Last week, we were left with two very big questions, and one is answered right away when George and Callie come back from Vegas as George and Callie O'Malley. That's right, it really does sound that funny, which Alex points out. The Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic is now open for business, but as they only dreamed the thing up eight days previously, it's not yet bustling with patients. Izzie can only think about the money being wasted and eventually has herself excused, but Bailey sticks around to help their one patient, and is able to make a difference in the girl's life, which makes the whole endeavor worth the effort. Though that's the only actual clinic patient, some of the other beds are used by George and some other members of the staff. George realizes they're all sick because one of their patients' blood is toxic, but before he can warn her surgical team, they've all passed out in the OR after cutting her open. Eventually she's patched together enough to get her out of the OR before she comes out of anesthesia for a second time (which -- thanks, Grey's, for actually showing one of my greatest fears, in an episode I get to watch over and over again), which is finally accomplished by some daring breath-holding and dashing surgery by the female interns.
This week's heart-wrenching, however, comes courtesy of Meredith's mother. She wakes up lucid, which is a not unheard-of but temporary condition for an Alzheimer's patient. Meredith has to break it to her that she has the disease, and the stress causes her to collapse. She's taken to Seattle Grace, where it's discovered that she has heart disease and needs surgery. Cristina takes care of her and befriends her, since the elder Dr. Grey sees a kindred spirit in the intern. Unfortunately she doesn't see that in Meredith, and when she finds out Meredith is happy and in love, she lays into her for being a giant disappointment. It's no wonder Meredith had been avoiding having a real conversation with her mother, however little time they might have together. When Mere finally ventures back into her room at the end of the day, she finally, emotionally and honestly tells her mother she hopes they can get to know each other one day, only to find out that she's slipped back into her mental prison.
Oh, there's something else that you want to know? Some other question was asked last week? Well, Cristina realizes through the day's events that she wants to be a kick-ass surgeon AND have a life, and she finally gives Burke an answer, which is yes.
Previously on Grey's Anatomy: Bailey wanted to open a clinic, and Izzie happened to have 8.7 million dollars stuck to the fridge and a dead fiancée's memory to honor. All of the attendings wanted to be chief since Richard announced he was stepping down. Meredith's mom had Alzheimer's and no internal filter to keep her from telling her daughter something like she never should have had any children. And there were two marriage proposals.
Meredith's voiceover is back, and I'm surprised to find that I missed it. Over a beautiful shot of a ferry boat (natch), she announces, "As surgeons, we live in a world of worst-case scenarios. We cut ourselves off from hoping for the best because too many times, the best doesn't happen. But every now and then, something extraordinary occurs." At this moment, that thing is Cristina staring at an amazingly beautiful diamond ring while she sits on her bed.
George and Callie are in the elevator together, looking nervous. They take hands, seemingly to gird themselves for something, and walk out the doors together as Meredith adds, "And suddenly, best case scenarios seem possible." Time apparently has a different meaning in Seattle than the rest of the world, and it seems it's only taken eight days and eight million dollars to ready the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic.
This instance of organizational miracles is eclipsed by one more event, one that Meredith leads into by adding, "And every now and then, something amazing happens." Mere is at the nursing home looking at her mom through the window, where she paces as we've seen her do many times. However, this time is very different as the nurse tells her that Ellis woke up lucid that morning. She explains that they don't know why it happens in patients, but occasionally it does, and it's a gift. Apparently Ellis has all of her memory back except for one tiny little piece known as the last five years. She also doesn't know she has Alzheimer's, and the staff thought letting her know would be a nice task to hand over to Meredith. Apparently, her mother was asking for her. Her VO finishes, "And against our better judgment, we start to have hope."
Back at the hospital, Burke and Derek are kicking off the morning with a nice, warm mug of ass-kissing. Burke asks the chief for the helicopter to bring in some amazing heart surgery from Denver, and Derek wants some sort of robot. Be careful, Derek -- if the Super Bowl taught us nothing else this past weekend, it's that some robots get clinical depression and will throw themselves off a bridge. Do you really want to bring something robotic into an environment with that much water? Addison and Mark watch from afar, and when he asks if she's going to get in and compete, she replies confidently that she's going to fight like a girl. "I'll let them kill each other, and then I'll be the only one left standing." Mark claims that he'll be standing, and she underestimates him, but she merely clarifies that she doesn't underestimate him, but rather just doesn't think about him. Mark walks over to join in the fun and announces that he's going to visit the clinic to support Bailey, which impresses the Chief, who leaves to go with him. Derek has to admit the smoothness with which this was executed with a "Nice" as they walk off.
