‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: Who Will Meredith Choose?

While most TV shows focused on Halloween this week, Grey’s Anatomy opted for an episode based on the Mexican “Day of the Dead.” It was a beautifully done episode, with some character development for characters outside the core ones.

Meredith Is Conflicted Over Thatcher

This was one of those episodes mostly centered on the operations and treatments of the patients, allowing character growth through their stories. Link’s case was a child with a broken arm that turned out to have a tumor, Bailey and Jo had to save a liver for a transplant, and DeLuca had a young patient who needed a more extensive operation than originally planned.

It was the young girl that allowed the most character development for Meredith. After learning her father is dying of acute myeloid leukaemia and has two weeks left to live, Meredith struggles with how she feels about that. This is a man who abandoned her and started a new family and she hasn’t spoken to him since Lexie’s death. She just doesn’t know how to feel about his illness.

And those question about how to feel affect her throughout the whole episode. They even ruin her latest date. However, that may not be a problem since both Link and DeLuca clearly have an interest in her.

Meredith does get some help with some closure and acceptance. Her young patient is Mexican and her family is celebrating the Day of the Dead. After a successful surgery, Meredith has the chance to talk to the patient’s grandmother, who shares that the dead are never really gone. They’re all there and marigolds are a good way to keep them close.

This leads to a beautiful (although badly CGI’d ending) of various ghosts appearing in the hospital around Meredith, including her mom, Doc, and Derek.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

While Meredith got her advice, Link had his own patient, the child with the broken arm. It turned out that the tumor was cancerous, but that it wasn’t all bad news. As his mother panicked, Link took her outside to explain that he’d had the same cancer and beat it. In fact, his cancer was more advanced and he beat it.

After a good heart to heart, Link was then able to talk to his patient about treatment. As the kid worried about losing his hair, Link decided to cut his own to show that losing hair wasn’t that bad.

However, this case did more than just offer a mom reassurance and give us more of Link’s backstory. We got to see Glasses and Dr. Kim get to know each other more. Sure enough, both are gay and both are definitely interested in each other. At the very end, Dr. Kim kisses Glasses in the elevator, only to run away when he learns that this was Glasses’ first kiss with a guy.

Poor Glasses is just left in the elevator on his own.

Betty Goes Missing

Throughout the episode, Teddy attempted to tell Owen she’s pregnant. However, Amelia runs into the house to say that Betty has gone missing. All three adults go out looking for her.

During the search, Teddy suggests calling the police. Owen doesn’t want to since bunking off school is a normal teenage thing to do. He did it all the time. 

However, Amelia does want to. When she was bunking off school, she was getting high. Her mom did call the police and they found her high trying to jump off her friend’s roof. Had her mom not called the police, she’d be dead and that’s what she worries about with Betty out there. Betty isn’t a normal teenager. She’s a drug addict.

By the end of the episode, they’ve still not found Betty. Owen has had to bring Leo home, which possibly gives Teddy a chance to tell him she’s pregnant. She bottles it though and we’re left another week with the elephant in the room.

Bailey And Jo Save A Liver

Then there was Bailey and Jo’s patient in need of a liver transplant. When the transplant falls through, this patient continues to plan her funeral to make sure people get the chance to mourn.

A dead patient turns into a possibly lifeline. Bailey is able to keep enough blood flowing to make sure the liver is viable. She gets it working again and now just has to wait for approval to use the liver as a direct donation.

Despite the approval, Alex won’t give him. He says, point blank, that they’re not to do the transplant. That doesn’t stop Bailey. She and Jo do the surgery and save a life. It was a risky procedure full of stress, but Bailey admitted it was good stress.

In the end, her heart rate is still extremely high. She knows that it’s Ben’s job and that takes us into Station 19.

What did you think of no death in this week’s Grey’s Anatomy? Who should Meredith choose? 

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.