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It's been nearly six months since the shooting, so a documentary film crew comes to make a special on how the hospital and the doctors who were working that fateful day are doing. The entire episode is seen as if we're watching the creatively-named Seattle Medical documentary special. They of course just happened to be there filming at the same time that there was a groundbreaking surgery happening: Derek, Mark, Owen and Callie are doing a double arm transplant. As Callie and Lexie are tending to the donor, they realize that there's potential disaster in the form of a small tattoo on one of the guy's forearms. But the recipient and his wife have no problem with it -- they want to do everything they can to help make this work -- and so the surgery goes on. The men are all busy tooting their own horns as they lead up to the surgery but it turns out to be Callie who saves the day when there's a complication reattaching one of the arms, and the surgery winds up a success. It's a nice bonus in what is a hard day for Callie, as Arizona has won a grant she applied for two years previously that will send her to Africa to help the tiny humans who don't have access to top-notch medical care. Callie's totally hurt and angry that Arizona is planning to go without her, even though Arizona is trying to convince Callie and herself that this is bigger than just one person. Eventually, though, they work it out and decide to go together, which might go to explain why they have had such pithy storylines this season -- it's easier to let them go on their African adventure/Jessica Capshaw's maternity leave without having to tie up some huge crazy story first.
Bailey gets to see her survival buddy, Mary, for the first time since the shooting; Mary has come back to have the colostomy reversal that she was scheduled to have that fateful day six months earlier. Mary and her husband are as cute and in love as ever, and Bailey is thrilled to see her and much more emotional than she would normally ever be with a patient. The surgery goes perfectly... but then, Mary never wakes up. Finally, four weeks later, her husband has to make the decision to turn off her life support, and the tragedy isn't lost on anyone that she survived the shooting but then wound up being one of the tiny percentage of people who dies after routine surgery.
Cristina tries to hold it together and act like everything is fine for the cameras but during an interview with Meredith she finally breaks down, trying to convince everyone that she's not really a hero for what she did. Meredith stands up for her and says that she is a hero and that not many surgeons would be able to do what she did, but Cristina can't stand hearing that and forces her to stop. At a follow-up interview, Cristina manages to finally admit that what she has learned is that being a hero has its price. The other person who is still not doing well is Jackson, who gets trapped in a hallway with a patient for a little while, and who goes a little bit nuts with panic -- he nearly breaks the guy's ribs doing too much CPR and, once he's been freed, he throws a cart down the hall in frustration. So it seems they are going to stick to his being a basket case, but at least start to give us a reason why, what with his friends dying and his helping out Cristina while she had a gun to her head and all that.
The person who is unexpectedly flourishing, though, is Alex. Ever since helping the ballet dancer keep his leg, he has been working with Arizona in pediatrics and seems to have a flair for it, even though he tries to convince us he doesn't actually like the kids and it's just all about the medicine. Of course in reality he's totally awesome and seems to really care about his 9-year-old patient who needs a new trachea. It seems like a death sentence, since there is no such thing as an artificial trachea but Alex can't seem to stand the idea of her dying, and winds up figuring out his own medical breakthrough -- they use the girl's own cells to grow her a new trachea that they can then transplant. It's pretty freaking awesome, and I'm very happy they've brought back rakishly charming Alex rather than petulant, hurtful asshole Alex. Now all we need is to get Cristina at least in the direction of the road to recovery (and maybe bring back hot anesthesiologist Dr. Warren back to comfort Bailey after Mary's death) and we're in pretty good shape!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!This week starts off a little differently -- there's no voiceover, and man, did I not realize how tired I am of the voiceovers until we mercifully didn't have to listen to one. Instead we hear a radio announce that a car hit a motorcyclist who is being brought in unresponsive with head trauma. A nurse is listening and the expression on her face is kind of priceless -- I think she's supposed to be concentrating but she looks almost scared of the radio. Isn't this what happens many times a day at a hospital? We're treated to really shaky hand-held camera work and then a chyron introduces Dr. Hunt, Trauma Surgeon. Mere and Cristina are also introduced and Mere explains that they are on trauma rotation, they assess patients as they come in... all this stuff we all know since we've been watching this show for seven seasons now. From the hallway the camera films them at work on the patient in an exam room, and his face his blurred but we're still treated to what amounts to his brain leaking out of his head. Cristina is still very timid but trying not to show that on camera, so she explains that in all the chaos, sometimes the best thing is to know when to just get out of the way.
Derek watches from the hall as he gets his own introductory chyron and he explains that once they stabilize the guy he'll go in to assess the damage. Honestly, anyone can probably see that there's not much to assess at this point -- I think even my cats could tell that there's not much to be done when half his brain is on the floor, as Cristina delicately puts it. Owen says he's brain dead and Derek excuses himself to go in and ask if he's a donor.
