Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 16X13
I watched the new episode of Grey’s Anatomy over the weekend. I hated the opening, but I liked the rest of the episode. This episode made me laugh a lot too and I’m glad they’ve brought the humour back to Grey’s! After last week’s standalone episode were back to our regularly scheduled program! Meredith and DeLuca are making out in bed together. Yuck. A phone goes off. It’s DeLuca’s. His incurable patient Suzanne is being moved to the CCU. Suzanne still isn’t getting any better. DeLuca says he hopes Dr. Riley can help. Meredith asks who that is. DeLuca says she’s the doctor from San Francisco that he’s bringing in to help with the case. He thought he told her.
Mer points out that they didn’t do a lot of talking last night. I’m trying to understand her actions here. DeLuca breaks up with her over his own insecurities, then refuses to talk to her about it, and then barks at her about his case and so she sleeps with him? I get that she’s lonely but come on! He treats her like crap, they have nothing in common, and he told Maggie he meant what he said. This is why I hate them together. They make no sense and yet they keep breaking up and getting back together. DeLuca tells Mer that Dr. Riley is a diagnostic genius and that he used Mer’s name to lure her to here. Again, he broke up with her because he couldn’t handle that she was better than him but now that his patient is dying, he’s fine with it? WTF?
As usual DeLuca is only interested in Mer for what she can give him. He wants to be with her not be a part of her family. Her superiority is a problem until he can use it to his advantage. What a leech! That being said I do know people who slept with or temporarily got back together with an ex because they missed them or didn’t want to be alone or because it was easy so I do kinda get that from Mer’s perspective. It’s still dumb though. Mer thinks DeLuca’s move was resourceful luckily for him. He follows that up with, “Look at some point we should probably talk about us.”
NOW he wants to talk? He couldn’t give Mer the time of day last we saw him. What an ass. That’s one of the things I hate most about them. When DeLuca wanted to talk Mer wasn’t interested then when Mer wanted to talk DeLuca wasn’t interested. They’re never on the same page. It’s exhausting to watch. Just move on already. Mer says they will talk about where they stand but he should go save Suzanne’s life first. They kiss and he leaves. Thank god. We get a sweet Ben and Bailey moment and then Bailey goes into work and Ben goes off to sleep all day! LOL!
Owen comes to talk to Richard at Pac North. Richard tells him that the hospital has been purchased by the Fox Foundation. Owen thinks he’s joking. He’s very much not. Richard tells him about his and Catherine’s fight and that now everyone has to report to Grey Sloan and interview with Tom Koracick to keep their jobs. Seriously? What is her problem? Owen asks if Alex knows. Richard says he’s still in Iowa dealing with family issues. He said he called to tell him Pac North was closing and in response Alex texted him a laugh until you cry emoji with a party hat! LOL! That is so Alex! Then Maggie walks in excited for her first day! Oh jeez! They have to break the news.
Meanwhile over at Grey Sloan it’s Schmitt’s first day back. He’s nervous. Nico’s unhappy that Schmitt is still crashing at his place. He wants Schmitt to move out and get his own place because they’re not at the cohabiting stage yet. To be fair Nico’s got a point. Levi’s never lived on his own and that’s an important step in adulthood that everyone needs to take. I’m with Nico on this one. Next we see Hayes and his boys coming down the main staircase. He introduces them to Meredith. They’re bored and disinterested as teenage boys usually are.We learn some very important information about Hayes in this scene in that he and Mer have something else in common. They’re both white parents raising black children as both of Hayes boys are black.
I find this really interesting as it adds a level of complexity and commonality to Hayes’ story and to his and Mer’s relationship. And look at that smile! Look at how her face lights up when she talks to him! Swoon! It also tells us more about Hayes’ family because this means that either his kids are adopted like Zola was or he was married to a black woman. Being a part of a biracial family comes with its own unique challenges and seeing the characters explore that I think could be really interesting. It could also be good for Zola in that she would gain older siblings of the same race that could help her through stuff that her white family members can’t. Derek always said that he wanted her to have black people in her life that could help her.
