Grey's Anatomy: When I Grow Up (11x18)

Derek is properly back, and he's making amends. Yay! I enjoyed this episode. Let's dive in.

The main case of the week involves a bank robbery gone terribly, terribly wrong. Two cops, who also happen to be brothers, are brought in with severe injuries from gunshot wounds. Although it looks at first like they might live, unfortunately both brothers die. A young man who was driving the getaway car is also injured. It turns out that he needs a new liver, and that the dead police officers are a match. Meredith and Bailey argue over what to do. Bailey, the one treating the 15-year-old criminal, knows that she has to ask. At first, the mother of the two deceased cops is incensed, and refuses to consider giving her sons' organs to one of the people she views as responsible for their deaths.

Callie is working with another one of the victims of the shooting: the commanding officer of the two dead brothers. He was shot in the leg. He continually asks after the boy, wondering if he'll live. Callie thinks that he's hoping the boy will die, out of a need for revenge, but it turns out that he knew the kid. He was in the foster system, and he was an okay kid who got in with the wrong crowd. Meredith has the idea to have the officer talk to the mother of the deceased, and tell her the same thing. With this new information, the mother consents to letting her sons be organ donors. The boy, and countless others, are saved due to their organs.

The commanding officer asks Callie out. She doesn't give him a direct answer, but she tells him that he needs to come in ten days later to get his leg checked out.

Meanwhile, an elementary school field trip is visiting the hospital. Richard has a good time showing the kids around, but when the shooting victims start coming in, Stephanie ends up stepping in and helping to show them around. The kids see some x-rays of things stuck up people's butts, which they find hilarious. Stephanie finds herself flirting with one of the chaperones. Jo encourages her to go for it, because she's too picky with guys and hasn't been out in a while. Stephanie asks the guy out, only to learn that he's seventeen years old - still in high school!

One of the little girls on the trip runs off and hides in the gallery of the OR. Derek finds her and talks to her about becoming a doctor. The girl says that she knows that's what she wants to do with her life.

Amelia is unsure whether she can really be Derek's boss. Derek ensures her that he's okay with it, and happily goes off to clip an aneurysm while Amelia deals with the exciting traumas. Derek and Amelia have a talk, wherein Derek expresses that he knows what he wants, and that he's happy where he is. Amelia admits that she might be falling in love with Owen, and that she's worried it will destroy her.

I do have a few complaints. First of all, I don't understand that whole thing with Amelia and Owen. Why is falling in love with him such a bad thing? I mean, I get that she doesn't have a good track record in the romance department. Hell, nobody on this show does! But the way she told Derek, like the idea of falling in love was just so scary and awful? I didn't get that. It felt too melodramatic, and it's not substantiated by anything we've seen from these characters thus far.

Mostly, though, I liked this episode. The most promising thing about it is the way Derek is reentering the story. I'll admit - I was nervous. I wanted him back, but I wasn't sure if I would like what they did with him once he was there. However, I'm pleasantly surprised. It looks like Derek has finally realized what's important to him. He knows that he wants Meredith, and the kids, and he wants to help save people's lives. It takes an incredible amount of strength for a man like Derek to set aside his pride and let somebody else be in charge for a change. And not just anybody else - his own sister. Their relationship dynamic gets more and more fascinating as time passes. I can't wait to see how it plays out. Will Amelia be able to handle being Derek's boss? Will Derek be able to handle being Amelia's subordinate?

But the best Derek moment wasn't with Amelia, it was with the little girl from the field trip. In that moment, as Derek watched his wonderful wife be a wonderful surgeon, he didn't feel any jealousy or resentment or anger. He was happy for Meredith and happy for himself. I loved it.

Stephanie and Jo were relegated to comic relief again this week, and again it worked wonderfully. It makes sense that Stephanie would be a bit hesitant and jaded about finding someone, after what happened with Jackson. I feel bad for her, but it's frankly hilarious that her first attempted romance in a long time ends up being with a high school kid! Also, I loved the detail about Alex showing the kids some... shall we say inappropriate... x-rays.

I hope Callie ends up going out with that guy! That would be so cute! I was rooting for them throughout this entire episode. My favorite thing about that plot thread was the ambiguous nature of it all. Obviously the situation was so terrible and traumatic that neither of them could really think about romance. But even so, there was a connection here. He didn't quite ask her out, and she didn't quite say no. I hope we see him again.

Then there's the big ethical dilemma of this episode. Two brave cops die, and their organs could help save the life of somebody who was involved with the crime that killed them. Part of me wishes they would have gone further with this - can you imagine if the patient had been the shooter, and not just the getaway driver?! However, ultimately I liked this more ambiguous and interesting dilemma. The cops who ended up dead would have wanted to save this kid, even if he was in some way culpable. It was interesting to see Bailey and Meredith at odds over this issue, although ultimately of course Meredith helps Bailey and they both achieve what they wanted.

I guess that's where I'll leave things. What a depressing setup for an episode. I can't believe both of the brothers died! How tragic! I guess we'll be seeing more of Owen and Amelia next week. I can't wait to see where that goes.

8/10