Alright, here we go again with the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ recap for this week, but for starters, if you haven’t watched any of the episodes so far, you can find my recaps of them below:
The episode starts with Mer asking Alex and Jo what they did, after seeing Paul in the OR after a hit and run. They said they were home in bed, and that they didn’t do anything to him; they just got a call that he was in the hospital because Jo’s card was in his pocket (with her number on it). Mer tells the pair to wait in the lounge. Meanwhile, April is working diligently to save Paul when Mer tells her that she absolutely cannot let Paul die (because if he does there is a good chance that either Alex or Jo–or both–could end up in jail). April then tells Owen about the contest and he makes a face, because he immediately picks up on the fact that Webber played her. April asks Owen the rhetorical question, who wants to play when you can be the judge, but that’s when she also realizes that Webber played her. She goes to confront Webber but he won’t take the contest back.
April cuts off a patient in the ER who is heavily pregnant, trying to send her elsewhere for treatment. The pregnant women is supposed to meet Robins in the ER because her baby has a mild defect that Arizona has been monitoring. April brings her into one of the trauma bays and does a quick exam to see how far along the woman is in labor. The woman is complaining because she doesn’t want to have the baby without her husband there, but April tells Helm (one of the interns) to get Arizona because the baby is coming now.
Ben, who we haven’t seen in quite a few episodes since he decided to change careers (again) to be a firefighter drops Tuck off at the hospital. He tells Bailey that it is because he has his ride along and he can’t take Tuck and his friend to science camp. Bailey is annoyed as Ben leaves, but Maggie says that she will take over and teach them all about science (which she seems way too excited about).
April is trying to deliver the baby while they are waiting for Robins, and the woman’s husband finally shows up. Just when we think this is a normal encounter, and all too familiar voice says her name, “April?” YUP! YOU GUESSED IT! IT’S MATT, APRILS EX FIANCÉ WHO SHE LEFT AT THE ALTAR FOR JACKSON (WOW OKAY DID NOT SEE THAT COMING).
Alex and Jo go to check and see if Paul is okay, and Mer tells them to get out and go to Canada (because, y’know, the escape plan is to always flee to Canada when the world thinks you might have tried to run over your abusive Ex-husband). While Mer is trying to get them to leave, Amelia arrives and tells Mer that it is just a severe concussion. Jo wants to talk to Jenny but Alex says no, she can’t do that because it will look like they are conspiring.
April confronts Arizona for not telling her that she was treating her ex fiance’s wife and their baby. When he comes out of the room (after this conversation), DeLuca says they’re a nice couple and the wife reminds him of April. You can see the pain in her face because she used to be engaged to Matt and it is literally the life they planned together. April tells Jackson that Matt is there in the hospital, and he is just as surprised as we are. She then tries to pass the contest to him, but he says no (for obvious reasons). She tells him to think about it as she runs off to help an incoming trauma. When she gets to the ER, she finds out that the guy tried to cut off his hand.
Meanwhile, Maggie is teaching Tuck and his friend from science camp about science. She does the famous “Elephant’s Toothpaste” experiment (where combining the chemicals causes the liquids to rapidly expand into foam). April goes back to check in with her patient (Matt’s wife). Matt leaves when she arrives and April and his wife try to talk, but the conversation just becomes increasingly awkward as time passes. April goes to see the chief in the ER. There is an incoming GSW, and they know in advance because Ben is the one who called it in. The victim is only 12 years old. The police that are accompanying him say that he was breaking into the house, but the boy keeps insisting that it was his house. The doctors ask the police to take the cuffs off of the boy, but they say they can’t. But Jackson persists and tells them to take them off so that they can save the boy’s life.
Jenny goes to talk to Jo and tells Alex that she only needs a minute. Jo says it’s okay and Alex leaves them to talk. Jenny thinks it was Jo who hit Paul, but she didn’t tell the police that. She thanks Jo for doing it, because she was scared in the hotel, but Jo said it wasn’t her either because she was at home with Alex. Jenny finally realizes that she was in the same boat as Jo was with Paul, and that now that this has happened she feels free from his words. She finally is able to understand exactly what happened and her and Jo share the same feelings about the abuse now that she can see it clearly.
April is back with the patient who tried to cut off his hand. He says that he tried to cut off his hand because he was listening to god. He starts to quote parts of scripture and April starts throwing bible quotes at him and explaining he took it far too literally. She tried to explain that sometimes the bible is truth, but many times it is a metaphor. There are certain parts that he shouldn’t have taken literally, like trying to cut off his own hand.
Bailey and her surgical team are trying to figure out whether they should wait it out, do a CT, or operate blind on the boy who got shot. Bailey makes the decision that they are sending him to CT even though it will be a lot of radiation for his system. His family shows up and he tells them that he was reaching for his phone and they shot him. The doctors and his parents tell him to calm down. Jackson tells the police to leave and that they can talk to the family and their child after the family spends time with him. Jackson confronts the officer outside the trauma room for pulling the trigger on a child. He said he didn’t, and that he was just doing his job, but it’s clear that Jackson is pissed.
April runs to Karen (Matt’s wife) because she’s in a lot of pain. She goes to call Arizona, but Arizona is with the baby so Karen tells her not to. April takes a look instead because of the pain. She has a blood clot and April has to drain it so that the pain will go away. Karen says God doesn’t give them more than they can handle, and April says that she was just telling another patient that (I think they might have bonded over it?).