Meredith is in her mother's room, trying to get a word in as her mother panics about what is going on. Her mom wants to know when she got back from Europe, and Mere just sits on the bed and explains that she was gone for two months. Before she can continue, her mom continues firing questions, wondering if she had a breakdown and is in a hospital. She also mentions a fight they had and how Mere doesn't have to go to medical school if she doesn't want to. Meredith interrupts, gently but firmly, to explain that her trip to Europe was five years ago, that she's been through school and is a doctor, and that Ellis has Alzheimer's and this is where she now lives. Her mother grasps Meredith's hands desperately and her face contorts into an ugly cry. But it's all too much, it seems, and she actually begins to shake and then passes out as Mere catches her and screams for help.
At the hospital, Burke meets their ambulance, but as Mere starts to give the bullet, Ellis interrupts her and does it herself. Burke helps Meredith out of the ambulance, and she quickly explains that her mother is lucid. As they wheel her inside, she incredulously asks if they're at Seattle Grace, and Mere explains that this is where she works. Burke chimes in to praise her daughter as a gifted intern, but Ellis interrupts to ask if Dr. Webber is there and is amazed and pleased to hear that he's Chief of Surgery.
Bailey, Izzie, Cristina, and Alex are standing in a very empty brand-new clinic. Bailey explains that, unless there is a surgical emergency, they'll be there, and Olivia will show them what's what around the place. Alex looks around and picks something up, but Izzie screeches at him to drop it, as it cost $79. She's a little jumpy about her investment, it seems, and boy is that going to get old fast. Cristina bitches about preparing for Burke's surgery the day, but Alex is delighted to inform her that he's been assigned to it rather than she. Bailey helpfully exposits that George should be back from vacation any time -- hold on to that, it will be quite important in lo about five seconds. Izzie is freaking out, and Bailey calms her by giving her the task of watching the door for patients. She does, by staring and not blinking as if she might conjure something up out of thin air, or burn down the doors with her laser vision death rays. Of course, the first two through the door are Mark and Webber, so Izzie doesn't bat an eyelash. The chief looks a mite concerned about his catatonic intern, but Bailey just explains that she's watching the door. Someone finally approaches... and it's George and Callie! Gosh, didn't see that coming. Bailey welcomes him and chastises his tardiness but George and Callie just stare at each other for a beat. The Chief asks if he's okay, and he bursts out, "We got married in Vegas!" Everyone in the room turns and stares silently and incredulously. "We're married," he says triumphantly, and he and Callie look adoringly at each other. The silence is broken when Alex observes, "Dude! She's Callie O'Malley." Awesome.
Izzie, ever supportive and tactful, quietly grills George about if he's happy, not noticing Callie behind her, who answers loudly that they're incredibly happy. Izzie fakes a, "Yay!" and the newlyweds share a kiss. Izzie asks to see the ring, and Callie holds up her hand to show a thin gold band with the tiniest diamond one can see without a magnifying glass. With her fine track record of verbal diarrhea, Izzie pronounces, "Tiny diamonds are great because you know no one will ever try to steal it." Bailey breaks up the pause by realizing that the idle interns are about to cause a ruckus and assigns Alex and Izzie to find some patients and the others to get to the hospital. Quietly and awkwardly, she also offers the couple congratulations. Callie mumbles to George, "We've only been out of our Vegas hotel bubble for six hours, and I don't like it." George assures her that it's fine, because they're married, and he sounds genuinely happy for the first time in eons. She happily agrees and looks at her ring.
George walks out with the Chief, trying to be suave: "So, Chief, we're a couple of married men." Webber has to break it to him that he's actually getting a divorce. It shuts George up, and Webber goes on to say it's life, and then leads him into a room where he explains that the patient -- Marina Wagner -- was in eight months before and had a tumor removed and has since gone through chemo and radiation, sadly noting that he thought she'd beaten it. Her boyfriend comes in just then, asking if it might be food poisoning. The chief looks confused and says that it might be complications from the radiation, which puzzles the boyfriend, who denies that she had cancer. D'oh -- someone's going to have some 'splaining to do. It's not going to be the Chief, who at that moment sees Ellis outside and hurriedly orders George to do some tests and runs out of the room.
Richard asks Mere if her mom is okay, but Ellis interrupts and greets him warmly, adding, "My god, you've aged!" She explains why she's there and congratulates him on being Chief, and she's lit up like a schoolgirl in his presence. When he explains that he's stepping down, she bitingly replies that she's sure that was Adele's idea. It would be interesting sometime to see what brought these two together, with him seeming so warm and she being such an absolute ice queen who speaks every thought she has every second it comes to her. Her nurse wheels her to the elevator, and Mere hangs behind to quickly explain that she's lucid (duh, that's a little late) and it's temporary. Richard is flustered and gives her the day off, echoing her mother's nurse that this time together is a gift. Mere blandly agrees and runs to go upstairs with her mom.
