Things have calmed down some at the hospital -- the galas and exams are all over, docs are deciding on research projects and the interns have all gotten their white coats. Awkwardly, there's one waiting for Heather too, and that brings back all of Smash's guilt over her death. Derek asks Smash to be on his service, having realized that he was probably too harsh on him the first time around, but the very idea of it is too much for Smash to handle and he finally rudely quits and goes to work with Cristina. He brings an idea with him of how to treat a patient with a supposedly inoperable heart tumor. He suggests that they fill it with glue the same way one might a particular type of brain tumor and even though it's never been done, Cristina decides to try it out. It works and that's groundbreaking, but a little of the fun is taken out of it when the patient is sad that his life has been saved since he and his wife spent their life savings and maxed out their credit cards doing crazy things all over the globe when they thought he was going to die. She's having a weird day in general because Owen invited Emma to observe Arizona doing a surgery, and when the two women finally have a conversation Cristina realizes that he hasn't told Emma that Cristina is his ex-wife. And on top of that, Mere has no real interest in interacting with her since she's still offended about what went down with the heart/liver transplant and says that Cristina wasn't there for her and didn't support her because she only supports decisions that are the same ones she would make for herself. Basically, Cristina is left feeling totally invisible and empty.
Mere, on the other hand, is actually doing pretty well -- she's trying to figure out what research she wants to do so she can submit her funding request before the deadline. One idea she has turns out to be really similar to something her mom was working on, so Mere immediately tosses that idea, but by the end of the day she realizes that it could actually be really awesome and interesting. She's also given a nudge by Richard, who sends an intern to get one of Ellis' journals for Mere to read. Mere decides to pick up where her mom left off and expand the idea -- something to do with 3D printing and veins -- and then Derek tells her he's going to lighten his schedule and stick to more research so that he can spend more time with the kids and Mere can throw herself into the project.
He was working on his own research project with Callie, a project she started with Arizona in mind, using the brain to stimulate virtual limbs. During one session Derek realizes that their test subject has a brain tumor that is basically inoperable, but when he tells the guy they have to stop the project he tells Derek that he has to try and remove it or he's not going to let Derek take the research probes out of his brain. Callie has been avoiding the patient and the project all day, and Derek finally calls her on not wanting to talk to the guy because she'd probably change her mind and stay on. And while that's true, she shoots back that Derek should back her up for needing to do what she can to adjust to the new state of her life and marriage, which is to start fresh. However, when she finally does sit down with the guy she's inspired by his tragic past and how he's doing all he can to help people with whatever is left of his life. The guy does die during surgery, but they save his brain (at his request) so that they can keep studying it and she decides to stay on after all -- this time for herself rather than Arizona.
Arizona, meanwhile, is not doing so well -- it turns out she DID wind up making out with Leah for a while, and Leah is already completely and utterly excited and hung up on her. Arizona asks Alex's advice without naming names, and he just happens to mention that Leah gets too attached too quickly, so Arizona has to go tell her point-blank that the night together was a mistake and can never happen again. Leah is mortified and admits that she doesn’t open up to many people so when she does she tends to get overinvested, but apologizes and agrees to back off. Unfortunately, though, Arizona gets sad and lonely in the middle of the night, and sends a text she probably shouldn't.
Princess is the intern assigned to Richard today, and he drives her really hard as she tries to figure out what is wrong with him. She gets frustrated and basically just throws stuff at the wall to see what sticks. But when Richard keeps pushing, she finally figures out what's wrong with an excited yell, which she quickly dials down because it's something to do with his pancreas that isn't a good thing at all. But he seems okay with it and congratulates her that he finally feels like he's in good hands. It's good for her to have a professional victory because her personal life is falling apart in that Alex is completely ignoring her. It turns out he's been sneaking off to see his dad play at a bar, and after one gig Alex buys him a drink. They talk some and after a lot of, "My dad taught me to play a little when I was a kid," and "I taught my kid to play and golly I miss him," type talk, James convinces Alex to pick up a guitar and jam for a little while. It's all going well until James offers to show Alex a picture of his son, who he hasn't seen in years, and the picture he shows… is of a totally different kid than Alex. Alex is so disgusted that his dad has just repeated his own history that he blows up and eventually punches him, and when he does so, recognition finally seems to dawn in James' eyes. When Alex gets home, Princess confronts him and asks if he's been cheating, and Alex blows up at her for sticking her nose into the situation with his dad and making him curious to meet.
