which is designed to have the body attack itself to also attack the cancer. I realize that this is a key point we all need to learn, but I am always bothered by one doctor explaining medicine to another doctor like this. Presumably as Chief, he has an idea of what this medicine does, right? But now we all know how horrible and harsh this treatment is and that Izzie won't be upright for long -- the stuff is so strong it could even give her a heart attack. Swender finishes by ominously warning that in a few hours, Izzie will wish she was dead. Izzie will have to get in line behind a whoooole lot of viewers at that point.
Mark and Arizona are walking along and talking about Callie's dad's imminent arrival. Arizona doesn't know if he's here yet since she's not going to meet him, which to Mark's surprise was Callie's idea. Since she and Arizona just started dating, it's not time yet -- that, and oh, the fact that her dad doesn't know she's now into the ladies might also have something to do with it. Just then, Callie walks in with her dad. An unsuspecting George then runs by but when Callie warns him quickly to run for his life, his confused pause is enough time for Mr. Torres to grab him and throw him up against the wall. Mr. Torres demands to know why he shouldn't kill George right now for committing adultery, so Callie asks who hasn't? She points out that she slept with Mark and that makes her a technical adulterer as well, but unfortunately for Mark that just means Mr. Torres pins him to the wall . As Mark starts to turn purple, Callie assures her dad that Mark is only a friend, and she's dating someone and is happy -- which causes Arizona to smile to herself. Mr. Torres reluctantly lets Mark go and tells Callie that it's good she's dating, and he'd like to meet the "gentleman suitor." Callie does that TV thing where she stutters too much and overacts as she talks in gender-ambiguous pronouns about how great that person is. Callie then seems to make a decision, which seems a little bit serious but the music stays all wacky as she tells her dad to, "Please be okay with this." She proceeds to walk over and get Arizona, then introduces the other doctor to her dad, explaining that this is who she is dating. With a bright smile, Arizona sticks her hand out and says, "And I really hope you draw the line at throwing women against walls."
Owen has paged Mark to help out with an incoming trauma, much to Derek's disgust and Lexie's agitation. She pops some candy in her mouth as two ambulances pull up -- one has a guy who has been hit by a car and the other has the driver of said car, who immediately charges that the hitee dove in front of him as he was driving. There's yelling back and forth as Malloy, the hitee, gets extremely aggressive and demands that the driver be given a blood alcohol test. As they yell at each other: "Drunk!" "Liar!" Derek and Mark also snipe at each other over who is going to check out the patient first and charge: "You're pathetic." "Ass." Lexie sighs and pops more candy.
Mark and Derek are working on the driver, Gates, who is understandably agitated and upset that he was just driving to the bank when this guy threw himself in front of his car. The doctors don't seem to absorb what he's saying, preferring to snap at each other about who is going to examine him first.
Hunt goes to check on the other guy, and George has a total handle on things and calmly rattles off all of the patient's problems. Hunt seems impressed, has them order a full workup, and then adds that George will report to Alex with the results. George is understandably ticked while Alex smirks at him. He's incredibly smug as Hunt explains to George that Alex is supervising the pit that day, and when Hunt leaves Alex dismisses George as if he's just a measly peon. All during the doctor drama, the patient seems to be simmering in his own anger in the bed, but he doesn't say anything.
Arizona and Bailey are walking down the hall together and Arizona prattles about how meeting Callie's dad was not on the day's agenda, clearly weirded out and also clearly not aware of how no one dumps their personal problems on Miranda Bailey. Bailey quickly teaches her this rule, and adds that it's her day off and she's only there to watch Arizona do a particular procedure. Arizona, more for our benefit than Bailey's, reminds her that she worked a 90 hour week and should be at home relaxing, but Bailey tells her to lay off the advice. Arizona gently gets to the point and says pediatrics can be tough and especially hard on a doctor's family. Bailey is many thing, but a convincing liar isn't one of them -- after arguing that her husband is totally supportive, Arizona guesses that he doesn't know. Unfortunately, this conversation feels like it's setting up Bailey's Marital Problems Storyline Part Deux. Bailey admits that but when Arizona asks why she hasn't said anything they are interrupted by a panicked father whose daughter can't breathe. Arizona runs in and explains to Bailey as they go that the little girl, Jessica, has Tay-Sachs. Jessica is a moppet with cartoon-sized eyes and a charming purple knit hat, and the combo of those two things says to me that she is not long for this world.
