Grey’s Anatomy - 10x03 “Everybody’s Crying Mercy” - Recap & Discussion

Grey's Anatomy - Season 10, Episode 3 - "Everybody's Crying Mercy"

After a premiere that was mostly gloom and heartache for our characters I'm happy to report that episode 3 of season 10 was nothing if not funny. Sure this is still Grey’s Anatomy we’re talking about, so don’t expect everything and everyone to be peachy, but I was actually laughing out-loud throughout much of last nights episode. “Everybody’s Crying Mercy” followed the theme that the title makes quite clear - everyone is trying to figure out how much is too much, what’s right, what’s wrong, and when to (as Burke and Cristina once explored) ‘say Uncle’. It’s not a new theme for the show by any means, but it really is strong here. The balance of humor / drama / patient moments was near-perfect. A lot of this episode really felt like classic Grey’s to me and I’m so happy that 10 years in Shonda & Co. are still able to deliver compelling stories and exciting moments. Shall we?

Karev and Jo Yang Forever

Yea, yea, Jo and Alex are great together.. but Cristina and Alex? Nothing short of awesome. Would I ever want them to hook up? Definitely not. I’m glad the writers never went there with Alex and either Meredith or Cristina. The friendship between the 3 of them is just too awesome and individually they all have seriously funny and specially-defined relationships. When we pick up this week Cristina is bored from all the non-sex with Owen and in waking up early notices Jo and all her intern friends passed out downstairs. Apparently it’s been about a week since Mousey died and the interns have all been ‘bonding’ since. Cristina hops in bed with a still-sleeping Alex to point out that Jo isn’t there instead. The scene is hilarious as we watch Cristina realize that Jo and Alex still haven’t had sex yet. And the fun doesn’t end there, because my favorite OG interns, now attendings, are working on a case together this week. While the comedy throughout was gold it was also really great to see these two genuinely help each other out a little bit. Cristina is trying her best to stay broken up with Owen, she knows they don’t want the same thing, she knows it’ll never work - and she sees that Alex has everything he wants right in front of him. So what’s the problem? Well see Alex thinks Jo is special so he wants it to be special. “When we’re done here,” Cristina asks in surgery, “will you braid my hair?” But she’s not the only force working to get the two together, because Jo is on her last pair of clean, sexy panties, and she’s frustrated that Alex hasn’t made a move yet, so she tells her fellow interns that the week-long grieving / sleepover / study party is over. Alex returns home to find Jo waiting for him at the end of the day and it sure seems as they make their way up the stairs that the deed is about get done. Alternatively in a rare alone moment near the end of the episode Cristina asks Owen to try to move on - to date other people. She says it will be hard, but it’s the only way. Personally I couldn’t be more excited - I know they’ll be connected as long as Cristina is still on the show, but it’s time for this couple to officially call it quits. I think the exploration of their moving on will be much more interesting than the back-and-forth.

Callie's Seeing Red

We open the episode with Arizona trying on a few fancy dresses before work - and when she shows up at Grey + Sloane Memorial we see that she settled on the red one. She’s also got a new haircut and all of this apparently is supposed to help ease her scorned wife into the idea of couples therapy. When Arizona stops in on Callie in an ER room to remind her that she’d agreed to come to an appointment with a therapist tonight, Callie shuts her down and reminds her coldly “yea, we agreed to a lot of things.” Callie has been living at Meredith and Derek’s house for the last week (and it seems the foreseeable future) and she sure as hell wasn’t lying when she told a still-recovering Meredith that the kids were “the only people that don’t piss me off,” as she whisked Zola and Sofia off to daycare before work that morning. Callie takes her anger out on just about everyone around her - nothing too extreme, just a lot of snark and snapping, but it’s clear she’s still reacting badly to what happened. And who can blame her? After a few awkward near-encounters the couple finally come face-to-face at the end of the episode when Callie meets up with Arizona outside the therapists office. Arizona is ecstatic but Callie says she’s all through talking about what happened right now - she can’t stop picturing Arizona screwing “that woman” and can’t spend any more time dwelling on it. This is the stuff Grey’s is great at, because while I’m totally on Callie’s side here, Arizona looks absolutely sucker-punched. But Callie is spot-on in what she says and I can’t believe the writers addressed exactly what I’d said for so long. Callie tells Arizona that she’d been wishing she never told her about the affair, so that they could go on being happy. But she realized Arizona wasn’t happy before, “and so we do things like have sex with other people .. I don’t think it was a mistake.” She refuses to go into the room, “but I think you should. I think you need to.” Arizona begs her, pleading, telling her wife she needs her to do this. She needs to talk to her. “I know,” says Callie, “You wore the red dress and everything.” God damn. Sara Ramirez is never anything short of phenomenal but she’s really gotten better and better over the years. I’m actually excited to see the writers explore an infidelity storyline from a different angle. Everything is different when there are kids involved and Arizona has so much to deal with not only from the plane crash, but I think back to issues with Mark, the pregnancy, ext. I’m glad Callie realizes this goes far beyond the leg. Arizona needs to get there too.