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Derek takes over voiceover duties this week, talking about brain mapping. As he has his morning coffee and watches Zola draw, he tells us that the brain has millions of connections that first seem to be random, but that it turns out they are anything but. We see how the brain works when she reaches for his mug and he tells her it is hot so she pulls her hand away. He then connects some dots that she had drawn so that they form a zigzag. She's a child genius!
At work, he looks at what appears to be a small chip of some sort, and Callie is grinning at whatever medical marvel this happens to be. Derek then implants this piece into a dude's brain, and his voiceover turns into a speech he is giving to some other doctors frantically writing notes to not miss any brilliant gem from The Derek Shepherd. He tells them that the connections determine everything we do and who we are. The patient whose brain now houses the chip is a quadriplegic named Mickey, and when Derek instructs him to make a fist, Mickey thinks about it and then a computer-generated hand on the screen in front of him forms into a fist. Derek and Smash are watching a screen that is showing them Mickey's brain activity as he does this. Mickey is super good-natured and happily makes his virtual hand do a "hang loose" gesture, to everyone's delight. He's bummed, though, that Callie seems to be missing. Derek got a text from her but his attention is mostly on the brain monitor as he notices that one lobe doesn't have a whole lot going on. Smash asks if it could be a bad connection and while Derek hopes so, he orders an MRI. He then also hands Smash a red coffee mug and asks him to put it in the diaper bag with his other stuff.
But when Smash gets to the locker room, he finds Leah, Princess and Stephanie already there, giddy that they all actually have lab coats there with their names on them. Leah is also giddy about her secret relationship, which she mentions but then quickly tells everyone that she wishes she could tell them what's going on but she can't. No one is actually listening to her, and their attention is quickly diverted when Smash realizes that there is a lab coat there for Heather. He freaks and runs out, and the girls again all wonder what's wrong with him and if maybe he failed his intern exam, since he didn't go out and celebrate with them when it was over. Of course, then he wouldn't have a lab coat, and obviously it has something to do with Heather even if they don't know what it is, but the girls are all going to play idiots who are baffled by social cues this week. Steph tells Leah about him kissing her and Leah uses this as another excuse to mention her secret tryst. Still, no one is actually interested in her news despite how desperately Leah wishes they were.
Princess has been assigned to Richard today, with the goal to figure out what is causing him shoulder pain. She asks him questions that are dumb because, a) he's been in the hospital for a month so they know he hasn't fallen or been doing anything strenuous, and b) everything she asks is done tentatively. She's having a hard time with Richard being both her patient and her teacher, and Bailey seems rather unimpressed as she observes. Mere comes by and pulls Bailey aside to ask her about some portal vein research and Bailey comments that Mere is "peeing on a tree" – marking her territory for some flashy research as all second-year attendings do. Richard says that the portal vein research was a project Mere's mom had been working on when she got sick, which he knows from one of Ellis' old journals. Mere is totally disappointed to learn this and slinks out, but not without noticing the McMug and commenting that she has one like that. Richard then turns his attention back to Princess and says that he's kicking her off of his case if she can't diagnose his pain.