Burke orders Cristina to run tests on Ellis and then thinks to also mention that she's lucid. In a surprising moment of real friendship, Cristina immediately asks how Meredith is doing with it. It's a nice nod to the sister/best friend relationship between the two. Burke tells her that they'll give Ellis the best care possible and butters Cristina up by telling her that she's the best. Cristina takes a moment to puff her chest and beam before calling him out and fishing for an answer. Really, it's only been eight days, and it's just a little marriage proposal, I have no idea why the guy might be getting impatient. When he notes that she's not wearing the ring, she just replies, "I told you, it's under advisement." He asks if she likes it and she replies that just that it's a ring. Again, though, she's shockingly gentle about it. I'm a little bit stunned but delighted at the continuing humanization of Cristina. She tells him it's "the" ring, describing the 3 carats and the platinum. If she doesn't want it, I'll happily offer up to take it off of their hands; she's not kidding that it's "the" ring. "The" ring of this recapper's dreams. She then asks him if keeping her off the surgery is him trying to force an answer, but he merely says the other interns also need a chance, and she bluntly asks why. Ah, it's good to see she's not changing too drastically.
Alex and Izzie sit down in the ER waiting room on either side of a patient with giant grins on their face and begin trying to seduce him to the free clinic. He suspiciously asks if she's hitting on him, but she just wants to offer him 8 million dollars worth of free care. They do a great tag-team of doctorflirt and also scaring him into getting seen immediately.
Cristina is doing an echocardiogram on Ellis, and Ellis notes that she and Meredith are good friends. She can tell since Cristina won't look at her. "As if I might ask some personal question about her, and you might accidentally slip." Cristina merely keeps not looking at her and silently working, but Ellis sees a kindred spirit and knows just how to butter her up by asking, "But you don't do anything accidentally, do you?" Cristina looks pleased, and Ellis asks if her daughter has chosen a specialty. When Cristina points out that was a personal question, Ellis agrees that it's the most personal question for a surgeon. Cristina mutters that her own mom would ask if she had a boyfriend, and Ellis, ever tactful, announces, "Your mother sounds like a frivolous woman." I feel like that sort of falls into the realm of, "I can complain about and insult my family but not you," territory, but Cristina just caves and asks, "If I chose cardiothorasics, what would that say about me?" Ellis explains, "Heart surgeons are the know-it-alls. They're the most ambitious, the most driven. They want it all and they want it now. And they don't want anything getting in their way." Cristina takes this to digest, and Ellis announces that she learned she's in an Alzheimer's study and wants a neuro consult with the doctor who put her there. I smell shenanigans!
Cristina finds Mere outside and asks if she's okay, and Mere merely responds by talking about this "gift." Cristina tells her that Ellis wants to meet McDreamy but nips Mere's freakout in the bud when she explains it's McDreamy the doctor, not McDreamy her boyfriend. She adds, "I'm kind of in love with her, by the way." Mere grumbles, "She has that effect on people who aren't her daughter." Izzie comes out with her hijacked patient in tow and stops to find out how Meredith is doing. She assures Mere that her mom won't be disappointed now that she's a doctor and both she and Cristina pressure her to go have an actual talk with her mom. Izzie's patient timidly speaks up to go get some actual medical care, but she only leaves the gabfest when he threatens to go back to the ER. Cristina is delighted (and maybe even a little bit proud?) that Izzie is stealing patients, and Izzie admits that she doesn't want her inheritance to have gone to just funding an empty room. Don't feel bad, Izzie, there's cool colored sheets in there that are much snazzier than regular hospital-issue white. Feel proud that it looks good! She doesn't want to go crazy since, "George called dibs on all the crazy this week. Do you think she's pregnant?" And on that incredibly inappropriate and rude note, she wheels off with her stolen patient. Meredith asks what that was all about, and Cristina realizes she was gone and announces, "Bambi got married!" I guess if he's Bambi that makes Izzie Thumper -- annoying but still his best friend. It works.
Meredith finds George in Marina's room and calls him out with a big smile on her face. She asks him if it was, "Good impulsive or Meredith impulsive," letting him know if it was the latter, then she might be able to help him get out of it. He assures her it was a good thing, hugs her, and she offers him some sincere congratulations. I'm fully on board with the crazy marriage -- I like Callie and George together. I'm glad he finally made a commitment, and he seems happy, and MAN ALIVE was this show in need of some happy George again. Just then, Ellis appears at the door of her own room and asks Meredith if she was ever going to come visit. What kind of karma is that, to be a good friend and then get sucked into your demon mother's orbit? Alas, poor Meredith.
