Grey's Anatomy recap: Grey's Anatomy Season 9, Episode 16
ABC
This week, Pegasus was back in the game, and so am I! We've got a lot of ground to cover with this episode of Grey's Anatomy, and much like the docs, I'm ready for the fight, so let's get to it!
Basically, as far as Seattle Grace-Mercy West was concerned, it was a now-or-never situation. Cahill somehow convinced Pegasus to buy the hospital (again), and Team Derek (Patrick Dempsey) — I've elected him as the leader based on his smile and fabulous hair — was in need of $175 million. You know, chump change. However, Derek's financial advisor, Stan the man, found a billionaire who was willing to hear Team Derek's pitch, but only after they went through two rounds of preliminary pitches.
While Team Derek was off dealing with statistics and Callie's flop sweats, things were falling apart at Seattle Grace. Bailey (Chandra Wilson) was off to her first job interview since Y2K and nurses were dropping left and right. Luckily, Owen had one more inspiring speech left in him, and he was able to convince Bailey to stick around by telling her she was the heart and the spirit of the hospital. Who could walk away from him after that? Not Bailey. But she did warn him that if the ship sank and she was left without a life jacket, she would come back fists swinging, "and I'm short so my punches land low." Did anyone doubt she was the spirit of that hospital? Didn't think so.
And Bailey wasn't the only one thinking about a potential life outside of the hospital. Catherine Avery, as usual, made her presence known when she told Jackson he should leave Seattle Grace behind for the Harper Avery Foundation in Boston. But Richard (James Pickens Jr.) was there to save Jackson (Jesse Williams) by explaining that "A man who does not bend to the winds of change is a man that you can be proud of." Richard is not to be outdone, y'all. However, as poetic as his speech might have been, he didn't exactly convince Jackson, who started to question his future in Seattle.
Speaking of questions, Alex was starting to suspect that something was up with Cristina and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) always whispering and plotting. But before he could do any digging, he got a little too caught up in his crush on Jo. So, after giving Jo (Camilla Luddington) a hard time about her date with Chest Peckswell, he got to work on saying adios to Phil, a.k.a. putting a tumor in a bag and simultaneously charming Jo into seeing him in a new light. If I were you, Chest Peckswell, I'd watch out for Alex, or else a stupid nickname might be all you've got. That, and your chest.
One billionaire. That's all that Team Derek needed. The team's first proposal was deemed "neat" by a set of hoodie-wearing junior executives. But apparently neat is slang for potentially worth $175 million, because they got a second meeting, this time with three very straight-faced suits. Luckily, between Stan's configurations and Derek's smile, the team was granted 15 minutes with the billionaire himself: Julian Castle. 15 minutes to save it all. Cristina said it best: "No pressure or anything."
However, pressure wasn't confined solely to the members of Team Derek. Bailey was taking on what she considered to be a good-as-dead patient Meredith had left behind. But thanks to Mer and intern Heather's new phone relationship, Bailey was able to plan one last experimental surgery before hearing the news that Cahill was planning to sell the hospital to Pegasus for one purpose: to liquidate its assets. Once again, Heather — and her new hairdo — was the one to hear the news, and she wasn't shy about sharing it. How did she put it? Pegasus was "stripping us for parts like a busted-ass truck." Looks like someone could use some poetic-speech lessons from Richard, who was busy cluing Jackson in on the plan that he himself knew nothing about.
After Jackson got to thinking about seriously moving to Boston, he found Richard to talk about what brought on the poetry and optimism of that morning. Richard informed him that when he walked in on Meredith and people talking last week, "they slammed the door in my face like I was Diane Keaton at the end of The Godfather." And based on his extensive past of watching Unsolved Mysteries (and solving three of them!), Richard had a gut feeling that his peers were up to something. And boy was he right.
Back at Callie (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona's (Jessica Capshaw) apartment, Team Derek was in full preparation mode. 15 minutes was all they had to answer all of Castle's questions before he boarded a plane to Dubai and left them without jobs/lives. When it came time to meet Castle face-to-face, Derek took the lead. He was sincere, and in the words of Castle, he was "great." But the docs weren't the only ones who prepared for the meeting. Castle was very impressed with each of their résumés, which he recited to them rather impressively if I do say so myself. Experimental trials and mind-blowing surgeries were all things Castle liked, but there was something that he didn't like: the team's lack of administrative leadership experience. He just wasn't feeling it. Womp, womp.
