Mere and McDreamy are on their fresh start, but they decide to hold off on the sex because Meredith wants to be bright and shiny (and frustrated, apparently). But the bright and shiny thing doesn't last long. Meredith visits Ellis, who refuses to speak to her -- but she lights up when the Chief drops by, reminding Meredith how little time her mother spent with her as a child. A little girl gets run over by her nanny, who knows the little girl better than either of her parents, throwing the mother into a tizzy. And reminding Meredith about her own mommy issues. The parents fire the nanny, in part because the little girl won't stop asking for her. The little girl goes through two surgeries and still only wants the nanny. So the parents rehire her. This whole incident also pushes Bailey's buttons about being a mommy, and she goes through some angst about whether she's neglecting her son.
Izzie is assigned to shadow Alex, who is assigned by McSteamy to take care of an obnoxious guy that just got pec implants. Alex takes advice from the guy and makes a grand gesture by letting Izzie perform a procedure (despite Bailey's rules) and then follows up by planting a kiss on her. But she freaks out and tells him she's not ready for anything like that. But they still wind up on a friendly note.
George's dad is in the hospital because he fell and broke his clavicle. But treatment for that ends up leading to the discovery that he has cancer. And preparations to treat that lead to the discovery that he needs a new heart valve (before they can operate on the cancer). George asks that Cristina be assigned to his dad's case, but then realizes that something is wrong with Burke and that Cristina is covering for him. While that's going on, Callie bonds with George's brothers and then helps them understand the severity of their dad's condition. And Cristina ends up telling George's dad that George is the best intern of them all.
And on the marriage front, Derek and Addison agree to be civilized (which he's willing to do because he's so happy to be back with Meredith). And the Chief decides he can no longer visit Ellis because he needs to try to make his own marriage work. Of course, he's a coward, so he leaves Meredith to give her mother the bad news, leading to a bit of a rapprochement between Mere and Ellis. And after Derek notes that Addison is still wearing her wedding and engagement rings, she obsesses about what to do with them. Eventually, she takes them for a ride on a ferry boat and throws them into the water.
And Bailey sings!
Previously, we met George's family, Callie dumped George, Bailey was pissed about the name erasing, George suspected Burke wasn't okay, Cristina tried to hold it together, Mer realized that her mom had an affair with the chief but is happy that he makes her happy, McDreamy wants to start over and Adele has run out of patience, and George's dad is in the hospital. So... pretty much every storyline they've ever written.
Meredith says that "many people don't know that the human eye has a blind spot in its field of vision. There's a part of the world that we are literally blind to... " but I lose track of all that she's saying when we see her and Derek in a bubble bath together. Mer seriously, seriously, seriously tries to keep Derek on track of taking things slow. It's a good first step with the bath, guys -- that's what I do when trying to avoid hitting a home run in a single evening. They're taking things slow and starting fresh, which Mer has deemed means no sex, since they started with sex the last time and we all know how that ended. He's smooching her the whole time as she says that the waiting is also fun, and "from now on I want to be bright and shiny." And from now on, I want to be in that bathtub.
The problem is, Mer says, sometimes our blind spots shield us from things that really shouldn't be ignored. Her mom is at the nursing home, looking even more severe than usual with a shorter haircut. Mer shows up to visit and cheerfully tries to get her to eat, but Ellis says there isn't any time with all of her surgeries. When Mer tries to apologize for not visiting, Ellis announces that she can't coddle her while she's trying to save lives. It's a fun little insight into Meredith's formative years. Ellis has no time, that is, until Richard shows up with food for her. She lights up and runs to him. He's embarrassed, seeing Meredith, but she assures him it's okay, and leaves. "Sometimes our blind spots keep our lives bright and shiny."
