Grey's Anatomy: Roar (13x06)

Okay. Solid Grey's Anatomy fare, with a lot more heartbreak than is typical for this show. I mean, I know what you're thinking... more heartbreak?! But think about the patients this week and you'll see what I mean. Lots of tear-jerkers.

Cons:

Leah is back. I'm reserving judgment before I decide if I hate this or not. I guess my problem is that of all the characters who have departed this show, I felt really good about Leah's exit. I liked that for once, we got a surgeon who couldn't make it in the program. She was still going to be a physician, but not a surgeon. And hey, there's nothing wrong with that! Leah was always pretty bland except for her fling with Arizona, and... oh my God. It literally just occurred to me that Leah might be the love interest we've been promised for Arizona. Please God No. Anyway. We'll see.

Jo and DeLuca are boring. The trial date has been set for Deluca v. Karev, and DeLuca tells Jo about it. Later, he sees Jo and Alex talking, since they're working on a case together, and he gets all weird, saying that he can't talk to her about the case anymore. He says that Jo deserves better than choosing guys who hurt her, like Alex. It seems that perhaps we are going the romance route with these two, and just... no. I cannot think of anything more painfully boring.

Pros:

Alex meets a woman in line at the court house who has a strange rash on her hand. She is also newly pregnant. Alex encourages her to stop by the free clinic later, which she does. Alex and Bailey discover pancreatic cancer. Basically, she's definitely going to die. Alex suggests a risky procedure that could prolong her life long enough for her to deliver her baby. Bailey is furious with Alex for meddling, but eventually comes around to the surgery upon hearing the patient talk about her dreams for her child.

The most interesting element here is that Veronica, the dying mother, is having this baby with her best friend. They are not romantically involved, but they decided to have a kid together, got drunk one night, and made a baby. I love the celebration of platonic love, and I think this show does it really, really well. Look at Alex and Meredith, for example. I was worried that the guy was going to be secretly in love with her the whole time, or something, but that's not the case. They love each other, and they were excited to be co-parents, but there was no romance.

And talk about tragedy! This mother is giving up the small amount of life that would have remained to her, all for the sake of carrying her child to term. She says she can picture how life will go on, how her baby will have a great father and how they will grow older together. She doesn't want to die, but that's pretty inevitable at this point. At least this way, something gets to go on. Ouch! Alex gives the grieving father-to-be some advice about parenting: "show up." As long as you're around, you've already done a lot more than many people.

This plot thread also brought in some larger concerns in regards to Alex still working at the hospital. Bailey insists that Alex deserves another chance, but Catherine Avery has a different attitude. Even though Bailey ends up taking Alex's suggestion at the insistence of the patient, she is not happy with his attitude and his demands. Meanwhile, Richard is defending is decision to re-hire Leah, saying that she proved that she's grown and deserves another chance. In the end, Catherine tells Bailey that she's looked in to the residency program and noticed a disturbing trend. So many of the residents have had to be given second chances. But why? Catherine thinks there's a fundamental problem with how residents are being taught in the hospital, and it looks like she might be blaming the head of the residency program: Richard Webber, her own husband.

Originally, I was going to put this under "cons" because I kind of hate Catherine Avery. She's so meddlesome and rude, and I felt like smacking her for trying to put Bailey in her place. I get it. You own part of the hospital. But... c'mon! However, I actually like the idea of reevaluating the hospital's training program. Catherine has a point. A lot of crap goes down at this hospital. If we're looking at the extra-diegetic side of things, this is because it's a soap opera and stuff has to happen. But internal to the story, I like the idea of exploring the human error that might lead to such absurd levels of drama and mishaps in one hospital. This could be an interesting thread to follow, especially as it will force Richard to confront his own competency after everything he's been through.

The other main patient story in this episode was just as tragic, if not more so, than the dying pregnant lady. A man and his son are in a car accident, and they both come in with injuries, but nothing that seems fatal. The son, around twelve years old, at first seems really excited about the awesomeness of the incident, but later Amelia realizes that he's putting on a front. His dad got angry. Like, really angry. And so he started chasing down a guy who cut them off. His road rage is what caused the accident. And... the son dies. Unexpectedly, he collapses with a brain bleed, and nobody can do anything to help him. We see the mother blaming the father, and for good reason. She says it should have been him that died. I mean. Can you imagine? You'd never forgive yourself. It wasn't an unknowing error that led to his death, either. It was active anger. It was a selfish, meaningless desire to get revenge on some nameless guy who caused a few seconds of inconvenience. I can't believe that poor kid actually died. All things considered, it was a heartbreaking way to go.

Amelia is personally affected in a very serious way by this child's death. She ends up confiding in Alex the full story of her dead child, and she admits to feeling relieved when she found out she wasn't pregnant. She doesn't know how to talk to Owen about it. He wants kids so bad. This plot thread might have done better last week. I complained that Amelia's whole "am I pregnant" thing in the last episode was weird and overwrought. This is the emotional context we needed to understand that. I like that Amelia confided in Alex, since that's a character combination we don't see a whole bunch of. Later, Alex encourages Meredith to spend more time with Amelia, and this is definitely part of the reason why. I hope that Amelia really does want to give Owen children, because I don't know if the guy could take having another wife who doesn't want kids.

The forward motion on Alex's case has been very slow, but this week we got a heartbreaking examination of what the case is doing to him. He seems to have accepted that he deserves punishment, in some ways. When he's dealing with his patients in the clinic, he's fired up. He's passionate. He's willing to cross Bailey to make sure Veronica gets adequate care. But when it comes to his own fate, he's a lot more resigned. Meredith tries to be there for him, asking him to call her after he goes to set a trial date, helping him get dressed for said appearance, etc. As the episode ends, we see them lying in Meredith's bed together. Alex asks Meredith for waffle Sundays. He wants to sit around the table with the whole family - Meredith, Maggie, the kids, Amelia - every Sunday for a special breakfast. He wants to do this for as long as they can, until he goes away. He also encourages Meredith to be a little nicer to Amelia. One day soon, he won't be around, and Meredith is going to need her sisters.

Okay, ouch? I couldn't help but compare the deep friendship of Meredith and Alex with the friendship between Veronica and her baby daddy. Sure, Mer and Alex have never had sex and (hopefully) never will, and sure, they have no plans to have a baby together. But if you think about it, Meredith's kids are Alex's family. Meredith is his family. Hearing him make plans for waffle Sundays was the same as hearing him state his priorities. Before he goes to prison, he wants to make the most of the time left to him by focusing on what's important. That's just depressing. And sweet.

I'll finish off by saying that although I'm not sure what to think of Leah's return, I did love the moment when Alex, Maggie, Amelia, and Arizona are all sitting around, and Maggie wonders why Arizona seems so touchy about Leah's returns. Alex helps out: "Robbins slept with her." "So did Alex!" she angrily retorts. This show is so funny when it becomes self-aware about its ridiculous inter-hospital sex drama.

8/10