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“Grey’s Anatomy” recap (10.19): Almost Famous

It’s 5 am. Do you know where your person is? Luckily for Cristina, Meredith is slumbering next to her. The jarring alarm goes off and Meredith’s voiceover tells us why. Today are the Harper Avery Award nominations, and Meredith, Alex and Jo are half asleep but they are there to give Cristina their support. To no one’s surprise, the phone rings and Cristina (in her best fake nonchalant voice) answers. She’s officially a nominee.

At the hospital, the interns are bitching about Shane, who in his own mind considers this his nomination as well. The ladies aren’t having it, and suggest that Stephanie pull “swap monkey” rank to humble him. Stephanie decides that would be too mean on a day like today. The residents run into a young girl named Frankie, who takes us on a trip through the hospital. There’s Derek, showing Callie and Arizona a pic of Cristina getting the call. Callie is impressed by Cristina’s ability to pull off lipstick before dawn. Arizona reminds Frankie that rounds start soon. Derek says goodbye and reminds Callie that he will see her at the MEG machine later on. (Magnetoenecphalography machine, if you’re nasty.) Now it’s Arizona’s turn to be impressed. Arizona thinks that Callie has Harper Avery fever, which is perfect because Sofia is getting a little older, and she’ll have more time to devote to the project. Turns out, Callie has a little bit of baby fever as well, but tries to act cool when Arizona gently shuts it down. Harper Averys are the new babies! They tease each other and it’s perfection.

Jackson and April run into each other, and we find out that April goes the old swimsuit route when she runs out of clean undies. Jackson wonders why she just doesn’t drop her laundry off, but we find out another one of April’s fun, little quirks. She’s Captain Frugal. She even decides that Jackson is wasting too much money on lattes and vows to teach him how to make his own. Booo. April, don’t take away the man’s latte for crissakes.

Frankie has made her way to little cutie bubble boy Brayden’s room to give him the gossip of the day. He’s got a cool remote control car, but that doesn’t exactly make up for the fact that he’s stuck in plastic. When Bailey, Alex and his parents arrive, the news isn’t good. His T cells are at zero. He’s likely going to be confined to isolation for the rest of his life. For now, there are no treatments for his disease.

Frankie finds Owen in the hall and they race to her brother’s room for rounds. She’s mighty fast for a kid with a pacemaker. I can’t even climb the stairs of my apartment without getting winded. Frankie is a member of the cardiomyopathy suffering family from last week. She and her sister are recovering, but brother Lincoln is not doing so well. Cristina, Arizona and Owen give Frankie the chance to report his medical stats, which she does like a pro. Lincoln has deteriorated very quickly and is at the top of the UNOS list for a transplant. He has about a week to live without a new heart.

Cristina briefs Owen and Arizona on an experimental new procedure happening at Stanford that she wants to look into for Linc. Arizona and Owen want to dish on the Harper Avery but Cristina plays it off like no big deal. It’s just a nomination after all. She doesn’t want anyone to make a big deal out of it. Just then, she walks into an enormous champagne toast thrown by Meredith with practically the entire staff. Meredith gives her the best “surprise bitch!” face ever. Cristina can’t help but smile.

Richard is beaming from all the innovation and genius happening around the hospital. Always the positive thinkers, the residents are grumbling that Shane is hogging all the Yang. As Richard hands out their assignments for the day, Jo calls dibs on ortho. Get your glow on, gurl. Leah lays claim to Meredith’s service where they will be doing the first kidney transplant between two HIV positive patients. Stephanie ends up with Bailey, who will be hunched over a computer trying to find a treatment for Brayden’s disease. Richard tells them not to disregard what Dr. Bailey is doing because when the inspiration does hit her, it’ll be like Fourth of July. Mental fireworks, people. Stephanie is all like, booooooring, and pulls the Swap Monkey card on Shane after all.

On Meredith’s docket are Keith and Marty, longtime friends who have been living with HIV. Keith is now suffering from kidney failure and Marty is going to be his donor. Once Leah starts going over the risks, Marty expresses a slight hesitation but agrees to the donation anyway.

In Derek and Callie’s special MEG room, they use Jo to try out the machine. The MEG registers brain waves based on emotional responses, and will help Derek and Callie figure out how to get their sensors to respond intuitively to patients’ needs and wants. Jo ends up being a terrible test subject. All the pictures she is show to elicit a positive response don’t work. Kittens? Hates them. A tropical island? Fuck that beach! The only thing that lights up her pleasure center is the opportunity to break her some bones.

