Grey's Anatomy: Only Mama Knows (11x04)

Great episode. I really enjoyed it.

We spend most of the episode with Meredith and Richard, as they have flashbacks to the time when Ellis would have gotten pregnant with Maggie. Turns out, the story goes something like this: Ellis and Richard had made a pact to run away together and leave their spouses. Just before they were set to leave, however, Ellis learns that she's up for a Harper Avery. Richard feels jealous of Ellis' accomplishments, and realizes that he'll spend the rest of his life feeling like second best if he goes with Ellis. That day at the carousel, Richard tells Ellis that he can't leave with her. Just after this, Ellis tries to kill herself. She finds out about her pregnancy while at the hospital.

She and Meredith move to Boston and stay hidden way during Ellis' pregnancy. Ellis gives up the baby for adoption, and Meredith starts the first grade. Everything goes back to normal.

In the present day, Meredith's memories of these events are jogged by reading her mother's diary. Richard feels guilty for not following through on the plan, and he tells Meredith how sorry he is for ruining everything. Meredith also spends time with a patient: a young girl with a giant tumor. She had been abandoned outside of the hospital, in really bad shape. Meredith eventually learns that the patient and the patient's mother are illegal immigrants, and that the mother was afraid of losing her daughter. Meredith gets them some help, promising that they won't take the child away from her mother.

Maggie Pierce, meanwhile, has decided to leave the hospital. Bailey keeps trying to get Richard to talk to her to change her mind. Richard keeps refusing, until he finally tells Bailey the truth: Maggie is his daughter. Amy Shepherd has also been trying to get Maggie to stay. She hints that Maggie should talk to Derek, but when Maggie starts to, she realizes that Derek doesn't know about her parentage. At first she won't tell him, insisting that he talk to his wife. When Derek tries to talk to Meredith, however, the two just end up fighting about DC again. Finally, Derek insists that Maggie tell him, and she does. Derek is delighted to find out that he has a new sister-in-law. Maggie is touched by Derek's enthusiasm.

Meredith and Derek talk again, and they agree on a truce so they can process this newest revelation about Maggie. Moved by all these new realizations about her mother, Meredith has a change of heart about Maggie, and decides to show her their mother's diary. She points out the spot where the wine stains stop, and she starts keeping track of what she's eating: signs of pregnancy. Richard looks on as Meredith and his daughter start to form a connection. It looks like Maggie might not be leaving after all.

Stephanie Edwards lets slip to Alex that the vote for the new board member was unanimous for Bailey. Alex is angry - at Meredith for not having his back, but mostly at Arizona for lying and saying that it was a close vote. Arizona says that she didn't want Alex to be a member of the board because she needed him to be a pediatric surgeon, and take over Arizona's job while she works on her fellowship, and on preventing her marriage from falling apart. Basically, Alex is the only one that Arizona trusts to "be her" while she's busy with other things.

Structurally, I felt this episode could have been a touch stronger if we had cut out the subplot with Alex, and saved it for a later day. It might have been nice to have this entire episode all focused on Meredith, Richard, Ellis, and Maggie - one messed up family. However, I didn't find anything wrong with the subplot as it was... it just maybe didn't belong here.

The only other complaint I have is a little one: when Richard tells Meredith that he regrets running off with Ellis, all I could think was: what about Adele? I know Richard wanted to be there for Ellis and for Meredith, but at the same time, when we got to know Adele on this show, we're meant to like her, right? And to think that she and Richard genuinely cared for one another? I wish we could have addressed the importance of Adele a bit more in this moment.

However, I think this episode was ultimately very solid. First of all, it made great use of old clips from the show, as Meredith remembered conversations with Ellis shortly before Ellis' death. Interspersed with these clips from the show are newly filmed flashbacks. The sense of unreality in Meredith's memories worked very nicely, as she experiences these memories through the eyes of a scared six-year-old. Young Richard and Ellis got several great moments to shine - J. August Richards was an excellent casting choice for Richard, and Sally Pressman made for a very realistic younger Ellis Grey. This episode did not feel like a clip show or a rehash or anything like that - it simply used some old bits of material to explore new feelings and revelations within Meredith and Richard, two of our longest and most beloved characters on the show.

I think my favorite moment of the whole episode, though, has got to be Derek's reaction to the news about Maggie. He gets this big grin on his face, like he can't help it, and rushes up to give her a hug. It was so sweet, because you can tell that this was the reaction Maggie was sort of hoping for from her sister. Later, when Meredith starts reaching out to Maggie, you can see the hesitant eagerness in both of them. Maggie is starting to see why everyone says to give Meredith a chance, and Meredith is starting to tentatively hope that this could be a good thing.

The fight between Meredith and Derek is worrisome. I think they might be going a bit over the top... this is the stuff divorce is made of. I'm surprised with how far they're pushing it, because it's not like anyone actually wants to watch them split up. So where is this headed? I'm not putting this under the negative aspects of the review, because I'm still on the fence about this. If we can get some nice cathartic moment of reconciliation for the two of them, then I'll be happy.

Even though I'm not sure if I liked the placement of the Alex subplot, I loved the moment between him and Arizona. Their teacher/student dynamic is one of the best relationships on the show. I like how Alex gets this little grin on his face as he realizes that even though he didn't get the job he wanted, Arizona still needs him around.

I'll stop there. I was really pleased with this one. Very creative and emotionally poignant. They should do more shows that focus on just one story line for the most part. Some of their strongest episodes have come out of setups like this one.

9/10