Grey's Anatomy: The Great Pretender (11x12)

Great episode. Lots of stuff happened, and a lot of it was rather detailed and convoluted, so I'll try and get all the important stuff written down.

Meredith comes back from her weekend trip, but she's evasive about what she's been up to. Maggie confronts her, saying that Derek called three times asking where she was. Meredith doesn't think she owes Maggie an explanation, but eventually she does tell Maggie what happened. She got to the airport, but then she chickened out and spent the weekend alone in a hotel. Maggie assumes that this must have been a horrible experience for her, and she sympathetically hugs Meredith. Meredith later tells Alex that she enjoyed the time alone, because it gave her an opportunity to be herself - not a doctor, a wife, or a mother. She doesn't want to leave Derek, but she doesn't want to be around him right now, either.

Meanwhile, Arizona and Dr. Herman spend time together prepping for all sorts of cool surgeries. Dr. Herman learns that Arizona isn't as straight-laced as she assumed. She learns about Arizona's affair, and about her living with residents like Jo, who frequently walks naked around the house. Dr. Herman is delighted by this. The two women bond.

Callie and Amelia talk about how they both used to be good at one night stands, but how it's more difficult now. Callie picks up a guy at a bar, and Amelia finally does something about the Owen situation. She shows up at his trailer, and the two share a kiss.

Ben and his brother Kurt go with Bailey to spread their father's ashes in the woods. When Kurt collapses, they rush him to the hospital. Meredith and Bailey then discover that Kurt is transgender, and is in the process of transitioning. Jackson helps her figure out a better way to transition, telling her to get off of the over-the-counter drugs she's been taking. Ben is really uncomfortable with the whole thing, angry at Kurt for keeping something like this from him for the past 25 years. Bailey is adamant that Ben support his sister, and continually enforces the use of Kurt's proper gender pronouns.

Callie has to deal with a patient who fainted and fell down a flight of stairs. It turns out that her boyfriend was about to propose to her, and the patient pretended to faint so that she could avoid the proposal. When the boyfriend starts talking to her about their future together, the girl pretends to faint yet again. Callie tells him the truth - she wants to break up with him.

Webber and Catherine Avery spent the weekend together, but Richard feels hurt when he learns that Catherine has basically just been using him as a distraction from what's going on with Jackson and April. Catherine works her way into an OR and then calls Jackson for a consult, just as an excuse to check up on him. Catherine tells Richard that the issues that caused them to break up are still there, and that he has to sort out his own stuff before they can even think about moving forward again.

Okay. That's a lot of stuff and I feel like I probably missed some of it. But let's go through the few things that maybe bothered me a little bit.

This is just a scriptural thing, but Maggie's speech to Meredith upon learning the truth about the hotel room was pretty weak. Maggie just kept babbling on, and Meredith was just standing there, and it got pretty awkward. That's a nitpick, though.

Also, I want Patrick Dempsey back. I don't want things to be instantly fixed between Meredith and Derek, but it's weird to go so many weeks without seeing even a hint of Derek. Hopefully we'll get to see what he's been up to?

The only serious complaint I have is about Catherine Avery. I understand that she must be hurting, having just lost her grandchild. But she uses Richard, and she disrespects Jackson and April's wishes. I get that she wanted to know how they were doing, but this isn't about her! I felt like she got off easy, and I wished there could have been a deeper examination of her decisions.

Mostly, I thought this episode was absolutely stellar. There are so many things to praise, I'm not even sure where to start.

A plot about a transgender woman! And a woman of color, at that. I was cheering Bailey on this whole time. It shouldn't be an exceptional thing to adapt to somebody's preferred pronouns right away, but unfortunately it is. When I realized where they were going with this plot thread, I was afraid that I was going to have to flinch at numerous mis-genderings as the characters all talked about how "he" was becoming a woman. Instead, I got Bailey trying to be understanding for Ben, but still insisting on using she/her pronouns the whole episode. It was the best. I like the scene at the end, when Ben is just so angry, and he says: "I'm done with him." Bailey has been really understanding and has tried to be there for her husband, but at this, she just stares at him, says "her" and walks out. Woo!

I love the fact that Meredith took some time for herself. There's nothing wrong with it, nothing shameful about it. She's afraid that if she goes and sees Derek, she'll know for sure whether or not they're going to make it. What if it's not a good outcome? That would suck! Her conversation with Alex at the end was the best. She rants about her situation, and then Alex, laughing at Jo for wandering around the house naked, announces that he's going to marry that girl. Yes! My favorite Grey's Anatomy ship is moving on to the next level.

Speaking of moving on... Callie's scene in the bar was perfect. She looked so damn sexy, and she was just so impatient with the coy flirtatious approach. After a few seconds of waiting, she just goes up to the guy and tells him to dance with her. There's the Callie that I know and love!

Amelia and Owen are taking steps forward as well. Amelia was so darn adorable when she showed up to Owen's with a bottle... not of wine, but of sparkling water, because of course she doesn't drink anymore. Both of them are just so flustered and awkward and, as Amelia said, they've "got no moves." Despite this, they manage to find their way to one another, and I think that's beautiful. I'm rooting for these two.

Funniest moment of the night: Amelia and Callie talk about how they used to be good at one night stands, and Amelia says she was good because she was on drugs. She then says: "I wanna be clear I am in no way endorsing narcotics as a dating aid." Callie responds, solemn, "Understood." That cracked me up!

The most surprising thing about this episode for me, though, was that I finally started to like Dr. Herman. She was so genuinely happy to learn that Arizona had a bit of wild side. It was oddly endearing to watch her get so excited about things. Her hitting on Owen was particularly hilarious. I think she might actually be getting this zest for life back. Maybe that means she's starting to have hope she can be saved?

The plot with the fake-fainting girl and her boyfriend was really funny. I could totally sympathize with both sides of it. That dude was really annoying, but that girl needed to buck up and be honest! I love the fact that Callie just steps in, brazen as she always is, and tells the poor guy the truth. Callie was on fire in this episode! Another small thing about that plot that I thought was really powerful: When the boyfriend is first climbing out of the ambulance, he says that it's all his fault that his girlfriend got hurt. Jo immediately reacts with anger, thinking that the guy pushed the girl down the stairs. Not that anybody wouldn't be angry, but I think her reaction here ties back to her past issues with abuse.

Even though the last scene with Maggie and Meredith sort of irked me, I still find these two really interesting. I hope we can explore more and more of their friendship, as perhaps Meredith starts to trust Maggie with what she sees as the uglier parts of herself.

I think that's all I've got. Kudos for the plot about Ben's sister. We need more of that on TV. I can't wait to see what comes next!

8.5/10