Alex wheels a patient by the reception desk where Addison is sitting. She looks over her glasses at him like a hot librarian and chews her finger while making sexy eyes... until the figurative record scratch when Callie catches her. Despite her horrible efforts to act nonchalant, Callie comes up and asks, "You know those cartoons where there's a bear, or whatever, and it's starving, and it looks at a table, and the table turns into this delicious cooked turkey with lines of deliciousness coming off it?" I cannot do the delivery and the little finger-waving illustration of "lines of deliciousness" justice, I can only pay homage by working the term into my everyday vocabulary. Addison denies it, adding, "Because he is the help, and I am not going to be sleeping with the help." Callie can one-up that, pshaw: "I married the help." Addison is shocked, and she explains, "We went to Vegas. My idea. I embrace the trashy." I love it. I Embrace the Trashy: That's the new title of my autobiography, replacing Lines of Deliciousness, My Life as a Single Lady. Addison asks her why she did it so fast but then hugs her and genuinely congratulates her, asking to see the ring. She has to put her sexy librarian glasses back on to see it, and Callie admits that it's small, but Addison cuts her off firmly, telling her it's beautiful. Callie giggles and agrees. I'm scribbling inside the cover of my book, "Addy + Callie = BFF" because I love these two so much.
Inside Ellis' hospital room, she stands at the foot of her bed as Meredith sits in a chair hugging her knees. It looks like she's used to being the bad little girl while her mother is the scary presence, and that they've reverted to their roles despite the time lost between the two. Her mom, however, asks genuinely what her life is like, saying, "I really want to know you, Meredith." It's almost soft, which is not an adjective one would use with Ellis Grey. I suspect Meredith isn't used to it either, which is why she's lulled into letting her guard down and being honest. She tells her mom that she has a great boyfriend who understands her career since he's a doctor and how happy she is to have someone in her life. When her mom asks if she's chosen a specialty, throwing out sharply that Cristina has already chosen one, Meredith just dreamily tells her that she's waiting to be inspired. But the most important thing she wants Ellis to know is, "I'm really happy." The peaceful moment is about to be crushed like a frog under a tire. Her mother purses her lips and angrily demands, "What happened to you?" Mere is bewildered, asking what she means, and Ellis unleashes a torrent that sheds quite a light on Meredith's drinking, random men, and issues all around. "You're happy? You're happy now? The Meredith I knew was a force of nature. Passionate. Focused. A fighter. What happened to you? You've gone soft! Stammering about a boyfriend and saying you're waiting to be inspired? You're waiting for inspiration, are you kidding me? I have a disease for which there is no cure; I think that would be inspiration enough." Meredith tries one weak, "Mom," but Ellis plows ahead. "Listen to me, Meredith. Anyone can fall in love and be blindly happy," (this she punctuates with a vicious sneer) "but not everyone can pick up a scalpel and save a life. I raised you to be an extraordinary human being. So imagine my disappointment when I wake up after five years and discover that you're no more than ordinary. What happened to you?" During this tirade, Mere just goes deathly quiet and gradually her cheeks turn red as her eyes well up. It's heartbreaking, amazing acting by both the daughter who has just been betrayed and the mother who is so full of anger, and possibly jealousy that her daughter has managed to find happiness in ways Ellis never really did. One can't imagine a childhood with this woman being the defining force in a young girl's life.
George is taking Marina's blood as the boyfriend tells the story of their relationship. In an absolutely astonishing parallel, they met and their relationship took off really fast until they got engaged. The boyfriend is realizing a few steps they missed along the way when he doesn't even know her middle name to fill out the medical forms. (That, and the whole having cancer in the first place detail.) George tells him that it's "Rose" as he hands over her driver's license with a terribly shaky hand, a la Burke's tremors. The boyfriend looks a bit quizzical but doesn't ask what the doctor is doing by shaking like a leaf when he's holding a needle into his fiancée's arm.
Meredith has apparently escaped her mother and is prepping Derek for meeting her. She tells him that Ellis seems charming but is really the enemy, but Derek doesn't seem to be taking the advice as seriously as he should. He assures Mere it will be fine. Really, Mere, he's McDreamy! If anything goes wrong just run your mom's fingers through his luscious hair, and I'm sure everything will right itself.
Olivia runs into George in the hallway and points out the obvious -- that he's shaky, sweaty, and pale. She asks if he's regretting it, which I feel is a question she best keep to herself considering, after all, she once gave him syphilis and therefore lost her "witty insult" card with him. George just shoves the blood he just took from Marina into Olivia's hands and asks her to take it to the lab; he then tosses all of the leftover detritus from the tests into a biohazard bin and sits down before he falls. Callie finds him and asks if he's okay, but instead of answering, he asks her middle name. She jokes that it's bad and she tells no one. He tries to sweet-talk her by pointing out that they're now married, but she goes off the deep end and flips out on him. She can tell he's got a reason for knowing but instead of asking what it is assumes that his "weird and judgy" friends (fine, so that's not wrong) got to him. He's struggling and says he can barely breathe but she just snarks that last week he didn't know her middle name and could breathe just fine, and leaves him confused. I totally get that she's been put through a lot of shit at the hands of Izzie, but I think she might understand that her husband would want to know her full name. And wouldn't it have been on some form they'd have to fill out, anyway? Or are full names optional for Vegas marriages?