She walks into the locker room, announcing that dark and twisty Meredith is gone. "You're probably not going to want to be friends with me anymore because the sheer intensity of my happiness is going to make your teeth hurt. That's okay because life is good. Life. Is good." She turns around and notices that she's not getting quite the reception she expected, and at the glum faces, she asks if all is okay; they tell her about George's dad. She's genuinely concerned and asks if he's okay, and too quickly, George assures her he'll be fine. His clavicle was fractured when he fainted and fell, so Callie (of course) is going to be treating him. They're all discussing his chart when Bailey comes in looking for it. George hands it over and mutters about being fine, getting himself sent to scut for the day. Ever the smart woman, Bailey knows he won't be able to concentrate on anything. George tries to fight her, but she wisely sticks to her guns and reminds him that family members don't treat family. Cristina leaves, saying she's on Burke's surgery -- I guess Bailey's declaration that she not be allowed on any surgery doesn't count when her boss calls his girlfriend back into the OR. Meredith is going to the pit, and Alex is going to shadow Sloane while Izzie shadows Alex. Bailey goes once again through the rules that boil down to Izzie acting as a glorified room decoration. Izzie rolls her eyes -- a good move, I think, for someone getting a fairly undeserved second chance.
Happy from bath-time, Derek comes into the room whistling and cheerfully greets a confused Addison. He maintains that they can be civilized, and she's pleased at the change in his demeanor, even though I'm sure she realizes it's from some variety of naked canoodling with Meredith. They shake on being mature, coexisting adults and co-workers and he realizes she's still wearing her rings, which puts an ever-so-slight strain on the conversation. She unconvincingly says they might be stuck, and he cheerfully suggests using soap. (Did that this weekend when I realized oh so calmly that my Roman coin ring did not fit as it once used to -- thanks for the advice, McDreamy! -- and it worked like a charm. Grey's Anatomy: saving recappers' fingers.) She declares him strange, and he corrects her that he's merely bright and shiny.
In the O'Malley room, Callie is telling the story about when she fixed up George's shoulder and declares that he is "hardcore." Bailey joins them, and O'Malley Senior explains that they're all there but his wife, who is in DC chaperoning a field trip. Callie explains that his clavicle was still hurting, so she upped the meds. Bailey remarks that he's scheduled for his endoscopy later that day. O'Face (Greg Pitts has been in a thousand other things, but will forever be the guy with the O-face from Office Space to me) O'Malley is worried that it sounds dangerous and, unsurprisingly, won't listen to George's explanation: "I didn't ask you, I asked the doctor." Their brother Ronny chimes in to agree, and George mumbles to himself about the white coat meaning that he is a doctor. They blather on and George tells them to shut up, and Bailey gives a warning "O'Malley," at which they all turn towards her and ask what. Everyone is totally amused, and Callie seems delighted to see this unexpected little insight into her ex-boyfriend's life.
Alex and Izzie head up to Sloane, who, upon noticing Izzie, asks, "Is it 'bring a hot blonde to work' day? No one told me." Izzie chuckles and coughs "sexualharassment" into her sleeve. Old Izzie, welcome back! I'm absolutely delighted to see her being smart-ass instead of mopey today. When Izzie asks what case they'll be needed on, he tells them, "It's a really tragic one. I found out just this morning that I have over two weeks' worth of dry cleaning that needs to be picked up. Stat." Alex, the fight having been beaten out of him, replies with a cheery, "Cool!" but at least has the pride to look embarrassed at dealing with this in front of Izzie. Sloane also orders them to pick him up a sandwich, and presumably they head out on their errands. Who knew medical school could lead to such a glamorous lifestyle?
George is still hassling Bailey about being there for his dad's procedure, and Bailey and the ENTIRE WORLD ask, "What part of 'no working with family' do you not understand?" He continues to argue until Bailey cuts him a deal, and allows him to choose the intern that he would like to have assist with the case. He heads into the OR, where he sees Cristina operating with Burke. She's doing the entire procedure herself as Burke talks her through it, and over his mask, the crease in George's forehead speaks volumes as he puts together all the pieces of the last couple of weeks. He asks someone, "He's letting her decanulate the heart all by herself?" and a clearly jealous doctor replies, "Freaking unbelievable."
Derek, Mer, and Bailey run outside to meet an ambulance carrying a five-year-old girl with massive head and abdominal injuries. As the paramedic explains that the little girl was backed over by her mom's SUV, a woman runs up and begins telling them the girl's blood type, allergies, and anything else pertinent, though she's clearly beside herself and apologizing. Meredith assures "Mrs. Hansen" that they'll take care of the girl, but a stern-looking blonde comes up and butts in that she is Mrs. Hansen. "Mia is my child. Anna is just the nanny who ran over my daughter." Anna's also the one who looks a lot more worried about your daughter, Mom.