After the donor has been patched up as best they can and moved to his own room, Mark joins the other two docs and they go over his blood type, skin type, age, size and gender, and announce, "We got our guy!" all excited like little boys the day a new Call of Duty game is released. Mark tells the cameraman that they picked a good night to start filming, and that this will be fun. Well, fun for everyone other than Ol' Leaky Brain, I'd say.
It will be far more fun for a guy named Zack, who is getting settled in to his own hospital room with his wife Nora (played by the always awesome Amanda Foreman). Nothing appears to be wrong with Zack but the camera is keeping a very obviously purposeful tight shot. Nora ties on his gown and they cheer for Transplant Day, and then as the camera pulls back Zack announces, "Gonna get me some arms!" and we see that both of his have been amputated above the elbow.
Some dramatic-yet-somehow-unremarkable music starts up (with the first couple of notes sounding suspiciously close to the ER opening) and a voice introduces us to Seattle Grace Mercy West as we see shots of doctors and nurses working. The voice explains about the gunman of a few months before as they show news footage from the day and concludes, "Today we visit the survivors. Their patients, their triumphs, and their disappointments. This... is Seattle Medical: Road to Recovery. It's hilariously over-the-top and unsubtle but let's face it, it's the kind of show we have all gotten sucked into in real life.
The Chief is talking to the camera like he's hosting an infomercial for the hospital, and he proudly explains the new security measures that have been implemented which include metal detectors, security guards, ID badges to get everywhere, and video cameras. Of course, we've not seen any of this at all leading up to this episode, but hey, sure -- new security measures! Of course! There's a ruckus at the door and Lexie yells at the Chief for help since her badge isn't working, and it seems like this isn't the first time that security has not let her inside.
Cristina and Meredith are doing an interview together and it must be said yet again that Meredith looks amazing this season -- she's put on a bit of makeup for the camera and between that and the fact that she's not returned to her pre-baby Skeletor frame, she looks absolutely gorgeous. They're explaining how close they are, and how it's hard to work that closely without becoming good friends. They aren't very good at discussing all of this with straight faces, and Cristina actually chuckles -- I didn't realize how long it had been since we'd heard a genuine, snarky laugh from her. She seems almost normal right now, rather than a haunted shell of herself. Also, the interview itself is a testament to how close they are since no one else had an interview buddy unless it was something done on-the-fly regarding a particular surgery.
We see them working as a card on-screen tells us that Cristina performed surgery on a colleague at gunpoint during the surgery. The shot is a close-up of Meredith and a new card reads, "The colleague was Dr. Grey's husband." Since we already know all this and these people and what their normal days are like, it's horribly obvious how the statement was drawn out for maximum drama. Cristina continues in their interview that sure, the shooting brought them closer together but they were already close -- they can ask anyone.
So they ask Derek, who chooses to tell the world that they have sleepovers sometimes in his bed, when he's there. Seriously, would you actually say that on TV? Especially when most normal-thinking people would take this to mean you have some kinky practices going on since no one else would be able to learn and understand the girls' special relationship in the span of an hour documentary? But the cameras do show them working together some more; Cristina is totally timid when given a scalpel and Meredith smoothly trades places with her so that she doesn't have to actually do any cutting.
Alex is still working in pediatrics, and he tells the camera that he's been there since 7 AM and explains how the interns help out. He's drowned out by the dulcet tones of Justin Beiber pouring out of one of the rooms, and Alex sticks his head in and tells Lily to turn it down. "The rest of us don't have Bieber fever." Thank goodness for that. The girl manages to scowl at him even as she's doing a breathing treatment. He's asked how he changed during the shooting and he just shrugs, but then pulls up his shirt to show off the scar on his chest. See, Alex, I'm sure you'll get just as much tail that way as if you'd let the bullet in, but now without the unfortunate side effects of possible infection, or the pain of a lady friend possibly pressing against it during your extracurricular activities.
It's not just doctors that the cameras are following -- Mandy "Mary" Moore is coming back for the colostomy reversal that she was supposed to have the day of the shooting. She and her husband are all super cute and totally in love, and if this gives you a sense of foreboding, then you have watched TV before. She and her husband Bill walk up to the hospital and Mary is obviously tentative about the whole thing. Once inside, Bailey sees them checking in and waves; Mary runs to her and they have a huge long hug as a card reminds us that they were trapped together during the shooting and this is the first time they have seen each other since. I always knew Bailey was short but Mary positively towers over her, almost like she's a different species. And I know that Mandy Moore is about 5'9" or 5'10" as I once was standing in line behind her for coffee. (She's also crazy gorgeous in real life, in case anyone was wondering.) Bailey has a reputation to maintain so she clarifies with the interviewer that she doesn't make it a habit to hug her patients like that.
