We open to find Richard still semi-conscious on the floor. No one seems to be looking for him, but as we hear James Pickens Jr's voice and the famed Grey's monologue there is a small hope that he will survive...at least the episode. Meanwhile Meredith is in the Maternity wing with Baby Grey. As touching as the scenes with mother and baby are, I do feel Meredith gets stuck in a hospital bed on doctor's orders at least on a season, which removes her from the action and essentially from the episode. Despite pleas for a wheelchair or at least updates, she is benched. Later on Weber puts her in charge of making his medical decisions, so she was back in play by mid-episode. Meredith isn't alone in her hospital room for long. News of the newborn spreads and soon attracts every main player on the show.
There is a truly d'awww worthy moment when Alex stops by and Meredith offers him the baby as a de-stressor. When Christina asks if having Dr. Bailey and Baby Grey (also a Bailey) share a name will be confusing, Meredith (or rather Shonda at her very best) offers, "If I say Bailey peed on me," I think it's safe to assume it's my son." Classic. Due to the high amount of foot traffic, the room also serves as an impromptu meeting place for the doctors-turned-board-members. However, on Grey's, it's never a good idea to have every doctor in the room at one time, especially when one just cheated on the other. Remember Dr. Boswell? Callie does. Last season ended with Callie and Arizona (Calzona) in a this-could-end-the-marriage fight about Dr. Robin's infidelity. This culminates in Callie outing Arizona as a cheater in front of all the doctors and Baby Grey. Awkward. Alex, Arizona's pediatrics bro, comforts her periodically, but little sympathy is curried for Arizona. Her attempts at apologizing, see the "I'm sorry I'm such a slut" line she rehearses in the supply room, were more funny than they were honest. Arizona's attitude borders on an ndb-it'll-blow-over stance, which is frightening for any fans of the couple.
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This is the first of many snags the Grey's couples hit over the course of the episode. The happy tidings are soon counterbalanced by a tidal wave of relationship drama. With the exception of the Shepherd-Grey family, everyone at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital can't seem to keep there relationships afloat. Alex and Jo, having finally admitting having feelings for one another, struggle to make the jump from platonic best friends to boyfriend-girlfriend. It doesn't help that Alex has slept with a number of Jo's friends in just about every on-call room and supply closet there is. The presence of a children sends Owen into a broody downward spiral and he spend the majority of the episode looking like a kicked puppy. He and Christina try to maintain a friendly demeanor, but Christina holding Baby Grey probably didn't seem to help. Despite being engaged, April still catches herself looking longingly at Avery, who does his best to start anew with Stephanie and forget her. The back-and-forth with April has become rather dull at this point, so I found myself wondering more about her hair color than worrying about the future of the couple. Stephanie appears to be unaware of the lingering chemistry between the two and leaves Avery to fend for himself whist she rocks the ER.
The hospital is in need of repair and flooded with patients from a recent mudslide, so the need to gather the powers that be in one room is crucial. A team of first responders come in first, followed by an older woman who is more concerned about the condition of her house than her own health. In the midst of this chaos, Dr. Bailey begins to wonder where Weber is (finally) and sends Shane to find him. Still hurting from Dr. Shepherd rejection of him as a protege, Shane passes off the task on to Heather, Shepherd's new favorite. Bad move. Heather, otherwise known as Mousey, barely made an appearance before that moment, which is never a good sign. The death rate on Grey's is disturbingly high, so whenever a character's role seems to lag or whenever they are sent into a particularly precarious life-or-death situation the audience is left wondering "who is going to die?" This time it was Heather. After telling with Shane about her "912" code with Dr. Shepherd, Heather disappears to find Weber and ends up electrocuted the same way he was. The good thing is two people missing raises some real concern and Shane finds the two doctors in time (kind of.) Dr. Shepherd begins operating immediately, but reminds Shane that his choses may leave Heather with major deficients. For me, this was code for Heather's off the show. I mean who can operate with half a brain?
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The death count for season ten rose to one as Dr. Shepherd and Shane lose Heather on the table. The interns find themselves at a loss when Dr. Shepherd asks them to conform Mrs. Brooks when she arrives. Jo confesses that comes times she used Heather's deodorant without asking and Leah continues to make weird faces. I wonder what is going on there. Leah, who was in a funk before Heather's death, seemed to be in an inexplicably strange place following it. I found myself calling her sleepless intern, because all she did was complain about how little she had slept or eaten all episode. The only good thing in the Heather sequence is Derek's hair looks flawless the entire time.
As an audience member nicknaming doctors will never get old, neither will doctors nicknaming patients. Crown molding, the old woman from the mudslide, is deemed a badass by the doctors when it is revealed that she tri-aged in the field with a sharpie. One of the first responders dies under Owen's watch and the count is two. We're reminded of his worsening chances with Christina when the two try to comfort each other, but find they no longer know how to interact in a way that they deem appropriate. Another of the mudslide victims tests positive for necrotizing fasciitis and demands a quickie wedding with her first responder fiance. Cue April fidgeting with her engagement ring and more awkward moments between her and Avery. The arrival of of the fiance, Matthew, complicates the issue further. He offers April a sort of "out" when he realizes Avery was her first and that she still has feelings for him. This is made even worse and more awkward when April offers to get certified "by that place on the internet" and marry the two patients. The ceremony is eventually carried out, which is cute, but also clearly torturous for April and Avery.