Mr. Hansen comes into the room and the Mrs. tells him what happened. Anna pleads that Mia wasn't supposed to be in the driveway and that Mrs. Hansen sent her on an errand. She cries that she didn't see her but the father is yelling, wondering how she couldn't see a whole child, and Bailey tries to quiet them as a team works on the girl. He then starts yelling at his wife, who was on the phone delaying her court appearance, and Mom can't believe he's saying that it's now her fault. Bailey yells, "It's the car's fault, okay? SUVs have blind spots the size of Jupiter. And yelling and screaming and placing blame isn't going to help your child." They both look properly chastised, and Mom asks if she'll be okay. Derek calmly orders a CT. As they prepare to move her, Anna coos reassurances but Mrs. Hansen orders her away and out of the room.
Outside the OR, Cristina scrubs up while George comments on her doing the procedure all on her own. She tries to brush it off, but it's probably the most telltale sign she could give that something isn't right, since humility has never been Cristina's game. George asks, "Why are you being modest? Modest looks weird on you." Burke comes in and asks how George's dad is doing. George explains that he wants Cristina to help, and as she defensively asks why, Burke tells him it's totally fine. She argues about the surgery they have but Burke says he'll reschedule. "O'Malley's father deserves the best." George thanks him, but Cristina is visibly seething. "Your dad better get something wrong with him real fast." "You're sick! A sick, horrible person." Ah, but sick, horrible, and showing a tiny little glimpse of her old self for the first time in a while. She's mean, Izzie's snappy -- everyone's getting back to normal, even if it's just in snippets.
Alex and Izzie come in hauling food and clean clothes and Izzie asks him why he's putting up with this. These scenes on TV shows are always my favorite, because of course she wouldn't have asked him during the time they were actually running the errands, but would wait until they came back and it worked creatively for the show. Alex is convinced that "One of these days he's going to crack and let me in on a case." Izzie can't believe he wants to do plastics that badly. Sloane sees them come back and gives them shit as Addison looks on, disgustedly realizing what's up. She asks what he's doing and he turns and tells her, "Lunch. Want my pickle?" And holds up... well, a saran-wrapped pickle. I mean, a real one, a spear wrapped in clear plastic... this... is never going to sound right. She glares at him and, past his grin, explains that they're a teaching hospital, which means that his interns are actually there to learn and not to run errands. "Fine. No pickle for you." With that the interns follow him off, while Addison asks Richard if he saw what happened. Richard is totally distracted and replies to all of her charges by saying he needs to go perform an endoscopy. Her beeper goes off and she asks, "What is going on with the men in this hospital?" Well, they all took Handsome Pills, but that's all I know for sure at this time.
Tweedles Dee and Dum follow Sloane into his patient's room. Sloane asks him how he's doing and the guy replies, "Oh, Frank's doing okay. He'd be doing a lot better if the twins were even." Frank, as it turns out, is the patient who likes to refer to himself in the third person. Lauren S is just relieved to find out that by "the twins," Frank means his pecs and not two other similarly matching male body parts. Sloane introduces them (the interns, not the pecs) with, "Frank, these are interns," while staring at them like they're odd specimens. "I'm supposed to be teaching them. Apparently, this is a teaching hospital." Alex gives the rundown and Sloane yawns -- I've been loving him, but the shtick is starting to wear a bit thin -- and Izzie jumps in to help answer, and then apologizes for already breaking the rules. Sloane's done teaching and takes the chart back. He tells Alex to monitor Frank's drainage tube and change his dressings, but when he makes a crack about Izzie just watching, Alex actually speaks to say that she's a great doctor. "Yeah, that's what I hear," Sloane replies, and leaves. That made an impact. I can tell he's really near cracking.
George approaches Cristina again to find out about the decanulating heart business. When she again tries to argue that she didn't do it herself, he cuts her off to say that she did. He then goes on to tell her that he noticed Burke's hand shaking when they were fishing, and Cristina turns on him, claws flying. She wants to know why he'd say that and says, "That's not funny." Not smiling, George never intended it to be. Cristina is seriously on the edge of a spectacular breakdown. When George goes on to talk about Burke letting her do the surgery earlier that day, she pushes him off to sit with his dad. George manages to not be deterred, but he does begin stuttering a bit about Burke, giving her a chance to escape down the hall. Stick with it, Georgie.