Arizona, meanwhile, sprints down the hall as a camera shakily follows her and she yells that you never walk in peds. I would hope that you would never walk in any department if there is a code blue like she's got right now. Justin-Bieber-loving Lily's airway is blocked and Alex can't get a tube down her throat. Dramatic music starts up to underline the seriousness of the situation and an on-screen card says that if her airway isn't opened in two minutes, she'll die. But since most people won't actually show children die on-camera, we can guess that that probably won't happen. Alex has the idea to do some kind of trach and Arizona seems unsure but has him go for it, and he cuts into Lily's throat and sticks something in to open her airway. I imagine this is the same thing that people seem to do with pens all the time in TV and movies when someone stops breathing at, like, a bus stop.
Lily wakes up to find herself with a giant tube coming out of her neck and she gapes like a fish as she tries to talk. Arizona stops her and gently explains to her what happened and that her mom is on her way, and then outside tells the cameras that Lily has a growth on her windpipe that's blocking her airway, and that it keeps recurring and has lately gotten much worse.
Inside the room, Alex shows her the nurses' button and very sweetly tells her to push it a ton and to not worry about being annoying. She makes her fish face again and tears start to run down her face but Alex tells her it will be okay and pulls out her iPod, putting the headphones in her ears so that the Bieb can keep her company. Once outside he explains how often they have to do procedures on kids without their parents being there, because they usually can't take off that much work. He assures us that it doesn't make them bad parents, just busy. He shows how they have parent cots, so that they can spend the night in their kid's room, but that they aren't there all the time. To punctuate it, the camera pulls back to show Lily, lying there alone and looking scared. So... did they shoot all this hoping her mom would sign a release form or did they warn her when she checked in? Am I too practical a person because I kept wondering about this the whole hour?
Callie, Mark, Derek and Owen are all of the docs who will be transplanting the arms and they gather around a computer trying to figure out the best way to go about it. Over these shots Mark explains how he and Derek grew up together. Aw come on, Mark -- Derek mentioned Meredith's and Cristina's sleepovers, so why not also overshare that you slept with Derek's first wife? Mark's all jokey until he says what it was like when he heard Derek was shot, and he tells them that he finally learned what it was like for all of the families they give bad news to every day. As he was furrowing his brow with worry, I noticed for the first time just how salt-and-pepper his hair has gotten but goodness, does it suit him.
As the boys talk about the order in which to attach all the various arm components Callie listens and adds her two cents, already a bit fed up by them and their attitudes. She explains that the surgery will take 15-20 hours in two different ORs with five teams of surgeons -- one for each arm and one extra to take veins from one leg.
We see more of the discussion in front of the computer and the guys explain how there's only ever been one other successful double-arm transplant. The display of ego is kind of stunning, especially when they actually refer to themselves as "medical titans." While they laugh when they say it, they are obviously totally convinced that they really are titans and Callie can't roll her eyes hard enough. Once she's out of there and working on the donor's body, taking blood and whatnot, she explains what she's doing and comments, "I mean, I'm no medical titan, but still... it's pretty damn cool." She is also happy and proud, but she's not preening about, patting herself on the back like the guys are doing.
Zack's wife tells the camera that Zack was a logger, who lost his arms in an accident at work. I suppose there is no way one could lose one's arms that isn't totally horrible, but still: OMG. I just hugged my own arms to myself. She says that it could have driven them apart but in fact made them closer and to illustrate, actually tells them that she has to wipe his ass now. Who knew she'd fit in so well with the oversharing on camera? At first I thought Zack was genuinely miffed that she said that but then, with a totally straight face, he jokes that he'd cover his face except he has no hands.
As Bailey helps get Mary situated Mary tells her that she and Bill left town right after the shooting and proceeded to go on a ton of amazing vacations which blew right through their savings but were totally worth it, as they learned firsthand how short life can be. Both women smile at this but are still very serious given just how they both learned that lesson. We cut back to an interview at her house which takes place while Mary is doing dishes and seriously, why do shows like this do that kind of thing? Obviously the cameras didn't just truly show up unexpectedly while Mary was cleaning house, so it's not going to be weird if they just had her sit down and talk. We get it, she's a normal person. She tells the camera that she's really looking forward to having babies once the surgery is over.
Back at the hospital, the state-of-the-art security system malfunctions and sirens start blaring -- not so good for the poor patient who already went through an actual emergency. Bailey assures her that this happens once or twice a week, but Mary is having an understandably hard time relaxing. Bailey herself is a bit on edge, and it seems like so far this so-new-we've-never-actually-seen-it-before system has quite a lot of kinks to work out.
In fact that's exactly what Richard lightheartedly tells the filmmakers -- that they are just some kinks and that always happens with something new. Once the sirens finally stop he looks all pleased, like this proves his point that it's nothing to worry about. I have no idea how none of their own have died of heart attacks with this new system.
