Grey's Recap: The Dating Game — Plus, Betty's Parents Descend on Grey Sloan
Though Grey’s Anatomy celebrated Valentine’s Day a week ago with Meredith and DeLuca’s first (real, deliberate, sober) kiss, their budding romance put a little spring in the step of Thursday’s episode, too. And it was much-needed, given that the arrival of Betty’s Brittany’s parents all but guaranteed that Owen and Amelia were going to lose the kids they’d taken in. How heartbreaking did it get — and, perhaps more importantly, did my new favorite couple Teddy and Koracick score any good flirt time? (Spoiler alert: Oh yeah!) Read on…
‘BUY TWO OF THOSE THINGS, MAYBE 10’
| As “I Walk the Line” began, DeLuca bumped into Mer at the coffee cart and suggested that, since she wouldn’t let him take her on a real date, she should at least let him buy her a cuppa joe. Mer would let him take her out, though, she insisted. She just had to first talk to Maggie, who he insisted wouldn’t care. (And since I couldn’t recall her even visiting her ex-boyfriend while he recovered from Alex’s Season 12 pummeling, I was more than inclined to agree with him.) Inside the hospital, Owen was flummoxed to learn that Teddy and Koracick had just realized that they were staying at the same hotel — his expression was all, “What’s that about?” Jolex wondered why they could spend all day, every day, saving people, yet they couldn’t keep a houseplant alive. “We just need a plant that doesn’t need sunlight or water,” Jo suggested as they… what the what? They came upon the wall of chiefs and saw that Alex’s portrait had been added to it. He was embarrassed; she, proud. (She even took a pic for his mom.) But he did seem to have gotten the hang of the job. The interns, for instance, loved him — and the fact that he’d sprung for breakfast. When Bailey asked him what the deal was, he said he did it weekly to boost morale. How much longer was her sabbatical going to be? Richard wanted to know. Two months, Bailey said. And she was clearly unnerved that Karev was killing it in her role.
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Bringing Harriet and Leo to the hospital’s daycare center, Jackson and Owen no sooner had bonded over the importance of having duplicates of the kids’ favorite toys than Amelia reported to her ex-husband/lover that Betty/Brittany had gone MIA from rehab. Rather than have both of them leave work to search for the recovering addict, Amelia suggested that Owen stay at the hospital, and after dropping Leo at daycare, she’d try to find the erstwhile Betty. During a moment alone with Maggie, Mer carefully broached the subject of her going out with her half sister’s old flame. And though Maggie insisted that no, of course, she wouldn’t be mad, the expression on her face indicated (at least a strong possibility of) otherwise. The person who was definitely mad at Mer was Jo, since Grey had stood up Link. Shortly, Maggie had a more pressing matter that Mer’s love life: Her med-school tormentor Kiki was at Grey Sloan with an aorta graft that was wearing out. Meanwhile, in the ambulance bay, the trauma of the week arrived — a 15-year-old bagpiper had been shot at a parade. “Why would someone bring a gun to a bloody parade?” asked his father (Billy Boyd). Turned out, the shooter had gotten drunk and meant to shoot up at the sky. (Was I only the only one who had a helluva time hearing through the thick Scottish accents, especially at first?)
‘I COULD SEE THAT SHE NEEDED HELP, AND SO SHE JUST BECAME A PART OF OUR FAMILY’
| After dropping off Leo, Amelia never made it out of Grey Sloan. As she was leaving, she ran into Brittany’s parents, Carol (Jennifer Grey) and John Dickinson (Kyle Secor), who were surprised to have found out at rehab that the doctor was their daughter’s legal guardian. Amelia explained that she thought she’d been phoning them all this time, only Brittany had had her calling a pal of hers instead. “I’m sorry,” said Carol. “I’m just trying to figure out how she even met you in the first place.” So Amelia, forgetting that the Dickinsons didn’t know that they were grandparents, explained that they’d met when Brittany came to Grey Sloan for a doctor’s appointment for Leo. “Who’s Leo?” Carol asked. “Is that her boyfriend?” Oh dear. After Amelia filled in Owen that Brittany had called her folks, but still hadn’t told them about Leo, he couldn’t bear to observe as the couple bonded with Leo. And the blows just kept coming. Brittany had even lied about her surname. “I can’t be here, Amelia,” said Owen as he fled. “I just can’t.”
Later, Amelia and Carol bonded while watching Leo in daycare. “The first time [Brittany] ran away, I was so terrified, I could barely breathe,” Amelia admitted. “I can’t imagine living with that fear for a year and a half.” As for Leo’s father, Amelia reported that Brittany had said he wasn’t in the picture. (Though neither they nor we could exactly count on her for honesty… ) Trying hard to process everything, Carol said, “I’m a good mom… I don’t know what you must think.” Brittany had been a good kid, too — until the drugs. Then she’d become someone unrecognizable. “She’d be standing right in front of me but not there.” That being the case, “I missed her before she ran away.” Now Carol wasn’t sure that she could keep going through this. Hoping to comfort her, Amelia admitted that she, too, was an addict who’d done awful things. And once she’d gotten clean, her mother had been the last person she wanted to see — the shame she felt had been just too great. But “I promise you,” she told Carol. “Your little girl is still in there.”
‘EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID, SAY AGAIN’
| Despite Mer putting off going out with DeLuca, it seemed like she was at last starting to realize that he would be impossible to resist. As Dahlia gave her an update on their patient, Grey found herself unable to focus on anything but DeLuca smoldering at her from across the room. Afterwards, she pulled her would-be boyfriend aside and told him, “No looking at me like that at work! It’s a rule!” She then filled him in on her conversation with Maggie and her sense that her sis had been acting weird. “You’re acting weird,” he cracked. Nonetheless, she maintained that she needed to get Maggie’s blessing before they could officially date. In response, DeLuca pointed out that Carina had never gotten his permission to date any of his exes. “She just dives right in,” he said. And how did that make you feel? Mer shot back. Point made. Still, he couldn’t help giving her “the look” once more. “Stop breaking rules!” she cried before retreating.
