Grey's Anatomy: Risk (11x08)

Winter finale! Lots of cliffhangers and dangling plot threads here. I can't believe they're making us wait. Let's take this one plot thread at a time.

A patient with both heart and brain problems is running out of time. When Maggie asks Derek for a consultation, he wants to do the brain surgery first. Maggie thinks the heart surgery needs to go first. She asks Meredith for her opinion, and Meredith sides with her, over Derek. Derek then brings in Richard to take his side. Since Maggie is the head of the department, and it's her patient, she gets to make the final call. She chooses to do the heart surgery, and luckily the girl doesn't suffer brain damage, as Derek was afraid she might. Throughout the day, Meredith wonders if she's only digging her heals in because she and Derek are fighting, but ultimately with Alex's help she realizes that she would do the same thing for this patient even if it wasn't Derek arguing the other side. Richard fears that he is only making things worse with Maggie by taking Derek's side with this patient, but Bailey tells him that he has nothing left to apologize for. In the end, Maggie asks Richard to teach her about his risk analysis method, and the two make plans to get coffee. Derek gets offered the job in DC again, and when he and Meredith are fighting, again, about the whole thing, Derek decides to take the job. Meredith tells him to go.

This was an excellent plot. I'm really glad that Meredith and Maggie were right about the patient, but I liked how it really could have gone either way. Meredith and Derek might have been a bit antagonistic with each other, but they both had some good points to make, and they both had reasons to think they were right. Maggie and Richard's little moment at the end was quite sweet, as Maggie admires Richard's professional skill, and Richard finally sees a way to get closer to his new-found daughter. Bailey didn't have a lot to do, but I like that we're keeping up with her resolution to be healthier. (Incidentally, ABC has some sort of deal with the Fitbit, since both this show and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have featured it recently). Of course, Meredith and Derek had the most dramatic part of the plot. Very effective scene. I'm really worried for these two, and I can't wait to see how they find their way back to one another. In particular, I admired the use of flashbacks to their earlier relationship to cement both how far they have come, and how much they truly have to lose.

Arizona is nervous about Dr. Herman, because she still won't tell her any of the specifics about her tumor. Arizona pretends to be Herman's doctor and gets a bunch of files sent over, but Amelia finds out, since Arizona used her name in order to get the files. Arizona urges Amelia to be discreet. Later, Arizona catches Dr. Herman having sex with the other fellow she has been training. Since this guy is a brown-nosing idiot for the most part, Arizona thinks this might be a symptom of the tumor. However, Dr. Herman says that she isn't affected by the tumor - she's just dying, and she wants to have as much sex as she can before she does. Arizona realizes that Dr. Herman is just trying to die with some dignity. However, Amelia thinks she might be able to save Herman's life.

I've expressed multiple times that I think the whole tumor plot thread is rather silly, but I still like the complexities of it all, and how Arizona has to navigate to find out what's best. I actually laughed out loud when Herman and Arizona discussed Herman's finite number of orgasms, and I loved Amelia's disturbingly giddy reaction to seeing the tumor. Now, Arizona's role in events is going to be even more complicated, since she has to tell Herman that Amelia might be able to save her... but this means revealing to Herman that she looked into her illness without her permission. Uh oh! The highlight of this thread for me was Callie and Arizona's little moment, where they both vented a bit of their current woes, and both of them gave each other hope. Very nice. I miss these two as a couple so much.

Callie and Owen are still working with the veterans to get them new limbs. Two soldiers, good friends, are participating in some friendly competition for who gets to try out a leg first. Owen thinks the competition is dangerous, but Callie says it's all in good fun. Then, one of the two men pushes himself too far and ends up falling down and hitting his head. He ends up in a coma, and it is uncertain if he'll recover fully. The other patient doesn't want to go ahead with the leg until his friend gets better, but Callie, with some prodding from Owen, convinces him to do so. They will all keep pushing forward, even in the face of tragedy. Throughout all of this, Owen and Callie argue over whose fault the whole thing is. Callie turns to Arizona for support, while Owen talks to Amelia. Owen wants to make sure that Amelia has people around to help her get through her difficult time, and Amelia tells Owen that if he ever needs anyone to talk to about his own stuff, then she'd be willing to listen.

I think this is my favorite part of the episode. Callie and Owen's relationship is really interesting. I love how we're exploring more of Owen's past as a soldier, and digging in to some of the trauma he had to endure. I loved the way that Owen accused Callie of not understanding what being a soldier truly meant, and how eventually the two of them met in the middle and decided to keep pushing forward. I hope that the soldier in the coma is going to be okay! This slow-burn friendship between Owen and Amelia might end up being really interesting. It's a bit too soon to tell, but I think making friends with Owen is a fantastic way to draw Amelia into the show a bit more. Since Owen has a new hole in his life, now that Cristina is gone, it makes sense that he would need a new "person," as it were. I don't know if they're going for a romantic angle with the two of them, but I think I could see it!

Stephanie gives April an ultrasound, which is of course a bit awkward for both of them, given Stephanie's past with Jackson. Stephanie thinks she might have found something wrong with the baby, but she's not sure. She checks with Arizona, who wants to make extra sure by showing the ultrasound to Herman. Unfortunately, Herman confirms that Jackson and April's baby has a very rare bone disease that makes his life expectancy only a few days outside of the womb. As the episode ends, Jackson overhears Herman and Stephanie discussing it, and he asks Stephanie what's going on.

Okay, so this is another case of unnecessary medical drama in the life of one of the doctors. You know, working in a medical field does not mean you're more likely to have some sort of rare disease or cancer or whatever! Ugh. However, even though the premise is eye-roll worthy, I ultimately really liked the way it was presented. Instead of seeing April and Jackson's views on events, we got the story from Stephanie's perspective. This was a unique way of presenting the problem, so instead of just another dramatic health concern in one of the main characters, we see the strange and upsetting quandary of a young doctor who is forced to tell her ex-boyfriend and his wife that there's something wrong with their baby. Infinitely more fascinating. Also, I loved it when Stephanie accidentally told April that the baby was a boy, right after she said she didn't want to know. That was funny. 

Throughout all of the rest of the plots, Jo is insecure about her relationship with Alex, since he continually allows Meredith to come into their house, and even into their bed. Arizona is staying at the house right now, and Jo is starting to feel like part of a harem. Alex tells her that the house has always been a safe place for people to go when they're going through crap, and that he was always welcome there, even when Meredith hated him. That's how it's always going to be. However, it's Jo's house too and Alex promises her he is committed to their relationship.

Damn, what a hot kiss! These two were my favorite relationship in the whole show for a while, but lately they've sort of been on the back burner. That's okay, I guess, but it was nice to give us a bit of a make-out session to appease the Jo/Alex shippers. More than that, though, I loved what Alex said about the house. No matter who is living there, it has always been a haven for those who needed one. Alex knows what it's like to be without a safe space, and he's not going to stop offering the house to others who need it.

This is the mid-season finale, and while it doesn't have a big dramatic someone-is-about-to-die cliffhanger in it, there are a lot of unanswered questions hanging in the balance. Will Amelia be able to save Dr. Herman, and what will happen when Arizona tells Dr. Herman what she knows? What will Jackson and April do when they find out about their baby? Will Derek truly go to DC, and what will it mean for Derek and Meredith? I can't wait to find out!

9/10