In Bailey’s lab, Shane shows up to find her a wee bit bitter about Cristina’s award. She tells him that genomic sequencing is the future of medicine. You know what isn’t? Awards dinners with all that free champagne and those tasty mini quiches. Meredith pops in to let her know that Keith and Marty are ready, and Bailey transfers her jealousy in Meredith’s direction. All these ungrateful geniuses running around, she scoffs. She’s trained them all.

Cristina is on the horn with Stanford about that cardiac pump for Linc, and apparently word travels fast that she’s a Harper Avery nominee. Before she can revel in it too much, Linc begins to crash. They get him out of the woods, but unfortunately Stanford can’t give them the pump because of the FDA. Now Linc’s only chance is a heart transplant and soon.

Keith is being prepped for surgery, but Marty confesses to Leah and Meredith that he doesn’t want to donate his kidney now. He’s survived the AIDS epidemic and isn’t willing to take this big of a risk. He can’t face telling Keith the truth though, so Meredith lies for him, saying that Marty is actually not a match. Keith is devastated and Marty is guilt-ridden.

It’s Callie’s turn in the MEG and Derek asks her the basic questions, and Callie is all smiles and lollipops. She loves her wife, her family, her life. She’s on top of the world, damn it. The scans don’t lie though, and Derek tells a baffled Callie that she’s probably depressed.

Alex examines Brayden through the bubble, while the little boy plays with his remote control car. He keeps ramming the car into the plastic, and Alex warns him that he’s going to rip the bubble. That’s kind of the plan doc.

Meredith pops into to Bailey’s lab to let her know that Marty has backed out of surgery. Bailey says fine, she’s busy changing the world anyway so could Meredith please pass on her congratulations to Cristina on the Avery nomination. Meredith shrugs and says ok, while Shane watched Bailey carefully for any signs of fireworks. None yet. This all happens while a very emo version of “Sister Christian” plays in the background.

Lincoln’s family is freaking out that he’s slipping away, and Cristina had given him a week. They are obviously at their wits end because all three kids have suddenly become seriously ill, and the doctors can’t find out why. When the world stops making sense, it’s human nature to try to find someone to blame.

There is a fantastic cafeteria scene next, where Cristina tells complimentary interns to buzz off, April eats old meatloaf, and Callie slams a soda and noisily sucks on a straw. When Derek shows up, Callie drags him back to the lab, claiming low blood sugar as the culprit for her shitty MEG readings. He obliges, because, well he doesn’t have a choice. Richard sits down and calls Cristina the future of medicine, which causes her to get up and leave. Richard assures Meredith that her mother was the same way when she was nominated. Their lunch is interrupted by Marty, who has now changed his mind about the kidney donation. He wants to do it.

The residents discuss what their speeches will be like when they win their future Harper Avery Awards. Steph will thank her parents, Jo will thank herself. Leah is pouring over old journals to find Ellis Grey’s first Harper Avery. Leah feels defeated and considers a career as farmer. (How about an astronaut?!) Shane and Leah get a page that the kidney surgery is back on, and run off. Now Meredith has to explain to Bailey that they lied to Keith about Marty not being a match. She gives them a look like “I’m surrounded by amateurs” and marches off to talk to the patients. She tells Keith that Meredith screwed up reading the labs.. She then swoops in steals Meredith’s surgery, much to Leah and Meredith’s chagrin.

Owen paces the hall, yelling at the FDA to release the Standford pump, while Jo regales Alex in her latest orthro adventure. As they walk, Alex spies Brayden’s car in the hall. Turns out he’s escaped and running through the halls with Frankie. Alex tracks him down, and forces everyone to move away. They have to bring in a special biodome gurney to wheel the child back to his room.

The whole episode has Frankie upset too, and she asks her mother if Linc is going to die. Her mother can’t give her an answer, but tells her that she hopes not. Arizona comes up to them with good news. The FDA came through.

Owen relays the story of his conversation with the FDA to a very focused Cristina. They gave in because they found out that Cristina was kind of a big deal. Now the pump is on a plane to Seattle. Arizona comes in and Owen launches into his story again before Cristina snaps at them both to leave. Jo runs in with bad news; flights out of San Francisco are grounded and Linc may not survive much longer. The only option is private jet, which is twenty-five grand. They all freak out until Jackson pulls out his Amex and says to charge the damn thing.