In their interview, Cristina says that the security system has a lockdown feature, and Mere continues that it isolates different areas of the hospital in case of emergency. Barely able to control their delight, they say that supposedly some people were wandering around during the last emergency. Good that there's something about that day Cristina can laugh about... I guess? Seriously, that's something else I might in fact keep from the viewing audience.
Richard claims that even with the kinks, he thinks people feel safer, which is important? I would use Mary as a prime example of how this is totally not true, but okay, Chief. Arizona knocks and tries to leave when she sees the camera but he insists she come in and we realize that the timing totally isn't an accident -- he wants to brag about how she won a prestigious grant called the Carter Madison Grant. She looks like an absolute deer in the headlights and is confused by his arm around her. Obviously she didn't realize this whole thing was just a PR stunt.
Outside she admits she hasn't told that many people yet, but obviously she just told Teddy and the cameras are at the coffee cart to see Teddy totally excited for her friend. Callie's there too, but it's obvious that she's the reason why Arizona hasn't felt like celebrating yet, as Callie's got a very tight smile on her face, trying (and failing) to look supportive.
In a separate interview, Arizona explains that she didn't apply because of the shooting -- she applied two years earlier when she had just started working there. She explains that there are gaps in medical care for kids in developing countries and that there are no initiatives for pediatric care like there are for things like malaria and immunizations, but with this grant she could start to change that. She's excited but clearly also has some trepidation as she says that when she applied she was a different person but now she has important people there -- they show a shot of her and Callie hand in hand, kissing when they get to work, just so we Get It. But Arizona goes on to say that this is bigger than her, and of course she's going to accept. She seems very much like she's trying to convince herself as much as the viewers. We then smash to a "Coming up on..." montage filled with all sorts of drama, and the first two notes of the music they play sounds suspiciously close to the ER intro.
Mark and Owen are now outside walking with their coffees and explaining more about the surgery -- not just anyone is a good candidate, especially given that most amputees decide to just continue using prosthetics. They go in through security as they point out the obvious, that putting cadaver arms on someone's body can mess with a person's head, and it takes years of rehabilitation to finally get comfortable with them. Once inside, in an interview Derek picks up the thread to explain the extensive screening, saying the recipient must be mentally stable, tough and extremely patient before they even deem them suitable and start looking for an arm. They've been looking for Zack's new arms for over two years.
Lexie has joined Callie and is doing various doctor things to the donor when she notices something that clearly worries her. When she calls Callie over she is obviously hoping that Callie has already seen what Lexie is looking at, but fearing that she has not. There is of course lots of stuttering and babbling, this show's hallmark, as she calls to Callie, but when Callie looks at whatever it is she gasps and stares. What is it? A giant sore? A growth? An extra finger? No, it is a very small tattoo of the name Nicole in script on the inside of one forearm, an inch long at most.
Lexie is formally introduced with her own chyron along with April, and they are out at the nurses' station talking about unfair it is that "something like this" could ruin everything. We saw this line in the -on but superimposed over something urgent, like chest compressions or some such, and it was just, "This could ruin everything!" Seriously, Seattle Medical's -ons are just as vague and misleading as Mad Men's. Jackson walks up and I can't quite understand what he says has he has a mouthful of energy bar and is snickering, but he asks something about the arm transplant like it's the funniest thing in the world. Lexie asks him what's wrong and so, as if he is in kindergarten, he asks back, "Nothing, what's wrong with you?" Seriously, is he high? Are we going to get a big Very Special Jackson Intervention Episode coming up or is this just part of his downhill spiral that's been picking up steam all season? Whatever it is, the girls aren't quite sure of what to make of him.
Callie, however, is very serious and teaches us that this is a big concern because the recipient could reject the arms either physically or emotionally because of the tattoo. She's sorting bandages while she interviews, complete with sexy close-up of the wraps -- again, what is the point of this? It's mundane yet ridiculous. As she sorts she tells of the first hand recipient who ultimately asked to have it removed because he felt he couldn't "connect" with it, and then asks us all to imagine looking at a tattoo of the donor's wife's name every day to remind you that these aren't really your arms.
Callie goes in to break the news to Zack and Nora but she can't actually spit it out, and instead just causes them some panic as they try to guess what is wrong. Mark is there too and he's finally the one who says that the name Nicole is tattooed on one of the arms. But Zack was clearly very well screened, and is obviously sick of going without arms, because after a dumbfounded moment he announces that he loves the name Nicole and Nora quickly agrees. This then devolves into a list of all of the things in their lives that they will now rename Nicole. Callie is shocked but very happy that Zack tells them that if he can still get the arms, that is his new favorite name.
