Last night’s Grey’s Anatomy‘s “Suddenly” picked right back up from its November “Dark Was the Night” cliffhanger. In case you need a refresher, when we last visited Seattle Grace, Henry had died on the OR table with Cristina at the helm (although Henry’s identity was not known to Cristina while she operated on him). Teddy continued working on another patient, but fearing that Teddy’s patient would die on the table if they told her about Henry, none of her co-workers notified her of Henry’s passing.
Meanwhile, Meredith and Alex were stuck on the side of the road with a sickly infant, a broken down ambulance and an entire family spread out across the road after their car smashed into the emergency vehicle. (When it rains, it pours.)
Now on with the show!
Meredith’s voiceover sets us up for another tragic episode, telling us, “Victims of a sudden impact are some of the hardest to treat.” Teddy is still in the OR trying to save her heart patient (a patient Avery originally made a mistake with while on Callie’s watch) and Meredith and Alex are trying to assess and stabilize the ailing family lying in the road. Luckily, another ambulance shows up in the nick of time and races them back to Seattle Grace.
AfterEllen Bait
Any show that stars Sara Ramirez and Jessica Capshaw should be required for all women to watch, although in this episode both Callie and Arizona take a back seat and never appear onscreen together.
Feelings, Feelings, Feelings!
*Warning do not watch this episode if you’re PMSing or have a tendency to cry so loudly that the neighbors can hear you. (Sorry, Richard!)
The car crash takes the lives of the family’s mother and grandmother in the early part of the show. The oldest child, Lily (who has just turned 18 that day), waits to learn the fates of her father and siblings. (Her father has a crushed pelvis, her younger sister has a large piece of glass sticking out of her eye and her brother’s legs have been mangled.)
Teddy still has no idea that Henry has died, so she sends out a request for Cristina to help her with her heart patient in the OR. Cristina tells Owen that she can’t operate, but she pulls it together and works alongside a cheerful Teddy. When Cristina enters the OR, Teddy thanks her for operating on her husband. Teddy tells her, “You’re the only one I trusted with Henry.” (Oh the guilt!)
Teddy puts on rock music and starts “woooo”-ing to stay awake during the nine-hour surgery. Cristina “woooos” too but only to appease Teddy.
After the successful surgery Cristina delivers the terrible news to Teddy.
Cristina tells her, “Dr. Webber and I both used extraordinary measures but his heart could not tolerate the surgery. He did not survive the surgery, I’m sorry.”
A shocked Teddy responds, “You’re saying – you’re saying he’s dead? Say it. When you inform the family, you have to say it. Cristina, I need you – I need you to say it.”
Cristina: Henry is dead.
Teddy: Thank you.
Teddy exits, and Cristina and I burst into tears.
Teddy goes into the OR to see Henry. The nurse gives her his chart and leaves her alone with him. Teddy unveils Henry’s body, attempts to stroke his hair and then breaks down crying. (Does anyone have Teddy’s email so I can send her my condolences?)
Whores & Gore
Bailey and her former flame, Dr. Ben Warren, bicker, flirt and eventually hold hands at the end of the episode. (I always liked them together.) Callie works her magic and snaps the father’s pelvis back into place, and the sound is truly awful and effective.
Lily’s brother suffers from the genetic malignant hyperthermia so Meredith has to alert all the doctors that their patients might also have the same condition. Thanks to Ben’s swift thinking, Bailey and her staff lower the boy’s temperature and he makes it through the surgery.
Mark calls in his girlfriend to assist him and Derek on Lily’s sister’s eye surgery. Lexie sighs at the love-triangle that exists only in her mind, but she ends up liking Mark’s new piece in the end. The eye surgery is truly disgusting, but it saves the day and hopefully the girl’s vision.
Medical Mishaps
Since Teddy has saved her patient’s life, Callie has to go deliver the news to her patient’s husband. Although it was Avery’s mistake, she takes the fall for him.
Lily tells Meredith that she doesn’t want her father to suffer anymore, so she signs off and has him taken off of life support. Meredith stands by Lily as her father passes away. Lily then has to deliver the tragic news to her little brother and sister.
An exhausted Meredith and Derek return home from the hospital. Derek scours the cabinets for food while Meredith waits for the pizza she ordered to show up. Ding dong. Meredith opens the front door and the social worker stands there with Zola and announces, “She’s yours!” (Wait, are pizza places now delivering babies?) Meredith and Derek are elated and wrap their arms around Zola.
Now I’ve never adopted a child before, but shouldn’t the social worker at least call first to make sure someone’s home to sign for the baby?
What did you think of this episode?
