Grey's Anatomy: Both Sides Now (13x05)

Lots of good stuff, but one or two bad things as well. Also, the centralizing theme of this episode got a little muddied.

Cons:

What do I mean by that? Well, I think this episode was supposed to be how it was too hot out or something. First of all, they said it was Fall. And it's Seattle. We don't generally have blistering heat, here. But whatever. The other cohesive theme was about babies, I think. There was a pregnancy, a possible pregnancy, and a new baby all in this episode. But nothing really tied them together.

The patients of the week all ended up connecting: one old woman is finally getting her new liver, to Bailey's delight. Meredith's patient needs an emergency liver transplant, but her twin sister can't give it to her because she's pregnant. Maggie and Stephanie's patient dies on the table during a very risky heart surgery, and it turns out that his liver is a match for the dying twin, so... that's good, I guess. My problem with this was that the minute I knew the 25-year-old needed a liver, I knew there was going to be drama about her getting it from the old woman. And then I guessed that somehow another liver would magically show up so that both of them could be saved. I wish this hadn't be so transparent.

Briefly, I must complain about Jo and DeLuca's new camaraderie. I'm bored by them already. Also, Jo is whiny. Stephanie kept getting good opportunities, and she kept complaining about how it should be her. Uh... no? Suck it up, Jo. Steph is better than you.

Amelia thinks she's pregnant but she's not. That's the extent of her plot in this episode. She brings it up with everybody, but refuses to tell Owen. Then, at the end of the episode, she and Owen await the results of a pregnancy test, and it turns out that she's not pregnant. Owen is disappointed, but says they will keep on trying. Amelia looks a little relieved.

There are a number of ways I could have enjoyed this plot. Exploring Amelia's tragic past with her other pregnancy, for example. But that only got one very brief mention here. And she was totally pulling a Maggie, running around the hospital talking about her own self-centered non-issue when there were more important things going on. I think I can sum up my issue with Amelia here by quoting Meredith, who gave Amelia a very enthusiastic congratulations, and then found out that Amelia wasn't even sure she was pregnant: "I hugged you and you haven't even peed on a stick yet?"

Pros:

So, the whole "patients are connected" thing was predictable, the "it's too hot out" theme never really gained traction, and the "baby theme" may have been unintentional and didn't really come together in any way. But even so, I liked a lot of the individual aspects of this episode.

Bailey's liver patient, called Granny June, was kind of awesome. She's like the nicest, saintliest woman in the world. Then she hears that a twenty-five-year-old woman needs the liver more than she does, and she says no. She won't give it up! This led to a lot of humor, in that it seemed odd for an old woman to be so unfeeling. But it also led to a lot of interesting questions. Bailey is thrilled that her patient is still getting a liver, while everybody else thinks that the old woman is being selfish. But is everybody being ageist? Are old people's lives less worthwhile than young people's lives? I also love that they stuck to their guns on this one, in a sense. Granny June didn't suddenly change her mind and give up the liver. She got the new liver, and it was only a total coincidence that the young woman also got a liver in time.

The twins were nice, although I do wish they'd gotten a bit more time. The non-liver-failure-twin had no idea she was pregnant until the doctors told her. I liked this twist, as it forced us to explore the tensions between joy and sorrow. She's thrilled to be pregnant, but devastated that she can't help her sister.

Owen spends the whole episode with Baby Harriett, trying to get her to stop crying. Eventually, he succeeds, proving that he can be a baby person. Riggs comes in and they talk about their personal dreams regarding family. I think this plot thread was meant to sort of mirror what was going on with Amelia, and the conflicting feelings she was having about potentially being pregnant. But it actually worked better as an exploration of Owen as a man who desperately wants kids. He was so cute with Harriett, and so indignant when Alex told him that maybe he was just the kind of guy that babies don't like. My favorite part here was the scene with Owen and Riggs, where they actually discussed the taboo subject of Owen's sister, and nobody screamed at anybody else. These two know each other so well, and it's sweet to see them connecting. Also, watching them change the diaper like it was surgery was a predictable gag, but it actually worked well.

Stephanie is the best intern. No, I mean it. Everybody says so. Maggie and Amelia spend a good portion of this episode fighting over her, as Maggie has pulled Stephanie onto her heart surgery, and Amelia demands that she be sent back to neuro. In the end, Stephanie has a bad experience when her and Maggie's heart patient dies on the table, but Maggie teaches her to find the good in everything. I love the fact that Steph is so highly sought after. Hopefully she can get more to do in the future, because I miss having her in her own plot threads.

I guess that's it! This episode had a little trouble focusing, in my opinion. There were a lot of individually great elements, but when it ended I didn't understand what it was all adding up to. Still, I love this show, and I'm not even close to being sick of it.

7/10