The real Nicole then tells the story of the tattoo, just so our hearts can be wrenched a little bit more -- Sam declared a year after they met that they were going to get a tattoo and took her to the shop, but she told him that he was crazy and that people declare their love by doing normal things like going on dates or even proposing. Sam agreed, and then dropped down and proposed then and there. Obviously, he then also walked over to the chair and got the tattoo, which then always reminded Nicole of how much he loved her, even when they were having stupid arguments. I dare anyone to be unmoved by her realization that she now has to refer to her husband in the past tense.
Lexie is still having problems with her security badge and can't even open a door to wheel Lily to get her MRI; Alex has to do it for her. As we see him taking his young patient in and getting her settled, he interviews that going into pediatric surgery has nothing to do with liking kids, but rather is a really elite specialty made up of the best of the best. But he obviously does care, despite his protests, and he makes the camera back off of a scared Lily as she's about to go in to the machine. He tells her she can't have her iPod in there but she does the gaping fish mouth again, and no matter how much he wouldn't like anyone to believe it, he's actually a sweet guy. In one of the best moments ever, he goes back to the control board, picks up a microphone, tells Lily she can't mock him later, and begins a terrible yet sincere rendition of "Wouldn't Change A Thing" by friend of Grey's (and new rehab attendee) Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas from the fine film Camp Rock 2. (In my own defense, I had to look that up -- I swear I didn't know that off the top of my head!) Lily smiles as he sings, along with what I'm sure is a very high percentage of the viewing audience, and though he continues to insist he wouldn't choose this specialty because of the kids, he's obviously fooling himself because his insides are clearly made of marshmallow.
Another trauma comes in and we see the girls walking away while Mere talks about how it was good that the shooting happened there since they are so equipped to deal with trauma. Well, some more than others, especially these days -- when the doctors pull back the patient's shirt to reveal that he was shot in the chest, Cristina freezes, and Meredith deftly takes over and calls orders while Cristina tries to sound tough as she explains that there's another trauma coming in and she'll wait for that. As Mere walks her gunshot victim to the elevator she insists that it's not weird that Cristina isn't going along since she's taking the guy, and she insists that all surgeons are dying to get to the OR and cut: "It's who we are." She's obviously protesting too much, and the filmmakers realize it, because the thing they show through a window is Cristina looking down at a sleeping patient, then going into the room and hanging her head for a moment before crawling onto a bed and curling up in the fetal position. This is surely going to inspire confidence in future Seattle Grace patients.
Bill is folding Mary's fuzzy socks as he tries to talk her out of surgery and into another trip. But then they cut to Bailey who insists that this is a totally typical surgery that she'll sometimes do multiple times a day, and in fact was supposed to perform it that day. She trails off and can't actually bring herself to say what happened that day, but then pulls herself together and says that a few things are starting to get a little off in Mary's system, so it's good to get it done and over with now. Clearly, in addition to the medical reasons, she wants to tie up this particular loose thread from that day.
Alex takes some lab results to Arizona and tells the cameraman that they don't look good. Hilariously, Seattle Medical has captioned everything that someone says in a low voice and/or a mumble, even though I can understand all of that. Yet they don't caption whatever possibly-high Jackson said with a mouth full of food, and I still have no idea what he said. Alex walks in on Arizona and Callie having a rip-roaring fight about her going to Africa and Callie uses the interruption to storm out indignantly when Alex offers to give them a moment.
Callie goes to scrub in for her marathon surgery and just like most of these doctors who don't hesitate to air their dirty laundry in front of patients, Callie decides to gripe about her personal life to the camera for the world to see. She spits that you don't turn down a Carter Madison Grant and insists she understands, but then slumps and admits that if the situation were reversed she wouldn't even consider moving right now. But this isn't her decision, so she repeats that it's an incredible opportunity and then angrily scrubs in. At least you know her hands are going to be really super clean after that. Once she walks in to the OR she tells everyone that she hopes they have a bone saw ready, "Because I'm really in the mood to cut off some arms." Seriously, she's really saying that when she knows she has a television audience? Whatever happened to at least pretending to have respect for the donor and his family? This seems more than a tad inappropriate but I guess that's never stopped any of the staff of this hospital before, so why start now?
Arizona and Alex are looking at the test results, and they are basically about as bad as can be. We soon see that Arizona is telling Lily's mom Gretchen what is going on, that she has stuff from the surgeries that make removing this tumor hard, but yet the tumor is blocking her airway. There's another purposeful gut-wrenching shot of Lily and her breathing tubes from afar as Arizona says that they would have to remove Lily's entire trachea and then she wouldn't be able to breathe.
Alex has finally come up with something that he got out of the shooting, other than a scar that helps him get laid. He says that since he should have died from being shot point blank, but he didn't; now he feels like there is always something they can do.
Cut back to Gretchen, who realizes that Arizona has just told her that Lily will either die if they operate or die if they don't. Thank goodness for the documentary that she's tiny, petite, and has perfect tears running down her cheeks as she learns this because it's so much better for TV than if she was an ugly crier.