Mark and Derek, still together and still being little bitches to each other, are giving Gates a CT scan. Derek notes that there is no blood in the brain but Mark points out he's got a ruptured eardrum and a fractured bone and orders Lexie to book an OR. Derek halts her, pointing out that he's also got an injured facial nerve that needs repair. They pull Lexie right into the middle of this verbal pissing contest by asking her what needs to be treated first and then argue back and forth some more. As she just opens and closes her mouth like a fish about to expire on dry land, the boys ask pointedly, "Dr. Grey?" "Lexie?" "Dr. Grey?" "Lexie?" Once she regains her powers of speech, she just says she thinks they are both amazing doctors and leaves, popping more food in her mouth as she goes.
George is talking to his patient, Meloy, asking if the car hit him while he was in the crosswalk. Meloy doesn't seem to really register just how skeptical George sounds as he looks closely at the pattern of the wounds. Meloy has no real interest in waiting for the police, but George politely insists and then heads off after Alex to request a psych consult given that Meloy seems agitated and his injuries totally don't look like they should if he was walking when he was hit by the car. Alex has gone beyond smug to just plain mean, guessing that Meloy is agitated because he has George as a doctor, that or his having just been hit by a car. He orders George to discharge him so that they can see other patients, so George counters that if Meloy leaves and hurts himself it's on Alex. The threat of actual responsibility gets Alex to agree to it, but not without shooting back that if another patient dies because they don't get a bed, it's on George. I suppose this is what makes Alex a kind of brilliant character -- that I can love him one minute and loathe him for being such an immature jerk the .
The Chief and Mere are on the walkway, and he warmly tells her he hears congratulations are in order. But while he's really happy, she looks taken aback that he knows and her face remains stony as she thanks him and then asks for her assignment. His answer is just, "Dresses." He explains that Izzie has turned her room into a bridal boutique, so Mere's job is to try on dresses with her sick friend, which doesn't seem to thrill Meredith like it would thrill, oh, me. Seriously, if my boss ever tells me, "Your job today is to put on beautiful gowns and be a pretty, pretty princess!" I'm bringing her Best Boss Ever coffee every morning for the rest of the month. Derek must have walked up because from nowhere he pipes up that he thought Mere wasn't wearing a dress. And then the Chief must have walked away, because Mere demands to know how Richard knew they were engaged. Derek gets defensive as he reminds her that Richard is his friend, and then falls into his comfortable, everyday condescension to tell Mere to just talk to Izzie if she doesn't want to wear a dress. Mere whines that she can't do that while Izzie looks at her with, "those cancery, wedding-loving eyes." Derek thinks she's overreacting, but Mere knows her friend well enough to know that they are looking at pink taffeta bridesmaid gowns and Derek in a top hat and morning coat while someone sings "Wind Beneath My Freaking Wings." Derek just patronizingly asks if Mere wants him to talk to Izzie.
Immediately we're treated to a shot of Izzie crying and agreeing to something as she talks to Derek. He walks out of the room and tersely admits that the morning coat is non-negotiable, and that he and Mere have to take ballroom dancing lessons. Mere just widens her eyes in shock instead of doing a little "I told you so" shimmy like I totally would have done.
Callie is doing what appears to be cracking some poor guy's leg bone back into place as she argues with her father. I offer up thanks for the hundred and twenty-second time that Seattle Grace is not a real hospital and that I have never had a doctor act in this manner. As she crunches away down his leg, she insists to her father that she wasn't looking for a relationship, but that this one feels good. Broken Leg Guy appears to pass out but she doesn't notice, still crunching away as she asks her dad when he last saw her admit she was actually happy. The question backfires on Callie, though, as he answers that she was happy when she was home with her parents. Callie laughs that she was 12 at the time but her father is dead serious, and states that he's flying her home that day and will talk to the Chief to arrange everything. She calls after him with a protest but he just happily marches out to do what he has to do.
The Tay-Sachs moppet's name is Jessica, and her dad is named... Jessica's dad? Ah, imdb tells me it is "Mr. Smithson," hereafter to me known as Smith for short. Arizona and Bailey watch through the glass as he plays with some ponies on Jessica's bed, and Arizona explains that Tay-Sachs is always fatal in children, usually by age 4 or 5, but that Jessica made it to 6. Smith then walks out with a sheaf of papers and too excitedly explains that he's learned about some experimental stem cell research they've been doing in Mexico. He thinks they only need a couple of weeks to raise the money to get Jessica there, because doing experimental surgery in Mexico on a 6-year-old is ALWAYS a good idea. But he's desperate, so I should maybe try to not be so mean, just this once. Arizona gently reminds Smith that they don't have two weeks, and in fact might only have a couple of hours -- it's something they spoke about before and the doctors and he have done everything they can. Smith can't handle it and begins to cry as he begs for more time, protesting that Jessica is a fighter. He drops all of his papers and as he picks them up Arizona grabs his hand to firmly tell him that Jessica won't make it to Mexico and the best thing is to stay there. He throws all the papers back down, his sorrow replaced by anger, and yells back at Arizona that he's going to figure out how to get Jessica to Mexico that night. He then spits, "Shame on you for giving up on her." Bailey shoots a sideways glance at Arizona, and then at Jessica and her anime-sized eyes, clearly knowing this is a bad situation.
Cristina seems to be on full-time Izzie duty these days and is working away when an alarm goes off and Izzie's vitals all plummet. Cristina runs into the room past the dresses and feels for Izzie's pulse while watching the flat line on the monitor, but Izzie can no longer contain herself and bursts into really obnoxious, hysterical laughter. Cristina isn't pleased at all as Izzie cries that she should have seen her face: "It's your totally freaking out face!" Cristina can't believe it's a joke and quite frankly, neither can I -- even knowing how self-centered and generally cruel Izzie can be, this is extra low. If you have a disease that might actually kill you, don't scare your friends even more by pretending to die. She just recently learned how alone it felt to go through this with no one by her side, so maybe she shouldn't be alienating them with utterly tasteless pranks. Once Izzie gets her laughter under control, she tells Cristina she does in fact need her help, and can she go get Mere to try on the dresses, since Mere is ignoring Izzie's pages? For one glorious, hopeful second I thought Cristina might actually throttle Izzie with her bare hands, but sadly no.
Derek, Mark and Hunt are giving Gates the rundown of his injuries which we learned from the CT earlier. Owen adds to the list that Gates' spleen is bleeding but they will keep an eye on it, and Mark helpfully adds that his ruptured eardrum might result in permanent hearing loss. It's bleak, and I feel like he and Derek are keeping up their fighting to the point where each is trying to sound like they're delivering the worse news. The enormity of it all hits Gates, and he begins to yell about how Meloy actually dove in front of his car with arms outstretched. Derek tries to calm him down but he can't after that, and he cries, "I was going to the bank! I was just going to the bank!" The camera pans over to Owen, scowling, so we can be sure to catch that he is learning something from all of this.
Meredith has finally made it to Izzie's room but is clearly not happy about it -- she calls from inside the bathroom that if she shows Izzie the dress, Izzie can't tell anyone because it's really bad. Izzie smiles dismissively (just in case you didn't hate her completely from her scene) and says it's their secret, so Mere shuffles out in a giant explosion of tulle. Izzie of course proceeds to take a picture, to Mere's horror, and then looks for the matching tiara. Mere protests mightily, adding that she wants a simple wedding with buffalo wings at the reception but Izzie informs her that caterers don't even do buffalo wings. I'm fairly certain that caterers would prepare anything you paid them to make, within reason, and that there are plenty out there who can do buffalo wings with ease -- in fact, I think I would love a reception with beer and wings. But I am not Izzie, thank goodness. If Mere told me she wanted a small wedding and a dress that didn't stand up by itself or make noise whenever she moved, I would agree to that (and probably wouldn't have gotten said dress in the first place). But a crestfallen Izzie insists that Meredith is getting married and it's a really big deal, and doesn't she want to celebrate it? If Meredith gets married in a slip dress that would make Izzie sad, and she's already sad enough because she has cancer. Seriously, this is disgusting. It's not funny, or endearing, it's selfish and gross. But Meredith is a pushover, and after rolling her eyes asks for the tiara. Izzie loves it, while Meredith rightly hates it completely.
