Grey's Anatomy: I Choose You (12x03)

Alex Karev! If Jo doesn't want to have his babies, then I will! I love him. I also love Maggie. And Arizona. And pretty much everything that happened in this episode. I honestly can't think of much to complain about.

Cons:

April and Jackson. Their plot thread this week focused on April refusing to leave the house, and Jackson continually asking her to leave. April says she'll keep fighting, but in the end, Jackson packs up his stuff and crashes on Bailey and Ben's couch. I really don't mind some focus on the relationship woes of Jackson and April, but there was nothing really gripping here. I was totally on Jackson's side. April is completely out of line, and I guess I was just hoping for a bit more nuance.

Pros:

Alex Karev stole this whole episode. He is amazing. There are so many things to talk about here. The main case of the week involves a woman who gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Both of the twins need a liver transplant, or they will die. The father of the babies is a match, but only one baby can be saved. Alex says he will decide, based on which twin is healthier. Alex gets more and more upset when forced to make such an impossible choice. Just as he's about to pass the decision off to somebody else, Arizona steps in and gives him this amazing speech about what kind of Doctor he is, and how proud of him she is. Alex saves the girl, Emma, and tries to save the boy too, but it's no good. Daniel, the little boy, dies. Arizona and Alex's relationship makes my heart sing. I love the mentor/student dynamic, and I loved the throwback to the first time they ever really talked. Arizona knew from the very beginning that Alex could go the distance. Alex isn't used to people being proud of him, and I loved getting to see him accept that praise. I'm proud of Alex, too!

While Alex is dealing with this impossible decision, he also has to deal with Jo, who finds out about Izzie's frozen embryos and wants to know if Alex wants babies with her. They get into a fight, because Jo wonders if Izzie was worth it to Alex, but she's not. In the end, Alex tells her that he's not going anywhere, and that if she wants babies he can be ready for that. Jo bursts out laughing, saying that now is not a good time. Alex, seemingly relieved, gets into bed with her. I loved this plot thread. They were being really tricky here, making it look like Jo was pregnant. I wanted to be annoyed at the fake-out, but I wasn't. I loved the mention of Izzie, since we don't hear much about her anymore. And of course it all turned out okay - kids might be in their future, but they're not there yet. I just like seeing the two of them in a happy, committed stage of their relationship.

The new attractive intern Andrew is starting to get more interesting. He talks about how, when he was a paramedic, he arrived at a scene and saw a mother holding her dead child. She wouldn't let go of the baby, and she just kept crying. Andrew realized that he would never work in pediatrics, because he can't stand to be responsible for the pain of a parent losing their child. That made working on the case with the twins really, really difficult for him. I appreciated the added nuance to Andrew's character. We'll see where it goes from here.

Maggie is the BEST. Seriously she's like my favorite ever. We get an awesome scene in this episode of Meredith, Amelia, Maggie and Callie having a girl's night. Maggie has gotten news that her ex-boyfriend (the guy she was dating during the year that we flashed-forward over, where Meredith wasn't there) is getting married. She has a crisis about this - not that she loved him or anything, but she's realizing that she doesn't maintain connections. She runs off and burns bridges. She did it with her whole life! She's an alien, leaving her old life behind and then watching the planet blow up behind her. I adored the Battlestar Galactica references going on here. I love that show. Also, Maggie is hilarious and adorable. I really identify with her inability to feel connections to people. At the end of the episode, Maggie and Andrew, both going through their own crap, end up making out at the bar. Now that should be interesting.

Finally, there's Meredith. She's officially the new chief of general surgery, but she learns that she's being offered a much lower salary than her colleagues. Richard finds out about this, and confronts Bailey. She tells Richard that Meredith needs to stand up for herself. Meredith does, coming forward and demanding her due. Bailey is satisfied that Meredith has learned her lesson. This plot thread was so awesome. There were too many amazing moments to choose from. I love Callie for being so brutally honest, telling Meredith that she makes way less money than she should be. And then there's the moment with Richard and Bailey. Richard tells Bailey that he's disappointed in her for not standing up for her fellow female chief. Bailey informs Richard that she refuses to coddle Meredith the way Richard has always done. Bailey is having none of Richard's shit - she's not going to be told by a man that she's not a feminist. I loved that. So strong! And Meredith came through and stood up for herself in the end. Perfect.

I don't know why I've been noticing the music on this show more lately, but I loved the slow cover of "Single Ladies" that was playing during the girl's night. I suppose they are all sort of single... except for Amelia with Owen, which is just starting out, and Callie with her mystery woman.

No Owen/Amelia stuff this week, and no Stephanie (boooo), but I actually think that's for the best. This show can get really crowded, really fast. I liked the focus on just a few key plot threads. And since Alex and Maggie are my favorite characters, this episode was really perfect for me. It had the angst, but also the joy and humor.

I'll end this episode with a Once Upon a Time related comment. For those who watch it - didn't you think it was funny that the twins were named Emma and Daniel? Regina's two loves, according to some people in the fandom! :)

9/10