BWW Recap: GREY'S ANATOMY Where Is Alex???

Thursday's episode of GREY'S ANATOMY entitled "Jukebox Hero" explores how those who we may see as heroes all have their flaws if we look close enough. More on that later though...the real question is WHERE IS ALEX???!!!

The episode opens with Meredith and Maggie looking online to try to find out if Alex did indeed plead guilty and what his sentence will be. After a few annoying fake outs, they find out...nothing. The case is postponed and it is unclear what that means and where Alex is. Meredith continues to search for him throughout the episode, hitting up every jail in three different counties. It turns out that he was in her house, and in her bed (why?) all along. It isn't clear exactly what happened. Perhaps Deluca dropped the charges? I guess we will find out more next week.

Also missing-in-action to start the episode, is one Amelia Shepherd. Owen approaches Meredith and then Edwards to try to find out if anyone has heard from her. He hasn't seen her since she left him a note and disappeared, and he's understandably a tad worried. Was anyone else kind of hoping that Alex and Amelia had both decided things were too stressful and had taken off on some kind of amazing road trip together??? This dream plotline gets squashed pretty quickly when we find out that Amelia is crashing on Stephanie's couch in her studio apartment. Poor Steph. Amelia is, after all, her professional hero...but Steph has known for a while now that her teacher is a little messed up. And now she's cramping her style...and eating her yogurt. Steph is a very gracious host though, and even takes the time to reassure Owen that his wife is safe. The Steph and Amelia friendship is one I have always enjoyed...but I'm ready for Steph to have a storyline beyond 'marriage counselor'.

Back at the hospital, several of the surgeons are dealing with a doozy of a case. Mindy, a pregnant woman had recruited her cab driver to get her to the hospital ASAP as she was most definitely in labour. Somehow, she and the cab driver Facetime with Leah and then Arizona...because...that happens (this was almost as silly as the season 15 episode when Owen got a phone call from the girl who plays 11 on STRANGER THINGS). During the call, Arizona tells her to put her feet up on the dash to avoid crushing the baby. She does this, right as another vehicle, driven by her own husband crashes into the cab. He was trying to get to her as quickly as possible and now, the lives of both Mindy and the baby hang in the balance. Among other serious injuries, Mindy's legs and pelvis are shattered from the air bag and now the baby is trapped. As Maggie, Arizona and Leah work to save mother and baby, both Arizona and the father struggle with their guilt over contributing to the seriousness of Mindy's injuries. In a lovely moment near the end of the episode, they more or less forgive each other, allowing each other to forgive themselves. This ties in to Meredith's monologue about imperfect heroes. Both of them were trying to do something heroic and it did not work out...but then Arizona performed life saving surgery and the husband stayed by his wife and daughter's side. They are not perfect, but they keep trying...and that's what counts. Also, shout out to the hero cab driver who didn't exactly save the pregnant lady the way he planned, but managed to save the life of a hockey player in the ER by alerting Ben to his abnormal breathing. Also, shout out to Ben for helping this man have his hero moment after all!

The non-patient related drama in the hospital was also interesting. It is Dr. Eliza Minnick's first day, and Dr. Webber and company are not allowing it to go smoothly. The Attendings have united and are freezing her out of the OR. Bailey confronts Webber about this and tells him he is just 'butt hurt'. He tells her that he knows change is sometimes necessary but that she is going about this the wrong way. She almost tells him that this was his wife's plan...but decides to save that drama for another day. The drama-tank of this episode is already full. The Webber vs. Minnick faceoff also allows for a HAMILTON reference (Webber cites the battle of Yorktown as why it is important not to rush into battle) and later Webber and Minnick explain to Ben the value of the 'enforcer' in hockey and how a fight can rally the troops and pump up each side. The metaphor eventually turns into a declaration of war .

Lastly, let's talk about Jo Wilson. She thinks Alex is in jail and she spends the day moping around...and I mean, I feel for her...but this is some serious moping. At least Amelia knows to stay away from the hospital while she is moping. Jo almost mopes her way to neglecting and killing a patient. Ben calls her on it and encourages her to seek out someone to talk to. Jo resents being pitied or looked at as a victim and gives Ben an earful...and then mopes off. Someone should really tell Jo that Alex isn't in jail before she kills somebody!

The episode ends with each of our heroes getting through their day...and most of them share a quiet reflective moment either with, or near someone else...because even the strongest, most stubborn people need a little help sometimes. Meredith's voiceover states that yes, heroes are just imperfect humans...but that this means we are all capable of being heroes sometimes. People just need to step up and do the right thing when it counts.

This episode was jam-packed with story, and it was nice to return to the regular format after the excursion to the prison last week. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here!

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

Photo Credit: ABC/Nicole Wilder

Watch a promo for next week's episode titled 'None of Your Business'

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