Tempers flair and Owen quits on the latest installment of Grey’s Anatomy, “Transplant Wasteland.”
When we last checked into Seattle Grace Catherine Avery and the Harper-Avery Foundation bought the hospital (our plane crash victims also chipped in a few millions) and put her son Avery in charge. This news did not settle well with the staff and even Avery wasn’t too thrilled about taking the reigns.
This week everything goes to shit. The hospital is under-staffed and everyone is biting each other’s heads off.
Richard warns Catherine that Avery (who he nicknamed ‘boy king’) might be in way over his head, “What on earth makes you think that young man is ready to take on this kind of responsibility?” Catherine feels confident that her son will step up to the plate when the time comes.
Avery seems to be taking all the blame, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. (Dear Derek, Meredith, Cristina, Arizona and Callie; Beggars can’t be choosers. It might not be ideal that Avery has the deciding vote at the hospital but give him a chance. At least he’s better than the corporate owned Pegasus! Love, Bridget.)
As our new hospital owners (i.e. Meredith, Derek, Cristina, Arizona, Callie and Avery) sit down for a meeting and Avery lets loose that the Harper-Avery foundation might want to get rid of Owen because “new leadership would be good for morale.” Cristina wags her finger, emotionally takes her gold hoop earrings off and declares, “This thing with Owen is not happening!” If you know what’s best for you, you don’t mess with Cristina Yang!
Cristina races to tell Owen the news so he has a heads up that he might be fired. Owen is understandably upset and confronts Avery. As their argument escalates Derek steps in to calm the situation, which infuriates Owen even more.
Owen to Derek, “I’m through looking like an idiot while you all lie to me!”
Derek retorts, “You do not want to get into who’s responsible for all of this.”
Derek still blames Owen for the plane crash and no matter how many times he apologizes Derek will not forgive him. Owen decides he has had enough and tells Avery that he quits. With that Owen packs up his belongs and leaves Seattle Grace.
Now that Owen is gone the hospital is in utter chaos. There are too many patients and not enough ERs and staff to accommodate them all. The hospital is like transplant city this week with three patients waiting to receive new organs and of course the transplant coordinator is nowhere to be found. Meredith is sent off on a wild goose chase to retrieve a liver from another hospital in another state only to find out that Seattle Graces’ current hospital protocol has already shipped the liver (unescorted) on a commercial flight to Seattle. (Bailey should just step up and tell everyone what to do. I’d follow her anywhere.)
In other news April is at odds with her patient (and former medical resident) who no longer wants to fight his disease and has arranged for his organs to be donated. April won’t give up and tries to convince her patient to keep fighting. The patient fires April because he and his family have made up their minds and she won’t relent. Once April comes around and supports his decision she tries to prepare the family for her patients passing. Her patient’s death is both sad and beautiful. But once he flatlines the mother throws herself on her son’s body. April has to pry the screaming and crying mother off of her son so she can collect his organs. (There is only a five-minute window to gather all the organs or else her patient’s sacrifice will be in vain.)
Then there is Alex who is roaming the halls snapping at everyone he encounters. Alex is still bummed that Jo is seeing someone else so he treats her like crap to deal with his heartbreak. Meredith tells Alex that he has to be nicer to people or else no one will want to work with him. Duh! Somehow these words sink into Alex’s dense head and he shows up at the bar while Jo is on a date and apologizes. Alex sits down at the table offers to buy Jo a beer, which is awkward because she has a full beer sitting in front of her and she’s on a date with another guy. (Alex, Threes a crowd buddy. Beat it! Love, Bridget.)
Meanwhile, Derek tracks down Owen at his trailer home and insists that he’s not mad at him. Derek admits that he is mad but he’s mad at the world and he’s “pissed at Mark.” (This moment made me cry.) Mark was like a brother to Derek and I think Derek’s mourning was a little overshadowed by Callie’s pain and Meredith’s suffering over the loss of Lexie.
In the end our new leaders of the hospital gather around a boardroom table. Avery announces that he intends on reopening the ER and reinstating Owen as the Chief of Surgery. Then Avery delivers a moving speech, “We are now officially a hospital run by doctors. That should mean something. It is our responsibility to be the best doctors that we can possibly be, so that those who come after us can strive to be their very best. So with that in mind, I move to rename the hospital. I propose that we give this hospital a name that can honor the very reason that we’ve come together and been able to do this, a name that exemplifies the spirit of this hospital, but also the depth of our dedication.” Avery lifts up a notebook and reveals the words “Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital” written in black marker. And now I start crying, again. Everyone in the room agrees on the name and that concludes the show.
What did you think of this week’s episode? Do you like the new hospital name?
