Are the rest of you as exhausted as I am? It took all night. Heck, it took most of the season. But our beloved Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital dodged a bullet, escaped the executioner and lived to see another day. In “This Is Why We Fight” SGMW rose like a phoenix from the ashes and we can all collectively exhale and breathe a sigh of relief…that this storyline has finally come to an end.
“We’re Trying To Buy The Hospital!”
In what was the dominant story of the episode The Five (Derek, Meredith, Cristina, Arizona, and Callie) scurried about trying to finder an investor before the hourglass ran out and the hospital was liquidated (!) because Big, Bad Pegasus only wanted it for scrap. This was actually more fun that it sounds because interwoven with all of the cloak-and-dagger covert meetings and tongue-in-cheek riffs on quirky billionaires headed to Dubai were both some clever and some poignant moments.
Secrets never stay secret at Seattle Grace and this episode was no exception. Meredith had Intern Heather acting as her Mole and before long Mousy had not only gathered Top Secret Intel but blabbed it all over the hospital. Interns were in a panic and our favorite veterans were waxing nostalgic and preparing to move on to new gigs.
The pipeline also worked in reverse. Heather was able to provide Mer with pivotal information at a crucial moment and finally things were looking up as Richard (who had already started to connect the dots) and Owen (whom Cahill had kept completely in the dark but Cristina enlightened) were finally brought into the loop and stepped up to contribute to the cause. Alas, it seemed all for naught as the aforementioned Quirky Billionaire “wasn’t feeling it” and passed on their offer. Sad face.
The Heart of The Hospital
Meanwhile, Miranda Bailey prepared to go on job interviews since SGMW was a “sinking ship”. She first resisted but finally embraced Owen’s assertion that she is The Heart of The Hospital and proved this, once again, with her interaction with the newest crop of interns. I know I can’t be alone in thinking back to how she trained MAGIC (Meredith, Alex, George-RIP, Izzie, and Cristina). She played a key role in making them into the surgeons they are today which is why the icing on the cake was a lovely scene between Miranda and her own mentor, Richard, (on the bridge, of course) as they grappled with the likelihood that the hospital would close. Time to Ugly Cry.
“I Was Trying To Protect You”
There were some bright spots amongst the bleakness. In a scene that had me cheering, Cristina told Owen the truth about the walkout, the buyout attempt, and that she was trying to protect him. And he believed her! No drama. No misunderstandings. No nonsense. In a tangible display of how much these characters have grown both as individuals and as a couple, there was just mature, loving, mutual support and working towards a common goal complete with reassuring hand touching. Woo Hoo! Huge Smile!
“I Don’t Want To Never See You Again”
In tangentially related plot, Alex and Jo continued their weird dance. As they worked together to remove a young patient’s tumor (“Adios, Phil!”), Jo was wowed by Alex’s compassion and skills and realized that if the hospital closed these adventures were about to end. She, like he with her the episode before, began to See Alex In A New Way. I will grudgingly admit that my Grinch heart nearly grew a size or so as Jo sobbed quietly, but then about a millisecond later, I recovered myself. Still, I am nothing if not realistic and it’s crystal clear what’s coming so I suppose I’d better get used to it even if I still shudder at the thought. The fans are calling them Jolex. Jolex! Really? We can do better than that and so can Alex Karev.
“It’s Time For You To Come To Boston”
It was ostensibly a “B” plot. Catherine Avery was in town and lobbied for Jackson to move back to Boston. After all, wasn’t it about time for him to assume more responsibility at the Harper Avery Foundation? About half-way through the episode I realized that Debbie Allen (Catherine) had only been in one scene and I began to grow suspicious and, sure, enough…the Harper Avery Foundation bought the hospital and saved the day. Hoorah! With one caveat. As the primary investor, they want one seat on the board. And that seat is to be filled by none other than Jackson Avery. A small price to pay, in my view, but still…the looks on their faces! “Give your mama a kiss, Jackson. She just bought you a hospital.” Oh, boy!
Grey’s Anatomy will be on a mini-hiatus for the next few weeks but will return soon (I’m guessing March 14) with an all-new episode, “Transplant Wasteland”, airing on ABC.
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(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