Meredith and Bailey are working on setting up Mia's CT scan, and Mia cries for Anna. Her mom tries to calm her, but clearly the formative adult in Mia's life is her nanny rather than her mother, and all of Mom's attempts fall flat. Despite the whining, Mia is clearly terrified and I kind of want to punch her mom. I'll give her that she does seem to genuinely care, but her frustrating lack of ability to be a mother or to do what's best for her daughter causes my fists to ball. Her dad tries to leave and get Anna from the waiting room, but Mom's having none of it.
Back in the O'Malley room, O'Face and Ronny are having Callie pick a car as they wait for his dad's procedure to end. She goes for a '68 Mustang GT 390 Fastback, and clearly has his brothers in love with her saucy wit and vehicular know-how. George walks in and pulls her out of the room politely. In the hall, he basically shuts down her attempt at befriending his family. She tries to smooth things over, but George says he'll take care of them and adds, "You broke up with me, remember?" Ouch. That's quite harsh, considering he really didn't give her any other option after acting like a whiny baby with one foot pointed out the door the entire time they were dating. She's clearly stung.
Cristina and the Chief work on his dad, who looks nervous as George watches through the window. If I could crawl inside the TV and hold his hand, I would.
Bailey is operating on Mia and comments on how she won't have an easy recovery. Meredith comments, "With parents like that, she didn't have it easy to begin with." Bailey counters that they do the best they can, but Meredith doesn't see the trap that's being set and continues that they don't know any of her vital information, health-wise or life-wise. "People want to have power careers, I get that, but they should think twice before having kids." Bailey looks at her pointedly and Mer immediately apologizes, but the damage is done, and Bailey's taken it extremely personally. I'm honestly a bit surprised, too, since Meredith is clearly talking about her own mother, who so far has been shown to be a very different kind of person from Bailey; surgery is about the only point in common. Bailey shuts up Mer so that she's not performing a footectomy from Meredith's oral cavity later on.
Burke stares at the board, stretching and squeezing his hand not at all suspiciously, when George walks up; Burke asks after his dad. George tells him what's up but then cuts right to asking about the surgery earlier that day. Burke fully admits that Cristina did the surgery, explaining it in terms of the promise she's showing in cardiothoracic surgery, and George comments that she won't take credit for it. Burke figures she's not trying to rub it in -- again, this argument would work better if it weren't her boyfriend and one of her close friends and co-workers, who know her too well for that to be anywhere near credible. George sort of points that out and asks Burke if everything is okay with him, and Burke assures George that he's fine. I am so sick of that word on this show. George assures him that he's been through a lot and if he were ever not fine, George is there to listen. Burke stares and nods, and when George pries, asking, "Has it not been easy?" Burke merely smiles again and sends his best to George's father as he walks off. TV can be so frustrating, since this is the equivalent of Clark Kent wearing glasses and no one realizing he's Superman. An unconvincing "I'm fine" seems to be all anyone needs.
Addison comes up to a joking Derek to ask just how civil they really are. She wants to know if it's superficial or not, and as Derek jokes about it, she tells him she's worried about the Chief being depressed. "Well, he's separated from his wife. That usually doesn't make a person giddy. Except in my case." Appropriate! She forges on that they should talk to him, and while Derek argues against the idea, she counters that they need to be there for the Chief like he's been for them. In that case, they should somehow hire Adele to work at the hospital under some very close and uncomfortable situation. But, that not yet being an option, they agree to go talk to him in his office. She agrees to try and get her rings off.
