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“Grey’s Anatomy” recap (12.5): Unlucky Penny

Remind me never to attend a dinner party at Meredith Grey’s. First of all, I’d probably end up doing the cooking because even though these docs can put someone’s guts back together, they can’t mince a clove of garlic. Second, well, this last one was pretty terrifying. Not that I’d ever be invited to Meredith’s, but you get the point.

We pick up where we left off last week, when Meredith opens the door to great Callie and her new girlfriend Penny, who turns out to be one of the doctors who unsuccessfully tried to save Derek. Meredith goes into a mode that I can’t recall seeing her in before. She slaps on a smile, eyes wide, and starts making margaritas. Penny for her part suggests that they should leave, citing that maybe it’s too soon to meet Callie’s friends. Penny must be shaking in her boots. Since Alex is Mer’s Person-in-Training, he notices Meredith’s strange behavior but she’s not ready to say what’s up. It’s truly painful to watch, because we all know that all the work that Meredith has done to heal is threatening to crumble right before our eyes.

Maggie, who was supposed to be cooking this meal, has a raging UTI so she skips out and heads to the hospital to get a full STD panel and treatment. She’s worried that her sexcapades with Not-Sloan may have give her something that needs more than cranberry juice.

Amelia does her Amelia thing, rolling out the red carpet and giving Penny a big hug. Oof, when she finds out who Penny is, it ain’t gonna be pretty. Penny tries to tell Callie what’s what, but Callie misunderstands her nervousness thinking it’s about Arizona.

Before Penny can clear the air, Callie drags her over to meet Arizona, who is a couple bottles of pinot grigio in already. Meredith takes this opportunity to flee upstairs and take a breather. Arizona and Penny actually hit it off, so much so that Arizona is surprised how much she likes her. She tries to tell April, who is busy being upset that Jackson is staying at Ben and Bailey’s. Do these two ever actually listen to the other one’s issues?

Drunk Arizona may actually have a bit of the hots for Penny, which is the most lesbian thing Arizona has ever done, but Alex puts the kibosh on that. April offers to cook since it will keep her from having to mingle and have an awkward avoidance dance with Jackson. Amelia enlists Jo to help April, which makes Jo feel like she’s back at the hospital assisting and not really being a part of things. Sorry JoJo, that celery isn’t going to cut itself.

Back at the hospital, guess who Maggie gets as her doctor. Not-Sloan! Ok, it seems this guy is sticking around so I guess we can start calling him DeLuca…it’s DeLuca right? Horrified she sends him away to find another doc.

After cutting her hand on an apple and going upstairs to get bandaged up by Alex, Meredith tries to tell him about Penny but she doesn’t get the chance. Just then, Callie walks in letting them know she has to run to the hospital to give an consult but she’s leaving Penny in their capable hands. Penny tries to confront Meredith ans ask her to talk, but Meredith isn’t in a place to handle that. She tells Penny to drink and talk to anyone but her, eat her food, then never show her face to Meredith again. Mer leaves Penny with Bailey who can’t help but think Penny’s name sounds familiar. Uh oh.

Drunk Arizona keeps sticking her foot in her mouth, making April feel terrible about Jackson. Arizona wants her own Penny. Yeah, I’m pretty sure you are going to think twice about that soon, Arizona. Meanwhile, Jo, who is now on garbage duty, tries to make it right with Steph, who is not interested in chatting. Penny takes the opportunity to grab her coat and try to escape, but Amelia tries to convince her not to go. Plus, dinner is ready. Isn’t your stomach growling for a nice, steaming plate of angst? Delicious!

Everyone sits down like a big happy family. Arizona hits on Penny in front of everyone, Bailey thinks Drunk Robbins is pretty great, and everyone laughs. See it’s going so well!

Until the docs start asking Penny where she works. See, Bailey finally figures out how she knows Penny’s name. She’s about to be a surgical resident at Grey Sloan. This is when Meredith officially loses her shit. She tells everyone who Penny really is. “Perfect Penny killed my husband.”

Naturally, this affects Amelia quite strongly. She asks Penny to explain herself and what happened with Derek, which Penny does, with tears in her eyes. Just then, Callie and Owen show up to witness the carnage. Callie had no idea that Penny was Derek’s doctor and she’s hurt and confused. This is pretty understandable, considering that she was falling in love with Penny and this is kind of a big thing to omit. When Amelia starts yelling at Penny, Callie is the one who puts a stop to it.