Callie is having a complete meltdown in Spanish, with just enough English thrown in that I can gather she's yelling to the air that it's her own life and she can choose who she wants. Arizona is listening to her and makes sympathetic noises, but is clearly relieved when Mark comes in to answer her page. As Callie continues to yell she desperately explains that she has a patient and Mark is Callie's best friend, and Mark cuts in to assure her he's got this. Once Arizona goes, Mark grabs Callie by the shoulders and yells, "Hey! Stop speaking Spanish! Because I have to go to surgery in a minute and I don't speak Spanish." This is why they are such good friends -- they help each other, but don't sit around to wait out a bunch of bullshit first. Callie explains to mark that her dad is making her quit and taking her home. Mark's stunned to hear his fiercely independent friend sounding like a child who has no say in her own life, and asks if she's 12. Callie sadly tells him that her dad has done everything for her -- paid for college and med school, and then he set her up with a trust fund so her only worry would be becoming a good doctor. Mark is gentle but firm as he reminds her that support and respect aren't the same thing.
Bailey finds Jessica awake and alone in her room, and she asks for her dad. Bailey asks how she's feeling and if she'd like any water, but in her tiny voice Jessica asks only for her dad. Bailey is only human, and her heartstrings have been good and tugged. She tells Jessica that what makes her own little boy feel better when he's scared is rocking in the chair with her. With that, Bailey takes off her coat, picks up Jessica, and sits down in the rocker, cradling the girl. Jessica curls up tightly to her, breaking hearts of viewers across America.
Alex delivers a burger and fries from Joe's up to the bridal boutique. He's skeptical that Izzie really wants the food but she assures him that she's not nauseous at all and proves it by shoving a fry in her face. Whatever keeps her from talking and/or playing dead is fine by me. Lexie comes in and joins them, probably drawn in by the smell of deep-fried potato. Mere yells out from the bathroom about her dress giving her a mammogram, and says she's taking it off, but Izzie is pulling out all the stops and pretends to not be able to breathe. Cristina and Alex panic and Mere runs out, which pleases Izzie to no end since that's all she wanted in the first place. I only wish Izzie was on oxygen or something similar that Cristina could unplug so that she really couldn't breathe for a few moments, and Cristina could laugh and laugh and plug her back in and tell Izzie she was only joking to see the look on her purple face. Izzie of course loves the dress, which seems to be too tight and is accompanied by opera gloves that make Mere's arms look like satin sausages. I didn't think she had enough meat on her for that effect, but those are some bad gloves. Mere's pissed to see that there's an audience this time, which is specifically against her wishes. Lexie tells her that actually she's there to see if Mere will talk to Mark and Derek because she's about to go into a six-hour surgery with the two of them and thinks she's not going to survive the fighting. Hmm, so it wasn't the smell of the fries -- those were just a delicious bonus. Izzie gives Mere grudging permission to leave and Cristina goes into the bathroom to help her out of the dress. Lexie grabs a last handful of fries and leaves, so Izzie sends Alex back to Joe's to replenish. Once everyone is gone, though, her face falls and she gives a vomity-looking hiccup before barfing quietly into a bed pan. Thank you, show, for actually showing it coming out of her mouth, too -- that was a treat that went really well with the glass of wine I was drinking while I was watching.
Jessica appears to have fallen asleep in Bailey's arms, but when Bailey starts to put her tiny patient back into bed, Jessica grabs her scrubs with a whimper. Bailey can't leave her like this, and crawls into bed to her. Smith then runs in to report that the Mexican doctors have said they will treat Jessica if he can get her there, but he doesn't seem to actually notice that his daughter is clutching desperately at the adult who has stayed with her. Bailey quietly tells him Jessica has been asking for him, so he leans in and tells his daughter they are going to Mexico, with the blue sky and white sand. In a pathetic tiny croak, she asks him if they can go tomorrow, because she is so tired. Bailey quietly tries to get him to trade spots with her, but Smith has lost his entire grip on reality and manically announces all they need is plane fare before running out the door. Arizona has come in; she offers to get a replacement for Bailey so that she can watch the procedure. Bailey nods, but Jessica grabs at her again and so she changes her mind and assures Arizona she's fine to stay right there.