Alex removes a delighted Frank's bandages. "Delighted" may not actually be the right word for the situation, as there's much more of a level of pervy self-love radiated throughout this scene, but it sounds nicer than "Alex removes a somewhat aroused Frank's bandages," which seems to belong to a different show altogether. "Delighted" it is. He admires his chest and then asks Izzie for a "woman's perspective." Alex allows her to do this and when she gives him two thumbs up, Frank explains that he got the pecs for his girlfriend. She didn't ask him to get them, but rather he felt threatened by a trainer at her gym and decided to anticipate why he might get dumped and take action. It's a good thing, too -- I was going to dump my last boyfriend, but then those butt implants really solved our problems once his cheeks fit comfortably in my palms, and that bought us another happy six months. Plastic surgery is an extremely effective relationship tool. Izzie tells him she doesn't get the "fake-boob thing," but Frank assures her that they're the best and feel real. He wants her to touch them, which Alex okays, and then she begins a comparison between the two men. From a thousand miles away it was obvious Sloane was going to return right then, but the look of concentration on Izzie's face as she has each hand on some man-breast is just too good. I laughed. A disgusted Sloane announces, "This? This is why I don't work with interns." I think he's just jealous that his pecs weren't being felt.
Bailey and Meredith return to tell Mrs. Hansen that they stopped the bleeding, and that hopefully Mia won't need more surgery. Meredith waits with her for Mr. Hansen so that she can take the parents up to see their daughter in recovery. She assures her that Mia is fine, but tentatively admits that the little girl is asking for Anna. Like a gunshot, Mrs. Hansen tells her, "We fired Anna." Meredith tells her that Mia seemed very attached to Anna, and Mom replies that it's all her fault. She's clearly bitter that her husband blames her for being a working mother when he's also a working father. She tells Meredith that she loves her job and her daughter, and shows a tiny crack as she nearly pleads that she's not good at "the mom stuff," but that she's good at her job. I'm nursing the lump rising on my forehead from being clubbed by this storyline. She's a bad mom, Bailey's an insecure mom, everyone loves their jobs -- can I cut this off, halfway through the episode, and say just try to find a balance? That you can know your child and also work, if you choose to do both? Criminy.
In the hallway of misery, which seems to feature windows for the first time (that, or it's just daylight hours for the first time) Meredith gripes about Mrs. Hansen and other career women having kids, and George says he talked to Burke. Cristina ears burst with steam. She assures everyone that everyone is fine, but George spills about her surgery, and Meredith is duly impressed and happily calls her a bitch. Still not taking the bait, Cristina again says she didn't do the surgery by herself. Good grief, if this storyline goes on much longer, I'm going to have to add "Cristina says she didn't do it, and she and Burke try to pretend she's modest" to my Microsoft Word auto-complete. Don't make me do it, Grey's, you're a better show than that. Let's see this finally go somewhere. Alex tells Izzie, "Yang decanulated a heart. Why is Alex not surprised?" Izzie chuckles and says, "Izzie isn't either. Last week Izzie was digging through crap. This week she's fondling man-boobs. No decanulating hearts for Izzie." Dear Izzie: A week ago, you weren't even sure you could make yourself walk through the door of the hospital. Ignoring the whole "killed your fiancée" thing, let's wait until everyone is sure you might be able to really be a doctor, mmm-kay? Wow, I had no idea that everyone was aggravating me this much until a second watching of this episode, but there you have it. That said, the Alex-Izzie third person is kind of awesome. George calls Cristina on lying; Cristina tries to cover, but "Alex and Izzie do not believe you." Meredith finally bites and asks why they're speaking like royals and Izzie explains, "Izzie and Alex have a patient that talks about himself in the third person." Alex adds, "They thought it was annoying at first, but now they kind of like it." Meredith wants to know when they'll stop, and Cristina asks where bright and shiny went. I guess when you're treating a five-year-old for massive internal injuries and facing your own parent issues at the same time, things start to dull a bit.
In the chief's office, Derek and Addison announce to him that they think he is depressed, and then they both sit down. He points out (not incorrectly) that if they're agreeing on it, he must be really bad. He finally admits that Adele wants him to step down, and the floodgates open. Derek and Addison dissolve into arguing about what people should do for marriage. I'm sparing you the minutes of bickering because I can't bear to recap it all. The chief tries to keep talking, knowing full well that they aren't listening, and admits that he could make time for Ellis but not his own wife, and things need to change. He finally orders them to "Stop helping me." He admits he wants his wife back and his marriage to not be over. Addison assures him that it's not over until he "decides the sacrifice just isn't worth it," sounding a bit wistful. Cristina then walks in, looking somber, with some papers in her hand.