Derek is in with Ellis, discussing her options. He's sitting with one leg bent underneath him, on the foot of her bed, looking at her earnestly; the effect is much like two teenage girlfriends at a sleepover making a pact to stay friends 4-ever. It turns out her options are basically nil, and she can't believe that no progress has been made in five years. She also can't imagine how he can do this kind of seemingly hopeless work day in and day out. He tries to ease into the explanation that her case was special to him because of Meredith, but Ellis cuts him no slack and spits, "You're what happened to her." Just as quick as a junior high friendship pact can last, she's turned on him, and he's completely stunned that she could be mad at someone with such fabulous locks as his. She yells at him for being there for Meredith and not Ellis and accuses him of being why Meredith is unfocused. "I've seen men like you before. Threatened by someone who's an equal. You just want someone to admire you. And you don't care about the damage you do to her along the way." He nods, seemingly stunned into submission. Again, I wonder if she's transferring her own suspicions about her own life and failed relationship, since she's had two minutes with him and no way to know how he might actually feel about Meredith, other than that he made an effort to help her extremely ill mother. I can't imagine what Ellis would be feeling, learning all she has in a single day about her life and her future, but she does have a special knack for keeping everything revolving around herself.
At the clinic, George lays down on a bed as Izzie screeches about the cost. What with the profuse sweating and the trouble breathing, though, he's pretty convincing that he needs it, and so she allows it, and Bailey sends Alex to take his place in surgery. When he runs into the OR, the Chief asks about George, and Alex explains, as if it makes perfect sense, "He's married." The Chief nods knowingly, and they cut into their patient.
Back at the holding tank for ill interns, Izzie is moping about the lack of patients, and Bailey finally tells her to shut up about the money or risk losing her life. Izzie explains her neurosis a little bit more by saying it's about Denny and honoring his memory in a meaningful way. Bailey softens a bit and assures her that it will; as if on cue, a man and his sulky daughter appear before them. Izzie's joy is quickly tempered, though, when it turns out the girl needs a lesson in feminine hygiene products since her mother has died and her dad is at a loss. Bailey delights in giving Izzie the case.
The curtain to George's bed is pulled back, and it's Olivia, with the same symptoms as George. She continues the conversation she started earlier in the hall, imploring that he should be happy but he's not. Rather than talk about his elopement, he notices her symptoms and those of the lab tech who just lay down as well, noting it was the same person who took Marina's blood. George mutters, "She's toxic," and Olivia agrees, "Callie? Yeah, a lot of us feel that way." Girl! Those who live in houses where they gave the guy syphilis, even unknowingly, can't throw stones! George, however, meant that Marina's blood is toxic, and tries to call the OR. Unfortunately, everyone is too busy being passed out cold on the floor to answer.
Derek is shouting directions for no one to go in the OR, and it looks like they got all of the staff members out. There's panic all around, and Meredith walks in wearing her scrubs and asks how she can help. Derek tries to send her back to her mom, but she persists, so he finally pulls rank on her and orders, "Dr. Grey, talk to your resident." No one can cross Ellis' path and emerge unscathed, it seems. They realize the problem, that Marina was taking herbal supplements that interacted with the radiation to make her blood toxic; they are lucky that the doctors working on her aren't dead, and it's all because of George realizing what was going on. Callie worriedly runs to George, and he can only blurt out that the blood was toxic, not their marriage. Callie pulls up short, and gets her panties into a twist that he thought the marriage was toxic. Callie needs to stop being so aggravating; again, I get that she's on edge, but listen to your HUSBAND for one second! You just laid a trap for him and let him walk into it. For the sake of you guys proving everyone wrong about your quickie marriage, you might want to take a deep breath and listen for a moment. The attendings meet and try to figure out what to do about the poor intubated girl lying open on the operating table.
Cristina goes into Ellis's room to break the news that she needs surgery. Ellis asks why surgery if meds can treat the problem, but when Cristina doesn't respond, she realizes the answer and says that Alzheimer's patients can't be relied on to take their medication. Cristina adds quietly, "And, uh, apparently Meredith says you were particularly difficult." Ellis asks about not treating the condition, but Cristina explains that it would get worse and probably end her life. Ellis finally seems at a bit of a loss and asks Cristina what she would do, adding, "What would you do if the thing that defines who you are was taken away?" Before Cristina gives an answer, she decides not to do the surgery, and Cristina has to break the news that legally, the decision is actually up to Meredith.
Back at the clinic, the father waits uncomfortably as Izzie wraps up her demonstration, "Maxipads and you: Why you need different types for different days." Izzie is pissed off that her first patient didn't meet her expectations and asks sullenly, "Can I just go to the gallery and learn something, if that's okay with you?" Bailey excuses her and sends the father to fill out some paperwork. On his way out, he thanks Bailey, explaining that things have been hard with father and daughter since his wife died. Once alone, the daughter delivers a shock, hurriedly and aggressively, yet clearly terrified, she asks if she could be pregnant if she had sex just the week before, also adding that since she did it, the guy is now being a jerk. Very little stuns Miranda Bailey, but she can only stare with her mouth literally hanging open.
