Grey's Anatomy: Ain't That a Kick in the Head? (14x04)

I'm a little befuddled by how quickly we've gotten through the Amelia-has-a-tumor plot, but I'm rather pleased about it too. Let's dive right in, and I'm going to try and go quickly (famous last words).

Cons:

There's this brief moment where Arizona and April are commiserating over missing their daughters. Reuniting with kids is a theme of the episode, as a matter of fact, and I'll get there in a second. This plot thread just served to remind me of how weird it was that even though Arizona won the custody battle, Sofia just went off with Callie and Penny anyway. What a weirdly bungled plot thread that was. And of course any time this show becomes about babies it gets a little ridiculous, because we never see any of the adults spend real time with their kids.

I wish Megan would stop insisting that Riggs is oh so in love with Meredith, because it's just slowing things down and bogging the whole proceeding up with a love triangle. Riggs and Meredith weren't together for long enough for their relationship to ruin the potential of such a great reunion. I want closure on this quicker than we're getting it.

Pros:

Amelia's surgery was a center-point of the episode. It seems to go off mostly without a hitch, but it takes quite a while for Amelia to become verbal, and even when she does start speaking, it comes out in French, a latent memory from a French preschool. Eventually, she seems to be back to a regular recovery, and her cocky former-teacher-current-surgeon tells her she can go home to continue to recover. But Amelia is convinced something is wrong, and continually pores over brain scans. DeLuca cracks the code, bringing Amelia her tumor in a cup, and telling her that this is what she's missing. There's nothing wrong now. It's just that there's been something wrong for such a long time, that Amelia is not sure what her life looks like without that. This was a really sweet moment, as DeLuca and Amelia shared a hug. Amelia had this moment where she realized so much of her life was centered around a tumor she never knew she had. Now, as weird as it is, she might be mourning the fact that she can't hide behind that anymore. That's an interesting dynamic, and I'm actually okay with seeing how it plays out. Owen even asks Amelia to move back in, and although Amelia is a little hesitant, it looks like these two might make a real go of it.

This was a small part of the episode, but I really liked how Amelia chose April to be the power of attorney, and she spends the rest of the episode fervently praying she won't be asked to unplug Amelia. Can you imagine that sort of stress and anguish? It was sort of played for laughs, especially in one scene where Meredith, Maggie, Alex, Arizona, and April all sit around and wish they could blame their mistakes on a tumor. April points out that this is serious business, that Amelia trusted April with her life, to which they all respond: "tumor!"

The other big thing going on is that Riggs took off without saying goodbye, and Meredith is pissed about it. She thinks he's an idiot for giving up on Megan. When Riggs starts calling over and over, Meredith staunchly refuses to take the call. When she does finally answer, she learns that Riggs has flown overseas to retrieve Megan's son Farouk and get him back to the states. Meredith helps force it through by pretending that Farouk is in serious medical danger and needs to see his doctor right away. The mother-son reunion is just as adorable and heartwarming as you might hope it would be. I'm really glad that Farouk came to the states instead of Megan just taking off again. I don't know how long the actress can hang around, but I like the idea of keeping her here. Also, Owen and Riggs hugged when Owen realized what Riggs had done for Megan. I just... I'm a sucker for their relationship. It's so cute to see them find their way back to being a family.

Meanwhile, Richard brings Maggie along to a family dinner, where she drinks a bit too much wine and is forced into an awkward situation where Catherine discusses Jackson's astronomical inheritance from his grandfather. Maggie, drunk, makes a good point that while having money is a good problem to have, it's still undeniably a problem. Too many choices can be a leading cause of stress. The next day, Catherine makes things extra-strength awkward when she says that Maggie did a good job of knocking some sense into Jackson about taking the money, and says it's just the way her sister used to be able to get through to her. Maggie and Jackson have this weird moment where they realize that because their parents are married, they are technically... related... and it's hilarious and magical.

This may be the first time in like a season and a half where Maggie hasn't annoyed me. Drunk Maggie was so funny. This is the rambling, slightly immature side of her that actually endeared me to her character at the beginning. It was also the first time that Maggie/Jackson didn't piss me off. I guess I could see it working if Maggie could be a little less self-centered all the time. More of this version of Maggie, please!

Just a few other small things: Meredith is putting Jo's name on the medical study she did about Megan's surgery, but Jo asks that her name be taken off, because if her husband sees her picture, he might be able to track her down. She later laments to Alex that she hates how this man still has power over her, and is still taking things from her. There wasn't a lot going on here, just a setup for a coming confrontation. I like that everything is out in the open, now. It's much better than how it was before.

Ben has been training in secret to be a firefighter, and Bailey doesn't know. I know there's a spin-off coming down the pipe... I never watched Private Practice and I'm not sure I'll watch this one either, but I do really love Ben. I hope we don't draw out the secret angle for too long. That can always get tiresome. Still, I think there could be something to this. Ben has always been a little out of place as a surgeon, I think.

Okay! Done! That didn't take too long... as always, there was a lot to enjoy in this episode. That kid playing Farouk was extra adorable oh my goodness. More of him, please!

8/10