Amelia leaves and storms upstairs to tell Meredith there’s no way she’s going to allow Penny to join the residents. She’s in a bit of a manic place, and Meredith can’t handle it. Amelia has trouble seeing anything beyond her own pain, and she’s upset that Meredith didn’t tell her about Penny right away. Meredith allows her anger to break forth and directs it right at Amelia. She screams for her sister-in-law to get the hell out her her room or face death by Meredith Grey, so Owen escorts Amelia out while Alex stays with Meredith. This was a hell of a scene by Ellen Pomeo, who never lets us forget that she’s the powerhouse of this show.

Callie finds Penny outside trying to call a cab. Callie’s all mixed up because this person she thought she knew, had this massive secret, and it’s never good to start a relationship with a lie. I’m going to take a step back here and say I’m frustrated with this storyline between Callie and Penny, but not for Calzona reasons. I’m frustrated because one of our favorite characters has been falling in love behind the scenes, and it makes it nearly impossible to become invested in their story. I can’t imagine this happening with Mer or Amelia or any of the other leading ladies, so why Callie? I know that the fact that it’s Penny is supposed to be the shocker and a surprise, but it robs us of watching Callie find love and happiness with someone. Now it’s all angst and confusion, which I suppose makes for good drama, but it still feels like we got the short end of the stick.

Anyway, back to the story. Penny tells Callie that she thought Grey Sloan was big enough that she’d never run into Meredith, but I can’t hep but think that Penny did this to punish herself in a way. To always deal with the possibility of running into Meredith, was a way to keep her on her toes and to make sure she never allowed herself to stop thinking of that day.

Owen tries to comfort Amelia by being the devil’s advocate he always is. This infuriates Amelia (I feel you on that girl) but she has to admit that he has a point. Everyone is having a shit night. Except maybe Drunk Robbins. When she accuses him of being perfect, he tells her that he sure isn’t and to prove it he admits that he was a little relieved when he thought Cristina had died in the plane crash. Well, that works. It somehow bonds them.

While the remaining docs stand around dissecting the night and doing dishes, April expresses empathy for Penny. She tells everyone that when she was an intern she made a mistake that ended up killing a young mother. It’s something that changed her forever. Doctors, as much as we want them to be, aren’t perfect and each of them has made a mistake they will always regret. In some way, this openness and acceptance of the mistakes she’s made, might bring her and Jackson closer together. I think it might be what Jackson needed to hear.

April and Arizona head home, and Jo takes the opportunity to try and make amends with Steph. Steph accepts the apology, and this gruesome twosome is back on…for a hot second. Jo tries to compare their childhoods, saying she finally gets Steph better, but Steph doesn’t take kindly to the comparison. She thinks Jo always needs to find a way to make them equal, and can’t accept the fact that Steph is simply a better doctor than she is. Steph leaves in a huff.

Speaking of twosomes, upstairs, Alex and Meredith are drinking tequila while Meredith tries to sort out her feelings. Callie shows up to check on Meredith, but Meredith shuts the door in her face. Healing will come later. Now is the time for anger and sadness.

Back at the hospital, Maggie and Deluca are drinking cranberry juice and sharing relationship stories. They may have started this relationship based solely on sex, but there’s a spark that could mean there’s something much more there.

Callie goes looking for Penny, but instead finds Jackson. She’s angry and hurt, but she also can’t stop her feeling for Penny. She’s sprung, and this doesn’t change that. Jackson gets it, because he knows you can’t change your heart even when you desperately want to.

After Meredith sends Alex home, she stumbles upon Penny. Penny tries to apologize and informs Meredith that she will file a request to rescind her name from the Grey Sloan residency. Before she leaves, she tells Meredith that she’s thought of Derek every day since he died. His death changed her forever as a doctor and a person. This stirs something in Meredith because she tells Penny she’ll see her on Monday. It’s going to be hard and painful, but it’s going to happen because this is Grey’s Anatomy, and we signed up for the pain, people.

Here are our favorite #greysgays tweets from last night’s episode (and there were a ton of awesome ones. You all brought your A Game.).

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