I love the idea of them all becoming a family. Derek always said that if something happened to him he didn’t want Mer to be alone which is why he encouraged her to connect with her sisters and have kids and wanted Maggie to be there for Zola. Hayes fits the bill perfectly in that he’s exactly the kind of man Meredith needs in her life and that Derek would have wanted for her and I love that! Plus, he’s got Cristina’s stamp of approval! Hayes tells Mer that his boys used to love getting a tour of whatever new hospital he was working at. Now they just want to know where the cafeteria is. LOL! Mer asks why they’re not at school. Hayes tells her it’s parent teacher conference day. Hayes tells the boys to put back whatever they’re messing with and carries on.
After he leaves Amelia walks up to Mer and says she saw DeLuca leave the house this morning. She asks if they’re back together. Mer says she doesn’t know and asks why she’s so interested. While I’m sad that we didn’t get to see more of Meredith and Hayes this episode and that Mer and DeLuca slept together I do like that they’re building Mer and Hayes’ friendship organically. One of my big pet peeves is that following her relationships with Derek and Finn every relationship Mer had was something they threw her into. There was no build up and they always pursued her. I like that they’re building her relationship with Hayes slowly over time. They’re becoming friends. We’re seeing all that they have in common and he’s not pursuing her like a cheetah chasing a gazelle on the savannah.
Amelia tells Mer that she’s anxious and so she’s deflecting and looking for examples of love enduring hardships. Mer laughs and says she wouldn’t go that far yet concerning her and DeLuca but the sex is great. She asks if that counts. Amelia says it doesn’t hurt. I like that Amelia and Mer are friends now. It’s so much more interesting than watching them fight. And again we’re back where we started with Mer and DeLuca. She’s having fun and enjoys sleeping with him. He’s head over heels for her and wants a serious relationship with none of the strings. The strings being her family, friends, and kids. Sigh. Amelia runs into Jo. We find out that Amelia is getting the paternity test results back today and that she’s been avoiding Link ever since he asked for the test. Jo is upset about how Amelia’s been treating Link and makes this speech about how couples need to have all of the available information because if they do they can work things out and rise. Amelia asks Jo if she herself is going through something. Jo says Alex hasn’t been returning her calls. That he said that he’s going through something and needs time.
WTF? Seriously? Are they really going to break up Jo and Alex because the actor has moved on? That’s so dumb! Why not just kill him off then? God this is stupid. Jo says she’s deflecting because she’s anxious. Her and Amelia have that in common. I like that they’re becoming friends. Next we see Jackson asking Tom for more information. Bailey asks what’s going on. He tells her the Foundation is absorbing Pac North and its employees. Bailey didn’t know. Seriously how could Catherine not tell her? She’s the Chief of Surgery! I get that Tom is everyone’s boss now but still.
Following that Bailey walks into a patient room to find three very smelly residents. Helm and Simms are still recovering, and Brody is there helping them do research Suzanne’s case. Bailey is not amused, “Oh god lord people just because you’re injured doesn’t mean you can’t shower!” Simms replies that, “Dr. DeLuca said we could only eat and sleep.” Okay seriously? That’s abusive and also foolish. They’re still recovering! What does Mer see in this asshole? As funny as that line from Bailey was the fact that DeLuca forbade the sick residents he’s in charge of from showering until they figure out what’s wrong with Suzanne is super messed up! No one knows what’s wrong with Suzanne at this point and a bunch of smelly, tired, and sick residents are not going to be able to solve it.