Callie’s back in the MEG, and this time she’s talking about her love of ortho. After her touching story of ortho first love, Derek gives her the news. That isn’t working either. She’s frustrated, and tries to argue with him. When Meredith and baby Bailey walk in, Callie’s brain lights up like a Christmas tree. Derek mistakes this response as Callie crushing on Meredith but it’s not. It’s a case of LESBIAN BABY FEVER.

In kidney transplant surgery, Richard calls out Bailey on her jealousy. She admits that she feels stuck on Brayden’s research, and yes, she’s jealous as hell.

The Medi-vac arrives with the pump and all the residents and Meredith squeeze into the OR theatre to watch Cristina do her magic. Down on the OR floor, she looks like a conductor, carefully going through the procedure in her head and hands. The residents gush that they knew her when. Lincoln is wheeled in and it all begins.

Bailey is still moping even as her surgery with Richard is a success. He reminds her that not too long ago, doctors barely understood HIV, let alone how to help patients survive it. His lecture gets Bailey’s wheels spinning. She knows how to help Brayden; by deactivating the virus, and using the same transport systems that HIV. There it is. Fireworks.

As Arizona and Cristina work on Linc, Derek finds Meredith in the theatre. He knows his wife so well, that he can tell she’s beyond jealous. She admits throwing the champagne toast to try to hide it. She thinks that this genius move deserves its own Harper Avery.

Alex straps a camera to Brayden’s toy car so he can at least be somewhat a part of the peds ward goings on. Jo thinks that was a pretty swell idea, and Alex decides that having money can allow you to do some pretty cool things. With that, he decides to take the private practice job with Dr. Butthole.

After Linc’s surgery, Bailey sees Cristina waiting for the elevator and finally congratulates her on the Harper Avery. When Cristina says it’s just a nomination and turns away, Bailey charges up to her and reminds her of her manners. When you receive a compliment, you smile and say thank you. Cristina does just that.

Richard and Shane check on Keith and Marty, who are doing swimmingly. Steph, who calls swap monkey, interrupts them. Now she wants in on Bailey’s research. Shane says no and sprints off, with Stephanie hot on his heels. Leah asks Richard if there is a photo of Ellis Grey winning her first Harper Avery. He pulls a well worn picture out of his pocket of him and Ellis, thirty years prior.

Arizona, Owen and Cristina, brief Lincoln’s family on his condition. He’s doing well and his parents are grateful, and also sorry for doubting Cristina. She tells them doubt is normal, and walks away. Arizona looks at the family’s children, all curled up and sleeping next to each other. A faint ticking sound is heard. Oh, sorry, that’s just Arizona’s biological clock. (Whenever my biological clock starts ticking, I just reach over and hit snooze.)

Jackson surprises April by doing laundry, which is the sexiest thing he’s ever done. April is stressed out by Jackson’s copious amount of money, so he offers her leftovers to soften the blow.

When Arizona finally leaves for the night, she finds a nervous Callie waiting for her. Callie has something she needs to tell Arizona and she’s afraid of her wife’s reaction. Arizona’s first thought is that Callie slept with someone else. Callie says no, she wants another baby. Then the realization of Arizona’s assumption causes her to shift into mega-pissed mode, so Arizona tries to change the subject back to babies. Smooth move, Robbins. Turns out, Robbins wants another baby too. Well, for more practical reasons like not wanting Sofia to be alone when they die, but still. The squeal and coo, and decide to bring another Robbins-Torres into the world.

I admit to being somewhat skeptical of pregnant lesbian plots. I think they are often something writers invoke when they have a.) run out of ideas for a lesbian character or couple or b.) assume that every lesbian wants a baby. I don’t believe that Shonda is doing that, so I have hope that this storyline will be all kinds of touching and adorable instead. Calzona had wanted a baby before their breakup, and now that they have finally healed those massive rifts in their relationship, perhaps this is the right time. (Tune in next week when they flip an actual coin about who will get pregnant. I’m serious.)

Owen stops Cristina before she leaves and presents her with a bottle of champagne, which they share in the weird utility room with the fan that they love. In front of Owen, Cristina can finally let her guard down and admit to looking into the other nominees. He’s convinced that she can win this. She is too, and finally allows herself to celebrate.

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.

             

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