Meredith has been called in to discuss the surgery and tells her mom she's not sure refusing is what Ellis wants to do. Ellis is playing the martyr to the hilt and bitterly points out that it's not her choice and that Meredith is in charge, and finally Meredith has had enough of her gift for one day. "Do you think I like making these decisions for you? Do you think it's fun to get calls from the nursing home asking whether I was planning on giving the nurse -- who changes you every morning -- a Christmas tip? But I do it, because you have managed to alienate everybody else in your life. And I am the only one," she continues, red and welling and angry but controlled, "so I have to step up and do it. You want to know why I'm so unfocused? So ordinary? You want to know what happened to me? You. You happened to me." She's kept her tears from spilling over, but a lifetime of this fighting is behind every word out of her mouth. Her mom then demands that she let her refuse the surgery, but Meredith won't. "Because killing my mother is not going to be another thing that happens to me." I can't do justice to the scenes between these two women, no matter how I type it out. If you haven't seen this episode yet, you need to watch it to really understand the horrific pain and emotions swirling between the two. Kudos to both of these actresses. p>It seems that they've figured out a solution to be able to finish the surgery, and Burke and McDreamy are putting on airtight suits to protect them from the toxins. From what I can make out from Mark helping them get ready, the suits have only been charging for a little while, so they've only got 30 minutes of air to get the job done. Wait, are you telling me that should there be some horrible hazardous materials accident or, oh, something unexpected like a patient coming in with unexplained toxic blood, they don't have at least one of these suits charged up to be able to do surgery right away? Something about that doesn't seem entirely thought out. As the guys suit up, Addison watches the girl through the window and realizes that her anesthesia is running out and she's beginning to wake up. Your friendly recapper goes and takes a moment to breathe into a paper bag at the idea and the sight of someone waking up in the middle of surgery. Okay, I think I can manage to take deep breaths long enough to get myself through this scene, which is basically my worst nightmare come to life. The guys need another two minutes for their suits to be airtight, and without two minutes to be had, Addison grabs a mask and runs into the room over Mark's protests.
Addison struggles with the instruments and tries to calm the girl as she looks around for what she needs. Over Mark's orders to get out, she yells that she needs her weight to put her back to sleep and Mark is able to guesstimate. Addison gives her an injection and tells her she's okay, then stumbles as she tries to make it back out of the room before she herself passes out. She falls into Mark's arms as Burke and McDreamy run in to start shoving the patient's intestines back into her body.
Ellis is struggling to breathe as Cristina runs in and tells the nurse to page Burke. She can't, since he's already in surgery, but Ellis grabs her arm and instructs her to massage the artery. Cristina immediately lays her bed flat and massages Ellis' neck, urging her to hold on, and eventually her heartbeat stabilizes. She sits the bed back up and Ellis tells her curtly that she's good under pressure and will make a great surgeon. They stare for a moment, Cristina with her brow furrowed, and then in a rush spits questions at Ellis. "Will it get in my way? Can I have both? Can I be a great surgeon and have a life? Because there's this man. Who just asked me to marry him." Ellis rolls her eyes, and I just laugh because here's the woman she thought was better than her daughter having her own personal crisis. Cristina says it's none of her business, but she knows it didn't work with Mere's dad, and Ellis cuts her off to agree it's not her business. But something in it seems to work through the stone exterior, and she admits, "I didn't try hard enough." Cristina just nods and thanks her, relieved. Ellis seems very unfamiliar with admitting fault.
The Chief is sitting in the gallery with an oxygen mask watching the surgery. Meredith finds him and sits down, and he muses about the world moving on without you and being scared about being forgotten. He adds, "Your mother stopped for five years. And you became something." She grumbles that her mom only sees her as a disappointment, but Richard assures her, "In a perfect world she could say she was proud," and admits that the world and her mom are both not perfect. I find the whole backstory about him and Ellis so fascinating because I absolutely can't see the two of them together, and I wonder if or how she was different before the end of their affair that would have drawn him to her. Meredith tells him she knows Ellis would want to see him, but he tells her sadly, "The only thing your mother wants to hear from me is that I regret staying with Adele. It's the only gift I can give her. And I can't do it. That's not true." He seems so sad to admit it.
Burke and McDreamy are doing their best intestine-stuffing, but they won't fit inside her body. The Chief sees what is happening and calls over the mic that they should stop since it has swelled. He's going to walk them through the rest of the surgery. To add a little bit of spice, they only have eight minutes of air left in the suits.