The Chief catches up to George in the hall and tells him he has his father's test results, and the pregnant pause and the music tell us it's not good. Cristina and George go into his father's room, where his brothers are playing cards. The interns say that they'll wait for the Chief to give them the results, but when the brothers begin to mock George for not being a real doctor himself, he snaps. "Ronny! I am a doctor. Just not Dad's doctor." He kind of says it to his coat, though, lessening the impact. His dad realizes something is wrong, but George wants to wait. Cristina starts to tell George quietly that he needs to tell them, but George isn't having it until his dad wants to know what's up with their whispering. Because, you know, two doctors whispering about your test results isn't obvious or disturbing. They all stare at George, who finally offers, "The biopsy results were abnormal." When his dad asks if this is bad, George freezes and can't even look at him. He stares at Cristina, and it's left to her to tell O'Malley Senior that he has cancer in his esophagus, which has spread to his stomach, and that he'll need surgery, chemo, and radiation. They all stare at her, slack-jawed; George stares at the wall.
Meredith finds George and Izzie in the stairwell, and George explains that his dad has Stage 3 static cancer and they'll operate this week. He begins to say something about his brothers, but before he can voice it he tells them instead that Callie slept with Sloane. When he's not speaking, you can actually hear the sound of his life crashing all around him at once. He can't really form sentences but also stutters out that Burke's maybe not okay, and Cristina had to tell his dad when George couldn't even look at him... basically, George is a giant mess. Izzie assures him, "Nobody gets it right with their own family." Meredith concurs, "I certainly don't." Izzie takes the moment of silence to ask, "Callie slept with Sloane?" George huffs, "I don't get you people." I thought he meant that he doesn't get how his best friend can be callous enough to make a statement like that right now, but it turns out he means women altogether. "Us with the boobs?" Meredith asks. "We make a lot of bad decisions."
Alex is checking on Frank by himself and as he does, he comments that he can't believe Frank would do this. Frank just counters by asking if Alex has done anything crazy for a woman. He also asks about Izzie, saying, "Frank can sense the vibe... " Alex cuts him off, and Frank manages to guess what's going on. When Alex tells him it's more complicated than Izzie leaving him for someone else, Frank tells him, "Uncomplicate it, man." He tells Alex to go for a grand gesture. "Trust Frank. Frank knows."
Outside Mia's room, Meredith reports to McDreamy that the girl's MRI shows bleeding around her brain, and he grudgingly says he has to operate. Meredith is surprised that he'll perform a second surgery on her in a single day, but he says that she's strong. Inside, her parents are sitting with her.
O'Malley Senior is having an ultrasound on his chest. Cristina explains that he had an abnormal EKG, so they just need to check him out before surgery. He's satisfied with this and tells her, "You're a smart girl." "Yes," she agrees confidently. That's the Cristina I want back. O'Malley Senior explains that George told him she's the best intern in the hospital and the best person for his case, and she's visibly moved by this. She smiles as he tells her, "He said you keep everyone on their toes, even him." He looks so proud, and she looks happy for the first time in a long time. The technician then calls her over to the computer. She tries to look calm, but you know things are getting worse. The two things I can't handle are unhappy/sick/hurting children and elderly folks. Well, and animals, but fortunately we've only got two of three today. Still, I've got my Kleenex at the ready.
George comes to his father's room and asks Cristina why Burke is now there. She explains that she found that his father's aorta valve is leaking, and it needs to be fixed or he won't survive the cancer surgery. George quivers, and she sternly tells him that it's just a valve replacement and will be fine. (Aaaaaah, that word!) George gathers himself and says that Burke will do it. Cristina doesn't reply, but starts through her veneer to seem nervous. George picks up steam, though, and asserts, "Burke will do it and you will clear his schedule. If someone is going to operate on my dad's heart I want it to be Burke." She agrees. He goes on, almost daring her to contradict him: "It's going to be fine. It's a valve replacement. It's Preston Burke. If someone's going to cut your dad's heart apart you want it to be him!" Cristina won't look him in the eye, but when he asks what's up, she just turns and heads away. The two of them are almost playing a game of chicken, but the worst possible kind with his father on the table, wondering who is going to blink first.