Princess grabs the McMug and goes to visit Stephanie to discuss possible diagnoses while Stephanie waits for her patient's chest scans. Stephanie reaches over and takes a swig – that thing now the most unhygienic mug in the history of drinking vessels given how it's been passed around the hospital. Princess also wants to whine about Alex not talking to her, and she supposes that it might be because she kept pushing him to talk to his dad. Gee, Princess, you think? For someone supposedly so smart – both book and street – this girl really has an astonishingly bad grasp on interpersonal relationships. Stephanie is shocked to hear Alex has a dad, and then brings up Smash's kiss and says that she hopes the whole thing just blows over. Just then, her scans come through, and she drops the McMug to the floor as she sees that her patient has a massive tumor in his heart. She's gutted as she looks over at them chatting and gazing lovingly at each other.
As a nurse rolls the McMug pieces away on a cart like a dead body after a tragic accident, Derek finds Callie to ask her why she wasn't there when they tested the sensors in Mickey's brain. She plays a little bit vague and then admits that, now that she has moved back into her apartment, she feels like she needs to concentrate on herself again and that means going back to growing cartilage rather than doing this research project. Derek is shocked and points out that Mickey was her patient and this was her project, and he doesn't have time to do it with the kids and trying to give Mere some research time of her own. Callie suggests they just forget about it and says that Mickey will be just fine, though Derek seems to rightly think this is kind of an insane solution. Callie then sees Stephanie and calls to her that her guy's broken ankle won't need surgery. Derek tells Callie that this is going to kill Mickey, but so far her mind is made up.
Smash marches up to Stephanie to ask if she broke the McMug, crazy upset with her since he says it wasn't hers to break. And while that is true, he's obviously got about a million other issues going on, disguised as his concern for one poor piece of crockery. Steph brushes him off and takes the scans of the heart tumor to Cristina, who confirms that if it's not treated soon the guy will be dead in months. Stephanie is super down at the idea of telling this couple that the guy is dying, so Cristina actually tells her sympathetically that they can tell him together.
Leah somehow gets the job of taking Emma to meet Arizona, probably so that we can see her act the absolute possessive guard dog around her new crush. Arizona doesn't see it and Emma either doesn't notice or ignores it, and Leah is further disappointed when she finds out that with Emma there, the OR is going to be full so she can't scrub in. Arizona seems kind of relieved to send her to do something else, but Leah doesn't pick up on that. After Leah takes Emma to get some scrubs, Alex jokes that Emma is hot and it's good he'll be around to chaperone during surgery. At the look on her face, he quickly asks if they are not joking about this yet, but she actually then laughs and tells him she'll see him in the OR. These two really have settled into a nice friendship, and I wonder if the "Alex actually was the one to physically cut her leg off" thing is ever going to rear its ugly head and if so, if Arizona is finally okay enough to understand the situation and accept it and move on without yet another complete meltdown.
Princess runs panting up to Mere and presents her with one of her mother's journals, which Richard had her go pick up from his house. She then runs off back to work and Callie comes up and asks what's going on. When she hears that Mere is considering continuing her mom's work, she excitedly supports that idea but Mere feels weird about using her mom's name like that. Callie's argument, which is a good one, is that it's a story that writes itself: brilliant young surgeon finishes the work of her dead legend mother. She advises Mere, "Invest in your brand." This is both good advice, and one of those sayings that has become so popular lately and which I lump with, "think outside the box" – basically when I hear it, it makes me chafe and want to do anything but build my brand outside my box, or whatever. Callie says that this is what she is doing, investing in herself, but Mere insists it's not for her and hands over the journal to Smash as a gift. The gift of knowledge, I think, because I can't imagine Richard would let him keep that.
Smash then finds Derek looking at Mickey's MRI and requests to be let off of his service after today, which takes Derek aback since he requested Smash specifically. As pigs fly overhead, Derek admits that he thinks that he might have been unfair back when he banished Smash from neuro so that he could work with Heather and now he wants to make it right. Smash gets all indignantly disgusted at the idea that he's taking the place of his dead colleague, because that's probably easier than thinking that he accidentally caused her death and then got everything he wanted. Their conversation is interrupted when the scans come up and show that Mickey has some terrible tumor that is basically untreatable. Derek explains that they could possibly try using embolization glue, explaining that they let the glue harden in the vessels and it cuts off blood to the tumor. But in Mickey's case the tumor is down to his brain stem so they can't risk it, nor does Derek want to try surgery.
