Previously on Grey’s Anatomy: Bailey would rather save the life of a neo-Nazi than be with her family, Lexie put Meredith in her place again, Gizzie realized they’re better friends than lovers, and McDreamy got the urge to merge with Rose.
Tonight’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy is very special, because it’s the episode for which Chandra Wilson will win an Emmy award. Those annoying Meredith voiceovers are once again being put aside so that Bailey can speak her mind. Seeing as how Bailey is the most awesome character on the show, this is a very good thing.
Dr. Miranda Bailey is telling us about God creating the world, and how when God created man, things have been going downhill ever since. Oh great, Shonda Rhimes is gonna try to get all feminist on us. Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Sloan (Eric Dane) are hiking as McDreamy is proud of some new house he plans on building. He shows the plans to Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), and in the Grey house, everyone is awoken by the aroma of Mer cooking breakfast. There’s a lot going on here: Mer is cooking for her sister, who is still angry at Alex (Justin Chambers) for sleeping with Ava, and George (T.R. Knight) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) are sleeping in neutral corners.
Bailey is getting ready to go to work when husband Tucker wants to talk about their relationship, which she again doesn’t have time for. At the hospital, Callie (Sara Ramirez) and Hahn (Brooke Smith) are friendly now that they’re drinking buddies. Nurse Rose flirts with Derek, who is conflicted, because even though he wants to date Rose, he can’t because of Meredith. Izzie is apparently giving up on cardio, to Cristina’s happiness, but then Hahn picks Alex to assist. Man, she really hates Cristina (Sandra Oh).
The cardio patient, Elizabeth Archer, is missing, and when they find her standing over another patient, he is suddenly cured, and Miss Archer claims to be a healer. Hahn doesn’t believe or care, and Archer wants to get all spiritual on a new age healing method to cure herself.
Things are pretty bad all around Seattle Grace. Lexie (Chyler Leigh) is breaking out because, even though she’s allergic to eggs, she ate Meredith’s omelet because of her sibling issues. Also, George’s mom is in town, complete with baby clothes for Callie, because she doesn’t know about the break-up. Izzie, on the other hand, is all happy to see George’s mom, and there’s some wacky misinterpretation where Izzie spills it to George’s mom about the broken marriage and the failure of his residency test. George’s mom is upset and angry at her son, because they’re Catholics who don’t believe in divorce or adultery.
Bailey is struggling to deal with all the spinning plates, including a constantly ringing cell phone. When she finally answers, it’s Tucker, paging her from the ER. Bailey walks in to see her son rolled in, and to hear her husband tell her there was an accident. Bailey’s world crashes around her.
Baby Tuck was trapped under a fallen bookshelf. The Chief (James Pickens, Jr.) pushes Bailey away while Bailey and Tucker debate who left the gate open and who’s to blame for this situation. Tucker claims it was her because the baby was looking for his mom since the bookshelf was full of medical books, and Bailey gives a sarcastic speech about how terrible Tucker’s life is because he married her.
All the kids gather around to fret over Tuck. The Chief puts Meredith in charge of babysitting Bailey. Cristina is convinced they need to be detached and not think of the patient as Bailey’s kid. Izzie mocks her for being a robot. Shut up, Izzie, Cristina is a million times better a surgeon than you’ll ever be, you LVAD wire-pulling loser!
They get the chest films and see some bad stuff. Bailey walks in and gives a blow-by-blow tutorial diagnosing the film and explaining everything that’s wrong with the patient. She tries to be a good doctor, and a good teacher, but by the end, her voice is cracking because the patient in the dire situation she’s describing is her son.
Hahn is performing the surgery, and Bailey gets worried and rushes into the room to be with her son. Hahn orders her out, because the last thing they need is the patient’s mother watching. Hahn refuses to proceed until Bailey leaves, and to help out, Cristina promises to hold Tuck’s hand for Bailey. Izzie looks a bit disappointed because Cristina isn’t so robotic anymore. When Hahn asks Cristina to finish the surgery, she refuses, instead she keeps holding Tuck’s hand.
Elsewhere, Callie and George’s mom have a talk about God, and whether he’s always watching. In other religious news, the faith healer and her friends are telling Alex that his Chakras are all messed up because he was a good boy, but not a good man, and something dark happened to him. Surely there’s a better way to start to tell the dark and sad backstory of Alex Karev than this.
In an office, Bailey is near tears, going over every detail of the morning to determine if she closed the gate or not. She has a world class meltdown about how things don’t just happen, and that there’s a reason for it all. Bailey crying is always hard to watch, because she’s supposed to be the strong,solid one. Hahn and the Chief stop by to tell them that things are looking good, but they’re not out of the woods yet. Bailey is all self righteous against Hahn, and in the ICU, she promises to spend time with Tucker and to baptize their baby.
Everyone is talking about faith. Izzie is jealous of Cristina’s faith in knowing exactly what she wants, something Izzie knows nothing about. Bailey wants to believe in the faith healer, but can’t. Or so she thinks, but then she gets the faith healer to come help out Tuck by making Bailey and Tucker hold hands and forgive each other. Everyone watches, inspired by this act. OK, I’m way too cynical for this show.
In the world of MerDer, George tells her about the Rose kiss, which sends Meredith into the typical spiral of doubt. You either trust him completely or you don’t, stop going back and forth and pick a side! Derek explains that it was one kiss when they were broken up, and Meredith is eager to fight about this and the house, and she goes as far as to bring up Addison again. Meredith doesn’t trust him, and he can’t deal with it anymore. MerDer is over! Again. Not the first time, and unfortunately, it’s probably not the last. Assuming the writers’ strike is resolved, my money is on November sweeps for the reunion of MerDer as a couple.
In the Grey’s Anatomy afterglow, George’s mom is knitting a hat for Tuck, guilting her son into feeling even worse than he already does about the whole situation. In the ICU, Bailey wants everyone to leave her alone, and then Tuck starts choking, which is good news because it means he can breathe on his own. Alex goes back to help the faith healer, and brings along Izzie. He’s trying to cure two birds with one stone, helping the faith healer, and helping Izzie find some faith in her abilities. Hahn once again pushes Sloan away because she can’t date at work. Then she goes out drinking with Callie. Lesbian subplot, anyone? Most awkwardly, George seems to want to become roommates with Lexie. Derek asks Rose on a date, and Bailey is left staring at her son while Tucker is moving into a hotel room. And despite this, Bailey still has faith.
Next on Grey’s Anatomy: Who knows. This was the last pre-strike episode, so the doors of Seattle Grace are closed until it’s resolved, which, at the earliest, is looking like September.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)
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John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