Cristina takes off down the hall but George won't let her go and asks what's wrong. She won't admit to anything, but he comes back that she's hiding something from him and he demands to know what it is. She turns to leave and runs into Bailey, who may or may not have heard what was said but clearly gets the gist.
Meredith comes into Richard's office, having been summoned. He tells her he wants to talk about her mom, and she sits. He stutters and begins that he knows they have a complicated relationship, and that Meredith knows his and Ellis's history. She cuts him off, however, to assure him that she's okay with it because he makes her mom so happy. She says that both she and her father couldn't do that, but then it's his turn to cut her off. "I can't see your mother anymore." He says that he needs to work on his own marriage and he can't do it while visiting Ellis. She stonily tells him, "I see." He also basically admits that Ellis is amazing and he can't watch her life end the way it's ending. Implied also is that he's not going to tell her this himself. The men of Seattle Grace may be handsome, but among them they have fewer balls than the Rubik's cube factory.
Alex and Izzie go into Frank's room to remove his tube. Alex draws the curtain, and tells Izzie to get some gloves. She's worried that they could get caught, but he knows that she'll do a good job and maintains that she should do the procedure. Frank's a bit worried, but Alex assures him she's awesome, and Frank Gets It. "Aaaah, grand gesture. Frank gets it." Izzie is confused, but lets it go quickly in her excitement. She asks, "You sure about this?" Frank replies, "Oh yeah, he's sure." She laughs and snaps on her gloves.
Meredith, McDreamy, and a team are doing brain surgery on Mia. Up in the gallery, Bailey, Addison, and Callie watch. Well, Bailey and Callie watch and Addison stares at her rings, which she has on each pointer finger while she contemplates them. Bailey asks if she and Derek thought about having kids, and Addison tells her that they talked about it but it wasn't right. Callie adds that she loves kids and wants a dozen, and Bailey assures her one is plenty if you're a surgeon. Callie says God invented nannies for that reason and Bailey chuckles, and Addison asks what she should do with her rings. Callie tells her, "My mom says post-divorce wedding rings are bad juju." Addison is impressed, asking, "Your mom knows juju?" "She does." Addie asks what Callie's mom would do, and Callie tells her she'd burn or bury them. Addie offers the rings to Callie, who laughs, telling her, "I want some rings, just not bad juju rings." She also adds that her mom's a bit insane, but Bailey orders, "Hey, don't talk smack about your mom." Addison asks Bailey what's wrong just by saying her name, and Bailey explains that over the course of her work shift the day before, Tuck's favorite food changed completely. Between that and treating the little girl who wants her nanny more than her mom, Bailey's clearly having a tough time of it. Addison muses that life moves fast and people move on, and a distraught Callie stands up. When they ask what she's doing, she replies, "I'm not ready to move on."
George again confronts Cristina. He shuts them into an office and tells her, "Do you know why I picked you to be my dad's intern? Because you're a robot. A frickin' robot in a white coat who never makes a mistake and most of the time I appreciate that. Most of the time I really feel like I have something to learn from you but right now, right now I need you to try just for a minute, I need you to try to be a human." She's leaning back as if she can't handle having another human being that close. She can only stare at him, and he leaves her stunned. I'm proud of him for sacking up. Someone needs to, my God.
In the stairwell, Izzie sincerely thanks Alex for letting her do the procedure, and they banter. When she admits, "Izzie is rocking. Izzie is back in the game," he grabs her and plants one on her. Damn, I loved Denny, but I also loved these two together. Unfortunately, despite the chemistry, she pulls back, terrified, and whispers that she can't and she's sorry.
Meredith checks Mia and asks her to say something to make sure she's coming to from the surgery okay, asking her to say "Meredith." Mia manages, "Mary... Anna." Meredith and Mia's mom exchange a Meaningful Glance. Meredith tells Mia that her parents are there and when they approach, she just repeats a request for Anna. Her mom nearly starts to cry, and runs out of the room as her husband calls after her.