Cristina and Stephanie go to break the news to their patients – somehow, I missed their names but he is played by Jere Burns and she is played by Annie Potts – and are shocked when it turns out that they already knew about the tumor and just forgot to mention it to the doctors in the excitement of trying to catch their flight to see the Northern Lights. It turns out that they already have tried every treatment in the book so Annie quit her job as a designing woman and he quit his, they cashed out their accounts and just went traveling all over the world and doing every crazy thing they could think of in the time he had left. And interestingly, he had survived much longer than they had originally anticipated as well, having been diagnosed a year and a half earlier. Annie actually starts trying to console Cristina that there isn't anything left to try, and it's okay and she has to just let it go.
Derek tells Mickey much the same news, that the best thing to do about the tumor is to leave it alone and hope for the best. But he adds that it's too dangerous to keep doing the study, so he has to go retrieve his sensors from Mickey's head and then shelve the research. Mickey, however, thinks this is a decidedly crappy option and insists that Derek try to take out the tumor. When Derek insists he can't do it, Mickey gets an idea and tells Derek with a glint in his eye that he just won't consent to the sensor-removing surgery, then, unless Derek goes after the tumor too. "Sorry, bud. Access DENIED." Mickey is awesome and funny as he says this, but the soundtrack turns extra dramatic so we know that this is Serious Business.
During Arizona's surgery, Emma is all excited about the actual medicine, but Arizona has a lot on her mind and begs Emma's pardon for a moment so that she can ask Alex how to handle a one-night stand who has gotten too attached. She clarifies that the night just involved some making out, not going all the way. Alex just happens to reply that he had that experience with none other than Leah Murphy, who got too attached after they slept together once or twice. Arizona tries to stay blasé as she fishes for more details, and Alex comments that she goes from "Zero to 'I love you'" in seven seconds. Ruh-roh! Also: Emma, welcome to Seattle Grey Mercy Whatever It's Called!
Sure enough, Leah is still talking to the other girls, desperately trying to get them interested in her secret love life by telling them that she has never felt this way before but if she spilled the beans it would cause a ton of problems for this person, blah blah blah showing-off-cakes. Still, no one is listening to her – Smash is gluing the McMug back together while Stephanie asks Princess if she's talked to Alex. Princess admits he keeps avoiding her and Leah snaps back out of her love haze to declare that he's probably dumping Princess. She explains that he just kept pretending she wasn't there until she really wasn't. Smash has his panties in quite a bunch over the broken McMug and demands to know how Stephanie broke it in the first place. When he hears about the inoperable tumor, he has an idea, puts down the McMug, and runs out.
He runs straight to Cristina and asks if anyone has ever used glue for a cardiac tumor like this one, since apparently this tumor is a relative of Mickey's brain tumor. I love it when the tumors work together on this show to bring about a solution to a problem. Cristina says that it's never been done, mainly because these vessels are ginormous compared to the little teeny brain ones. Smash's shoulders fall since he thinks she's shooting down the idea but instead, she suggests that if it were to work they would need a shit-ton of glue.
Derek fills Callie in on Mickey's tumor and pleads with her to talk to him so that he'll give the sensors back, but she insists that he'll come around and keeps avoiding having to do it herself. Finally, Derek calls her on it and says she doesn't want to look Mickey in the eye and admit that she's bailing and why. Callie challenges Derek to tell her why that is, and he points out that she started this study (that we haven't heard a whisper about thus far) for Arizona but now that they're broken up she has lost interest. He tells her that her personal problems are getting in the way of months of research, but Callie doesn't take it sitting down and points out that Derek is doing the same thing, since he's stepping back to spend more time with his kids. She points out that just because she's escaping her wife while he's supporting his, they still are both focusing on the personal right now. Derek calms down some and tells her that he understands what she's going through and while he probably is the person who really can say that, Callie snaps that he has no idea. Her tone turns desperate as she orders him to bear with her while she tries to figure out her life, and he knows well enough to just shut up and nod which at least gets her to say she'll talk to Mickey.