We cut to a patient room to see Suzanne’s sister telling her about how her daughter kissed someone named Taylor at school. We then find out that her sister’s been digging up dirt on DeLuca and Grey Sloan. She’s not happy. She’s seen the hospital hell article. Yikes! That’s when Dr. Riley walks in! She sets up her tablet and DeLuca is confused. Then she starts signing. The tablet is to connect her to her interpreter so she can communicate with them. She says she’s here for a consult with Dr. Grey who as you recall has no idea who this woman is because DeLuca didn’t tell her!
I love that they’re showing the different ways Deaf people working within the health care system can communicate. The Deaf community doesn’t get as much authentic representation as it should! Very cool! Dr. Riley introduces herself and DeLuca explains why she’s there. Suzanne warms to her immediately. Riley has no time for DeLuca’s nonsense and I love that! She asks him to tell Dr. Grey that she’s here already. She clearly thinks this is Mer’s case and it’s not which is going to cause a problem sooner or later. Also, there’s a big difference between using someone’s name to entice someone and saying they’re going to be working with them which is apparently what DeLuca did. Idiot.
I loved Suzanne’s sisters comment, “Wow. The competency is just slapping me in the face right now.” She is having none of DeLuca’s crap right now and I love it! Tom comes to interview everyone. Owen tells him that since Alex took a personal leave he’s been filling in as interim chief. To which Tom replies, “Cool story bro.” Oh Tom. He’s like an elephant. He never forgets and he never forgives. Tom tells Richard what he thinks is good news. That his job is safe. Richard doesn’t see it that way. Tom tells him that Catherine wants him at Grey Sloan enough to buy a craptastic hospital and pretend it’s an investment. Richard’s a hard no on that one. He says, “I thought I could do this because I miss Grey Sloan. Because I miss Bailey and Meredith and Bokhee and OR 2. God how I miss OR 2! But if Catherine thinks she can just move me where she wants like she’s playing chess?”
Richard refuses to be Catherine’s pawn. Tom tries to talk him down and does a terrible job of it! “You tell Dr. Fox she can go to hell!” Checkmate bitch! You go Richard Webber! Meanwhile in the ER Levi treats an old married couple. They’re in town to attend the Seattle Ballroom Dance Championships. They won 5 Championships back in their day! It turns out the wife has cancer and it’s terminal so they’re out living their best life. They’re very sweet and it’s very sad. Maggie is interviewing to get her job back. Tom’s on his phone. LOL! He hires her back but as an attending working under Teddy because she ghosted them.
Bailey comes to see a patient of hers who’s a foster kid that Ben brought in. He wants to know where his siblings are. Bailey has to tell them that they were taken by child services because legally she has a duty to report. He’s understandably distraught. Maggie examines Suzanne at Dr. Riley’s request. She needs another procedure. Her sister is pissed. Dr. Riley explains their approach and Suzanne agrees to the procedure. Out in the hall Dr. Riley asks DeLuca where Dr. Grey is. He says she’s in surgery. Maggie walks up and says she’s not in surgery she right there and points to her. She leaves to book an OR.
Okay it’s one thing to lie to get someone to consult on your case which is bad enough but it’s quite another to lie and say someone is in surgery in front of their sister whose your ex when they’re actually standing two metres away. What the hell? DeLuca’s defining characteristic at this point in the series is that he’s an asshole. He does whatever he wants to get what he wants and he doesn’t care about the consequences. I wish they’d just write him off already! Dr. Riley walks over to Mer. She introduces herself and says it’s good to finally meet her. Mer thinks she’s her consult from UCLA. DeLuca tries to correct her and says she’s from UCSF. She asks if Suzanne is her patient and Mer tells her she’s consulted but that’s it.
Mer says she’s at a loss and that she’s heard great things about her. She says it was great to meet her, but she has to go because she’s being paged. She leaves and Dr. Riley is livid. She calls DeLuca out on the fact that he lied to her. DeLuca says he prefers the word lured. What an ass! Dr. Riley’s had enough. She’s leaving. DeLuca really has no redeeming qualities at this point. DeLuca stops her and says that if she leaves now the case will drive her crazy because it will keep her up at night because it’s too rare, they’re too lost, and she’s too good to just walk away. He’s projecting here. That’s how HE feels not her. God he’s such an ass.