At the clinic, Bailey tells Kathy, the sulky daughter, that she's not pregnant and she's got no STD's. The dad is thankful, but Kathy's merely a brat about now being grounded since Bailey told her dad. The dad admonishes her to be polite, but Bailey takes it into her own hands and informs him that polite doesn't seem to be working for them thus far. Bailey apologizes sincerely for her losing her mom but then gives her both blunt and loving advice as only the super awesome Dr. Bailey can do, that she's too young to be able to make the decisions needed to have sex and that's okay. Kathy finally crumbles, crying that she thought the boy liked her, and falls into a hug from her father as Bailey brushes her hand over the girl's hair. She's not just running a clinic, she's bringing fathers and daughters back together.
Callie finds George, who is okay, and blandly notes that he'll live and tries to leave. He points out that he thought she'd be proud that he was the hero of the day but she's having none of it, more pissed that he thought being poisoned was a panic attack about their marriage. She reiterates that it was great in Vegas but is too hard around his friends, and concludes that it was too much to think he'd stand up for her. That's where I stick up for her, too -- she might be overreacting, but it's about time he puts his foot down for the woman he loves. "And my middle name is Iphigenia. Okay? I can't wait to see what your pals have to say about that." Note to parents: Please try to think about what you are saddling your children with before you get creative and sign a birth certificate. Mothers, maybe wait for the drugs to wear off before signing off on your baby's name. Just a wee bit of advice.
Addison is breathing into an oxygen mask, watching Alex on the bed with the lines of deliciousness coming off his tank-top clad torso where a nurse is listening to his heartbeat. He catches her and turns to gaze at her with bedroom eyes and a smarmy smile, telling her what she did was cool. She says it could be cool or stupid and begins to bite her finger in a very come hither way before she realizes what's going on and clumsily gets up and wheels her oxygen tank out of the room while he grins. I'm really not sure I believe him when he says he doesn't want to sleep with her, though I must admit I'm totally okay with it since I'd like to keep one good, teaching, attending/intern relationship intact here.
Cristina and Izzie join Meredith in the gallery who explains the whole intestines-back-in-the-body scenario, also noting they're about to run out of air. Izzie's excited that none of this involves tampons. Mark is now up in the gallery with the Chief, who continues to walk them through the surgery. Everything is back in so they need to "pack and wrap" her to get her ready for transport. Meredith asks about George, and Izzie continues to bitch about him marrying the rebound girl while Cristina agrees that marrying shouldn't be done on a whim. As Ellis pointed out, Cristina doesn't do anything accidentally. Meredith's the only voice of reason, saying he needs their support, but Izzie gripes that he doesn't need them. "He's got his Vegas show wife." Mark tells the doctors to get out, but being the big men they are, they try to keep going despite being out of air. Unfortunately, air wins out over macho and both end up collapsing. Ever eloquent, Cristina says dryly, "That's not good."
The few healthy members of the staff -- the three girls and Mark -- are waiting outside the OR with the Chief, who explains that they're going to do damage control. The three of them need to pack and wrap Marina for transport, and they need to do so by holding their breaths and working in shifts. He asks Mark if he'd like to go first, but Mark declares he's not going in there, as if it's the most logical thing in the world. The girls all turn to face him with looks of scandalized delight and shock on their faces. He explains, "It would be irresponsible for the remaining healthy attending to expose himself to the neurotoxin. A neurotoxin whose long-term effects we're still unaware of. So I'm staying in here." And while it all makes sense, I can't help but feel like he just doesn't want to endanger his pretty self. When they all turn back to the Chief, Cristina's hand shoots in the air and she announces, "I can swim three lengths of my parents' pool underwater." She gets the first shift, and Webber shouts instructions for her to wet the lap pads she's holding and pack them into the body cavity. Would it be too late a warning to say maybe you should avoid eating, especially something like spaghetti, while reading this recap? Whoops. She runs out, gasping, and Izzie takes her turn to run in and wrap plastic around the body. It looks like it has some sort of adhesive seal, but Izzie struggles with it and has to run out. Meredith runs in to finish, untwists the plastic, and wraps it around the girl's body. Webber told her that she'd know it was ready if it inflated, and the seconds tick by as slow as molasses before there's a comforting whoosh and she runs out of the room.
The interns seem to have done the job, since the boyfriend is now gazing in at Marina in a closed hospital room, asleep. George explains that she's on medication to relieve the toxicity, and he can go inside in a few hours, and just then she starts to wake. George shows him how to use the intercom and gives him some space. They share a cute moment where she sadly tells him she never wanted him to go through this, and that she thought the bad parts of her life were over when she met him. He assures her that they are, and that he loves her, "Marina Rose." George watches from a distance, seeming to learn a lesson.
The Chief tells all of the ailing doctors that they did heroic good work that day, and then gathers a healthy Mark to check on the patient. The others marvel at how he manages to get all of the glory when they did the work, and Addison just says it's "Because he's Mark."