The boys are scrubbing in when Mere stomps in and orders them to apologize to each other either for their patient's sake, or for Mere, or for Lexie, who nods in agreement as she pushes an entire peanut butter cup into her mouth. Oooh, now I'm hungry again -- this show is toying with me between the vomit and then the delicious candy. Mere pleads with them to look at her sister, face breaking out, "Her ass is humongous..." Lexie adds weakly, "It's true. I had to get the scrubs with the elastic waistband." The guys don't say anything, so she announces that if they don't apologize to each other, she's not scrubbing in. Pointing out that this is supposed to be a happy time with Mark being Derek's best man only prompts Derek to retort that Richard will be his best man. Meredith looks like she's been punched, and when Mark walks into the OR she asks Lexie for a moment. Derek bitches that the best man is his choice to make, and then has the gall to ask when Mere is going to let go of her grudge against him. It's really rich, and I'm thrilled that Meredith doesn't hesitate to point this out. After reminding him how Richard had an affair with her mother and essentially helped ruin her childhood, she points out that Mark has been Derek's best friend for 20 years and he's throwing that away right now over one fight, so he can't throw stones about holding grudges. "I'll get over mine when you get over yours." Seriously, there is nothing I love more than having Derek's hypocrisy thrown in his face. Well, I might love more his not being such an ass in the first place, but this will do. After Mere leaves, Derek just looks at his friend through the window.
When Alex walks out of Izzie's room, he's caught by Hunt who is very confused at what Alex is doing up there instead of in the pit. We'll just ignore the fact that every single person in the hospital probably knows and understands why Alex is up there. Hunt wants to know what happened to Meloy and if the cops spoke to him, and when Alex doesn't know Hunt lays into him about how he's got a suicidal patient that needs watching. Alex tries to save his ass by claiming he called a psych consult, but Hunt won't hear it and continues to yell that he needs to watch out for his suicidal patient, especially when the guy whose accident he caused is going into surgery and might die. His anger is increasing exponentially as he yells that Meloy potentially threw himself in front of a car and should pay, and that Alex will be held responsible if he leaves. Alex heads off and when a crazy-eyed Hunt tells him to move faster, he breaks into a terrified, girly sprint to the door.
It should come as a surprise to no one who has ever seen a minute of television that when the psychiatrist shows up for the consult, Meloy is gone. Alex walks in and has the nerve to yell at George when he finds out, and they both walk into the parking lot to try and find him, all the while screaming at each other. Alex is afraid of what Hunt's reaction is going to be, and he's not happy when George reminds him that he didn't even want the consult. George finally lets loose some of his fury and yells that he tried to give Alex the benefit of the doubt, but he doesn't see what Izzie or Hunt sees in him. Alex retorts that he tried to find some respect for George because Izzie likes him, but George has gone and lost this guy because he turned his back on a suicidal patient. It's infuriating, and I'm entirely Team George on this one, because even if it is his fault, Alex has no right to turn and put all of his own shortcomings on George. Every time I think Alex has grown, he then takes a step back like this one. He yells that he's done trying to respect George and then is interrupted by the sound of cracking glass: Meloy is upstairs throwing himself against a plate glass window until finally he breaks through, and a very CG version of his body flies through the air and lands right on a car in the lot. George runs up to tend to him while Alex just gazes at the scene in shock.
Hunt runs up as they are rolling Meloy to the elevator, and George calmly gives him the rundown. He did about a million fancy-sounding things and finally got a bit of a heartbeat, which pleases Hunt and he tells George to scrub in. Alex weakly tries to add a detail or two as an afterthought but Hunt tells him sternly that they have it, and Alex is left behind as they take the guy into the elevator.
Derek and Mark are working away and Derek calls for something that Mark already had on hand. Like a spiteful 13-year-old girl, he snips that he might be untrustworthy but he's not unprepared. Derek says that he never called Mark that, but Mark counters that he put a wall up around Lexie. Derek reminds him that Mere asked him to do that and so Mark should have obeyed, since that's what you do when someone you love asks you to do something. These two are so boring. Basically, Derek brings up Addison again, Mark gets pissed that Derek only has that one argument and won't ever stop bringing it up, and Derek snipes that he's not going to apologize after all. Mercifully their bickering is interrupted by a bleeder, and so they momentarily have to focus on Gates. They go back to arguing and Mark says he gives up, that Derek will only ever see him as the charity case his family took in. If he were in any position to flounce away, he would. He then announces he got the bleeder, which takes Derek totally by surprise.
A much less peppy Izzie is having her meds adjusted by a guy who looks and sounds like Tyler, but when she asks if he knows Dr. Grey and he says no so I think that can't be him. He asks if she wants to have someone paged but Izzie declines and when he leaves the room, he knocks a dress to the floor. Izzie starts to say something but changes her mind and instead climbs slowly out of bed. See, she's both a completely selfish bitch AND a martyr! She leans over to pick up the dress and we then see the room from her point of view as she falls to the floor and passes out, her alarms finally all going off for real.
