‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Tweet-cap: Second Chances

Warning: This recap for the “Roar” episode of Grey’s Anatomy contains spoilers.

In the high-stakes world of Grey’s Anatomy, when do you forgive a mistake and when do you cut bait?

This week’s episode sees the return of a character who left under a cloud of disgrace. She’s back, new and improved, thanks to Richard giving her a second chance — but can she rise above the bad impression she made the first time around?

And then there’s Alex. He did an awful thing to DeLuca, and maybe he deserves the punishment he’s getting. That doesn’t make him any less great of a doctor. He’s a fighter; that characteristic doesn’t always serve him well in his personal, but it serves his patients well.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s episode, including our live tweets:

Oh, mother
Alex is getting ready for another day in court, this time to set his trial date. Meredith fusses over him and offers to accompany him. He needs to show he has people, and she’s his person. Alex refuses, though, explaining that it’ll take five seconds to resolve.

In the courthouse, while waiting in the security line, Alex strikes up a conversation with Veronica, a pregnant woman trying to contest a traffic ticket. He notices she has a bad rash on her hands and encourages her to go to his clinic.

At the hospital, DeLuca updates Jo on the trial, and when he asks if she and Alex talk, Jo shakes her head. They aren’t on speaking terms, right now. Maggie, meanwhile, is raving about a new resident on her service… and guess what? The new resident turns out to be a very familiar face!

Of course, Arizona is all flustered (she did hook up with Leah quite a few times) and runs to Richard to complain. He says Leah turned her career around and he’s a big believer in second chances.

Amelia preps for surgery, when Owen comes by to ask her if she wants to talk a bit more about the negative pregnancy test. He reminds her that they only just started trying, and Amelia (fake) assures him that she’s totally OK with it.

Alex returns from court to find Veronica waiting at the clinic. She nervously reveals that she’s single and got pregnant with a friend (one of those “pacts”). Alex examines her hands and seems worried. This is no ordinary rash — it could be a sign of cancer. He tells her that maybe she should call in the baby daddy.

Meanwhile, Bailey has an unwanted headache in the form of Catherine Avery, who demands to know why Alex hasn’t been fired or at least why they haven’t replaced him. She accuses Bailey of being lenient. Bailey sputters a bit — she was once nicknamed “The Nazi”! — and Catherine threatens to replace Alex if she won’t.

Baily vents to Richard about it, and inadvertently insults Richard by calling him lenient. They both commiserate about feeling secure in their decisions to give people second chances — in his case, Leah; in her case, Alex. Well, Bailey is about to regret that decision when Alex storms up and demands her assistance on Veronica’s case. Bailey is pissed, but goes along with him to the clinic. But when she and Jo, who’s on her service, delve into the case, they inform Veronica that she has a possibly cancerous tumor on her pancreas.

Veronica’s choice
Earlier, a trauma had come in — a car crash involving a father and son. April and Jackson work on the dad, while Amelia patches up the kid, Robby. He seems to be doing just fine, and Amelia gets all maternal with him and lets him cry on her shoulder about being scared for his dad. Suddenly, he passes out — something is terribly wrong and she rushes him to surgery.

At lunch, Maggie once again raves about what a great doctor Leah is. Alex and Arizona mention that they both slept with her, while Jo and Steph inform Maggie that Leah was a terrible intern who tried to sue the hospital when she was fired.

Bailey, Alex, and Jo look at Veronica’s scans. Yes, the tumor is cancer. Bailey is going to recommend chemo, but because the baby wouldn’t survive the treatment, she’s also going to suggest that Veronica terminate the pregnancy. Alex argues against it, knowing how much Veronica wanted this baby. Bailey dismisses him. “I’m the surgeon,” she reminds him.

When Bailey informs Veronica of the diagnosis, Veronica asks how long she’d have even with the chemo. It’s only a year, maybe! She wants to try to save the baby, but her bestie Jeremy says she wouldn’t survive long enough to give birth.

Alex can’t stand not speaking up and blurts out that they could perform a risky surgery on her. Bailey takes him aside and yells at him — she gave him a second chance and now he’s ruining it! Alex refuses to show remorse, though; he cares about his patients and is always going to fight for them. Bailey shuts him down. “When I tell you to know your place, know your damn place,” she says, storming off.

In surgery, Maggie continues to be impressed by Leah. But Leah can sense that Maggie is double-checking her work; she knows that Maggie’s heard about her past. When Maggie asks why she came back to Grey Sloan, Leah reveals that reading an article written by Maggie inspired her to go into cardio. And she wanted to work with Maggie, so she took the chance to ask for a place back in the hospital.

In another OR, Amelia works frantically on Robby in surgery, but to no cause — he dies on the operating table.

Bailey talks again with Veronica, urging her to terminate the pregnancy and get the chemo. But Veronica replies that she can envision this child growing up with Jeremy — playing, watching Star Wars, etc. She doesn’t want to take that from him. If she’s doing to die anyway, doesn’t Jeremy at least deserve a chance to be a father? Her speech moves Bailey, who decides to go ahead with the risky surgery. Score one for Karev.

Parental discretion
After Veronica goes into surgery, Jeremy freaks. Can he really raise this child on his own? He doesn’t have the first clue what to do — this was Veronica’s idea. Alex gives him a pep talk about how there’s only one trick to being a parent:

After Amelia informs Robby’s parents of his death, she completely breaks down and flees to the lounge to sob. She’s not alone there, though — Alex compassionately asks if she wants to talk about it. Amelia opens up to him about the child she had, born without a brain (Private Practice fans know this whole story). And when she took that pregnancy test, she panicked. Owen wants a baby so badly, but when the test turned out negative, she was relieved. But she doesn’t feel she can share the story or her feelings with her husband, because he might hate her.

Arizona finally greets Leah and they have a civil conversation. Who knows, maybe sparks will fly again between these two?

April and Jackson head home with Harriet, and after witnessing what happened with Robby, are adorably nervous about driving home with their baby.

Owen finds Amelia to go home and make dinner, but she brushes him off again, claiming she has a surgery. Girl, can’t you just talk to him! He’s your husband!

Meanwhile, Bailey is packing up when Catherine finds her again. This time, Bailey stands up for her decision to give Alex a second chance. After all, when she was first learning, her own teachers forgave her.

Catherine shrugs off the Alex thing. Turns out she is concerned about a bigger problem. Alex, Leah, April, Meredith — a lot of their doctors have made mistakes. Why is that? Why was Leah fired from Grey Sloan, but thrived elsewhere? There’s a problem with how they teach in the hospital. But a confused Bailey points out that the residency program is under Richard’s control. You know, Catherine’s husband.

Back at the Grey boarding house, Alex comes into Meredith’s room. He wants to start a Sunday morning waffle tradition — him, Meredith, the kids (wherever they are), Maggie, and Amelia, too. He urges Meredith to be nicer to her sister. “I’m not always going to be around,” Alex says, thinking of the possibility he could go to prison. “You’re going to need them.”

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. Watch clips and full episodes of Grey’s for free on Yahoo View.