Grey's Anatomy: We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (10x22)

I'm not sure what to think. There are a lot of things I could say about Isaiah Washington, and the circumstances under which he left the show years ago... but I don't want to close the door on the possibility that he has changed for the better. I don't know him. I don't know his story. Maybe he sought out T.R. Knight and personally apologized. Maybe he's turned himself around. And maybe, for the sake of an objective review of this show, and not its actors, it doesn't matter. It's hard for me not to think about it, though, when I see Washington reappear years after being fired for homophobic slurs. Let's set that aside for the rest of the review, and talk about what happened onscreen.

Richard Webber calls a board meeting (but doesn't include Jackson) and tries to encourage Christina to appeal the Harper Avery award, since Christina should have won. Owen convinces Christina to go to Switzerland to speak at a hospital about her research. When she gets there, she finds out who invited her in the first place: Preston Burke. Burke shows her his amazing hospital, and also tells her about his wife and kids. Burke says he's stepping away from the hospital to dedicate himself to his family, and he wants Christina to have his hospital. Christina can't pass up such a good offer, and she accepts.

Meanwhile, back at Grey Sloan Memorial, lots of stuff is going on. Derek and Amy are operating on conjoined twins who share a brain. After the twins are separated, Amy's twin lives, and Derek's dies.

Jackson and April get an ultrasound, but are having mixed feelings about the pregnancy. In the end, they start to repair their relationship as Jackson agrees to go to church with April and their future kids, as long as they can go out and get waffles afterwards. Callie and Arizona are trying to come up with baby names. Arizona comes up with a list of terrible names, hoping to soften Callie up for one of the names she actually wants, but to Arizona's horror, Callie ends up liking the name Agamemnon. 

Alex is loving his new private practice job, but Jo isn't doing so well at the hospital. While trying to handle everything herself, she ends up endangering a patient. Owen is not happy. All of the interns are worried, because funding cuts means one of their jobs might be in jeopardy.

Bailey's bubble boy patient starts doing way better, and the parents (especially the mother) are feeling very superior and glad that they didn't let Bailey inject their child with HIV. Turns out, as Stephanie discovers, Bailey injected the boy in secret, refusing to take credit for the boy's rapid improvement.

Let's start with the problems.

Jo's storyline made no sense to me. Why was she trying to take care of everything? Why wasn't she going to other doctors for help? What was she trying to prove, here? There was no clear reason for her to behave this way. It was very odd to me. I'm glad that Alex is doing well, but couldn't we have just focused on that, instead of adding in a random thread about Jo's struggles? It felt out of place.

Setting aside my personal feelings about the actor, I want to talk about Burke's involvement in this episode. Mostly, I think the way he first appeared on screen was beyond silly. All of the promo material was pushing that Burke was back, so it's not like we didn't know he would be there. And then he was emerging out of the shadows all mysteriously, like it was supposed to be a big reveal when we finally saw his face. The directing choices were very odd, I thought.

But there were some lovely things about this episode, and ultimately I think it's an okay way to say goodbye to Christina.

First of all, I loved the phone tag that Meredith and Christina were participating in. It's sort of a sad prediction of what their lives will be like when Christina actually leaves. I loved it when Meredith got the message about Burke, and she's sitting there with Owen, trying not to reveal to him what's going on. So great.

I'm aware that the holographic heart and the 49 3-D printers were beyond far-fetched, but they fit into the world of Grey's Anatomy very well, and gave a fantastical edge to this episode that I think ultimately will help everyone to understand why Christina is truly leaving.

I loved Callie and Arizona's comic relief stuff. Agamemnon Torres-Robbins. Oh boy.

Derek and Amy's relationship is already proving to be very interesting. Like I've mentioned before, I didn't watch Private Practice, so I haven't had a lot of time to form an opinion of Amy. I like her so far, though. The fact that Derek struggles with treating her as a professional instead of his little sister is very interesting, and I'd love to see that pushed further as we continue. Are they trying to set her up as a new leading character? It would be nice to have another sibling situation on this show, since we lost that when Lexie died.

Jackson and April... I'm not sure that Jackson's little waffle deal is enough to really repair the damage in their relationship, but I actually do care about them as characters, and I want to see them united as April gets ready to have this baby.

As for Bailey's plot thread? Not quite sure what to think. I'll reserve judgment. It seems to fit the theme of Bailey doing good and groundbreaking work and getting no recognition for it. But there are also a lot of moral implications of Bailey's actions and I'm not sure how it's all going to pan out. This show is one I can usually trust to dive in to the nitty-gritty mess of things, so I hope we get to really explore what's next for Bailey's character.

I'll leave it there for the moment. I'm really going to miss Christina!

8/10