George is proving himself to be a totally badass surgeon, and Hunt takes note, complimenting him on his ability to think ten steps ahead and to get calmer as the situation gets worse, which is something that is wired rather than learned. He asks if George has chosen his specialty and when he says no, Hunt announces that it is trauma. George mulls this over while he continues to work, and I mull over how nice it is to see George have an actual storyline and be more than a pathetic punching bag. Too bad it's only so that they can send him off at the end of the season.
The Chief is trying to contain his amusement at the scene in front of him: the father of one of his surgeons trying to get his daughter transferred to a hospital in Miami. Mr. Torres smoothly offers that he knows Richard has invested his time in Callie and so he'll donate whatever sum will make up for that. The Chief tries not to laugh as he points out that Callie is a grown woman, and a not-amused Torres asks him if he has kids. He then lectures Richard about how if he had a daughter, he'd know that her being grown means nothing, because she will always be a little girl that needs protecting, even from herself. Still talking hypothetically, he basically says he knows Callie thinks he doesn't love her but this is the opposite, and he's fighting for her. He's a man clearly used to only ever getting his way, and not used to his life detouring off of a carefully planned path, both for himself and his family.
Smith runs into the room where Bailey is still holding Jessica, who is now audibly fighting for breath. He's completely crazed, and wonders aloud if he should just take his daughter to the airport and beg to be let on a plane. Bailey keeps trying to cut but he finally cries out for her not to make him stop. In a soft but firm voice, Bailey says she doesn't want to, but reminds him that Jessica is terminal and going to die in a few moments. She also points out that as of right now, the last person to hold her is going to be Bailey or a nurse. "Or it could be you." She pleads with him not to miss this, because Jessica needs her daddy. Jessica then wakes long enough to ask if they are going to Mexico, and it's what Smith needs to pull him into the present. He starts to bawl as he crawls into bed with her and tells her that they are going to Mexico, just the two of them, with the sun and the sand and no more doctors or hospitals. Bailey sits back in the rocker and watches them sadly; when the monitor begins to beep she turns it off so Smith doesn't have to hear or see the flatline while he holds his daughter for the last time. Seriously, kudos in real life to whoever has the fortitude to work with kids, because I would never be strong enough to deal with all the loss of short lives like this. I can barely handle it in the world of television.
Cristina is looking at Izzie's chart now that she is legitimately sick, and she tries to make optimistic small talk. Izzie used up all of her joy when she made her friends think she was dying, and isn't interested in being upbeat anymore -- she tells Cristina not to make it out as better than it is, because she is sick. Cristina reminds her what she seems to have forgotten, that she got a high dose of IL2 that day and this is how she's supposed to feel. Izzie admits that she just wanted to flip through magazines and be the same person she was when she woke up, but she isn't. She's just another patient trapped inside a cancer-ravaged body. Cristina looks troubled, but I'm not -- this rings so hollow for me since she was such an asshole earlier. Seriously, my sympathy is gone for someone who can act as Izzie did all day.
Arizona watches Callie and her dad through a window, yelling at each other in Spanish. She says something that seems very final, and he storms off. Arizona goes to her and asks what happened -- he gave Callie an ultimatum that if she didn't come home, he'd cut off her trust fund. "So I cut him off." She can't have him there if he can't accept her for who is he, but she says this in a daze like she is now realizing the full enormity of what she's done. Arizona asks if she is okay, and Callie crumbles as she answers first no, then yes -- but the yes is more of a question. Arizona takes her in a hug as Callie starts to sob. I'd really like to see more of these two -- we know they are dating because they told us and we saw them dance around together once, but the little interaction we've seen is only a tease. They seem good together, and I'd like to actually see them together more.
Owen is back on Dr. Amy's sofa. (Not like that, you dirty things!) He tells the doc that he jumped in front of Cristina's car while she was driving to the bank. He knew he wasn't good for her or anyone else, "And I wrecked her. And that is unforgivable." He can't forgive himself, and he finally pinpoints his feelings as shame. Dr. Amy tells him that it's good, it's a start, and Hunt incredulously demands to know how. Dr. Amy calmy tells him, "You named it. The feeling. You have to know what it is before you can start to navigate somewhere better." The amount of awesome in the room is off the charts with these two actors, and I can't wait to see more scenes. So I guess that's my wishlist: More Callie/Arizona and Dr. Amy/Hunt and as little Izzie as we can get away with. (Preferably none, but I can't be too greedy.)
