And just like that, the baby in the bag is gone. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier because I, like Miranda Bailey, was deeply disturbed by looking at a lamb in a bag, and for a second there, I really thought Grey’s might go and put a human fetus in there. The mere thought will haunt my dreams. But that does not happen, and by episode’s end, seems like it never will. Things go terribly wrong for the DeLucas.
This external gestational sac project (ew) is taking its toll on the Italians. Our DeLuca is spending all his time at the hospital watching over the lambs, barely sleeping. Although he does make a little time in the morning for a sexy, breathy makeout session with Meredith. (“The best part of waking up is a hot person smushing your face†doesn’t have the same ring as the original but, like, give it time.) When one of the lambs dies, things go off the rails.
The whole thing is a mess. Daddy DeLuca’s temper starts showing (he’s especially dismissive of his daughter), and Carina thinks everyone is ignoring that her father is bipolar and won’t do anything about it. Alex, reminded by Bailey that the project is entirely too risky, is getting worried he made a mistake approving it. Andrew, however, still has faith and he wants Alex to stay the course. Listen to Bailey, Alex. Always listen to Bailey.
Carina doesn’t have much time to argue with the men in her family because she’s called down to the E.R. for a consult. Owen and Teddy are working on a couple who come in after a car accident and the wife is five months pregnant. Owen wants Teddy to switch with him so she doesn’t have to work on a mother who might lose her baby, but Teddy repeatedly says she is fine. My blood pressure rises any time Owen is onscreen. The first thing he says to Teddy when he sees her that morning is that Amelia is out of the picture. SHE DOESN’T CARE, OWEN. Leave her alone. Does he? No! He ends up rubbing her feet at one point. Remember when he was weeping over Amelia leaving him just last week? Could you remind him?
Anyway, the baby looks fine, but the mother is bleeding in the abdomen, and after Teddy’s initial treatment doesn’t work the way she wants it to, she realizes they need to operate on the mother and most likely she will end up needing a hysterectomy. That means they will have to deliver the fetus at 20 weeks. It won’t survive.
That alone is awful but you guys, it gets worse. Daddy DeLuca hears about the patient and before you know it, Teddy and Carina walk in on him assuring these very vulnerable parents that he can save their unborn child.
Oh, you know Chief Karev is going to shut this shit down.
Teddy, Alex, and Carina have to heartbreakingly explain that the procedure Daddy DeLuca was talking about hasn’t been approved, it hasn’t even been tested on humans yet. Also that lamb died! The mother still wants to do it, she approves, she tells them. But no, they need to take her to surgery and they need to perform a hysterectomy. They are going to lose their child. The whole thing is soul-crushing, so it makes complete sense that Andrew goes up to his father’s lab and reams him out. But his father sees nothing wrong with it, in fact, he’s mad that they didn’t let him do it. He could have saved a life! People are cowards! And then it hits DeLuca. This is exactly what happened the last time when his father’s unchecked manic state led him to kill four patients. Other doctors described how delusional he became, and now he is seeing it for himself. He starts tearing up as he tries to reason with his father. Our DeLuca! Crying!
This disaster train rolls into Alex’s office. Before he can shut the project down, Vincenzo DeLuca freaks out on Chief Karev and both DeLuca children. He tells them that this hospital doesn’t deserve his project. He’s leaving! It is brutal but also the whole time I was like, please go sir, this is too much.
Poor DeLuca is left to clean up his father’s mess. When Meredith comes by to make sure he’s okay, DeLuca assumes she’s coming to gloat. An “I told you so†must be in order. Mer takes offense to that, as she should. Things are left awkward between them, which is unsettling. Remember when they were replacing coffee with kissing? Go back to that.