Meanwhile Tom is making Owen wait till the very end to be interviewed because Owen was an ass to him and Tom’s petty like that. Amelia and Link talk in the green room. She says she’s getting the results back tonight. She wants to know what’s going to happen with them when they get the results back. Link says he doesn’t know. She asks him if he can try to know. She says he told her he loves her and asks if that’s true and if he wants to be with her and be in her baby’s life. He says that her and Owen have a complicated history and he feels that will shape her future if Owen’s the father. Links says he loves her, but he needs to know. Amelia says okay and leaves. I’m struggling to understand Link’s behaviour here. If he loves her it shouldn’t matter who the biological father is.
Jackson runs into Maggie and they talk about Koracick as well as Catherine and Richard’s break up. They banter and laugh. I’m glad they’re not fighting anymore. I always liked them better as friends. I hope they get back to that. Meanwhile Hayes catches up to Meredith in the hallway. The way she smiles when he calls out to her makes my heart melt! Hayes asks Mer if she’s seen his boys by any chance. She says no and asks if they’re hiding or maybe just wandering? He says they’re trying to torture him by making sure they’re late for the parent teacher conference. The way she smiles while talking to Hayes about his boys and her kids gives me butterflies! She looks radiant! THAT is what true chemistry looks like!
Hayes says that sometimes he thinks he hates them. He says he doesn’t know how Mer does it. The kids, the job, staying sane. Mer’s response is “Who says I’m sane?” She says that the city shut off her water once because she forgot to pay the bill and she didn’t even notice. Her daughter had to tell her. Oh Mer! Never change. The two of them laugh about the joys of parenting and having to juggle it all. Just then Levi calls Mer to look at some scans. Hayes says he’ll leave her to it and goes to find his boys. I love the easy rapport they’re building between the two of them and I love the way she smiles when he’s around.
Levi brings Mer in to talk to the old couple. The wife’s cancer has spread to the rest of her body. If they tried to operate it’s unlikely she’d recover. This is it. Levi is moved to tears as are we. Maggie goes to operate on Suzanne. Dr. Knox welcomes her back and Suzanne is concerned. She tells Maggie that the Taylor her daughter kissed is a girl. She needs her cool supportive Mom not her uptight Aunt. And her other daughter was already an orphan once and she won’t recover if Suzanne dies so she really needs Maggie to save her. Maggie reassures her. They’ve got her. Suzanne’s speech made me tear up. She really loves her kids. The husband of the dying woman Levi’s been treating comes to talk to him. He says Levi reminds him of his grandson and asks him if he can help a sad old man with a very big favour. Levi says he’ll do anything. My heart!
Maggie and DeLuca operate on Suzanne. Is this guy who can barely do his job seriously trying to backseat drive the head of cardio? For real? Who the hell does he think he is? As Maggie says Suzanne isn’t here for her feelings she’s here for her hands and her expertise and that is her focus and it should be his too. That is what separates a great surgeon from a hack. Maggie gets that, but DeLuca never will it seems. Following the surgery Maggie and DeLuca come to see Dr. Riley. She decided to stay after all. Dr. Riley says that when Suzanne wakes up they need to withdraw all treatment. Dr. Riley believes the medication is masking the cause of Suzanne’s illness and they need it to present itself so they can treat her properly. DeLuca is concerned because if they do what she’s asking Suzanne could go into septic shock and die within a short period of time. Maggie thinks Dr. Riley’s suggestion is reckless and cavalier. But it’s not her case or place to decide. She leaves and tells DeLuca to follow up.
