Grey's Anatomy: Hold Back the River (14x18)

Grey's Anatomy is usually good for a couple of tear-jerker scenes most weeks. I am more stubborn than most, so when I find myself getting misty-eyed it usually means a) I'm exhausted, or b) a scene really, really worked. Maybe a little bit of both this week, but lemme tell ya - I got choked up.

Cons:

Maggie and Jackson are on thin ice with me. They were just starting to get cute, and then they throw in a stupid, juvenile, "misunderstanding" plot thread. See, April tells Maggie that she "jumped her ex-husband in a supply closet," meaning that now Maggie is pissed at Jackson and possibly thinks that he kissed/had sex with April. It's just... ugh. Communication, people. It's the cornerstone of any healthy relationship. Let's just NOT with this.

The Teddy detour of last week makes even less sense now, when you have Amelia and Arizona both calling Teddy for details about Owen's behavior. Teddy doesn't even get to appear in this episode to defend herself. Is she coming back on the show next season, or was this whole little plot cul de sac really as useless as it appears?

Pros:

Owen and Arizona are a good match-up, actually. I'm sad we won't get to see them hanging out as friends very much, since Arizona is leaving. Their plot thread was actually probably my favorite of the night. That was just mean, to trick us into thinking Arizona might have cancer. I could see this show pulling some sort of crap like that, but I was relieved to see that it was all part of the evil Dr. Hanson's plan. That guy is a piece of work. What is it with former Queer as Folk stars being horrible monsters in Grey's Anatomy? First you had Gale Harold as the Nazi dude from forever ago, and now Hal Sparks is a scam artist who tricks healthy women into chemo? In any case, I loved all the scenes with them. The best moment is when Owen bursts in on Arizona as April is giving her a real exam back at the hospital, and April is offended that Owen would burst in on a topless Arizona, but she just says "no, we're way past that." It was cute to see him freaking out, and channeling his rage over the Teddy situation into making this Dr. Hanson loser pay for his crimes.

Richard has to come to terms with the fact that his long-time AA sponsor is dying. He tries to go against her DNR wishes and keep looking for ways to save her, with Meredith and Maggie's assistance. But while Meredith is worried about what will happen if Richard goes off the rails again, Maggie, with some help from Jackson, knows she needs to talk Richard down. She convinces Richard that it's time to accept the things he cannot change, the same way she wishes she would have when she was spending her last few days with her mother. This plot thread is the one that made me weepy. First of all, it contained the only good Jackson/Maggie material in the episode, with him helping her through the situation with Richard. And second of all, it had Amelia, Richard, and Ollie having a meeting at the end. They all held hands and said a prayer together, and I was just... ugh. Tears. So amazing. And Meredith and Maggie both being there for Richard in different ways was also very sweet. It may have been a long and confusing road for Richard, but he does have a couple of people he can kind of consider daughters now.

Amelia and Koracik's experiment seems to work on Noah, but they both know there's really nothing they can do for a more complex case like Kimmie's. Alex freaks out and actually attacks Koracik, but immediately backs off and starts dejectedly cleaning up the broken beaker that he shoved off of the desk. This was another moment of near-tears for me... poor Alex. Poor Kimmie! That bright and enthusiastic girl that we met earlier in the season is now feeling so dejected. As dark as it is, at this point I'm just hoping she can hold on long enough to go see Dear Evan Hansen in New York over the summer...

Apparently Meredith and Jo's experiment with the tiny livers is going to live to see another day - and they don't need the polymer to do it. I'm a little hesitant about making a judgment on this yet. The bottom line should be that the method gets developed so lives can be saved. I'm happy for Meredith's career advancement or whatever, but that's not even really the most important part of all of this. However, I do love Jo and Meredith working together. It must warm Alex's heart to have his two most important people start to bond.

There were so many other little tidbit stories going on, too. Apparently Andrew and Sam are going to be moving in together, which... okay. I'll let you know when I start caring. Bailey is frustrated because Ben is treating her like she's made of glass, and she wants to end their dry spell. She finally convinces him, and the two fall into bed together. This was adorable, and I was pleased to see Ben feature in an episode of Grey's Anatomy so soon after the spin-off show actually started. I'm hoping there's plenty of good crossover stuff, even though I don't plan on watching Station 19. Also, despite the way the plot thread ended, with the stupid stuff with Maggie and Jackson, I liked April's apology tour. She apologizes to the interns for the way she treated them during trauma certification. She apologizes to Owen for worrying him, to Maggie for the way she acted during the game night, etc. etc. It's nice to see her find her way back to God. I was worried that April's departure from the show was going to be a negative one, and I'm so happy to see that's not the case!

And... yeah. Inevitably I've forgotten something or somebody, since there are a bajillion characters on this show. This was a solid episode, and I got weepy once or twice so... win!

9/10