‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Tweet-cap: Sinking Ship

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

And it all came tumbling down for Alex Karev.

Alex’s beatdown of DeLuca was bound to have consequences, and wow, are those consequences dire. He’s charged with felony assault, and then demoted at the hospital. Frankly, he’s fortunate that Bailey didn’t fire him. Not that long ago, Alex had a great job and proposed to the girlfriend he loved, and it just goes to show how life can turn sour for you in an instant. And only for himself — as he’s circling the drain, Alex might just suck Meredith in, too.

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

Suit up

As Alex dresses in suit and tie for a court appearance, he experiences flashbacks to his beatdown of DeLuca. The guilt is crushing him. Meredith enters his bedroom (he’s staying at her house now), as her voice-over talks about the absolute loyalty surgeons give to each other.

At the hospital, a perturbed Bailey complains she needs more spies in the ranks to tell her WTF is going on. Richard offers to be her James Bond. Elsewhere, Maggie runs into Meredith and tells her sister about a sex dream she had about Riggs — where they hook up in a car in the parking lot. Ummmm…

Maggie resolves to ask Riggs out on a date, except would that be sexual harassment? Oh well, whatever, she’s going to do it anyway.

One of Alex’s former patients, Zack, comes into the ER with abdominal pain. Zack had previously undergone a kidney transplant, and when Ben gets the labs, they indicate the boy may have appendicitis.

Time for Alex’s court hearing. The prosecutor wants to charge him with a felony, which Alex’s lawyer vigorously argues against. Ultimately, though, the judge sides with the prosecution, and that means Alex is facing real prison time. Meredith tries to give him a pep talk and adamantly declares he will not go to prison. But things are not looking good, not at all.

Oh, and going back to the hospital isn’t any better, as Alex has to face an even harsher judge: Bailey. She yells at him for beating up DeLuca, then mentions the intern is recovered enough to return to work. Will that be a problem? Not for Alex.

So, good news and bad news for April. Harriet is well enough to go home! The bad news is that April’s C-section wound re-opened, so mama isn’t ready to go home. April melts down, realizing that her baby girl is leaving the hospital without her. She starts ranting at Jackson about nature and crying and dehydration.

Buffer zone

In surgery, Maggie asks Meredith’s advice on asking out Riggs (oh jeez), when Owen comes in to invite Mer to a dinner party that Amelia concocted as a peace treaty between Owen and Riggs. Mer doesn’t want to be his “buffer person,” so Maggie eagerly offers.

Meanwhile, Jo is on Amelia’s service today (thanks to Stephanie’s request), and they are working on the case of Patricia, who has a tumor that she named Wilma… after her husband’s mistress. Amelia is energized, ready to “kick the crap out of Wilma.” That is a trigger for Jo, who comes a bit upset at that language. Amelia apologizes, and to make it up, invites her to the dinner party.

In the cafeteria, Bailey gets an update from James Bond aka Richard Webber, whose only gossip is that people are fighting over ownership of Callie’s ortho lab. Oh, Richard, maybe keep your day job?

Alex isn’t the only one messing up right now. Meredith runs into DeLuca in the elevator and accidentally threatens to block him from surgeries if he continues to press this case against Alex. Whoops! Alex rightfully yells at her, and to make it up, she invites him to the dinner party. Oh no, this cannot end well.

Dinner party begins. Maggie is dressed to the nines. Owen and Riggs are super uncomfortable around each other. Meredith makes up a patient by the name of “Peterkin” so she can whisper to Riggs that he has to turn down Maggie when she asks him out.

It gets even worse when Alex shows up and Jo is there. He tries to apologize again, but she isn’t having it. “It doesn’t fix anything!” she replies. “Sorry doesn’t fix anything.”

He wishes they weren’t at the party, that it was just “you and me” — but there is no “you and me,” Jo declares, before storming off. And then Alex gets a page from the hospital. Earlier, he brushed off Ben’s report of Zack’s condition, and now Zack is in crisis.

Gotta have faith

When Alex returns to the hospital, Zack is in surgery, but Bailey kicks him out of the OR and off of the case. Zack’s mom, one of his biggest fans, also expresses her disappointment in him when Alex confesses that he messed up.

When Mer finds Bailey after Zack’s surgery, Bailey knows that Meredith sorta threatened DeLuca and warns her not to let Alex’s problems drag her down, too. “You are not Karev’s guardian angel,” she says. “There’s no need to go down with him.”

Meanwhile, a despondent April video chats with Jackson and sings Harriet a beautiful rendition of George Michael’s “Faith.”

Later, Jackson brings Harriet back to visit mommy, and Richard gives him some advice: Find a way to help April. Don’t back off, and don’t let her push him away.

Back to Zack’s case: His kidney is failing and needs to be removed. Meredith is assigned to the surgery and decides to ask DeLuca to join her. Alex, guilty and horrified at making a big mistake, gives Zack a pep talk before going into surgery. It reminds us what a great doctor he can be. He’s just not that doctor right now.

Jackson is back to take Harriet home, and April is clearly upset again. He suggests that when she’s cleared to go home, she and Harriet come live with him. April refuses — she needs to set boundaries with him and she can take care of her baby. Jackson soothes her, saying he knows she wants to be independent. But she needs help, so she should think about it.

At the end of the evening, Maggie runs into Riggs in the parking lot. Next to a car. Ohhhhh, no. She asks him out to dinner, and he politely declines, saying he’s not ready to date anyone right now. Uh huh. Maggie walks away, humiliated.

She returns home to curl up next to Meredith and Alex. Mer just confessed sleeping with Riggs to Alex, so there’s a huge love triangle elephant in the room. Have a little faith in your sister, Mer!

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on ABC