Derek and Mark are talking to Mrs. Gates, and Mark assures her that Gates is in pain but he's fine. She thanks them both but Derek finally mans up, and tells her to thank Sloan since not many people could have handled the bleed, and Mark consequently saved Gates' life. She then goes to see her husband, and an absolutely delighted Mark points out that this is the first compliment Derek has ever paid him. That is one sad 20-year best friendship right there, if that's the case. Derek tells him it's not a compliment, it's fact, so Mark asks why Derek can't ever just give someone a compliment and leave it. Derek won't let it go, and says that if you have to ask for it, it's not a compliment, and is Mark asking? He's got less of an edge to his voice, though, and a giddy Mark answers, "Yes!" Thank the lord we are done with all this nonsense!
Bailey pops in to ask Arizona if she needs anything else and with bright eyes Arizona says no. She hopefully asks if Bailey wants to sit for a while but Bailey is done sitting and counters that if she had wanted to hold a child all day she would have stayed at home and held her own. She thinks she didn't do a single medical thing all day. Arizona gently asks if she's going to tell Tucker and Bailey is left at an uncharacteristic loss for words, and asks sadly what she would tell him? Arizona tells her that pediatrics is more than just cutting, and what Bailey did was heroic. "And you know it." Bailey still seems mildly terrified but with a hint of her strong self in her voice announces, "Maybe I'll tell him that." I am going to be so upset if this story goes where I fear it is going -- down the Shonda Rhimes Road of Broken Relationships: Because No One Can Really Be Happy!
It's time for Mere to wrap us up for the week: "To do our jobs, we have to believe defeat is not an option." Cristina is mopping Izzie's brow when Meredith comes out in what is actually a great dress for her -- a strapless mermaid-cut dress with silver accents. Mere smiles but when we cut back to her she's frowning as if waiting for feedback, which feels like a weird editing mistake. Cristina smiles, and Izzie takes off her oxygen mask to say that Mere is going to be a beautiful bride. Mere finally smiles for real, and when Cristina motions for her to turn around so they can see the back, she turns and does a swishy little dance like a happy little girl. The Chief walks by at that moment and watches her with his own smile -- clearly he does have a daughter of sorts, and that's Meredith. Mere: "That no matter how sick our patients get, there's hope for them."
George is drinking alone at the bar at Joe's, and as he orders another beer Alex shuffles in and sits to him. George gives him an infinitesimal nod of recognition, and Alex admits that George kicked ass that day. George says that he did what he had to do, and he means it, he's not fishing for a compliment. But Alex gives it anyway, and says that it wasn't just that, George is good. Alex says that he is good, but not good under pressure. "She's really sick. Really sick, and I'm not good under pressure." Mere: "But even when our hopes give way to reality, and we finally have to surrender to the truth, it just means we've lost today's battle. Not tomorrow's war." George slides the new beer towards Alex and asks for another for himself, proving that he does indeed kick Alex's ass in many ways. Not every way, but right now he's still winning the ass-kicking race.
Back at the house Mere and Lexie are sitting at the kitchen table, Mere with a glass of wine and Lexie with a pile of Twinkies. I had never in my 31 years thought about how weird that name is until I just had to type it out. How did someone ever come up with "Twinkie"? But it is fun to say -- twinkie twinkie twinkie. Okay, I'm getting punchy, let's wrap this up. Mere admits that a big wedding isn't so bad, and Lexie tells her that she's just sad she didn't get to see the dress. Mere is surprised and says she will, but Lexie asks how, if Mark and Derek don't make up. Like George before her she's clearly just asking what's on her mind and not fishing, but Mere happily tells her, "You're my sister, Lexie, you're in the wedding!" It's a really sweet moment and a nice reward for all of us that have watched them struggle to get to this point. Lexie is beside herself with happiness, and they are giggling about what bridesmaid dresses Izzie might choose when Mark and Derek walk in. Mere: "Here's the thing about surrender. Once you do it, actually give in, you forget why you were even fighting in the first place." Derek offers Mark a beer and he happily accepts, and they walk back out to watch the game like nothing ever happened. The girls just stare after them, stunned, and then Meredith turns to Lexie and gently helps her lower her Twinkie back to the table saying, "You can stop eating now." Lexie breathes, "Oh thank God!" with the release of tons of baby weight... er, I mean, stress lifting off of her.