Princess, meanwhile, is asking Richard stupid questions off of a handwritten list, and he's as annoyed as you could imagine since she already knows all of the answers about what he's done in the past month. She's got him covered in sensors and freaks out when they start to beep, but it turns out that Richard has just started pulling them off because he's done playing along with her idiot guessing game. He orders her to look deeper and sends her and the machine away.
Mere is trying to print something and like all of us beforehand, is reaching the point in her project where she wants to throw the malfunctioning machine out the window just for the satisfaction of seeing it break into a million tiny pieces. Oh… is that just me and my teensy little temper? Well, then. She tells Bailey that she's going to go with her second research idea because she doesn't want to pick up her mother's project and then be compared to her forevermore, despite Bailey pointing out that she was a smart woman and that might not be a bad thing. Mere replies that she can't find a way to take the research any further. But then, as she fights some more with the printer, she remembers that 3D printers have been used to bioengineer blood vessels and wonders if that same thing could be done for portal veins.
Cristina and Smash to go visit Jere and Annie and tell them about the glue idea and how it's never been done but it just might save his life. But instead of breathless, shocked thanks, the two start to almost hyperventilate at the amount of money that they owe from their worldwide travels and general YOLO-sanity. They explain that they did things like go up for multiple rides in the zero-gravity plane, and that they bought a boat and then blew it up just for fun. Apparently Jere had very good life insurance, so they planned on that paying for all of this fun after he died. But Annie points out with a wee bit of hope that they have to try it… right? Jere finally agrees to do it only when he realizes that there is a chance he could die on the table, and Smash and Cristina try to keep their faces neutral during the weirdest patient reaction they have ever seen.
Despite this, the doctors are still pumped up to try this crazy idea and once out of the room, Cristina tells Smash to get the OR set up and to just grab all of the glue in the hospital since they have absolutely no idea how much it's going to take.
Mere sees Smash and runs after him to get her mother's journal back. Smash proves he wasn't worthy of having it in the first place given that he has no idea what she's talking about, and then finally remembers that he gave it to Steph.
April is also looking for Stephanie to find out why Jere and his non-surgical broken ankle have been moved to cardiac pre-op. April lectures her on making changes on her own but Steph insists that last she heard, his heart tumor was inoperable.
But Cristina is there scrubbing in, and she runs into Emma who realized she left her phone in the room. Emma asks what she's doing and when she hears about the procedure she gapes and tells Cristina, "I'm impressed with your enormous balls!" which is clearly a huge compliment and Cristina takes it as such. Cristina then re-introduces herself, which confuses Emma a little bit, and finally Cristina mentions that she's Owen's ex-wife. As the words are coming out of her mouth she realizes that Emma knows nothing about this, and though Emma tries valiantly to cover and be all cool, she can't wait to take her phone and leave. She does have the manners to tell Cristina that she can't wait to hear how the procedure goes, and seems to actually mean it despite just finding out that her new boyfriend works closely with his ex.
Alex heads out for the evening but Princess runs after him, and she won't be put off by his saying he'll see her later. She asks if that's true and he admits that it's not because he'll be out late. She asks him if he's seeing anyone and he assures her he's not but when she presses to find out what's going on, he snaps that it's none of her business and because she has all of the common sense of a billy goat, she doesn't guess that his distance might very well have something to do with his dad.