The first part of the arm surgery is underway and Callie is tagging all of the veins and arteries with different colors so that they know how to hook them up to Zack later, much like one would hook up a television. If you don't get it right, you get picture and no sound, or vice versa. She works away and then finally gets her hands on the desired bone saw. As soon as she's done and the arms are on ice Owen announces, "Arms are off and on the move." Someone wheels them into the room -- these are obviously more important than your run-of-the-mill kidney because they do get placed on a rolling cart rather than in the hands of a nervous intern to go to their destination. In the OR, Derek is waiting and is all extra-super McDreamily businesslike and commanding for the TV cameras and tells everyone, "Let's get started."
Outside, Lexie is having another argument with security since they won't let her in with her faulty ID badge, and we get an artsy shot of the proceedings as taped by one of the security cameras. The date is 9-13-10, so it's not so much "several" months after the shooting as four, which I personally only define as a "few." Lexie is bringing coffee for Sloan but again the guys won't let her in, and they aren't swayed by her whiny argument that she has to get this to the guy performing an important surgery, so she can witness medical history. Wouldn't it be a better argument if she was saying Mark needed to make medical history and didn't focus on her being able to watch? As the two guards dither and inspect her badge, she just decides to sprint through, which sets off the alarm system yet again.
Jackson had been transporting a patient but because of the nifty lockdown feature, he gets trapped in a hallway between two sets of doors and wastes no time in starting to have a complete meltdown. He pulls at the doors until someone yells at him to turn back to his patient, who is struggling to breathe. There's a lot of extra shaky camera work to prove just how bad and urgent this situation really is, and Jackson starts doing chest compressions as he hyperventilates.
It seems the one smart thing with the security system is that the alarms don't blare inside the ORs, so the arm teams are just working away. Could you imagine if that had locked down one OR from another and the arms had gotten stuck in the wrong one? April tells us that they are nine hours in and everyone works away -- when one arm spasms everyone laughs like it's the funniest trick in the world and all of the docs who are just watching continue to take pictures. Callie stretches her neck just so we really can appreciate how long nine hours is.
Derek is asked if getting shot changed him, and he uses a whole lot of words to say that he's now grateful to be there. With his legs crossed and his knee in his hands, he's very, very sincere as he says he feels lucky. Honestly, why does everything that he does feel like it's just a big show?
In the OR, it's finally time to release the tourniquets, to see if blood flows into Zack's new arms. Everyone watches with baited breath, and when the arm suddenly turns a healthy pink everyone applauds.
Back with Gretchen in the waiting room, she's a little more composed and tells her and Lily's sad story: it's just the two of them, and they've been coming to Seattle Grace for the last three years since she was diagnosed. She is one of the hardworking moms Alex was talking about at the beginning, and they live three hours away (this episode brought to you by the number 3!) Much like the shot of Nicole fiddling with her sweater, they do a close-up of Gretchen rubbing her nails with worry. Hey, guys? We get it, they're distressed. But Arizona came to Gretchen and told her there was something experimental that they could try, and Gretchen tells the camera that's why you come to a hospital like this even if it is a long commute.
Arizona's experimental idea is explained through the Chief and Richard as they all operate on Lily -- they put in a stint so she can breathe for now, and then Arizona uses a pick and hammer to take a piece of her 12th rib so that they can harvest the cartilage. How come she doesn't get to use Callie's cool bone saw? This looks positively prehistoric. Regardless, they are going to use the cartilage to make a mixture of Lily's own cells. Richard butts in to remind everyone of how fantastic an example this is of the doctors coming back better than ever after the shooting. Seriously, Richard, stop treating it like a commercial. He holds up something that looks like a bloody wad of chewed gum and commends the "cutting edge regenerative medicine" that is going on as they use the cells to grow Lily a new trachea in the lab that will replace her old, tumored one. The funny thing is that the Chief congratulates Arizona and they all act like it was her idea, but wasn't Alex the one who seemed to be searching for an option for Lily that wasn't just "death?" He doesn't seem too worried about it, though, so we'll let that be.
Poor Avery is still trapped in the hallway; when Teddy runs up she finally gets her own introductory chyron as she pulls on the doors and calls encouragement to Avery. Unfortunately, her resident is beyond sanity and his compressions are starting to resemble some horrible wrestling move as he keeps shoving his hands into the poor patient's chest. He doesn't stop even when Teddy warns him that he might break a rib, and just yells back that he's not kidding about needing to get out of there. So maybe we're also going to have an episode about Avery's secret claustrophobia at some point, too?
