Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 10, Episode 5 of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," titled "I Bet It Stung."
Ouch! The ladies just couldn't get a break tonight, and then they scored. In fact, they were all sort of teetering on the edge of not having it all, before they gained some ground. (Sidenote: I'll never understand dancing in your underwear with earbuds. It's so much better when it's blasting from the dock.)
The only one left out of the glory was Meredith, now Mom. She was pumping her breasts, trying to get Zola a tea party, and Yang shoved her out of the big surgery they were going to do together. Derek was hosting fancypants surgeons around for his own groundbreaking procedure and couldn't lend a hand. He's too pretty to hate, I suppose, but he left Meredith to grapple with her choice of being a top doctor and a top mom. Mer and Yang fought, and we all know the worst fights are the ones with "your person."
I can't hate on Yang because I think she has a point; Meredith spent much of the episode feeling guilty about not wanting to become her own mother for Zola, but that means skipping out on work now and again. It stinks that Christina called her a lesser surgeon for that, but I wouldn't want a doctor with a princess tea party on her mind transplanting my liver. What did you think about that fight? I could've been swayed to Christina's side but not to Derek's; as the alpha male he never "asked" Meredith to put mom-duties first, but they didn't work out a compromise for big days like this. Men, right?
Callie finally stood up for herself and told Arizona to move out. I was getting worried that she wouldn't, listening to April talk about the handicap accessibility of the apartment, but she actually, finally bucked up. Arizona is healthy enough to get herself into trouble.
Then the interns. Jo reverted to a high school girl while trying to woo Alex's supposed father, played by James Remar. Even her puppy dog eyes couldn't break Alex's code with his pop. He seemed just as bad as Alex said he was. Full of regret, yes, but he called Jo a nag about getting to rehab and cleaning himself up. Good riddance, Jo. Listen to Karev and never ask about it again.
Then there was Leah, who bumbled around this episode trying to gain some footing in an OR, until even Richard told her to "buck up" and examine him like a real doctor would. But Leah was preoccupied -- that was because when Arizona got drunk at the gala last week, she and Leah hung out, ate grilled cheese sammies, and almost hit on each other. Arizona told her she was pretty, allegedly, and, allegedly, invited Leah to scrub in with her, but didn't remember a darn thing. A complicated intern-superior love mess is on the menu for next week.
Jackson's mom walked in on him and Stephanie in the on-call room. It was rocky at first, with Catherine playing the intimidating mother and Stephanie speechless, buttoning up her shirt. After they worked on the man who stuck his penis in a hornet's nest, they ended up getting a drink and Stephanie gave her a speech that all future daughter-in-laws should practice for the frosty mother. She gave it to her, and got a round of drinks in return.
You can say what you want about this soapy, often silly, show, but there's something to be said for its gender dynamics. Sure, it relies on some tried and true stereotypes, but just when you think a character is going to fall into one -- the girlfriend in the on-call room, the loony, power-driven matriarch, the new mom, the hopeless romantic -- they make some moves to break through them.
The men here are almost always stubborn, emotionally stunted, prideful, and prone to doing stupid things like the hornet's nest patient. But so are the women. I just can't wait to see if Arizona and Leah become an item.
"Grey's Anatomy" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