Callie goes to talk to Mickey, and he doesn't want to look her in the eye until she turns off the video game that he is awesomely playing with the sensors in his head. When she reminds him that taking out the tumor could kill him, he takes a moment to gather his strength and then tells her the story of how he became a quadriplegic. She knows it was a car accident, but the full story is that he was driving drunk and killed two teenage girls. Ever since then he wanted to die himself, feeling that he didn't deserve to have all of these people tending to him every day, but once he started this study he felt like he might really be able to actually help someone. He tells her that if he dies during surgery, he can give his brain to science and that would still be him helping. Teary, he pleads with her to let him help, and she's obviously incredibly affected.
Alex's mysterious destination turns out to be a bar where his dad is playing. The bartender recognizes him so we know he's been there before, and as Alex sips his beer he turns and watches his father out of the corner of one eye and seems to be radiating both curiosity and defiance.
Callie goes to Derek to try and convince him to do the surgery and he finally relents. He's got his kids and is ready to go home, but realizes that he doesn't have time to do the surgery the day so it will have to be right now. Callie offers to take the kids back to day care while Derek has Smash paged.
But Smash is in surgery with Cristina, and he ignores his phone especially when he sees who it is. Cristina seems to be using boatloads of glue and almost gets the catheter stuck to one of Jere's veins, but the good thing is that it seems to be working. She finally asks Smash how he came up with the idea, and Smash modestly tells her he just connected the dots. Cristina is impressed and compliments him, musing about what other secrets might be hiding in that brain of his. Smash squirms visibly but since this is a television show no one seems to notice that he's obviously got quite a lot going on in there.
Princess, despite Richard's warnings to pull it together, is still throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks and this time, it's an x-ray. But when Richard asks she starts walking him through her thought process and in doing so, realizes that he doesn't need an x-ray but rather an ultrasound. She shoves him over by his hurt shoulder to remove the film but he lets that slide as she runs out.
She goes to the nurse's station and asks for an ultrasound; of course when Mere hears this she asks if Princess is pregnant and if Alex knows. I think the whole reason that line exists was to give us a good fake-out in the commercials for this episode, as it's not actually that unusual for surgeons to need to do ultrasounds on patients. Oh, and the other reason the line was there was so that Princess could start worrying that Alex thinks she's pregnant because of course that's a logical reason for his pulling away right after they had a giant fight about something significant that could have had lasting repercussions. Mere then sees the McMug and because Smash is a puzzle master and glued it flawlessly she doesn't realize that it's just been glued back together, even though it's stuck to whatever it was sitting on.
Smash finally reports to Derek, who is scrubbing in, and explains how he was doing the surgery with Cristina. Derek doesn't really care, and just orders him to go ahead and scrub in now. When Smash declines, Derek tells him (nicely, but still) to get over himself because he's not a consolation prize and deserves to be there. But when he mentions that Heather had a gift, Smash cuts him off and declares, "I don't want to work with you," and finally asks if he could be more clear. Derek is completely taken aback but tells him to go, and while Smash looks defiant he also looks nervous, like he can't really believe he just said that to his former hero, and then he finally leaves.
Once the set is over, James goes up to get a drink at the bar and complains that he knows the bartender is going to charge him. Alex offers to pay, and James thanks him and introduces himself. Alex shakes his hand, but manages to avoid giving his name, though James eventually recognizes him from the hospital – Alex, however, looks terrified that James was about to recognize him from somewhere else, like, his own family. Alex says that he enjoys the music and admits that his dad taught him to play a little bit when he was younger but he never stuck with it. Alex is twisting my heart with the look on his face during the whole conversation, which is a combination of leery, a little bit guilty, disgusted, with just a pinch of needy desperation.
James asks him what kind of doctor he is and when he says he's a pediatric surgeon, James tells him that he is amazing and that a peds surgeon saved the life of his son once when he was choking on a strawberry. He is utterly sincere as he tells Alex, "Thank God for you guys. Seriously." Alex oh-so-casually asks where the family is now, and James just tells him the answer is complicated. The bar has totally cleared out and Alex goes to leave, but James invites him to stay and jam for a little while. Alex says he doesn't know any songs but James suggests whatever Alex's dad taught him because hey, "I might know one of those."