Outside at the coffee cart (I know these guys drink a lot of coffee but holy moly, the beverage has been an actual featured guest star of today's episode) Teddy tells the camera how much she doesn't like the new system -- presumably this is after the situation with Avery has ended. We then flash back to her yelling at one of the security guards that he needs to override the system now or she'll report him for wrongful death when this poor unlucky dude trapped with Avery finally gives up the good fight. The siren finally, mercifully stops and the doors open so Teddy can rush in and take over, but it takes her a while to get in there since Avery seems incapable of stopping. Later, we see him shuffling down the hall and then kick a cart over in anger, with some low, dramatic music to underscore just how bad off he is. In an interview he admits it's been hard since the shooting, and that he lost some friends.
Nora is curled up on a sofa in the waiting area, covered with a blanket, and she's more subdued that we've seen her now that she has to just wait. She explains what it's been like, and how difficult life is when you just have hooks instead of hands -- Zack can't button a button, so she now buys him t-shirts and hoodies, and she had to learn how to brush his teeth and shave his face as well. She jokes about how long it took her to learn, and how it's all in the wrist, but it lacks the bravado of her earlier joking and she admits that she thought she would have an update by now, clearly worried of what the lack of update might mean.
We pick up the action in the OR as Mark is trying to talk to Callie about Arizona's move, suggesting it's not a big deal and that they can just visit each other. For the first time in possibly ever, Callie puts the kibosh on personal talk during a surgery, though obviously it's just because of the cameras. Really, though, we've already seen them fighting so why stop now? The focus is brought back to Zack when something happens to the blood flow in his Nicole arm, and Callie realizes that the problem is that there is picture and no sound; she runs over and shoves them out of the way so that she can try to fix it.
Nora finally gets her update, but unfortunately it's a patented, Seattle Grace, "I don't want to say it so I'm going to shuffle around and make you really nervous until I can spit it out" delivery. And ultimately, Lexie doesn't actually have much concrete news -- she says that there was a complication and that they are trying to fix it, but... Nora has to guess that she means he might lose one of the arms. Trying to keep herself together, she finally points out that one is better than none, right?
Inside the OR, Callie is working away while all of the others ask her if she needs help and shoot her advice; finally she yells at everyone to shut up since she knows what she's doing. She fiddles around with everything, going by her color-coded system, while everyone else watches with nervous faces. Finally, after a moment, the Nicole tattoo is backed by nice pink skin rather than deathly grey stuff.
Alex is working in the lab while Richard looks over his shoulder, so he can continue to babble to the cameras about how amazing the hospital is, and how while most places would let this shooting set them back, Seattle Grace is moving forward, and people like Arizona and Alex are reinvested in medicine. To be fair, though, what Alex is doing is really quite cool -- he explains how they broke down the cartilage to a protein liquid, built a scaffold out of cotton, and then put it all in an incubator to start growing the new trachea. As the Chief pontificates about how awesome this is, Alex looks both like he's incredibly amused and not taking it too seriously, yet he's also proud of what he's doing.
It's now Bailey's turn to operate, and she explains to the camera what she's doing as we're treated to shots of some of Mary's intestine. But she's just about done, and tells the camera happily that it was a textbook surgery that went perfectly. I know that supposedly she's done at this point, but I was still nervous at her saying how well it turned out -- much like how I was still nervous after they got out the Chilean miners because no one seemed too concerned about the six rescuers that still needed to be taken back out of the mine. Don't jinx these things, people!
She then goes out and gives Bill the good news, and he's incredibly shaken up as he asks her if it's over. Happily, she assures him that it is, and gives him a big hug. He is so worked up that once she lets him go he grabs her again and cries as he gives her another bear hug. Bailey has had a weight lifted by finishing this particular surgery, and afterward she is almost giddy and suggests she might even go get a drink. She clearly cut out some of her own demons in there.
The arm transplant team had the same idea, and they are drinking at Joe's and toasting each other for a job well done. Callie mocks them some more for the "titan" comment (which is well deserved) while Mark laughs that Callie was successful at getting the veins hooked up right, since she hooked up his TV and he still only has sound coming out of one speaker. She laughs at this, though -- they are all completely punchy after nearly a full day spent in an OR.
Since Alex is going to have to irrigate the baby trachea with the protein liquid a few times a day for the few weeks, he explains that he'll basically be living in the hospital. We see him getting some potato chips, brushing his teeth, and sleeping... on a parent cot in Lily's bedroom. It's completely endearing, and though he interviews that the month is all about the trachea, the shot of him sleeping in her room shows yet again that he's actually a big softie.Cristina and Mere are back on the hot seat and Cristina is asked if people treat her differently now. She thinks a moment and looks to Mere before pointing out that yes, they are here filming her, aren't they? But though she tries to be flip, it's weighing on her, and she launches into a long explanation of how she isn't a hero, that she just did what she had to. She thinks that people need heroes when something horrible happens, but insists she has no super surgical powers. Mere is troubled listening to all this and takes her hand, cutting her off by telling the camera gently but firmly that Cristina really is a hero, especially to her. Cristina has a visibly hard time listening to this, and bites her lip with a very serious face as Mere insists that most surgeons couldn't have done what Cristina did the day of the shooting. But when she starts to go on, Cristina shuts her down, and after Mere opens her mouth once more Cristina totally snaps at her to stop, causing Mere to pull her own hand back. After some moments just sitting there, with Cristina staring at her lap Mere asks if they can cut, so we go to a commercial.
