Episode Report Card Lauren S: N/A | 36 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT The Storm Rages On
By Lauren S | Season 10 | Episode 1 | Aired on 09.26.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Season 10 picks off at the very second Season 9 left off -- with Richard in his smoking jacket (…I can't help myself) in the hospital basement with no one realizing that he is near death. All of the Board members plus Bailey (who won't leave them because she's too busy bonding with little Jared Bailey Shepherd… and minus Richard) gather in Mere's room to discuss the state of the hospital: supplies are dangerously low, so they are going to close the ER. Unfortunately, the scores of ambulances carrying firefighters caught in a mudslide didn't get the news so they drop off a ton of new patients. Bailey is worried that Richard is missing so she sends Smash to find him; Smash, meanwhile, has hurt feelings because Derek would rather work with Heather even though Smash is there, eager and willing. So when he runs into Heather, he sends her off to find Richard and then goes to help Derek himself. She eventually locates Richard in the basement, but as she walks towards him, she steps in the same puddle, gets electrocuted and then smashes her head as she falls to the floor, just for good measure.
Once the two shocked docs are found, Cristina and Bailey go to work on Richard while Derek and Smash work on Heather and her massive head injury. Cristina pulls off a miracle procedure on Richard's barely-beating heart but they realize that he's got a bunch of dead tissue in his abdomen that is just going to keep dying off and could kill him. The problem is that Cristina thinks his heart is too weak for surgery, but Bailey thinks he's dead if they don't try to get rid of the tissue. They argue until Owen tells them to go find Richard's file with his medical directive in it and when they do, they learn that after Adele's death he named Meredith to make these decisions for him if need be. She's freaked out and finally has them run more labs, declaring that one of them will determine if they do the procedure or not. The results come back and they are are high enough that she tells Bailey to try removing all his bad tissue, and we are left with Mere fretting about the decision while Bailey picks up a scalpel.
Heather, meanwhile, is in terrible shape and Smash is barely able to contain his guilt. The other interns try to continue working, but are having a hard time of it since it looks like -- even if Heather survives -- she'll have major neurological deficits. Jo wants to make herself feel better with some Alex sex, but she wants to do it somewhere that Alex hasn't already christened with either Leah or Heather (or both) and it appears that location is hard to come by.
As for the others, Jackson doesn't have time to respond to April's desperate declaration of love because of the incoming patients, so that is left up in the air for now. Callie announced during the impromptu Board meeting that Arizona cheated on her the night before, so of course she and Arizona then happen to have to work together on a surgery. While they manage to get the job done, Callie is barely able to speak a civil word to her wife and Arizona realizes she has an uphill battle to try and win forgiveness. And Cristina and Owen are now officially broken up, but Meredith points out that this has happened before and they always get back together. And indeed, as Owen regards Cristina's genius during the crisis, he seems as deeply in love as he ever was. So we'll see what comes of that as the season unfolds.
With that, on to the next episode!
Click here to read the recaplet of the second episode
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Want more? The full recap starts right below!Happy Fall, dear readers! While it's been four months since we saw that Richard was electrocuted, Season 10 kicks off exactly where Season 9 left off. Electrocution means you get the honor of doing the voiceover (from the Great Beyond? We will see…) and Richard talks about doctors and their white coats. Basically, it's an excuse for him to worry us with the thought that, since his life truly began the first time he put on his coat, it seems fitting that he would also be wearing it at the end. While he's talking about doctor fashion we see shots of everyone else to remind us of what is going on: the hospital is calm but very full, the interns are exhausted, and Mere and Derek have an adorable baby and they and Zola are all hanging out in Mere's room. Owen runs in and tells them that they have to get the Board together for a quick meeting, and then realizes what he's seeing and offers them a rushed congratulations. Seriously, that is one giant baby. Are they using the same one they used to shoot the newborn scenes 4 months ago?
In the lounge, Callie and Arizona are still staring at each other after the cheating revelation, until Callie angrily grabs her own white coat and storms out. In another room full of awkward romantic tension, with April having just floated the idea that she could call off her engagement if Jackson wanted her back, she is staring at him hopefully when Jackson's current girlfriend, Stephanie, runs in and gives him a giant hug since she just heard that he was hurt. Jackson just gives April a pointed look over Stephanie's shoulder.
Bailey is searching for Richard and has him paged over the PA system; as we hear them call his name, we see him on the floor, sparks going off around him like fireworks at a BBQ, white coat still smoking.
Instead of actually looking for him, though, Bailey finds herself bonding with her cute little namesake. Richard and Jackson (since he's busy with an injured shoulder and a pleading ex-girlfriend) are absent but Owen realizes they have to start their meeting anyway. Bailey refuses to leave adorable Jared Bailey Shepherd so Owen finally just plows ahead. After they fill Mere in on the bus crash -- having been busy giving birth and having her spleen removed, she managed to miss that whole drama -- Owen warns them that they are super low on supplies and staff because of the storm and he needs the Board to decide if they are going to close the ER. Mere tries to get herself discharged but no one is going for that, so instead she'll make herself useful by calling their suppliers and seeing what she can get delivered. Jackson finally joins them and says that the airport has reopened, so he sent Dr. Boswell on her way. When Cristina asks who that is, Callie uses the opportunity to tell everyone about Arizona's sexual indiscretion the night before. Many, many eyebrows are raised.