Grey's Anatomy: Take It Back (10x13)

Grey's Anatomy reviews make me tired... they're so long and full of so much plot. Ugh. Okay, let's dive straight in.

April leaves Matthew at the altar and runs off with Jackson. She freaks out about it and seems to possibly regret her rash actions, since she knows that Matthew and Stephanie did not deserve it. At the hospital, nobody is sure what's going on with Jackson and April, because they are avoiding each other, and avoiding Stephanie as well. Stephanie is obviously distraught. In the end, with Leah's urging, Stephanie actually files a complaint, which causes Owen to suggest to the board that they implement a zero tolerance policy for employee fraternization. We see that Jackson and April eloped after April ran out on her wedding, and are happily living together. However, they're keeping their relationship a secret for now.

Derek takes the offer from the President to work on the brain scan thing, and Meredith is angry, because this means he's going back on his word to take time off and let Meredith take on more work. However, Derek insists that he really had no choice. How do you turn down the President of the United States? Derek has to get a background check, and the investigation turns up a detail from his past - apparently he caused a brain bleed in a student back in high school, during a wrestling match. He sends money to this boy's family every year. He tells Meredith the story, and even though she's pissed that he said yes to the President, she understands.

Christina and Meredith, meanwhile, have repaired their friendship and are working together again. They seem to be on solid footing, but Shane, on the other hand, is falling apart. The board (mostly based on Christina's insistence) has allowed Shane to come back, even after his total meltdown while operating on Alex's dad. When Alex angrily informs Owen that Christina and Shane were sleeping together, Owen takes it out on Shane in the OR.

Alex's dad is in really bad shape, circling the drain. Alex calls his father's wife and lies, saying that he's dead. The woman turns up, just to collect a guitar that Alex's dad had taken from her. When she realizes that her husband is not in fact dead, she leaves, angry. Alex refers to Jo as his fiancee, and she is confused. Eventually she realizes that Alex's speech about being together forever was supposed to be a proposal. She talks to him about it, saying she's not ready to marry, and she never meant to say yes. Alex is pissed. Later, he's sitting with his father while he dies, telling him over and over again that his wife and kid know that he loves them. At one point, Shane comes in and tries to apologize for what he's done, but Alex jumps on him and tries to beat him up. Meredith and Christina separate them. Meredith hugs Alex, while Christina tells Shane that he made some mistakes, but he's also made some good decisions, too. After Alex's dad dies, Jo comes in and offers Alex comfort.

Arizona doesn't think that things between her and Callie are going to work out, and she says part of the reason is that she doesn't feel like their house is her home anymore. The two of them decide to move. Arizona rushes ahead and wants to sign the paperwork on a new house right away. Callie is worried that she's moving too quickly, but Arizona says she can't wait for this fresh start. The two of them seem to be on much better footing.

Bailey and Ben's relationship has hugely improved, too. Bailey was angry at Ben because she didn't want her marriage to him to be like her marriage to her last husband, with Ben waiting at home for Bailey.  Ben insists that he didn't want to give up on being a surgeon, and that it was a very difficult decision. Bailey is relieved, and Ben is able to continue his training at the Grey-Sloan Memorial hospital. The other interns give him a hard time, because he is older than them, and also because he only has a spot because Brooks is dead and made room for him. Still, he's happy to still be working towards becoming a surgeon.

I'm going to talk briefly about the things that didn't work so well, and then list some positive moments. This show is so full of characters and plots that I'm always amazed by how well it's paced, and how much can happen in just one episode. Here are some less-than-great moments:

Jo and Alex? Engaged? Or... not? Why is this even a plot thread? I'm so sick of the unnecessary drama in their relationship. We haven't even seen them in a normal, stable partnership yet, because things keep happening to throw it all out of wack. Can't we have a few episodes to establish that they actually even work as a couple, before we try and mess it up again?

Derek and the President. I stand by what I said before. This is a stupid plot thread. Derek being contacted by the White House is silly. And the fact that Meredith is pissed about it is... well on the one hand I sort of see her point, but it's also just so painfully... stupid. And far fetched. I wish we could stop trying to make everything bigger than it needs to be.

Owen's behavior with Shane. I wish that it hadn't had anything to do with Christina. Like, I could get behind it if Owen was just livid that Shane had gone crazy and messed up on a patient. But the fact that Christina slept with Shane shouldn't have factored in to Owen's behavior, at least not on a professional level. That really bugged me.

But now onto the good stuff!

Arizona and Callie are buying a new house and repairing their relationship! I was pretty heartbroken at the end of Calzona, so I do hope this new house will help make them stronger than ever.

Christina and Meredith have also patched things up! Yes, yes, yes! I was not happy with their estrangement. What with Sandra Oh leaving the show at the end of the season, I'm glad to see that at least Meredith and Christina will be on a good footing when that happens.

Alex's father. Even though I wasn't impressed with the Jo part of Alex's story, I really admired the plot with his father. Even after everything, Alex has to watch as his father dies. When he was continually tell him that it was okay to let go, and that his family knew that he loved him, I was actually getting rather emotional. Yeah, I wasn't thrilled with the whole "Alex's loser dad shows up in his life again" plot line, but I'm still impressed with how it all ended up. It was really sweet when Alex and Meredith hugged, and I thought the acting was all around very impressive.

Ben and Bailey. While I was initially a bit miffed at how quickly they seemed to have repaired their relationship woes, I was overall very happy to see them start in on a newer and healthier chapter. It was really quite funny when Ben got Tuck's lunch by accident, and to hear all of the interns make fun of Ben for being old was also amusing.

Derek and Meredith. I still think the President plot is stupid, but I liked a lot of the little moments with them, such as when Meredith answered the phone and pretended it was the White House. I like the fact that even when they're fighting, we have no question that their relationship is steady and stable.

April and Jackson! I always hated all the Matthew stuff. Not because Matthew was a terrible character or anything, but because it was always so obvious that April and Jackson were endgame. I'm glad to see we've finally gotten there.

There you have it. Lots of good stuff, and a few things I'm not crazy about. Whew. These reviews can be exhausting sometimes.

7/10