Izzie finds Bailey wrapping up paperwork in the tampon training classroom and apologizes for leaving, weakly trying to tell her about the surgery she got to help with. Bailey merely listens and tells her that's good, and Izzie asks if they had more patients. She's disappointed that there was only one, but Bailey muses, satisfied, "Eight million dollars worth of one." Izzie looks thoughtful, maybe, hopefully realizing that good can be done in more ways than just what she expected.
Richard goes to visit Ellis and asks her about the surgery, but she asks him a question back. "Do I know who Meredith is? Do I at least recognize Meredith?" The urgency in her voice seems to show that she's done some thinking. Richard tells her that she knows Meredith is someone important. Ellis orders him to look out for her since she can't, and when he agrees she smiles sadly with tears in her eyes. For the first time, she looks vulnerable, almost like a girl in her hospital gown. "I wish I could go back. I'd do everything so differently. I'd fight harder for you. I think... if I'd fought harder for you, maybe." He walks to chair to her and she settles in to look at him. Seeing her seems to have made him realize that he can give her what she needs, and it's okay if an untruth is what can comfort her during the time that she has. He assures her they would have had a wonderful life together, and they go on to talk about buying a house, and having more children. Ellis is starting to crumble, agreeing, "And I would have been happy. Just like Meredith says she's happy. And that would have changed everything. Maybe... my life would be so perfectly ordinary." She begins to cry and grabs Richard's hand, lamenting, "My life is so unfinished. It's unfinished and I'm... not finished." She leans into him and he holds her, telling her just to think of the family and the house. She's clearly so scared, for what really seems like the first time. He looks incredibly pained but agrees with her musing about their life and just holds her. It speaks to his character that as much of a weenie as he was with Adele, and how he couldn't sack up and make a decision to go after her until it was too late, he could still say he made the right choice to stay with his wife, and beyond that, he could still suck it up and tell Ellis what she needed to hear to be happy for at least a few lucid moments. It's what makes this show so all-around great -- the complexity of the characters, the good and the bad just like actual people and real life.
In the locker room, all of the interns have scrubbed every remaining toxin from their body and are chatting when Callie walks in. Izzie totally inappropriately jokes, "Here's the little woman... " and asks about their plans, horrified at the idea that Callie might move in. Callie's fed up and turns to leave, but George shows that the growth of his spine is continuing at a great rate and grabs her hand to stay. "Unbelievable. People, you're supposed to be my friends, my closest friends. Callie's a big -- she's the most important part of my life now. If you want to drive her away, and you're masters at it, you'll do it. But if she's gone, I'm gone. She's my wife! Calliope Iphigenia Torres is my wife." Meredith smiles at him, Cristina looks shocked but also impressed, and Izzie just starts to laugh at the name when George shuts her up. Callie smiles at him, I think finally convinced that things are going to work out.
Meredith's voice starts to wrap things up. "As doctors, we're trained to give our patients just the facts. But what the patients really want to know is, will the pain ever end? Will I feel better? Am I cured?" Addison is certainly free of any pain, instead scratching her itch with Mark, who points out that she said she doesn't think about him. In one of the hottest moments I can remember on recent TV, she tells him slowly, "I don't. I'm actively... not... thinking... about you... right... NOW."
Mere continues, "What our patients really want to know is, is there hope." And the moment of truth is at hand. Cristina gets up off the bed, holding the ring, and walks out to Burke, who is eating Chinese take-out in the kitchen. She announces, "I don't do rings." He puts down his food, and she lays down the ring. "Don't expect me to suddenly change. I'm a surgeon, just like you. And we'll have money. We can hire a wife." He goes from looking pained at her giving back the ring to puzzled, as she puts her hand on his cheek. He finally asks, "Are you saying yes?" She stammers a moment and answers, "Y... Yeah." He stubbornly declares he's still not letting her scrub in the day, and she counters that she's not wearing a ring, but after a beat, he leaps out of his seat with a happy yelp and a laugh and they both scream and hug. For a couple I've never understood or liked very much, I think this helped convince me that they might really be in love in their own weird and dysfunctional way.
Meredith finishes, "But inevitably, there are times where you find yourself in the worst case scenario." She walks into her mom's room where Richard is standing at the window. He says her name but she plows forward to say her piece. "The reason I want you to have the surgery is because I have this hope, that in a year, or two years, or five, they're going to have a breakthrough. They're going to find a cure for Alzheimer's. And you and I will have another chance. To get to know each other. You'll have a chance to get to know me. To see that I am not even remotely ordinary. So I wish you would have the surgery. But it's up to you mom. It's your life." She stares at her mother while waiting for a response, and Ellis tells her, "You remind me of my daughter." Richard tells her, "About an hour ago. One minute she was here... the ... I'm so sorry." "Me too," she whispers, as her eyes once again well up. "When the patient's body has betrayed them, and all the science we have to offer has failed them, when the worst-case scenario comes true, clinging to hope is all we've got left."