The Boards, The Board and The Boss

One of the many Doctors who was lucky enough to incur Callie’s wrath during the day was Dr Kepner. Dr Torres questioned whether or not April had heard back about her boards… so apparently she retook them. “Not yet,” April told her, “you think that’s bad?” to which Callie deadpans, “You think thats good?” But Kepner did indeed finally pass her medical boards, a victory which she discovers alongside Avery, who as she goes in for a hug instead throws out a high-five. It’s awkward and sort of funny and I guess romantic because they’re obviously still into each other but I just really don’t care about this couple... I do however think its hilarious that literally every time they’re together Stephanie appears like magic. It sort of makes sense this week though because she’s on Avery’s service, though the pro bono surgery they book is shut down by Chief Hunt who can’t seem to get the hospital board to pay attention to the budget issues caused by the storm. The outpatient surgery wing is trashed in the aftermath and Owen tries multiple times to get the group together but everything seems to be an obstacle - Meredith and Derek are at home with baby Bailey, Cristina is trying to distance herself from Owen, Callie won’t talk to Arizona, and everyone is swamped with surgery. Owen notes something that should have been obvious when these doctors banded together and bought the hospital last season - they need to figure out how to work as both doctors and the board or the whole place will fall apart. So after some back-and-forth between who’s indeed boss at the hospital, and with a little trickery, Owen and Jackson are able to convene the entire board (even Meredith & Derek - more on them soon!) in the tarnished wing of the hospital, sit them down and get them to look over the budgets. It’s decided that next week - the 200th episode!!! - the doctors will throw a fundraising gala to recover the damages from the storm. (Also at some point Avery and Stephanie do a bunch of butt lipo on patients and that’s pretty much how I feel about all of their scenes together so I thought that was pretty funny…)

Daddy Issues

While on leave from work Meredith and Derek are adjusting to life with baby Bailey. Derek is able to sneak in a nap in his car after running to the grocery store but Meredith is straight up sleep-deprived, perhaps in-part because she’s so focused on what’s going on back at the hospital with Richard. Bailey and Dr Ross are on his case, and Webber isn’t getting any better post surgery. He needs an NG tube to administer feedings through his nose because he’s still unable to eat and his weight and energy are decreasing rapidly. Bailey is likely still guilt-ridden over her last pre-electrocution chat with Richard and so he’s got her wrapped around his finger. Bailey also doesn’t want to see Webber deal with the psychological side effects of having to receive the tube and she’s hopeful that he’ll begin to heal on his own with time, but Meredith knows better. She has Dr Ross order the tube anyway, and when she shows up at the hospital to make sure it’s getting done, Ross steps in and does it himself. He offers to Webber that he’s relieving Meredith or Bailey from having to do it and it’s clear that the intern is dealing with issues of guilt over having sent Mousey down to the basement where she eventually died. Gaius Charles was great here - I’ve seen him do great work on Friday Night Lights and I know that provided the material he’s an exceptional actor, so I’m hopeful we’ll get some good stuff for him this season. It’s really heartbreaking seeing Webber like this and I’m glad the writers didn’t give him some miraculous recovery. The man has been through a lot, and he’s like a father to a lot of these characters, so it’s incredibly hard watching him weakened and struggling like this. Even worse? Watching him tear into Meredith in the episodes final scene. Richard wakes up to see Meredith at his bedside and tells her that the only reason he chose her to be his ‘family’ was because he thought she could put her emotions aside and let him, essentially, die. “I’m not your father … I knew Bailey was too weak, but you I thought I could trust not to let them operate on me when I was all but dead. Not to bring me back to life where I have to get my meals from a tube. I thought you wouldn’t be sentimental. I was wrong. I chose the wrong person.” Well damn.

Still Grey’s Anatomy

“You can cry mercy all you want but nobody’s listening. It’s just you screaming into a void.”
I’ve always maintained that Grey’s Anatomy works best when Meredith is at its center. My big fear going into this season was that the new interns have absolutely zero connection to the original doctors, and I’m not a fan of the let-Greys-run-like-ER revolving door scenario. When Meredith is gone, I’m gone. But I’ve actually found a deep appreciation for the format of the season thus far - Meredith’s current story may not be groundbreaking or jaw-dropping, but its realistic and funny and it still feels like it matters. Seeing the chick who binged on tequila and broke guys penis’ and had an intense drive for nothing but surgery now stuck at home changing diapers is pretty awesome, and it’s a great parallel to the fact that Cristina refused to be that woman. I’m excited to see Meredith balance work and raising the kids - and she must be struggling terribly with the worry of letting them grow up with an absentee mother like she did. The final scene with Webber was awesome as well. We’ve watched them for 10 years sort out their relationship, he’s the closest thing she’s ever had to a real parent, and watching a parent grow old or get sick is just about the hardest thing in the world. Richard’s anger is expected if not warranted. He’s a man who heals for a living, his wife recently died, not only must he be terrified but also sad. I’m genuinely excited to see this storyline play out. Likewise as long as the interns are working under our doctors I - gulp - really don’t mind them that much.. Okay, I really dislike Stephanie and Leah. But I like the idea of seeing our interns teach the new interns. Especially as we prepare to say goodbye to Cristina and end her journey at SG / GSM. I sort of wish they’d end the show after this season, but after 10 years of ups and downs I’m open to whatever Shonda cooks up as long as our main Grey is sticking it out. Life does indeed go on and Grey's has proved remarkable at evolving over time while always maintaining the heart of the show. So what are your thoughts on the season and storylines thus far? How are you feeling about the interns? Are you rooting for a Callie / Arizona reunion? Sound off in the comments & feel free to follow me on twitter. Plus make sure you check back next week as we celebrate the landmark 200th episode!