Tonight, Meredith starts to consider if she might be better off without Derek. Preview Grey’s Anatomy, “I Feel the Earth Move,” airing at 8:00pm ET|PT on ABC.
Last week’s Grey’s Anatomy (“The Distance”) centered on Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) performing the surgery to remove Dr. Herman’s (Geena Davis) brain tumor.
We began with Amelia getting the OR prepped to perform the surgery she’d been planning for—was she ready to wage an 18 hour fight? Owen (Kevin McKidd), who may/may not be Amelia’s boyfriend now, tried to provide support. But it seemed that what she needed was a good cry and a 5-minute pose in the superhero position to get her nerves under control. (*sidenote* This was actually one of my favorite part of the episode, and I plan to adopt this superhero pose from now on!)
The clock started and the fight began, as the other Grey Sloan Memorial doctors looked on in the gallery. Amelia and Edwards (Jerrika Hinton) got to work removing the tumor and separating it from the brain; yet about six hours in, Amelia hit a roadblock. She doubted her ability to complete the surgery, so much so that she begged Chief Webber (James Pickens Jr.) to call Derek in D.C. and have him fly out to complete the procedure.
And here was another favorite part—watching Webber teach, reassure, nurture, and care for the other surgeons. The way he told Amelia that she was the only one who could complete the surgery…Derek could not do what needed to be done, only she knew the next steps…so wonderful! The procedure continued and 13 hours into it, Amelia cleared the optic nerve, meaning it time to place the radioactive seeds to kill the cancer cells left behind. At this point Edwards fainted from exhaustion, and Mer (Ellen Pompeo) stepped in to assist. Amelia was falling behind; she only had 20 minutes to place the seeds and since her gloves were restricting her movement, she removed them, exposing herself to radiation, but finishing in time. Edwards came back in to close up and now we waited for Herman to wake up.
In the midst of all this, Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) was getting ready to perform her first solo fetal surgery on they patient Bailey (Chandra Wilson) fought so hard for Herman to take on. Since Herman was under the knife, the responsibility fell to Arizona who was fairly confident in her abilities—especially since she was able to conjure up her own imaginary Herman to guide, encourage, and at times harangue her when necessary. Even though Bailey and Karev (Justin Chambers) were weary of Arizona’s ability to complete the surgery (and were not at all shy about vocalizing that doubt), she succeeded with mama and baby doing well and without having to remove.
After a number of weeks went by, Herman was still unconcious and Amelia couldn’t figure out why. After some x-rays, we discovered that she had suffered a stroke. But eventually, Herman awoke! Her memory was in tact, as well as her sass and sarcasm; however, she could not see. Though Arizona and Edwards were sad and angered about coming so close to total success, both Herman and Amelia were quick to chasten them. The process might have claimed Herman’s eyesight, but they had beat death…just like superheroes.
In tonight’s episode “I Feel the Earth Move” written by Jen Klein, directed by Thomas Wright, and guest-starring Kalpana Pot (Ellie):
An earthquake shakes the ground at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, trapping Maggie in an elevator and threatening Meredith’s long streak of successful surgeries. Meanwhile, Owen gives medical advice to a child over the phone and Ben confides in Jackson. (via ABC)
Watch this sneak peek from the upcoming show—Mer, Karev, Jo (Camilla Luddington), and Edwards are in surgery together, and it turns out that since November 14, Mer has had 89 surgeries and every patient has survived. This is great news, right? Well it actually might not be since November 14 is a pretty significant date:
I can’t even imagine a world in which Mer is better off without Der, so I refuse to even entertain the idea. Thoughts?
Take a look at these images from “I Feel the Earth Move,” which feature Mer’s winning streak in surgery and Maggie chatting with a very handsome doctor. Remember to tune into ABC at 8:00pm ET|PT tonight for the all-new Grey’s Anatomy!