As I predicted last week, this week’s Grey’s Anatomy (“Readiness is All”) served as part one of the season finale. It was the classic “set up” episode, moving things along and ramping up both the action and the angst while also evoking memories of days gone by (Mark Sloan!) and reminding us how far some of these characters have come (Alex Karev!). Here we go.

Patient #1: Shish Kaleon

First, can I just say how much I dislike Leah? I may like her even less than Jo and that’s saying something. She openly hoped that a patient impaled on metal rods was named Bob so she could call him Shish Kabob. REALLY? When the Original Interns used to do stuff like that it was inappropriately funny and kind of charming. Here it’s just awful. 

Anyway, Leon turned out to be really helpful and suggested a tool to cut his metal rods which led to a surgery in which (in a nice throwback to the bomb episode…remember pink mist?) Meredith found herself in an OR which might explode at any moment. Sparks plus oxygen equals fire. Owen kicked her out of the OR for her own safety which made her mad but later she thanked him. 

April was also kicked out and was sure she was being blacklisted because she failed her boards the first time around. Turns out Owen (and basically the whole hospital staff) just wanted to make sure April was in the ER ambulance bay when Matthew (accompanied by a flash mob) proposed to her! She accepted tearfully but looked uncertainly at Jackson who was devastated by the news. Sad face, Japril fans.

Patient #2: Chest Pecwell aka Jason Meyers

Remember when Jo showed up at Alex’s house last episode with a cut lip and a black eye? Most of the audience (and Alex Karev) assumed that Jason had beaten her up. Turns out (and I totally called it … ask my husband) that Jo also beat up Jason. And by beat up I mean to a pulp. The guy is lucky to have lived.  Karev (who would have beaten Pecwell himself given the chance) found his rival and brought him to the hospital where his life was saved. Karev also persuaded Meyers to keep his mouth shut about what happened. And by persuaded I mean pretty much blackmailed him, to McDreamy’s disgust. Back at Casa Karev, Alex and Jo nearly kissed before a tree crashed into the living room. The only good thing about this storyline is how Meredith and Cristina rushed to take care of Alex. The rest I hated, hated, hated. Feel free to disagree, Jolex fans.

Patient #3: Ethan’s dad aka Paul

Ethan’s dad still hasn’t woken up. Cristina can’t understand it. Meanwhile, Ethan’s grandma is considering taking her son off of the machines that are keeping him alive. Owen says it’s too soon, so Cristina runs more tests. Long story short, she discovers that Paul has a blood clot, which Derek and Mousy remove. The good news is that Paul wakes up! The bad news is that Owen was seriously considering fostering and/or adopting Ethan. Owen even had two nice conversations with Meredith (!) about it. Obviously Owen didn’t want Paul to die, but he’s still heartbroken to have “lost” Ethan. I’m convinced that this story line was never really about Ethan but rather about stirring up the issue of children for Owen and Cristina. It’s time for them to talk about this…for real this time. But can they do that with an impending super storm?

A Red Herring and Ripping Off the Band-Aid

Irritated that she was kicked out of surgery, Meredith took a bad fall in the stairwell, which was terrible. But it was also kind of inspired. It was so…ordinary. She slipped and fell, which can happen to anyone…and endangered her baby. Turns out Fetus is fine but as the episode ended (and the storm began to pick up steam) Meredith’s water broke. Of course it did. 

Meanwhile, Miranda was still petrified she would kill any patient she touched. In another nice throwback, Owen remarked that Cristina had once faced a similar situation in which she couldn’t operate. Richard tried the gentle approach to get Bailey back on the horse which was met with defiant snarkiness. He finally gave her a stern talking to, basically saying she either needed to operate or quit. She chose the former. He had a point. Sometimes you just have to rip the bandage off. 

Patient #4: Baby With The Brain Coming Out of His Face

As they worked on this case together, Arizona and visiting craniofacial surgeon Lauren Boswell continued to get their flirt on all day. They discovered they had studied under the same teacher. They rocked their surgery. They ended up in an on call room. Yikes!

Calzona fans, I truly feel badly for you. Having endured Cristina aborting Owen’s baby, Owen getting drunk and having a one night stand, and Cristina’s sex friend (not to mention having to put up with Teddy for two and a half seasons) I get that you must be heartbroken right about now. You have my condolences. This is bad, bad stuff. And while we’re at it? Poor Callie. Seriously.

Also, in tangentially-related news, the pilot Hilarie Burton (Lauren) had in play wasn’t picked up by FOX today. Does this mean she’ll be available to recur next season? Rut roh.

Storm’s Rolling In

Will Meredith and Fetus be okay? Will Owen and Cristina finally have The Talk? Will Calzona survive Arizona’s infidelity? Will Leah get struck by lightning or drown in a flash flood? Batten down the hatches, my friends, because the storm is coming.

The season 9 finale of Grey’s Anatomy, “Perfect Storm,” airs Thursday, May 16 on ABC.

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(Image courtesy of ABC)

Janalen Samson

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV