Last week on Grey’s Anatomy, Cristina was robbed of a Harper Avery, thus catapulting us straight into the events that will take our beloved Dr. Yang away from us. God, that’s depressing.
Meredith and Owen are on a plane heading back home to Seattle, but Cristina is nowhere to be found. Meredith is both pissed off about the Averys and worried about her person and Owen tries to get them to delay takeoff. Alas, Cristina is a no show so they fly home without her. Derek is getting the kids ready for the day when there is a knock at the door. His sister Amy has shown up unexpectedly and walks in the MerDer Mansion like she owns the place. Didn’t they teach you any manners over at Private Practice, Amy? She tells Derek that her boyfriend has proposed and she had a bit of a freak out. She’d like to borrow Derek’s family for a dress rehearsal to see if she’s up for this whole marriage and children thing. Derek happily leaves her in charge of the kids, and peaces out. He does warn her about Zola’s habit of sticking things up her nose. I feel you Zola. When I was a child, I got a button stuck in there. Don’t ask.
At Chez Calzona, Callie and Arizona are happily pouring over their calendars trying to plan the perfect time to have a gayby together. They are all dimples and turkey baster talk, and April has to come in and ruin it all. She buts in, giving her opinion about the schedule, prompting Callie to order her to get the hell out of her vagina. I have a feeling this is the first and last time April has even been given that type of instruction. After two days, she’s already beginning to wear out her welcome with the ladies.
It’s morning sexy times with Alex and Jo, but before they get too far into it, Jo asks why Alex is so distracted. He’s got to give Dr. Butthole and Associates an answer by the end of the day, and frankly, he’s terrified to break the news to Arizona that he’s leaving. Jo gives him some excellent advice about paying her compliments to ease the blow. If only Alex knew what a compliment was.
The Cardiomyopathy kids aren’t doing well. Little Frankie is suffering from organ damage, and Ivy is still in danger. A donor heart is on the way for Frankie, and Ivy is on the UNOS list for a heart to replace the one she’s rejecting. Jesus that’s a lot of hearts. Outside of the room, Arizona comments that she hasn’t heard from Yang, and finds a hovering Alex nearby. A smile is not a natural expression for Alex, so Arizona is already suspicious. When he compliments her hair, she knows he’s gone and done something.
As if Jackson wasn’t already wildly unpopular at the hospital, he has now been tasked to trim some of the research programs that are not bringing in fast results. Derek calls his research olly olly oxen free because he’s White House approved.
When Meredith arrives at the hospital, she runs into April, who’s concerned about Cristina. Meredith turns her rage onto April because she is technically an Avery now. This will probably end up being the highlight of April’s day.
Alex fesses up to the private practice offer, and Arizona is surprised at the short notice. He expects her to yell or gnash her teeth, but she doesn’t. There is no time, because Frankie’s new heart has arrived.
Also not doing well is Brayden, who has likely picked up a virus from his little bubble escaping caper the week prior. He is unconscious and his parents are growing increasingly upset. Bailey assures them that they are still on track for the genome procedure, but his parents are not so sure.
Dr. Russell, the head of cardio, steps in for Cristina to operate on Frankie. Just as he is about to start, Cristina shows up and takes over. He sneaks in some digs about the Harper Avery loss, while Alex and Arizona look on. Cristina sees their eyes behind their scrub masks and robotically says “It was an honor just to be nominated.” She’s devastated.
Across the country, Richard shows up at Catherine Avery’s office to whisk her away for a weekend together. She suspects that he has arrived to press her for answers about Cristina’s loss, but he denies it.
Jackson and April bump into each other, and awkwardly dance around their situation. She mentions Cristina and Jackson says that he was as shocked as the next guy that she lost. April needs to stop by the house to pick up some things, and Jackson is disappointed that she isn’t coming home for good. When April finds out about Jackson’s new task of cutting programs, she blows up at him like a regular Meredith Grey.
In the ER, April rushes to help a young man who had been walking cross country and was hit by a truck mere miles from his final destination. The patient wasn’t part of some sort of group or charity, he was pulling a Cheryl Strayed, and just wanted to commit to and follow through on something for once. Cue the April/Jackson parallels. Aren’t the docs lucky that a patient who can teach them a very specific life lesson, always manages to come in at the exact perfect moment? Unfortunately, this guy’s leg is all sorts of messed up and he needs emergency surgery.
In an x-ray room, Meredith continues to vent about Cristina’s loss. Derek listens and encourages her to let it all out. Meredith is relieved when she finds out Cristina is at the hospital, and Derek makes her smile by giving her a special gift. A Spinal schwannoma, which is not delicious meat on a stick (thank you Google) but a nasty spinal tumor. They get to share a surgery just like old times. Derek tells Meredith about Amy coming to town and taking care of the children. Meredith isn’t too crazy about a former drug addict in charge of her children, but Derek reassures her that she was a very popular character on another Shondaland show.
Callie and Jo join Owen and April in the OR for Cross Country’s surgery. In a bit of ortho hazing, Callie cuts into the patient, causing what can only be described as a bloodsplosion. Sorry about your shoes there, JoJo.