In his dad's room, George tells him the surgery might be tomorrow or the day after. His dad is confused, having been told they should do it as soon as possible, but George plays it off as his brothers glare at him. He assures his dad that he wants to do it right. O'Face then tells George he doesn't know why they're operating on his heart when the cancer is in his stomach. George tries to tell him that it's complicated, and Ronny jumps in to say that maybe the tests are wrong. I see the genuine concern, but the two of them really come off as yokels who don't even try to understand what's going on. George tries to talk to them, explaining the cancer, but he's using terms like "metastatic" that are going over their heads and making them angry. I want to be mad at George for not making enough of an effort, but this is clearly a case of a lifetime of misunderstanding and George Against Them blowing up at the wrong time. He tries to break it down, but he can't remove himself from being a doctor enough, and they can't grasp the concepts, and each just gets angry at the other. O'Face tells him to talk English instead of Doctor, and George blows up that he's doing just that. Their dad tells them to cool it, and right then, Callie walks in and starts to give them a car metaphor. George tries to stop her but she forges ahead, and she manages to get through to his brothers so that they know what's going on. His poor dad looks nervous, and his brothers start to cry. I'm holding it together as best I can so that I don't get tears in my keyboard and short-circuit it.
Mia is singing the goodnight song, and Meredith sees that Anna is in the room with her and her parents. The little girl is smiling for the first time since her accident. Anna gazes at her and even Mia's mom seems to realize that this is best, to have them both there. Bailey watches through the window as well.
It's time for Meredith to wrap things up, and she VOs, "When it comes to our blind spots, maybe our brains aren't compensating. Maybe they're protecting us." She's visiting her mother, who tells Meredith she can't stay because she's expecting another visitor, and she smiles as she says this. Her priorities and love are very clear, and they don't include her daughter. Meredith looks nauseated and tells her that Richard isn't going to visit, now or for a while. Ellis's armor goes up and she knows: "He's gone back to Adele. Of course he has. He's afraid, afraid to be happy. And I'm all alone. Now I have to raise my daughter alone. How am I expected to do that?" She begins to cry. Meredith tells her, "You did the best you could. You did the best you could -- that's all anybody can do." Ellis sobs, and Meredith seems to sense that her mom really did what she could for her daughter, even if her best was lacking.
In O'Malley's room, Cristina writes notes, and he asks how he's doing. She tells him he's ready for surgery, which he supposes is good. He says he's not sure what he's going to say to his wife, who he's been married to for 40 years, that now he's got both cancer and a heart condition. He tells her that she was always after him to take better care of himself. "I guess I should have listened." Cristina looks down and goes to leave, but before she does, she turns around and states, "George is the best." His dad asks, "What?" She goes on, almost in a rush. "He's the best. Intern. He's a good doctor, and he's a good person, and whatever happens I just thought you should know that you raised a good person." His dad absolutely lights up with pride and smiles, trying not to cry, and thanks her. I've got nothing funny to say -- every time I've watched this scene this week, I've burst into tears. The acting and the sentiment are superb.
Izzie sits down to Alex at Joe's, and tells him she didn't know he still felt that way. "Me either," he tells her ruefully. She just says, "I can't, I'm sorry." But these two do seem to be growing up, albeit slowly, and he tells her, "Alex gets it. Alex is sorry he's such an idiot." Izzie asks, "Can Izzie buy Alex a drink?" Smiling, he replies, "Alex would like that. Izzie can."
Bailey is walking down the hall arguing on the phone, presumably with her husband, to wake up the baby. Once the baby is on the other end, she says hi and begins to sing. Her voice is absolutely amazing, and this is not helping me stop crying.
Addison is on the ferry, and after looking one last time at her rings, she throws them into the Sound with tears in her eyes.
Cristina lies in bed awake; Burke is to her with his eyes closed. She simply says, "George knows," and Burke turns to look at her. Please oh please let this go somewhere. But please don't let it go somewhere that involves the death of George's father.
George lies awake, fully dressed and looking afraid in his bed.
In the beautiful claw-footed bathtub, Derek and Meredith sit across from each other, surrounded by bubbles. She admits, "I may not be cut out for bright and shiny." He agrees, but tells her, "We can be dull and lifeless together." They smile at one another, and she tells him that she's still glad he's in her bathtub. He is too. Something about this feels like it's a real relationship again, and I like it.