While treating with Teddy a patient named Lucille who was involved in a polyamorous relationship with two men, Koracick delighted in their “thrupplehood.” Since Teddy sounded like an expert when she talked about someone always being shortchanged in such a scenario, he asked, “Which one are you, the torchbearer or the one getting burned?” Meanwhile, Maggie pulled Jo away from her work with Bailey to help with Kiki’s case. And the longer she treated the patient, the more the woman’s bullying came back to her. Apparently, she’d been a horror and a half. “I used to lie in bed at night wishing she was dead,” Maggie admitted. And now it appeared that she might soon be — her condition was dire. So she was pretty distracted when Jackson told her that a kid had been shot. “That’s great,” she said. But then she revealed why she wasn’t paying attention, and he gave her a big thumbs-up on her sharing. Later, Maggie told Kiki that she couldn’t help her, prompting the bully to ask if it was because she was holding a grudge. Yes and no. So Kiki pleaded with Maggie to give her a chance to be better. “If I die and there is a hell,” said Kiki, “that’s where I’m going.” Later, an accidental consult with Mer gave Maggie an idea that might save Kiki if the two of them teamed up.
‘HE WAS JUST PLAYING HIS MUSIC!’
| While Owen and the docs treated Colin, the gunshot victim, all of the bagpipers took it upon themselves to perform outside the hospital. “Is it really bad or really good?” wondered Jackson. (Fair question.) Before the boy was taken into surgery, his dad railed about the fact that, despite this tragedy, the gun laws wouldn’t change. Later, while the bagpipers flooded the cafeteria, Bailey marveled at the fact that Karev’s picture had been added to the wall of chiefs. He was just interim, for Pete’s sake! Mark had been interim, and he wasn’t up there. In response, Richard reminded Bailey of a patient of his that she’d saved — so she got the than-you pears every year. Still, she couldn’t resist swapping her and Alex’s pictures’ places. Post-surgery, Jo marveled that Maggie and Meredith had pulled off Kiki’s operation with no consequences. Except there were consequences of her past behavior — her emergency contact was… no one. Owen reported to the bagpipers that Colin had pulled through. Lucille made it through her procedure just fine, too. Upon learning the good news, one of her fellas explained to Teddy that it worked because Lucille and the other guy were friends; their relationship could be easy. After seeing the main bagpiper reunited with his son, Owen panicked and made a beeline for daycare. Seeing his upset, Teddy got him to confess that he knew he was gonna lose the baby he’d come to love like his own.
As the hour drew to a close, Mer again asked Maggie if it was OK if she went out with DeLuca. “I’m not gonna be a Kiki,” Grey said. But Maggie hadn’t even heard her that morning, she’d just read her nemesis’ chart. Anyway, it was fine with Maggie. “He’s a good guy,” she said. Nearby, Owen and Amelia were shocked to learn that Carol and John planned to take Leo home with them. He and Amelia are the baby’s family, Owen protested. But hell would freeze over, John said, before he’d entrust his grandson to another drug addict. As Amelia shot Carol a crushed “How could you?!?” look, Owen said that Leo wouldn’t be going anywhere without a court order. “I’m his legal guardian,” he said, “and I’ve sworn to protect him.” What’s more, if the Dickinsons tried to leave Grey Sloan with Leo, Owen would have them arrested for kidnapping. (Gee, that escalated quickly.) After the couple departed with exactly the “You haven’t seen the last of us!” threats you’d expect, Owen, shocked that Amelia would disclose her drug-addict past to either of them, turned on her. If he wanted to fight for Leo, she replied, she wouldn’t be an issue. They aren’t married, after all. Of course the word that Owen zeroed in on was “if.” Why wouldn’t he fight for Leo? Because he’s the baby’s foster father, Amelia reminded him. He’d wanted Leo to have his mother in his life. Now he was starting a war with the baby’s grandparents, and all the while, Betty was missing, and he didn’t even seem to care. “Her name is Brittany,” Owen snapped. “And she’s never been much of a mother. I think we both know that.” Frustrated, Amelia just walked away.
‘SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, I GOT GOOD AT IT’ | After Jo restored Alex’s chief portrait to its rightful place as the most recent one, Bailey approached Karev with an offer to return. “I’m ready,” she said. Only he turned her down. He’d figured how to kick ass at it like Richard had suggested. So he wasn’t budging until their six-month contract had expired. Grudgingly, she had to admit that she was proud of him. Next, Teddy went to Koracick’s hotel room and started going on about friendships, which struck him as odd. “You didn’t have to come to my hotel room to tell me we’re just friends,” he said. “That’s like a leave-a-note-at-the-front-desk kinda thing.” In response, she said he’d misunderstood. She and Owen are friends, she and Tom are… “something else.” (Inner voice: Yay! Outer voice: OK, fine — same.) With that, they shared a kiss that seemed like it could’ve turned into more. Except “I am really pregnant,” she reminded him. So maybe, he suggested, she could come in and share his club sandwich — extra bacon. That being an offer she couldn’t refuse, she accepted. Back at the hospital, Mer told DeLuca that he wasn’t taking her out. Because of Maggie? he asked. No, because “I have three kids,” she replied. “I’m not getting on the back of a motorcycle, so I’m driving.” In other words, she was taking him out! (Viva la Season of Love!)
So, what did you think of “I Walk the Line”? Hit the comments.
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