In a small room, Frankie and Brayden’s moms talk about their seriously ill children. Both women feel helpless, and Frankie’s mom starts to wonder aloud if the doctors really know best. Stephanie overhears them since she is waiting for Brayden’s mom sign off on his treatment. His mother hesitates.
In Frankie’s OR, Arizona and Alex find ways to compliment Cristina left and right in an attempt to make her feel better. You’d think they know her well enough to know that this would result in the exact opposite. Frankie’s new heart isn’t pumping, so they get UNOS on the line. There’s another heart in Portland. While this may sounds like good news, Cristina throws a scalpel to the floor and orders Shane to keep Frankie on bypass until it arrives.
Back at Catherine’s office, Richard can’t help himself from asking her about Cristina’s loss. He’s convinced she should have won and the only reason for not winning would have been a major error…which there wasn’t. Catherine’s face lets us all know that there is more to the story than she is letting on.
Meredith finds a very frustrated Cristina, and reassures her that she is in her friend’s corner, ready to battle any assholes that come their way. Cristina doesn’t have time to talk though because now Ivy’s stats are falling and her heart is officially failing.
Meredith and Derek finally have their surgery date, but all Meredith can do is talk about Cristina. Jackson makes the mistake of popping his head in to ask her questions about her portal vein project. Derek whispers to Meredith about the Avery plan to cut funding to some projects, and she threatens to slash ALL THE TIRES if her even thinks about cutting her research. Jackson scoots back out, a little frightened. Thanks for ruining the MerDer date, Jackson.
Also ruining things is Jackson’s better half April. She keeps rehashing her fight with Jackson in the OR to Callie, Owen and Jo. Callie is so over April that she finds an excuse to get the hell out of there, taking Jo with her.
Brayden’s parents are arguing because his mother, who is now hysterical, doesn’t want Bailey to go ahead with the procedure. Steph, wearing a Contagion-style suit, goes to take Brayden’s blood, but it stopped by his mother. She announces that they have changed their minds.
Arizona and Alex are charged with bringing the donor heart back from Portland. They sit together on a plane, which already makes me nervous. Arizona reminisces about how the first time they met was on a plane run like this. Alex interrupts to tell her that he’s thought about his decision very hard, and he already stayed once for her when she needed him to. He needs to think about himself for a change.
Leah and Ross are left to monitor Frankie until the new heart arrives. Her current heart springs a leak however, and she begins to bleed. They track Cristina down in Ivy’s room. She’s there measuring Ivy for her own heart transplant. Ivy’s father is in the room when Shane and Leah call in. When Shane fills Cristina in on Frankie’s condition, he refers to the Triad of Death. Nice Shane, nice. Cristina walks them through, and Shane hands off the procedure to Leah. She successfully stops the bleed. Cristina assures her father that both girls will be fine.
Richard won’t let up about Cristina and finally Catherine questions his naiveté. She admits that Cristina could have never won the award. The Avery Foundation has a financial stake in the hospital and it would have been a conflict of interest. Well, that is a real pisser. Would have been nice to know that earlier, eh?
Yang rushes back to Frankie’s OR. The donor heart they received was a real lemon, and now she’s worse off than before. Alex and Arizona successfully remove the donor heart and prep it to travel. Alex still thinks that Arizona brought him along to talk him out of the job offer but that is not the case. She wanted to share one last big memory with him. She allowed herself to be sentimental and he ruined the moment. He’s mighty relieved and cheerfully tells her that he still has hospital privileges, but a moment ruined is a moment ruined.
Owen is left with April in the OR. Cross Country’s journey has got her thinking about commitment and she starts weeping about her fight with Jackson. She’s worried that this fight was “the fight” and they will never get past it. Owen assures her that they will live to fight again.
Jackson is bored out of his mind while Bailey explains her genome project. He doesn’t care if this could be the greatest medical discovery of the 21st century, he needs to see results now. Way to be a dick, Jackson. I’m a lesbian blogger and even I know that medical research takes time. Bailey assures him that they are about to put it into action, but they Steph comes to the door with bad news.
For the most part, Richard has always been a level headed man. That’s why he made such a great chief. Leave the emotion out of it, focus on the facts. This however, does not apply when he feels one of his people have been wronged. He’s furious about Catherine’s confession. Catherine pursued and used Cristina for the benefit of the foundation. No one at Grey Sloan will ever win a Harper Avery because if this as well. Catherine tries to shut it down by complimenting Richard’s idealistic nature, but he’s not having it. When he learns that Cristina had the votes to win but lost because of politics, he drops a truth bomb of his own. He came to see Catherine with the intention of proposing. He takes out the ring, plops it on the desk and leaves.
Cristina gets word that the donor heart is on the way to the hospital, and while it was intended for Frankie, Cristina suggests that it should go to Ivy. Their parents are confused, but Cristina tells them that Ivy is more stable and has a better chance. At this point, giving that heart to Frankie wouldn’t help either of them. She suggests an artificial heart for Frankie and asks the parents what they would like to do. This couldn’t be a more horrific situation for these parents, and neither of them can bear the thought of choosing one of their children oven another. They tell Cristina to make the decision. Owen finds Cristina and asks why she didn’t call him to help. She misunderstands and thinks he’s talking about the night before. No, he’s talking about his role as chief and how he’s there so she doesn’t have to make these heartbreaking decisions by herself. She knows what needs to happen though. Ivy will get the heart.