Derek removes the sensors from Mickey's brain but sure enough, when he tries to get the tumor, things don't go well. He keeps checking Mickey's responses and begs him to stay with them, but the anesthesiologist finally tells him that there is no more brain activity. Upstairs in the gallery, sad Callie is sad.
As she runs the ultrasound on Richard, Princess is overjoyed to find what she is looking for and goes all Emeril as she announces his pancreatic pseudocyst… BAM! She giddily explains to Richard her thought process and wriggling like a puppy until Richard points out that she shouldn't smile like that when she delivers this news to a patient. Her face drops and she immediately apologizes because a pancreatic pseudocyst is not actually a good thing. But once she does, Richard bursts out laughing and tells her that this is the first time all day he actually felt like he was in good hands. He compliments her on tracing his pain back to the source, and she shoots him a proud grin. Hmm, I wonder if tracing things back to the source might help her personally as well?
Mere, happily sipping coffee from the red mug she's not sure is actually hers, passes Callie in the hall and calls out that she's doing her mom's research after all but not for the reasons Callie suggested. Callie's not really in the mood but Mere is on a high, and more to herself than anyone she reiterates that it's a good idea, and rather than riding her mom's coattails she is just sharing her passion. She then considers that maybe this is what her mom gave her, and Callie stops and chews on this notion.
James is impressed with Alex's playing and comments that his dad taught him well. The two play well together, and Alex seems to be having a good time much to his own surprise. But James is then overcome with emotion and stops playing. He gets all philosophical and warns Alex that your old mistakes can creep up on you. He then adds that he taught his own kid to play guitar, and he wishes he had stuck with it. Alex isn't ready to admit who he is, but he does reply that he bets James' son wishes he'd stuck with it too. James then asks if he can show Alex a picture of the kid, and Alex can't believe he has one – he almost holds his breath as James pulls out… a picture of himself with a Japanese woman and their young kid. He explains that Nicky is now 12 and living with his mom in Florida, and he hasn't seen them in years. Alex is beyond disgusted that James has repeated his old patterns, and spits that James should do him a favor and stay out of his life for good. James is taken aback and retrieves the photo that Alex threw at him as Alex says that Nicky is better off without him. James is getting truly offended, and pulls his guitar back from Alex defensively. Alex just continues to growl that he's trying to protect the kid because James is no good for him, and finally James snaps that Alex doesn't know him and isn't allowed to mention his son again. With that, Alex hauls back and punches him in the fact. The bartender yells at him to get out but Alex just stands over James for a moment and as James stares up at him, recognition seems to dawn in his eyes.
Callie is talking with Derek as he harvests Mickey's brain, and she says sadly that this way he can do the most good for the most people. Derek is pretty skeptical, but Callie insists that this is what Mickey wanted. She then tells Derek that she's not going to drop the project – she did start it for Arizona but now she'll continue it for all the people she'll never meet who it might help, as well as for Mickey. She adds that she could really use Derek's help with it, too.