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Weber's worsening condition causes Bailey and Christina to but heads over the best course of treatment. Meredith is thrown in the midst of this after it is revealed that Weber put her in charge of his care. Although how three, not one, but three, doctors had the time to pop down to records and find Weber's file while all this is going on is beyond me. As Weber's lactate levels waver there is an unexpected appearance by Mama Avery. Intermittent voice overs from Weber keep the hope that he'll survive alive, but his doctor's inability to come to a consensus is concerning. Owen is forced to play chief with Christina and Bailey. With Mama Avery holding no legal right to advise on his condition, the call is made to test his levels again and decide from there. Everyone is emotionally compromise, personally involved and Meredith is left wondering why she was picked. Avery takes this moment to stand up to his mother and tell her to stand down. Mama Avery isn't phased and demands that Weber be moved to another hospital as soon as possible. The issue surrounding his case becomes whether or not to let him get worse or to stress his heat. This is basically the story behind every action in the episode- stress the heart or let it get worse.
Outside the hospital, Arizona arrives home to find it empty- no Callie, no Callie's stuff and no baby Sophia. Ruh-roh. We find Callie and child back in Meredith's room, who offers up the Grey-Shepherd house for their use. No one tells Derek and he gets to find Callie wine drunk on their couch. Zola and Sophia are put to bed and Derek watches as Callie polishes off another bottle. It's a mess, but the best line of perhaps the entire season premier happens when Callie between swigs cries, "Everyone I ever loved either cheats on me or dies or cheats on me and dies." I feel bad for leaving McDreamy alone with Sad, Drunk Callie, but it is also kind of the best pairing possible. Can you imagine if Owen had to deal with Drunk Callie? Or Alex? Derek is the best choice and manages to hold down the fort, until Meredith lets slip to Arizona that she's harboring Callie. Arizona goes running off into the night and Christina, aka Mer's person, questions that judgement call.
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With Calzona having officially gone to shit, Christina and Owen begin to function together again as if to restore balance to the Grey's universe. We're treated to a good ol' fashioned Grey's sex scene as they collectively decide that their last time together wasn't there best work. Christina deserves an award to responding to Owen's compliments with, "Thanks. You gonna send a card? On pretty stationary?" They're post-breakup sex keeps the episode from being just the saddest thing ever. The couple does struggle with finding a mid-ground between not talking and having sex. Christina takes "grabbing lunch" off the table and both recognize that it's never just that.
The interns continue to struggle with what to tell Mrs. Brooks. Ross doesn't speak and sits looking like he's disintegrating inside. They are imparted with a story which was told to Mrs. O'Malley upon George's death in which he clumsily spilled stolen green jello everywhere. Alex offers Jo and the interns his stash of alcohol to get things moving. The interns get schwasted and start revealing secrets about one another. Jo tells them what we already know- she's a street kid, to which Stephanie demands to be taught how to shoplift. We also learn that Leah's mom knew Mark Sloan and Stephanie was a cheerleader. Her cheer routine is interrupted when Mrs. Brooks finally arrives. The intern repeat the George story as if it were their own, plus the shoplifting joke with Heather's name inserted. Leah's comment that her and Brook's weren't "soul mates" is interesting a fuck given that she says almost nothing else.
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Callie berates Arizona's behavior saying she screwed "some whore on shore leave" and Derek is forced to sit politely through the entire thing. Arizona responds by calling Callie a "baby snatcher" and the insults fly. The weird almost slut-shaming continues when April laughing off banging Avery in a bathroom because she couldn't handle her boards. Avery, luckily, steps up at that point and calls April on her shit. He points out how her reaction is entirely on her and demands to stop being blamed. Points for him. April takes this to heart and proposes to Matthew, effectively refusing his out and re-agreeing to marry him. She has an almost Christina Yang moment when she tells him that she is indecisive because she sees "eight sides to everything." April then meets the dead first responder's wife and Stephanie tells the crown molding patient that her house is gone. Crown molding explains her ability to tri-ag and describes her street as "a few houses on a side of a mountain." Hello parallel to the Grey's doctors.
This kicks Stephanie and the interns into gear and they decide, in true Grey's fashion, that they have to take care of one another and rush off to help in the mudslide. In doing so, I deem them officially real Grey's interns. That added to the suggestion of "secret sex in the bathrooms" makes them undeniably part of the Hospital way of life. The other doctors remember how to rally around one another and each reaches out to/for help. Bailey calls Ben only to get his voicemail. Christina helps Derek manage the shitshow that is Callie and Arizona arguing in his foyer. The image of all the senior doctors together in one house is reminiscent of first season, even if two are yelling at each other. Christina plays referee and sends Arizona outside with Sophia, despite Callie's protests proving that she can indeed "see two points of view" and is "mature." Derek sits in the background peeling an orange- clearly beat from what can definitely be described as a challenging day. Hope is restores as we flash back to the hospital and Weber opens his eyes.
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