Derek calls up Amy who sounds like a superstar babysitter, who has even planned to have dinner on the table when her and Meredith get home. Meredith is like, “I love dinner!” Maybe having Amy around would be a good thing. They even have a spare bedroom. (Just one? Mansion. You have a mansion.) MerDer gets so excited with all their relaxed responsibilities and delicious dinners, that they excuse themselves to the on-call room to have the sex.
Arizona and Alex are back and Arizona tells him that of course she’d going to miss his grumpy ass, and she wants him to stay. She also knows what an amazing opportunity this will be for him. Don’t screw it up, she advises.
When the new heart arrives for Ivy, Frankie’s heart ruptures and the young girl dies on the operating table. Ivy’s surgery is a success and she has a shot. Cristina has to deliver the terrible news to their parents. Frankie and Ivy’s mother sobs and directs her grief toward Cristina. “We trusted you!” the mother screams. “What did you do to our child?”
Shane finds a distraught Leah crying in the stairwell, just as Derek instructed her to do in the previous episode. (Continuity makes me so happy.) Shane, sits down and comforts her, telling her that Frankie’s death wasn’t her fault. Her stitches held. Some patients just don’t make it. I don’t know about you, but did you pick up on an energy exchange between these two?
Jackson calls a board meeting to discuss the budget cuts, and has compiled a list of least to most successful projects. Before we can see who’s hard work is on the chopping block, Alex interrupts the meeting. He tells them all about his offer, and gives his notice. For a second there, I didn’t think that he was going to go through with it.
Owen is trying to track Cristina down again, leaving a voicemail, asking her not to disappear again. Richard stops him in the hall, with important news about the Harper Avery.
At home, Jo is attempting to scrub the blood out of her Nikes when Alex comes home. He’s feeling triumphant that he went through with quitting after all. Jo hugs him and requests a new pair of shoes now that he’s a fancy private practice surgeon.
When Meredith and Derek arrive at home, their living room is a disaster area, with Cheerios and stuffed animals strewn about. Turns out that Amy isn’t a domestic dynamo. Amy is an emotional mess and runs off crying. “Derek, you broke your sister,” Meredith nonchalantly states, “Go fix her.”
When Jackson arrives at home, April is still there picking up belongings. As she goes to leave, he apologizes and asks her to please come back home, knowing that they can get past this together. Well, they better get past it real soon because their “hypothetical child” is no longer hypothetical. April is pregnant.
Stephanie and Bailey watch Brayden from the other side of his bubble. Steph is frustrated with the stalled progress, and wonders where they go from there. When she leaves, Bailey pulls out what look to be syringes. Apparently she has no intention of sitting back and letting this life saving treatment, and her research, go to waste.
Owen has been looking all over the hospital for Cristina, and finally finds her standing fully clothed in the shower. He tells her that she made the right call with Frankie and Ivy, and did everything perfectly. She already knows that, but asks him “what is the point of any of it?” Owen blurts out that she had indeed won the Harper Avery, but was denied the award because of politics. “They used you,” he says, not even realizing that he has sealed his fate. Cristina is nothing more than a ghost now at Grey Sloan. Cristina walks out of the hospital, dazed and soaking wet, and runs off into the night.
Next week: Burke is back!
A huge thank you to my screencapper Chen Drachman who you should totally follow on Twitter (@shokoshik) and Tumblr.
Here are some of our favorite #GreysGays tweets from this week’s episode.
Either Alex changes his mind or they find a way to keep him around anyway cause I will miss the Lesbromance with Arizona. #GreysGays
– Lady Liberty (@CindyLMarshall) April 25, 2014
I love Greys so much, but this show is the worst at telling people they’re having a baby #greysgays
– bonnie rachel (@bonnierachel) April 25, 2014
Future Lara Croft, stick a fork in those shoes they are DONE #greysgays
– Samantha J. Green (@SamanthaJGreen) April 25, 2014
Japril baby and a Starship cover, why am I not happier?! #greysgays
– Jennifer (@JenKasper81) April 25, 2014
Not a fan of Leah… but she’s rocking the braids tonight. #GreysAnatomy #greys ((slept with AZ and stole her style)) #GreysGays
– jenn mw (@labgal99) April 25, 2014
Of course they killed the 1 I got mildly attached to. Why haven’t I learned by now? #greysgays #GreysAnatomy
– Catherine (@CMeushaw) April 25, 2014
STOP PUTTING CHARACTERS ON PLANES! #greysgays #GreysAnatomy
– Catherine (@CMeushaw) April 25, 2014
The first of many crotch blocks from Kepner #greysgays
– S Spears (@SAfricaphotog) April 25, 2014
This episode should be titled Try Again Next Year, Christina, At Another Hospital. #GreysAnatomy #greysgays
– oluwa-is-involved (@olubela) April 25, 2014
