Grey's Anatomy: None of Your Business (13x12)

Well, this episode was about as subtle as a bag of bricks to the face, but I'm actually okay about that. You'll notice that virtually every plot thread in this episode is about putting up walls, and how that damages us. Are you listening, Mr. President?

Cons:

I used to really love Maggie, and I still do, but this season she has been testing my patience. She's constantly acting like a baby, making things about her, when there are much bigger concerns going on. This week, her mom shows up, is perfectly polite to everybody, and just wants to spend some time with her daughter. She has a consultation with Jackson about how to remove some weird rash from her skin, and Jackson discovers that she has breast cancer. Before she can tell Maggie, Maggie goes off on her, complaining about her ruining their family by leaving her father, and basically kicking her out. Maggie then immediately feels guilty, but still. Too little too late. I felt like we needed more of an explanation as to why Maggie was so upset. She's a grown woman - her parents' divorce should not be an excuse for her to act like a child.

We had a plot thread about a woman who got herself tangled in barbed wire, but it didn't really go anywhere, and felt a little too blunt to fit in with the rest of the episode's theme. The patient and her husband were exclusionary, and they built a wall around their property. Her husband died, and now she's breaking free of her isolation. She loses part of her leg. Owen gets his arms cut up trying to help her. Neither of these things really go anywhere. I was excited for this plot thread when it started out, but it just sort of petered away to nothing.

Pros:

First off, we've got the resolution of the Karev thing, finally. We find out that DeLuca showed up and called off the case. He said he'd testify that the fight was equally his fault. Karev, now free, goes to Bailey to get his job back. She gives it to him, grateful that he seems to have put the whole incident behind him. Alex goes to apologize to Andrew, who is having none of it. DeLuca has been waiting around for a long while, and Alex only bothers to apologize once Andrew drops the case. Jo finds out from Stephanie and Leah that Alex isn't in prison, and she goes over to Meredith's house to see him. The two share a hug.

I'm not really aboard the Alex/Jo train anymore, but this moment was undeniably cathartic. Jo has really been through the ringer lately, and this was such a release of tension for her, one I think she really needed. I also love, love, love the conversation between Andrew and Alex. It's such a meaty conflict. I mean, I know that Andrew is about as interesting as a loaf of bread, but the fact is, he's the victim here. And he's right. Alex tried to apologize to him once, the night it happened, but Andrew correctly believes that Alex only did this to try to stop DeLuca from telling the police. And then now, he comes forward to apologize again, now that he's not going to prison. Andrew did it for Jo, obviously, but that doesn't mean he has to stop being angry.

For all that Maggie's plot annoyed the hell out of me, I did love one thing about it. Maggie rambles to Riggs about the situation in the elevator, and then when she stops, Riggs says "Can I say a thing?" and Maggie just responds "No." It was a hilarious moment. Riggs hasn't had a lot to do recently other than be sage adviser to other characters. I liked seeing him talk to Owen about Amelia, too. It's nice that those two are on good footing.

Amelia wasn't really in this one much, other than a brief heartbreaking scene where Owen goes to Stephanie's apartment and talks to Amelia through the door. He says that every day she stays in there, the harder it's going to be to come out. I think their whole falling out is absolutely ridiculous, but Owen is just such a sad puppy about it that I can't be too annoyed. Somebody needs to give that boy a hug.

Okay. So. In the main story, we've got Bailey putting her foot down in a big way on this whole Minnick situation. When Meredith refuses to let Eliza in on a surgery, Bailey suspends Meredith. When April continues to pester Catherine Avery about the situation, Bailey ends up pulling Kepner in and setting the record straight about this whole thing: she can either get on board, or she's next to go. As the episode ends, we learn that Bailey has replaced Meredith, while she's on suspension, with Kepner as Chief of Surgery. Damn. Of course, Eliza is about fed up with the situation, and she takes out some of her anger on Arizona - she thinks that Arizona wants her to get fired because then there would be nothing standing in the way of the two of them being together. It seems the thought may have crossed Arizona's mind as well. Meanwhile, the residents are just annoyed that their education is being screwed with in this way, and I've gotta say, they have a point.

That's the nice thing about this whole situation - everybody sort of has a point. (I mean, I still think Catherine is a horrible person, and Richard deserves better, but besides that...) The residents are right to want to learn more, and Minnick is right to try and do her job. But she might be wrong in the way she's going about it. Bailey is right to want to protect the hospital, but she might be wrong about how she ousted Richard. April, Jackson, and the others are right to fight for Richard and what they believe in, but they're wrong to do so in a way that undermines the effectiveness of the hospital. I'm not mad at Meredith for standing up to Minnick, and I'm not mad at April for jumping at an opportunity. I'm a little pissed at Minnick for the way she talked to Arizona, but that doesn't mean she's altogether wrong.

I love stories that can do this - that can make me examine every side, and make me uncertain who I want to end up victorious.

It's good to have Alex back, and there are a lot of other things I really enjoyed about this episode. If Maggie could please just grow up a little, that would be great.

8/10