BWW Recap: GREY'S ANATOMY Goes Walking Dead...Kinda

The third episode of Season 13 of GREY'S ANATOMY aired tonight and it was full of twists and turns in the patient storylines. Entitled, I AIN'T NO MIRACLE WORKER, the topic of miracles comes up a few times in the episode-the big ones, the little ones, the 'boring' ones, and the ones we only dream about. This episode provides a great balance between sad, funny, clever, and interesting. In other words, it is a solid episode of this veteran series-which has become known for providing that kind of balance.

The medical storyline in this episode is simultaneously tragic and fun. It is definitely one of the more engaging ones that the show has had in a while. A family gets into a multi-car pile-up en route to the family patriarch's funeral. One vehicle crashes into the funeral procession, causing limos and the hearse to crash in a domino effect. We don't see it, but we hear about it in detail from Ben who is a little too excited about the whole thing. The body of dearly deceased Pete Fisher even goes flying in the air, and ends up hanging out in an ER procedure room-because where would they put his body??? It is soon revealed that the accident was caused by the family's youngest daughter, and black sheep, Kara, who has been MIA for the last 10 years. She was rushing to get there to say goodbye to her father. Kara is injured and 35 weeks pregnant. When the family learns that she is there, the reaction is not good. Her siblings, Morgan and Julien (who don't seem like fun people to be around) are incensed and we hear more distant family members scoff that "it must be drugs again". Of course it is Amelia who is delivering this news to the family. As the black sheep in her own family, you can tell this gets under her skin just a little bit.

While visiting her husband's body, matriarch, Georgia has a heart attack and dies...or does she? Well, she does, but then she comes back to life, because apparently that happens. Just ask Edwards (who loves her job). She knows all about it. In what some doctors call a 'miracle', Georgia appears to experience Lazarus Syndrome, and rises from the dead in hilarious fashion. My emotions could not keep up with this episode! When all is said and done, Amelia finally gets the chance to stand up for Kara and say to this family what she probably could never say to her own (especially since when her family members die, they tend to stay dead). Kara may be a train wreck, but she came back...and she may have sort of killed her mother...but she came back too...so let's all take stock of that and be grateful, shall we? Someone needed to say this to these insufferable siblings and I am so glad it was Amelia because I think she got to exercise some of her own demons as she did it.

One confusing thing is that there does not appear to be any bad blood between Edwards and Amelia. At the end of last season, Edwards was basically blaming Amelia for the death of Fez..er..Kyle yet now, all seems normal between them. Perhaps this is just another thing that has been "buried" and will resurface at a later date (see below)...but it is a tad confusing.

Meanwhile, Maggie is still pining over Riggs and Meredith just wants her to stop. Mer clearly feels guilty and conflicted and still doesn't want to acknowledge her own feelings for Riggs so, as Amelia puts it, she "buries" everything and basically expects Maggie to do the same. Maggie does not understand why Mer is acting this way (because Mer is, at this point, constantly lying to Maggie by omission) and she laments to Amelia that Mer isn't doing the 'sisterly' thing. At the end of the episode, fresh from laying into one set of siblings, Amelia lectures Mer and Maggie about what it means to be a sister. This seems to temporarily work...but the problem is far from resolved.

That brings us to Meredith and Riggs. They share another great scene when they commiserate about their respective "miracle dreams" about their dead spouses returning to them (sidenote: this in all likelihood will eventually happen to Riggs because Megan Hunt is sooooo not dead). There is no denying the chemistry between these two characters, yet Meredith tries to deny it anyways. She even asks Riggs to go on a date with Maggie and just "be horrible" so that she is no longer interested in him. As fun as that would be to watch, I am relieved that he seemingly declines that suggestion. Despite the lovely Mer/Riggs scenes that we have been getting, I find that they are all kind of undercut by the knowledge that as soon as Maggie finds out about this blossoming relationship, EVERYTHING WILL BE TERRIBLE.

This episode also marks the return of Arizona Robbins (Actress Jessica Capshaw was off on a brief maternity leave). She is back from visiting Sofia and Callie in New York and now we get to see her navigate her relationships with roommate, Deluca and protégé Alex (who, in case you forgot, recently used Deluca as a punching bag). Her hug for Deluca is just what he needed. The fact that he feels like everyone at the hospital is angry at him for essentially getting assaulted, is so upsetting...but probably accurate...that sounds about right for these people. Arizona was angry at Alex, but she was also there for him and although it is nice that she didn't see the need to take sides, I suspect balancing this tightrope of loyalty is going to be very challenging for her as the trial nears. Arizona' return also allows for an opportunity for her to have a conversation with Owen that someone really needed to have! She points out that it doesn't seem right that Alex has been charged with a Felony for his actions, when Owen punched another surgeon (Riggs) in the middle of the hospital and suffered zero consequences. Owen calls it 'apples and oranges', but as Arizona puts it "it's all apples". Where I disagree with her is that I don't think the charges against Alex are too severe...I just think that perhaps Owen should be realizing that he absolutely could have been charged with an assault (albeit a less serious one) too! Use your words, doctors. Use your words.

Guys, we have finally learned Jo Wilson's real name...it is clearly Debbie Downer! She isn't in the episode much, but when she is, it is to tell Arizona that she is wrong about families always forgiving each other and that things don't always work out. I'm sure she is right, and I'm sure she is speaking from tragic experiences, but her only purpose in this entire episode is to basically verbally give up on the idea of her patient ever being loved by her family again. Jo isn't into the miracles. Jo is having a hard time.

Elsewhere in the hospital, April and Alex commiserate over missing surgery. He is in clinic prison and she is recovering from her kitchen table c-section (but is getting her exercise by walking to the hospital). The two of them can't stand to be sidelined and the camaraderie they build as they stand on the other side of the glass is kind of adorable.

Now, let's get to the truly momentous occasion that occurred during this episode. I never thought we would see the day, but...WE SEE TUCK. Little Tucker George Bailey. Baby Tuck. Bailey's invisible forgotten son-now a preteen, and getting in trouble for pushing a kid at school. Ben takes on a new role and takes charge in talking to, and punishing Tuck. He uses the 'scared straight' model and shows Tuck pictures of Deluca's mangled face after Alex had assaulted him. He embellishes a little (Deluca is blind in one eye and Alex is in jail) and it gets the job done. Tuck is sorry and he will never do it again. He also voluntarily hands over his cell phone to his mother. No Pokemon Go for 2 weeks.

All in all, this episode had a little bit of everything. I would argue that it is the strongest of the season so far. Against all odds, GREY'S ANATOMY remains fresh and relevant in season 13. It's a miracle!

Photo Credit: ABC/Richard Cartwright

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