Meanwhile, Teddy is still in the middle of telling her patient about her surgery and that the baby is gone. I hate that Owen is right, but the whole thing does become too much for Teddy and she has to leave the room before breaking down. Which she does eventually do—into Owen’s arms. He holds her as she cries. If you forget that Owen’s an ass, it’s very moving. But some drama is afoot: Tom walks in just in time to see the best-friends-ex-lovers-parents-to-be in their embrace and the tension is real. A love triangle is nigh.
If that doesn’t fill your drama quota for the evening, there’s more to be had away from Grey Sloan, when Amelia attends an alternative pain relief conference. Guess who the doc and her adorable new chop run into? Dr. Atticus Lincoln, there to give a lecture. After they get the awkward “hey, the last time we spoke was when I had an emotional breakdown in front of you during a disturbing mass opioid overdose†thing out of the way, the flirting commences. Big time. And not for nothing, guys, but I believe I called this pairing during the aforementioned emotional breakdown moment. I’m basically like one of those truffle-hunting pigs, but for sexual tension. You’re welcome.
Of course there is some major flirting and some almost kisses and some attending a sound-bath therapy session before we get to the good stuff. Amelia attends Link’s lecture and although one would have to assume she was immediately turned on by the sight of Link in a headset, she is then immediately turned off by his lecture topic: using opioids to treat pain. No wonder he was so cagey whenever she asked about it!
Link talks about a young patient who died after becoming addicted to the opioids he prescribed to him post-surgery, but also admits that he wouldn’t change his decision. Amelia storms out, disgusted. Later, Link comes to her hotel room to explain. She is pissed. He should feel guilty that what he did killed that kid. And you know what? He does! He felt so guilty when it happened that he quit medicine for a year. TO REPAIR BIKES. But then he got mad. He had failed his patient — the system is failing patients all the time. He vowed to make a change. Opioids are extremely effective in eliminating pain, he says, but they need to fix the way they administer them. He is fighting this fight and he thinks Amelia could help him. Amelia is like, wow wow wowee I left that lecture way too early. And then those two hook up. They swear it’s just a one time thing, but we’ve seen this show before and that always means they’ll be doing this again. Probably in an on-call room. So, like, is this what happens at alternative medicine conferences? Should I be going to those?
Laughter Is the Best Medicine, Apart From Real Medicine
• If you thought “lambs in a bag†was weird, wait till you see Jackson’s latest innovation: fish skin on burn victims. You know who is very impressed by the merman Jackson makes at Grey Sloan? Maggie. She comes back from her next and last press event — an interview on Good Morning Seattle — all hot and bothered after hearing about her man being a medical innovator. There are doors being locked and blinds being closed and keyboards being swiped off desks. It’s all very sexy. And now she wants her own fish-skin-on-human-skin project. It’s time for Maggie Pierce to get back to work!
• It doesn’t get any better than Richard Webber hosting a rooftop fish fry with all the extra fish from Jackson’s fish-skin-stitching lessons.
• Jo gets her DNA test results back and is connected to a woman who is probably her first cousin. She wonders if she should try and find her birth mother. She looks for a sign. Things really worked out when Maggie went looking for her birth parents, although Jackson warns that finding his father only caused him pain. Still, when she sees how nice it’s been for Alex and his mother to build a relationship, she wants to go for it. Luckily, Intern Casey is very adept at tracking people down on the internet, and he finds her right away. Jo’s mom is in Pittsburgh. Field trip, anyone?
• “It says here I’m mostly British.†We see what you did there, Grey’s.
• Mama Karev is still in town and still knitting, but only because she’s too scared to travel again. Bailey figures this out and informs Mrs. Karev’s clueless son. He’s going to take her back to Iowa himself. Aw, Alex!
• “I’m not prejudiced, you jackass! I am a person with mental illness!†Bailey and Alex scenes continue to bring me joy.
• Hi! I’m totally stable but also I cried when Bailey introduced herself to Mama Karev as Alex’s Chief Resident. NOTHING TO SEE HERE, FOLKS.
Sob Scale: 5/10
Too many tragic baby stories on this show!