DeLuca still disagrees but as Dr. Riley points out he asked for her recommendation and this is it. Levi comes in and asks to borrow the other residents. DeLuca tells him to go in his typical dismissive fashion. Owen is still waiting to find out if he has a job. Amelia comes to talk to him. Owen is enraged but as Amelia points out Tom hates him because he stole his girlfriend. He won. He got the girl, the family, the whole Megillah. Tom’s messing with him because he’s in pain and he’s lonely. Her advice is to let him have his fun. Owen asks how she does it. Feel everyone’s feelings so deeply all the time. Owen says it must be exhausting. Amelia says it is. She rests her head on his shoulder for a minute and then leaves. This scene was not as bad as I was anticipating from the thumbnail I saw. It was actually quite sweet.
Over in the cafeteria the residents have lit candles and put out flowers. They bring the dying woman out to meet her husband who’s in a tux. They reminisce about the day they met. He asks her to dance. His wife is worried because she doesn’t have a gown and looks terrible. Levi hands her a floral bell sleeved feather trimmed robe that she can put on over her hospital gown. Her husband tells her she looks exquisite. Helm puts on the song Moon River and the two of them dance in a candlelit cafeteria like they’re on the world’s best stage! My heart! More people come to watch them dance including the cafeteria staff, some of the nurses, Nico, and Meredith. We find Richard sitting outside on a bench. Jackson comes to talk to him. He says he’s already been to a meeting, he doesn’t want to come home to an empty house, and he’s not sure where he works so he’s just sitting there.
Jackson says he works here and Richard says it’s not by choice. They were building something at Pac North and Catherine took it all away with a phone call to the bank. Jackson says it’ll pass. It’s bad now but soon enough him and Catherine will be joking about it over coffee. Wow. Jackson really doesn’t get it. Shaking my head over here. I loved his line, “Son, After Godzilla’s done stomping all over Tokyo the Mayor doesn’t take Godzilla to brunch.” Sing it Richard!
Next we find Meredith in the Attending's Lounge. Bailey walks in. Mere talks about how she’s feeling. She says, “There was a time when I would have made a dance floor for the dying old lady. Andrew and I broke up the night of my trial and there was a time when that would’ve meant months of drama for me. But instead I went home and went to bed and I woke up and I was just excited to go practice medicine. I used to be a romantic. I would’ve been the one to build the dance floor in the cafeteria.” And now she’s leaving the dance floors to the residents. Bailey says she’s not lacking in passion she’s just grown up a little. I’m so glad they’re friends again! Next she asks, “What would you do if Ben dumped you?” “I’d burn him to the ground.” Sing it Bailey! They’re called exes for a reason!
That’s what Mer needs to do. Burn DeLuca to the ground, move on, and start over. I like their talk here. Mer used to be a romantic. She used to be the person who built houses of candles and did big romantic gestures. But when Derek died she stopped being that person. She deserves someone who makes her feel that way again. And no one. Not Riggs or DeLuca or Thorpe or that transplant surgeon or anyone else has made her feel that way. The way that Derek did. She deserves to feel that way again with someone who truly loves her and wants to be a part of her family. I hope she finds it. I do. I hope she finds someone that makes her want to be a romantic again. I think Hayes could be that person and I hope that we get to see it!
Because she deserves it and that’s what Derek would want for her. He wouldn’t want her to close herself off or settle for second best or some fling. He’d want her to find love again, true love, with someone deserving of her. Jackson comes in and tells them that Richard walked because he doesn’t want to work on Koracick’s terms and honestly neither does he. He asks if they’re just going to let this happen. Bailey’s all hell no! She’s not going to sit by helpless while her family gets split apart again. They’re going to do something about this. Finally!
DeLuca’s speaking with Suzanne and her sister. They’re explaining what they want to do. Her sister is pissed. She thinks they’re giving up. She pleads with Suzanne to let her transfer her to another hospital. That’s when Dr. Riley steps in. She explains that she has three sisters. She talks about each of them and then talks to Suzanne’s sister directly. She explains that she’s too sick to be moved safely and even if they could there’s no one better than her. She explains that because she’s Deaf she’s learned to listen with her whole body and that when the medications are gone the disease can start talking so she can figure out what’s wrong with her and hopefully save her life.
