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“Grey’s Anatomy” recap (11.23): Tunnel vision

Ahhhh, the penultimate episode. So much promise, so much drama. I have documented my love of penultimate episodes in the past, and Grey’s Anatomy usually doesn’t disappoint. This episode had all the things that Grey’s loves to shove into the end of a season: a horrifying disaster, personal turmoil, and crab cakes. Okay, well I’m not sure about the crab cakes. Anyway…

Meredith tells us how when you are in surgery, time stops and nothing else matter, which is good for Mer since she’s still just trying to figure out her life without Derek. Amelia pops by just as Meredith gets a message from her realtor that she’s got an offer on the house, something that Amelia was unaware of. But no time to quarrel! It’s an exciting day at Grey Sloan, as Arizona so cheerfully tells us as she flies by, because the “chicks and ducks” have arrived. She means the fresh faced interns, but “chicks and ducks” sounds so cuddly. Everyone wants to see Richard give his patented speech, the one he gave all of them when they were wee babes and the hospital was still Seattle Grace. Some of them even mouth the words along.

Stephanie is eager to get started since she gets her first batch of interns to work with. She informs them all that Richard is getting married that day, then gathers her interns and heads off. We don’t know their names yet so I’ll name them for right now. There’s Brian Krakow, Eager Beaver, Notetastic and Quiet One. Steph brings her best thunder and makes sure they know who’s boss. She’s learned well, that Steph. “Your life in now all about me,” she tells them.

Arizona finds Owen to ask about the Chief situation. Richard is still interim chief and Owen drops a bomb that he’s not going to return to the position.

Elsewhere in Seattle, Catherine is getting primped for the wedding while her Maid of Honor, Jackson, eats pizza and watches the game. Catherine asks why April isn’t there, and we can tell by Jackson’s face that despite his wife’s return and their big embrace, that things are still shaky. Before they can really get into it, a special news report comes on at the same time Jackson gets a page. There’s been a massive tunnel collapse. Grab a slice to go, Jackson, because it’s all hands on deck.

All the docs rush out to meet the incoming ambulances, but before that happens, I want to talk about Callie’s hair for a second: Is it giving anyone mid-’90s mall bangs realness? I’m having an issue with how dated it’s been looking lately. Am I the only one? Anyway, Jo questions April about her experience in the Army, and seems really jazzed about the whole thing. Then Owen (dammit, Owen!) tells Jo that another group is leaving in two week if she wants to join. Alex basically rolls his eyes at the idea of his girlfriend living in a tent. Jo’s excitement is quickly dashed when the ambulances start showing up carrying only dead bodies. As Owen informs the doctors about the severity of the collapse, some actually alive victims are rushed into the ER. This gives Amelia and Maggie hope that they can do some good that day, but April rains on their parade, since she’s now Captain Downer.

As Bailey and Richard rush to help, they run into a very understanding Catherine who has arrived to help. She and Richard make out for a while, while Bailey tries to think happy thoughts. She’s Richard’s best man, so she must be used to this by now. (How much did you love the gender swapped roles of Best Man and Maid of Honor, without anyone batting an eye?) Richard tells Bailey that he’s not going to pursue full time chief-ness, and plans to recommend her for the job. Bailey has been burned before so she’s not letting herself get too outwardly excited by the prospect, but you know she’s doing a happy dance inside.

An ambulance arrives with a very pregnant woman who is being helped by a young, handsome doctor named Andrew. Steph is impressed with how well he’s taken care of the patient. At the same time, the hospital gets a call that they need to send a team of docs to the accident scene, and Richard chooses Meredith (even though she’s not signed off yet), Maggie, Amelia and of course, April.

Jo literally runs into two “dorky” teenagers looking for their friend who was badly injured in the accident. His name is Scott, and it turns out that he’s in the next room, and doing very poorly. They witness their friend crashing before Jo can close the curtain.

In another room, the pregnant and injured patient Joan (played by out actress Heather Matarazzo) is being attended to by Steph and Andrew. Steph kicks out the interns who have zero tact, and Joan talks about how her fiance and the father of her child is still missing. They got pregnant on the first date, so they have just been getting to know each other these last nine months.

At the collapse scene, the docs show up and it ain’t pretty. There are injured victims and rubble everywhere and a firefighter leads the docs to a smashed car, with Joan’s fiance Keith inside it. Keith’s had better days.

The poor guy is impaled in two places, and coughing up blood, but Meredith assures him she’s seen way worse.

Arizona and Callie team up to treat Joan, who has a broken bone in her neck and a baby on the way. It’s so nice to see Calzona working together so calmly, but in another way, they almost feel like just colleagues. It’s still a weird transition for the audience, even if it’s been over a year for them.

In another ER room, the docs are struggling to keep the teen boy alive when Owen comes up with an idea to drain out all his blood and replace it with cold saline so they can get him into the OR. Suspended animation, yo. Jackson is thoroughly against it. Richard and Catherine are also in the ER, and they decide to postpone the wedding in order to help more patients. Richard is so grateful that Catherine gets him, but that is soon to be put to the test. They hear the ruckus of Owen and Jackson arguing about the risky procedure, and Catherine sides with her son, while Richard gives Owen the go ahead. Unfortunately, Scott’s friends overhear the whole thing.