When we return, it's four weeks later, and we see a crew taking down all of the security cameras. Richard tells them it's just some construction and the hospital is always evolving, but in this case it's devolving -- a card says that by the end of the week, the state-of-the-art-security system was totally removed.
Zack and Nora are at home, and he's totally proud to show off his new arms, which are in slings. Nora pinches him to show how he's even already got feeling at the tops of the arms -- the two of them are positively giddy as Zack flaps his arms like a bird to show the movement. A card on-screen tells us that before he even had all his feeling back, he decided to get a tattoo under the name Nicole that read, "Thank you." You got me again, Grey's, I totally got all misty at that. Or should I say, you totally got me, Seattle Medical?
Four weeks on, the scar on Lily's neck is barely visible, which she is happy to show off. She's back to get her new trachea sewn into her abdomen and is super cute and proud that Alex calls her a "human incubator." She then pulls up her phone and shows off the pictures Alex has been sending her of the trachea as it's grown. She announces that while she always figured she'd be a rock star, she now would also consider being a doctor, since Alex is "pretty cool."
Pretty cool Alex then shows off the actual trachea in the lab, which certainly has grown. He then goes to Alex's room and gets her ready for surgery, and as he does he warns her not to screw up "his trachea" -- no mosh pits, crowd surfing, etc. She giggles as he continues his list and it ends with his warning not to give her number to boys she doesn't know, and she reminds him that she's nine. She clearly adores him, and surgery aside, is probably going to remember him for the rest of her life as her first crush. As we see him wheeling her into the OR a card tells us that when she went back to school, she was asked to share the best part of her experience with her 4th grade class. "Lily brought Dr. Karev."
The cameras get to take a field trip to Callie and Arizona's apartment, where they are happily packing as the African move is imminent. Callie explains happily that they did work things out by finding a very simple solution -- she's going to go to Africa too. A card on-screen says that they gave notice the day. These cards are basically like this week's text version of a voiceover. Textover? Also: WTF? I wondered if I had missed some major casting news for the show but then remembered that Jessica Capshaw is pregnant, so I'm going to assume this is part of her maternity leave. It also probably explains why these have had such shallow storylines thus far -- this way, it was easy to write them out rather than having to wrap up something actually big and involved.
One person we didn't expect to see (although I had that nagging feeling of dread) is Bill, who walks in with a huge bouquet of flowers and puts them in Mary's room and tells her not to ask what they are, because he doesn't know. The camera then pans over and we see Mary hooked up to life support. Noooo! We cut to Bailey, who explains that it's rare but sometimes patients don't wake up from surgery -- it's always a risk. I hate when TV does things I hate to characters I like! The doctors tried everything they could but Mary never woke up and now her organs are starting to fail; the best-case scenario is that she would wake up extremely mentally and physically impaired. Well, at least they went on all of those trips. Bailey starts to say the chances of that happening are small but she can't even finish the sentence, and fortunately the camera leaves her alone after just a short moment of lingering on her grief. The Chief is Captain Obvious as he says it's hard to see someone survive being trapped there with a gunman and then not make it through a simple surgery.
Bailey then has to go talk to Bill since it's Decision Time. It feels horribly voyeuristic to watch through the window as Bailey says something and Bill breaks down. The textover says that three days later, Bill decided to take Mary off of life support. Bailey is also trying to control her emotions, and the textover adds that she declined a follow-up interview.
Finally, Cristina sits down for another interview, this time by herself. She sums up that they went through the scariest thing a person can go through, and survived. We see Derek walking down the hall, and the girls laughing and packing as Cristina continues that every day is a gift, and they are all blessed to be there saving lives every day. But while the filmmakers might think she's sincere, her voice is totally Stepford Cristina and we know she's just rehearsed that to death. Owen and Mark are still in high spirits while Richard surveys his domain from the catwalk. But poor Bailey just holds a hand over her face while she rocks and cries. As Joe R just said to me: "Stop making Bailey cry!" I mean come on, she was finally actually happy again! Stepford Cristina continues that they are healed so that they can continue healing others, but we all know this is just pure fiction in her case. We see Alex talking to Lily's class, and then focus back on Cristina for one last question; the interviewer asks if there's any one thing she'll take away from all this. It sounds like she's finally accepted that she's a hero, but she answers, "Being a hero has its price."
Watch the episode below, discuss it in our forums, then see what we think are the most annoying Grey's storylines.
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