I'm annoyed at some things, delighted by others, and sort of in the middle with still others. A mixed bag, I think. One week away from the finale, it seems like they're setting up most of our beloved characters to start these new chapters in their lives, and yet others are backsliding into familiar patterns. It's hard to piece together.
So, first of all, Owen sets Christina the task of interviewing for new heart surgeons. Meredith expects it's a ploy to get Christina to stay. If she has to interview a bunch of people who aren't right for the job, then she'll want to stay. Christina isn't too impressed with the candidates, but most of them, she says, would be fine. Owen doesn't ask her to stay, knowing it would be useless to offer her the job when she already has such an amazing opportunity waiting for her. He does ask her: "don't leave me until you're leaving me," and the two of them share a passionate embrace.
Derek is away in DC for work, and Meredith spends time with Amy. Amy seems to be struggling with something, and eventually confides in Meredith that she wants to call off her engagement and come to Seattle. Meredith is overjoyed with the thought of Amy coming to the hospital. She can take on some of Derek's work and help out with the kids, solving their conundrum. However, Derek throws a wrench in that plan: he comes home from DC with big news. Apparently, he met the President, and was offered a job in DC. He really wants to take it, and says Meredith would have an attending position waiting for her in DC, too. Now that everyone else is moving on, maybe it's time for them, too.
Speaking of people moving on, Alex is having a hard time in private practice. He loves it, but in order to get noticed, he has to bring in new clients, and he's having a hard time doing that. He ends up stealing one of his old patients from Arizona, to her displeasure. Alex admits that he's struggling, and Arizona tells him to come to her for help next time he's in trouble, instead of sneaking behind her back.
April and Jackson agree not to tell anyone about the pregnancy yet, but Jackson ends up telling his patients and Stephanie, and April ends up telling Callie. Callie admits to April that because of the car accident, she can't carry another child, and that's why she's been in such a bad mood. Callie tells Arizona, who offers to carry the baby. Callie, sadly, says that she doesn't want to risk it going badly for them, since their relationship just got back on track. It looks like no new baby for them.
Bailey admits to the bubble boy's parents that she gave him the treatment, and they decide to charge her with assault and battery. Even though the boy is doing better, the parents are horrified about what was done to him without their permission. Stephanie and the other interns are all sure they're going to be fired soon anyway, so Stephanie does the brave thing and takes the blame. She says she forgot to tell Bailey that the parents had withdrawn consent, and Bailey was just covering for her. The parents bring their son home, willing to let it go with just a minor punishment for Stephanie. Ben is mad at Bailey for not telling him that this was going on, but she says she couldn't. Bailey and Stephanie talk, and Bailey hugs Stephanie, thanking her for what she did.
Leah comes up with a great solution for a patient, and scrubs in on the surgery with Webber. Even though she saved the day with this patient, Webber takes her aside and tells her she's not cut out to be a surgeon. He also says that she has the makings of a great doctor, and he'll put in a good word with some people he knows. Leah tells the others that they'll all be fine, and sadly contemplates saying goodbye to the program.
Complaints?
I don't know what I think about this Callie and Arizona thing. It seems like we had this solid progression going on, that was going to help them recover from everything they had been through. And now, we're just moving backwards a step. They don't need to have another baby to be happy, but it would be nice if we had some positive affirmation that they will continue to go strong.
I'm really pissed off that we didn't explore the moral implications of Bailey's actions a bit more. I was thrilled to see that there were going to be consequences for what she had done, but then Stephanie swept in and saved Bailey's ass, and we didn't get anybody truly questioning Bailey's actions. She was lucky that the treatment worked. I'm glad she saved the kid's life, but guess what? She doesn't have the right to play God like that, even if she is a brilliant doctor. I really liked Stephanie in this plot thread, but I'm annoyed at the larger picture of it.
Are we not going to deal with Webber and Catherine Avery? He was one second away from proposing, and now we're just not going to talk about her ever again? That seems... stupid. I did like Webber's role as a teacher to the interns in this episode, but I'll get to that in a second.
Derek met the President. This is just a continuation of the stupidity of this whole White House plot. I don't care about it. I don't want Derek to go to DC because I think it's an awkward way to try and make Derek and Meredith more exciting. Which is, by the way, not necessary. I like them just fine as a happy but busy couple, juggling work and kids and insecurities and all of that. They don't need fancy Presidential jobs to keep my interest.
But let's stop harping on the negative stuff. I liked a lot of this episode.
Even though I was annoyed at how easy Bailey was being let off the hook, I adored Stephanie's explanation to her at the end, about why she did what she did. Bailey risked everything to save her patient's life, and Stephanie was simply risking everything to ensure that Bailey would have the opportunity to continue helping people. The hug between them felt very real and very earned. I'm glad Stephanie has someone to be her mentor now.
Jackson and April! April calling Callie a "grumpus" was the best thing ever. I'm happy that they're happy, even if I feel like there's no way it'll last. Sometimes I have those moments where I'm just amazed at how well Grey's Anatomy phases in new characters. Arizona, April, Jackson... none of them were original characters, and yet I care so deeply for every one of them.
I liked Amy and Meredith's interactions, here. It was gratifying to see them form this sort of sister-bond, even if they haven't previously had much of a relationship. I think it's a bad idea for Meredith and Derek to move to DC, for the reasons stated above, but also because I want them to stick around. And I think a new relationship dynamic between sisters-in-law is a really good way to renew people's interests in Meredith.
Webber and Leah's conversation really tugged at my heartstrings. With all this buildup about which intern would get the axe, I think Leah was the satisfying choice. She's made a lot of mistakes and had a rough go of it - so have the rest of the interns, but she never seemed to have the raw talent to make all the screw-ups worth it. It will be sad if she leaves the show, because I actually came to appreciate her, but it was the right narrative choice.
Alex was fairly useless in this episode, just popping in and out, but it was still nice to see his relationship with Arizona continues to be adorable, even if he's not at the hospital anymore.
I guess I'll leave it there. I had some serious qualms about some of the major plot threads, but I still had a good time watching this episode.
7/10
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