At the scene, the docs are struggling to get the access they need to help Keith. As Maggie tries a different angle, Keith tells Meredith about how he’s fallen in love with Joan, even if they did this all backwards. Then he coughs up some more blood.

Bailey runs into Intern Brian Krackow who has delicious nibbles on a plate in one hand, and lab samples in the other. Gross. She steals some yummy brie thing and send him off to do his job. In the lounge, Catherine has all the food for the reception sent over, and Arizona is trying to nom as much as possible while she can. “How many sliders do you think I can eat in two minutes?” she asks Bailey. Be still my heart, Arizona. That’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever said. Arizona rambles on about the new chief and how Owen should just pick it and spare them all the applicants. Bailey doesn’t get much of a word in edgewise but she does find the crabcakes.

When Jo finds the teens to see if they’ve reached Scott’s parent’s yet, they confront her about the dangerous and unproven suspended animation procedure. (They’ve been researching it on their phones because nerds.) Jo reads it herself and as they are draining Scott’s blood, Jo comes into the OR to tell everyone that Owen failed to mention that this has only worked on pigs. Welp. Alex says it’s too late to go back now, so they have 90 mins to do what they need to do.

Catherine and Richard argue about the suspended animation, as Catherine is worried that if it doesn’t work that the hospital could be putting their surgical program at risk. She also reminds him that she’s an owner of the hospital, and he’s just the “interim Chief.” The same intensity that Richard loves about Catherine, is also the thing that often puts him at odds with her.

At the scene, April tells the rest of the docs that the jaws of life won’t work on Keith, and in fact will only kill him. He’s a goner-a “black tag,” which is Army triage speak for “gonna die soon.” April sends Maggie, Meredith and Amelia back to the hospital to help with the injured, as the Fire Chief decides to cut Keith out and hope for the best.

Notetastic and Eager Beaver are supposed to take Joan to the ER, until they start talking about her possibly dead fiance like she isn’t two feet away from them. Joan starts to panic and is having trouble breathing, so Notetastic loosens her neck brace and Joan accidentally dislocates her own neck. Oh christ. Steph and Andrew rush in to try and save Joan from paralysis, and that’s when Andrew reveals that he’s only an intern. Joan can’t feel her contractions or anything else, and Callie and Arizona join Steph to try to minimize the damage.

In Scott’s ER, Jo tries to convince Alex to go and do a tour with the Army, but Alex wants nothing to do with that plan. The kid is flatlining but his heart finally kicks in, much to Owen’s relief.

Meredith, Maggie and Amelia arrive back at the hospital, but Amelia has been stewing the whole ride over. As Meredith tries to say they did all they could, Amelia loses it. It’s not about Keith, it’s about Derek. Amelia wants to know how Meredith gets to be the one to decide when someone lives or dies.

Richard tells Catherine the good news, but she’s not as happy as he hoped she’d be. She’s still pissed and because of that, she’s declares that she’s choosing the next Chief.

Amelia finds Meredith in the supply room and closes the door behind her. All the pain of losing her brother and not having any say in the matter comes rushing out. Amelia didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye. Maybe she could have saved him, but Meredith robbed her of that chance. When she leaves, Meredith crumbles for a moment before pulling herself together and getting back out there.

Bailey finds Richard staring at the mostly eaten trays of reception food. He explains that he may have argued his way out of a wedding, and maybe it’s just his destiny to fail at the marriage thing. Work is his passion and it’s always what he chooses when the chips are down.

Callie, Arizona and Steph get Joan into the elevator, and in a happy turn of events, she regains feeling. That includes contractions. Yikes!

Owen and Jackson bury the ax, since the procedure worked after all. Jackson admits that things with April have been very weird since she got back, and Owen is like, “Yeah, that happens when you follow my advice.” He tells Jackson that seeing what April saw changes a person and to give her time.

Jo and Alex fight some more about her desire to work with the Army, because Alex is finally settled. He loves his job, his home, his friends, and doesn’t want to go on an “adventure” with Jo. Now Jo and Alex have been drifting in little ways all season, and this fight really shows all the cracks that have developed in their relationship. He walks away, telling her to do whatever she wants to do. When Meredith finds Alex, she asks if she and the kids can stay with him for a little while, since her house no longer feels like home without Derek. He, of course, agrees.

There’s no time to get Joan into an OR, and she delivers the baby right there in the elevator. They manage to keep her safe but what should be joyous is clouded with sadness, as Keith’s fate is uncertain. “He should be here,” Joan keeps mumbling, as Arizona puts the baby on her chest.

Maggie is on the phone with her mom, having somewhat of a distressing conversation, when she gets a page. She has to hang up and when she runs into Meredith, she’s trying to hold back tears. Amelia joins them as they head into the ambulance bay. There they find April, standing on top of a tow truck bed like a regular Superwoman. She brought Keith and the entire damn crushed car with her. Now he might have a chance.

Here are our favorite #greysgays tweets from last night’s episode.

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