As soon as Castle told the team to get more administrative leadership experience, I screamed at the television: "RICHAARRDD!" The good news was that Meredith and I were on the same page. She suggested getting Richard involved just as Cristina volunteered Owen's help. At this point, Pegasus was going to sell the hospital for parts, so what's the harm in getting Owen involved? Back to the hospital they went!
Within the walls of Seattle Grace, the news had spread of Pegasus' intentions, and people were bummed (and rightfully so). Stephanie was considering following Jackson wherever he went. Apparently, his sex is greater than her job. Did anyone else think that Leah was actually funny in this episode? When Stephanie admitted to wanting to follow Jackson, she went to talk to him, and Leah informed her that "Every step you take is a giant leap backward for womankind." However, when Jackson and Stephanie finally did talk about the future, he informed her that it wouldn't be "the worst thing in the world" for them to end up near each other. Did things just get a whole lot more serious for these two!?
In the same vein, Jo broke down when she realized that losing Seattle Grace meant losing Alex, who turned out to be a pretty amazing teacher. Through her real tears she explained, "I don't want to never see you again." Despite my greatest efforts, I did not successfully will him to kiss her through the television. Sorry, guys.
Who am I forgetting? Oh right, April. She spent her afternoon sitting outside, feeling sorry for herself, and crying on a bench (I can't help but think of Izzie anytime they show that bench). This episode marked the return of the bench and the return of the walkway! Bailey finally admitted that she was the heart of the hospital. Key word: was. Then she met up with Richard on the walkway, where she also admitted that she always thought she would be the chief of surgery at some point. My favorite non-romantic duo then agreed to do one final surgery together "for the road." But Richard was pulled away in the middle of the surgery when Meredith showed up. And the Meredith-versus-Bailey saga continued! After Richard listened to Meredith's speech, he offered Team Derek every dime he had — which was apparently $3 million — but Meredith was more interested in his experience and general charisma.
After a quick chat with his ex-wife, Owen barged into the board room and, with one final inspirational speech, convinced them to wait until the next day to make a decision on the Pegasus deal. Now it was Team Derek's turn. Or, more specifically, it was Derek and Richard's turn. After catching Castle on his way out, the two ex-chiefs boarded a helicopter with the billionaire for one last-ditch effort. And despite what was surely a moving speech from Richard and a genuine glance or two from Derek, Mr. Castle "wasn't feeling it." Cristina headed to Joe's — Welcome back, Joe's! — to tell Owen the bad news, and then they joined Alex (who stashed his good booze in the oven) for a drink and caught him up on their plan. It seemed all hope was lost. Callie and Arizona headed home to plan a potential move, and Derek went home to write letters of recommendation for the interns. Ugh. He's the best. How could Castle have turned him down?! Seriously.
After facing defeat, Richard headed back to Catherine's bed, where he filled her in on the day's failed efforts. He admitted that he wasn't ready to retire yet, and that was all Catherine (Debbie Allen) needed to hear. She assembled the doctors at the break of dawn the next morning to inform them that the Harper Avery Foundation would be happy to invest in Seattle Grace. As Meredith's voice-over put it, "There's a reason surgeons are willing to roll the dice on a risky go-for-broke, point-of-no-return surgery with potentially devastating consequences… sometimes it works."
However, did it technically work if Catherine appointed Jackson as Harper Avery's representative on Seattle Grace's board of directors?! As Catherine put it, "Now give your mama a kiss, Jackson. She just bought you a hospital." TWIST! Did you see the look on Richard's face? The poor guy clearly thought his pillow talk had saved the day only to find out that Jackson was going to be his boss?! Everybody's boss?! I'm not so sure Richard is going to be on board with this one.
Do you think Jackson will accept his mother's offer to be the representative for the Harper Avery Foundation? Does he have a choice? And how will the others react to having Jackson as a boss? I don't see it working out if I'm being honest. What about the many romances currently happening? Are Jackson and Stephanie becoming more serious? When will Alex finally kiss Jo?
Regardless, Pegasus was officially kicked to the curb. The doctors trumped technology. Now what?
