BWW Recap: A War is Brewing on GREY'S ANATOMY

GREY'S ANATOMY is back after a week away with an episode entitled "Civil War". It is an apt title because things are icy to say the least. There are several civil wars of sorts happening around the hospital. Many had existed for a while now, but it appears some things are finally reaching a breaking point.

The episode opens by revealing the current sleeping situations of some of the characters that have been experiencing a bit of a 'war at home'. April wakes up and avoids Jackson, Catherine Avery awakes to find that Richard is not in bed with her, Richard wakes up in an uncomfortable on call room bed, Owen isn't sleeping in his and Amelia's matrimonial bed (which was heartbreaking to see because you get the sense that he hasn't done so since she left) and is instead laying on his living room couch seemingly not getting much sleep at all. Amelia is back on Meredith's couch and she gets surprised awake by a super cheerful Maggie who convinces her to come clip an aneurysm for a nun and promises to help her avoid Owen in the process.

For the past several episodes, a civil war has been brewing in the hospital with regards to the presence of Eliza Minnick. The effect this has had on personal relationships has been explored throughout the season, but never as much as it was tonight. The drama between Richard and Catherine and between Jackson and Catherine and Jackson and April take center stage when those four characters ended up in one surgery together. Oh, and Ben is there too...because Ben is always in these situations. Once again, he jumps in and tells everyone to stay on task. This is becoming Ben's main role. It is getting kind of annoying for me so I can only imagine how Ben feels. Ben doesn't jump in quick enough however. Some tense moments are shared, some veiled and not so veiled insults are thrown out, and Catherine then commits the cardinal sin by announcing that when she and April go to Chicago to check out an Avery trauma center, she is going to get them "Hamilton" tickets. "You're going to 'Hamilton' without me?" Richard asks incredulously. Now that's. Just. Cold!!!. The person who seems the most upset (in general, not about the "Hamilton" tickets) is Jackson. We don't quite know what's going on with him but it becomes clear that he has quite the chip on his shoulder. The promo for next week appears to explain a lot about that...

Another tense moment comes when Richard walks in on Arizona and Eliza Minnick about to kiss. I guess the cat's out of the bag for these two. Arizona has been sneaky about this new crush whilst still trying to be on Team Richard for a few episodes now, and you can tell how much this sort-of-betrayal breaks Richard's heart. The friendship between Richard and Arizona has been delightful...he was even going to crash at her place after having enough of the uncomfortable on call room bed. Ya...that's not happening anymore. Can I just say that the fact that Webber catches an intimate moment between Arizona and Minnick before Maggie catches a similar moment between Meredith and Riggs is kind of infuriating? I mean, both of these storylines are intriguing...but let's move it along people! I may be getting my wish soon because things have ignited once again between Meredith and Riggs!

Near the top of the episode, Alex observes some flirting between Meredith and McKiwi and basically tells her to go for it. He takes it back later when he and Riggs disagree on the treatment for a baby boy with a heart condition and Alex comes to the conclusion that Riggs is "a snake". Meredith lays into Riggs and is basically like (and I'm shamelessly referencing a Shonda Rhimes tweet from last night) "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends". At the end of the episode, Riggs confronts Meredith and makes it clear that he wants them to be a thing. He asks her what she wants but tells her not to answer until she actually knows the answer...and he of course does it in a super suave swoon worthy New Zealander kind of way (I'm not sure what that means, but it's accurate).

The patient in question in Alex and Riggs' civil war, is newborn baby, Gus. Gus will either need a heart transplant or several heart surgeries-starting with one now. The two surgeons have differing opinions on what the best option is, and Deluca-who is already feeling awkward enough, being on Alex's service, is thrown in the middle of it. Riggs wants Deluca to put Gus on the transplant list while the parents are making a decision (without anyone's consent). Deluca does this, and sure enough a heart becomes available that would not have gone to Gus had he not been on the list (but as Alex angrily points out, it now means another baby won't be getting that heart). This was an interesting storyline and the was no clear right answer, but it was good to see Deluca step up and do what he felt was best for his patient, regardless of the fact that it would just add tension to his relationship with Alex. The dynamic between Alex and Deluca was actually the aspect of this storyline that interested me the most. I hope we get to continue to see them working together. Deluca may not share my hopes.

Another 'civil war' that has been brewing is that between Owen and Amelia. She is still hiding from him and is on leave, but she sneaks back into the hospital as a favor to Maggie and ends up sticking around to join Owen on a trauma case involving a motorcyclist with a head injury. This tension is less the angry kind and more the sad kind (which is actually a nice break from the 'angry' tension that everyone else is having). Owen tries to get Amelia to leave when it becomes clear that their patient is likely a "lost cause". "There are no lost causes" Amelia says...and then the next time we see them, their patient has died. I really hope this patient isn't a metaphor for Owen and Amelia's marriage and I get the feeling that this thought crosses their minds as well. Despite the result of the surgery, they begin to finally communicate and Amelia explains that she has been in hiding because she is not ready for the fight that they are inevitably going to have to have. She says that someone will need to win the fight...or, as Owen points out, they will both lose. She does however confirm that she still wants to be married to him...so...I guess that's good? Regardless, it is nice to see her back in the hospital and good for Maggie for getting her back there. My only issue with Maggie is that when Amelia literally states "I need to talk to him" and we as an audience exclaim "YES YOU DO"...Maggie responds with: "No you don't" COME ON, MAGGIE!!!

The last 'civil war' in this episode belongs to one of the patient cases. A man named Mike is severely injured when a deep fryer explodes. His future son in law, Jim is the one who caused the accident and his fiancé Rodney and Rodney's sister (I forget her name, but let's just call her 'not team Jim') struggle to even look at Jim after all of this has transpired. Poor Jim is riddled with guilt. He was just trying to do something nice, but Rodney eventually asks him to leave. As a side note: Do deep fryers explode often? This sounds terrifying. When Mike pulls through, Rodney appears to try to reach out to Jim via text. Hopefully these two can patch things up...if they do, their wedding-and possibly all future meals, should probably be catered by professionals.

This episode has done well to set up the back end of the season. Lines have been drawn, emotions are raw, and the drama is high. With GREY'S ANATOMY, one can expect nothing less!

GREY'S ANATOMY airs on Thursday nights at 7pm on CTV and 8pm on ABC.

Photo Credit: ABC/Richard Cartwright

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