Jackson is pissed that the police won’t leave them alone to treat their patient. Jackson tells April about how he was racially profiled and that in wealthy neighborhoods it can be even worse for people of color. The CT shows the bullet is lodged in his neck, but he’s going to pull through based on the fact that it missed all the major arteries.
April and Matt talk for the first time, and it is really awkward. He tells her that Karen is the love of his life and that it is okay because she has that with Jackson. He said that it worked out perfectly for both of them. April is clearly hurt by his words because he doesn’t know any of the story. He asks her about her 3-year-old, because he heard from the priest that she was pregnant, but she corrects him and says the baby is one (because her first baby who died should have been three).
Meanwhile, Mer is in the room with Paul. Paul says he’s stable and wants to go and Mer says he should. Jenny and Jo come in the room and the two of them stand up to Paul. Jenny tells him that she wants to talk to the police and asks Jo if she will testify at the trial. Jo agrees to testify, and you can see Paul start to freak out. He claims that they are the ones threatening him while he is in the hospital. When they continue to stand their ground, Paul tries to grab Jenny, but he loses his footing and falls, hitting his head on the foot of the bed. Mer checks his pulse and Jo runs to get a crash cart.
Webber is working on making a surgical plan for saving his patient’s hand. They call in Carina to talk to him from her point of view. Telling him that “sinning,” (as he kept referring to it) was not a bad thing. He tells Carina that she has to leave, and the reasoning is pretty clear.
Mer and Amelia check on Paul, and they inform Jo, Alex, and Jenny that they think that he’s brain dead, although they need a few more hours to confirm it. They say that she has to make a decision, and Jenny doesn’t know what to do, but Mer informs her that it is not her that has to make the decision. That’s when Jo realizes she is the one who has to decide whether or not to unplug Paul because she’s still legally married to him. She bursts out laughing and then she starts crying.
Matt goes to get April because Karen is in pain and Arizona pops up, finally. She tells April that she has this, so April leaves to check on the 12-year-old. His artery ruptured, and they have to rush him to the OR. April is running around and doesn’t know what to do. While her head is spinning, she checks the surgical board and runs to the OR. Matt’s wife is in surgery and she finds out that Karen is bleeding out. Arizona tells DeLuca to go and find Matt to inform him on what is happening, but April offers to go. Arizona tells her not to go talk to Matt, and DeLuca goes to find him. Unfortunately, April finds Matt in the chapel. She was going there to pray, but offers to leave when she sees him there. He leaves instead, so she decides to sit down and pray.
Jo and Jenny are in the room with Paul. Just outside the door, Mer tells Alex that they found the drunk driver that hit Paul, so no one will go to jail for what happened. Jenny and Jo try to figure out what to do about Paul, because he is brain dead. Suddenly, Jo asks Jenny if Paul started smoking or drinking, and Jenny tells her that Paul was perfectly healthy. Jo tells her that she knows what they can do.
Matt’s wife is crashing and Bailey has to inform the family of the 12-year-old that he didn’t survive the surgery. April goes to comfort Jackson, but instead, Jackson confronts the officer about racial profile and violence. Jackson goes off on the faults of our legal system before storming off even though they insist they need a statement. April gives a statement to them saying a little boy is dead because an officer shot him while he was just trying to get into his house. She can’t have faith in a system like that. She storms off after Jackson.
After what happened with the 12-year-old boy, Bailey and Ben talk about how they have to talk to Tuck. This is a really raw moment, that speaks to the issues surrounding the fact that we live in a country where people of color need to warn their children against things like joking with their friends to avoid being shot. Bailey and Ben talk about what he has to do to get home safely. Shonda really tells it like it is in this scene. It’s so powerful hearing the words straight from powerful characters like Bailey and Ben. But the reality they face as people of color is real. Meanwhile, Webber pages April because she knows scripture to help his patient, now that his hand is fixed. After conversing with him for a few moments, April is lost for words and we can see that she is rather broken.
Jenny and Jo watch from the observation deck as Meredith works to donate Paul’s organs. Jenny is concerned that she shouldn’t be watching the surgery, but Jo tells tells her it is fine. She also tells Jenny where his organs are going. Jenny asks if its bad they are donating the organs, because Paul was evil and she doesn’t want anyone to get evil organs. But Jo explains that she doesn’t believe he is evil. She believes that though he was bad in his life, he can do something good now.
April goes to follow up on Paul and Helm tells her he died. Seconds later, April runs into Arizona and the look on her face says it all: Karen died. April questions her faith (internally) though it’s written on his face as she watches them zip the body bag. She sees Matt through the window of the NICU, and he is holding his baby. Instead of going to talk to him (like she clearly wants to), April goes to get a drink at Joe’s Bar. The man sitting next to her starts up a conversation, and in a very anti-April Kepner type way, she ends up going home with him, and it seems like she’s given up on her faith after everything that has happened around her that day.
And I know, your favorite part: relationships!
Alex and Jo
They seem to be stronger than ever, and though Jo has been through a lot (especially in the past 2 episodes), they seem to only get stronger. Plus, now that Paul is dead, there is nothing stopping Jo and Ales from getting married!
Now that I’ve got you caught up, you’ll be able to watch the next episode without feeling like you missed anything (hopefully). I hope you enjoyed this recreation of the ninth episode of season 14, as well as my personal comments! Tune in next week for my recap of season 14 episode 10! Until then!