With that she convinces them. Suzanne consents to the withdrawal of treatment. Dr. Riley leaves the room and DeLuca follows her. He tells her that he also has a sister and starts to compliment her. That’s when Dr. Riley stops him. She’s an only child. Daaaamn. Look at her. Getting the job done. I did not see that coming. Dr. Riley you continue to surprise me. Well done! I really like the way they’ve written Dr. Riley so far. Her Deafness is one part of her but it’s not the sole focus. As it should be. She’s a real character with complexity not a stand in and that’s cool.
We cut to the boardroom. Where Tom has just been paged by Bailey, Jackson, Richard, Meredith, and Owen. Shit is about to go down. Buckle up. They tell him the hospital board of which most of them are members has come to a decision. They’re all prepared to quit. Mic drop! “I’m sensing a but.” Right you are Tom! They explain that Dr. Fox wouldn’t really like that as she wants them here at Grey Sloan and she’ll wonder why Tom didn’t do more to protect her Crown Jewel hospital. They’ve only just recovered from the hospital hell article and as Meredith says, “We could blame me for that or we could just remember that I’m a Catherine Fox Foundation award winner and a media darling and I mean you want me here.” Like a boss! And that’s why 16 seasons later we still love her. She gets stuff done like the badass she is.
As Bailey as Tom can’t afford to lose all his best doctors and his inability to see that could cause Catherine to rethink the whole Chief of Chiefs title, salary, and benefits. Tom concedes. He asks them to name their terms. Bailey says they’re a family. He doesn’t get to rule with an iron fist, not anymore. Their terms are as follows. Owen and Richard get their jobs back. Teddy and Maggie become co-chiefs and he finds the money to cover it. Alex and Hayes become co-chiefs as well or they all quit. Boom!
If Justin Chambers was still on the show this is definitely a scene he’d been in. Fighting for Grey Sloan with the rest of them no doubt. Their deal is this: he agrees to their terms and gets to take all the credit with Catherine. They get their hospital back and he gets to save face. It’s a win win. Tom agrees. It’s a triumphant moment! Tom leaves the room and we hear everyone cheering. It’s great for our heroes but not for Tom. It must be hard hearing everyone cheer at your destruction. Amelia’s right. Tom’s in pain and he’s taking it out on everyone else. Tom is such a complex and interesting character. Greg Germann brings such beautiful complexity to his portrayal.
Nico and Levi are getting it on in an on call room. But soon Levi stops. He says he doesn’t just want sex. He says he wants a dance partner. He wants what that old couple have. Nico asks if he’s reciting a poem or if he’s being literal. Levi is frustrated. Nico is confused. Next we see Link in the green room. Jeez there are a lot of plants in there! They’ve definitely added more. It’s getting a bit excessive in my opinion. I mean how many plants do you need? Amelia looks through the window at him. He doesn’t see her. She takes a shaky breath then walks away. Link gets a text. It’s from Amelia. She says she’s sorry but she didn’t run the test. She needs more time. This part really pissed me off. I get that she needs more time but Amelia should have told Link that sooner. I hate that they’re drawing this storyline out. Just get the damn test already! Ugh!
As Meredith’s voice over plays we see Jo come home to a dark empty flat. The future for her and Alex uncertain. Meredith's voice over in this episode is about time and how we're struggling to overcome the simple inescapable truth that eventually everything ends. But that for every clock that counts down another restarts and when one thing ends something new always begins. I feel like this is one of those voice overs that can be taken in a variety of ways depending on how you look at it and which ships you're rooting for. You could take it as Meredith realizing that her relationship with DeLuca has ended and that she needs to move on. Or that Amelia and Link's relationship might be ending. Or that Jo and Alex might be over. Or you could take it the opposite way. It's very open ended.
