Grey's Anatomy: Staring at the End (11x13)

Oh boy. I'm actually really nervous for whatever's coming next. This is the first time all season that I've gotten really sucked in to a cliffhanger-type situation. Thursday can't get here fast enough! Let's look at what happened.

Dr. Herman and Arizona are busy doing all sorts of surgeries, fitting in as many as they can so that Dr. Herman can teach Arizona all she knows before she has to go in for her own surgery. Bailey has a patient whose baby is in need of help, but Dr. Herman says there's no time. If they help Bailey's patient, they'll have to give up on another child, and Arizona won't have learned as much. Amelia is making Dr. Herman go through localized radiation therapy in order to shrink the borders of the tumor, but Dr. Herman is very resistant to this. She doesn't want to spend her last few months alive dealing with all the pain and sickness that comes from radiation.

One of Dr. Herman and Arizona's patients has an emergency that ends in a C-section. They save the mother but the baby dies. This frees up room on the board for Bailey's patient. However, just as Bailey's patient is in need of emergency care, it looks like time is running out for Dr. Herman. The tumor has invaded the optic chiasm, which means it's time for the surgery. Arizona is going to have to do the operation on Bailey's patient all by herself.

Meanwhile, Amelia has been giving a series of lectures about the tumor and how she plans to remove it. The whole medical community is really excited about it. While Amelia seems confident in the lectures and seems to have a really good plan, in reality she's feeling very, very nervous. She snaps at Stephanie, who tells her to get it together, because Stephanie looks up to her, and that's a very big responsibility. Amelia confesses to Owen that she's scared - she's always been the "other Dr. Shepherd," and she's worried that Derek would be better at this. However, as the moment approaches, Amelia knows she has to be ready.

The episode ends as Dr. Herman lies there, ready to go in for surgery, and Amelia gets ready to do her job.

Hmm... Like I said, I'm really excited about where this is going. That doesn't mean it was a flawless episode, of course. If I were to have any complaints, it would be that we're setting up a really interesting dynamic between Amelia and Derek, but we're doing it without Derek. I think he needs to be around to fully appreciate the intricacies of Amelia's self-esteem issues. I guess I'm also just chafing after several weeks without Derek. It's weird!

But I did love this episode, and I think the most admirable thing about it is the way it's setting up these two really interesting and very different experiences centered around the same tumor, the same surgery. We're seeing the struggles of the doctor and of the patient in equal measure, as both Amelia and Dr. Herman wonder what's next for them.

On Amelia's side of things, there's this really interesting complex about Derek going on, which I already mentioned I wish we could explore more. We also have her burgeoning relationship with Owen, which is just as delightfully awkward as always. I loved it when Owen brought Amelia coffee, and she was all flustered and strange about it.

Even more interesting, however, is Amelia's dynamic with Stephanie. When Amelia snaps at Stephanie, Stephanie really stands up for herself. She tells Amelia that she looks up to her, and that she wants to be like her. That's a huge responsibility. That's an interesting way of putting it, and I really liked that little speech from Stephanie. She's one of my favorite things about this show. I also liked the little moments of Jo's jealousy, as she really wishes she could "talk tumor" with Amelia the way Stephanie gets to.

Then, there's Dr. Herman and Arizona. Their friendship sort of crept up on me, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the two of them together. I loved the scene where they're lying on the ground looking up at the clouds, and just talking about death. Maybe it's cliched and cheesy, but it worked really well. I also liked the way Dr. Herman let herself be vulnerable and admit what was scaring her. Arizona is frightened to think of losing her, and she's somewhat in denial about it.

There was a great moment where Callie, who had been watching Arizona and Dr. Herman spend all their time together, finally goes to talk to Arizona. She says that she knows it's not any of her business, but she worries about Arizona getting so close to somebody who might die. I miss these two as a couple, and I thought that was a great little moment between them.

I'm very excited to see what happens next. I want this whole next episode to be a prolonged look at the surgery. It's going to be great!

9/10