Cristina is walking down the hall when she sees Emma and Owen saying goodbye, and as he holds her hands she gives him a peck on the cheek. Cristina turns and sees Mere back on the computer, so she shuffles in and plops on the couch to vent a little. She admits that she feels kind of invisible – she literally made medical history that day but in saving the man she ruined his life, Owen's not mentioning her to Emma makes her feel like the last few years meant nothing to him, and to add insult to injury the automatic paper towel dispenser never recognizes her hand when she's waving it around. She's keeping a light tone but is clearly having a bit of A Day, but Mere finally looks up and asks, "I'm sorry, what?" She didn't hear a word because she's focusing on her research funding application, but Cristina doesn't seem offended and instead seems happy that Mere picked a project. Distracted, Mere tells her that she's going to 3D print portal veins. But when Cristina calls this amazing and starts to ask how she's going to do it, Mere cuts her off and seems to take that as Cristina again doubting her. Mere declares that she has both a career and a family and she doesn't have time for Cristina doubting her and telling her she can't do both. Cristina argues that she never said that, but Mere just goes on, clearly needing to get all this out. She thinks that she was always there for Cristina no matter what, but that when she needed Cristina's help she instead pushed her aside because she had a baby. I'll take "Massive Oversimplification" for $200, Alex. Honestly, though, neither of them seems to want to fully face their own role in creating this tension. Cristina opens her mouth to protest again but then just wisely shuts it as Mere tells her that Cristina doesn't have time for people who don't want the same things that she does, and Cristina is clearly super hurt and confused by this. Mere then sighs that she has to finish, and Cristina just takes a moment and nods, then leaves. Mere might be in a troubled place and giving Cristina a harder time than she deserves, but I will say that her eyebrows currently look fantastic. Derek VOs that when a connection in the brain is broken, it usually means some damage has been done. Oh Show – this is a problem that can be worked out. Please, please don't do what I'm afraid you are doing which is setting the stage to have Cristina leave because of a huge breakup with her Person.
Cristina arrives home and sneaks into the house so as not to disturb Princess and Alex mid-screaming match. She wants to know why he's been avoiding her – she first thought that he was seeing someone or that he thought she was preggers but after tracing it back to the root like she was taught, she thinks that it might have something to do with his dad. Seriously, for someone supposedly so sensitive to family issues, you'd think this wouldn't be some big magic realization on her part. And Alex yells at her that she's not wrong and that it's basically all her fault because he was fine to let his dad just leave but she kept pressing him to talk to the guy and now Alex feels worse than he has since his dad left the first time. He then picks up a glass and throws it at the wall with some Alexis Carrington Colby panache. Then, less glamorously, he runs upstairs and throws himself onto his bed like a distraught teenage girl.
At the same time, Arizona is tossing and turning in her own bed. As Derek tells us that our brain connections sometimes make us do dumb things seemingly against our will, she picks up the phone and sends Leah a text. But then he adds that the connections aren't random, they are the map of who we are. And Arizona is someone who needs a warm body to help her get through the long cold night. Been there, sister.
Back at home, Derek is gazing at Zola's drawing on the fridge when Mere gets home, all flustered but having gotten in her funding application. Derek tells her that he got caught at work too and only just got the kids down, much to Mere's dismay. The two both kind of whisper-freak-out about things and finally Derek admits that this isn't working, and Mere agrees. What they mean, fortunately, is their schedule, not their marriage. Tying it all back to the McMug, Derek actually says that he can't seem to make the pieces fit. I just gave myself a little bit of a bruise smacking myself in the forehead at that line. Derek, however, has an idea – he thinks that this year could be huge for Meredith and she should have time to make that happen, while he wants to work on the research project with Callie. So he tells Mere that he's going to cut down on his surgeries and spend more time on the research, which will also give him more time to care for the kids so that Mere can focus on her career. Mere smiles but it also makes her uncomfortable because she fears that she's turning into her mother. Seriously, if she's worried about it at all, then she's not, and Derek assures her of that. She gazes at him a while and he assures her that it's going to be awesome for him to spend time with their kids, and that if she really wants to even things out they can trade – preferably when Zola starts dating. She finally lets herself grin and tells him she loves him; he can't help but add that she should, because what he's doing for her is amazing. But the two are all happy and functional, and Mere now has the type of support she wanted from Cristina. She then sees the McMug in the bag, and as Derek talks about making connections work and pieces fit, they put it back in the cupboard with its red McMug friends. WE GET IT, SHOW. EVERYTHING FITS.
Lauren S is a writer who lives and works in Atlanta and is happy that none of her body parts have been generated by a printer even though it's cool that it is possible. She wants everyone to know: "The views expressed in my recaps and anything else I might write on TWoP are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer."