Based on last week's previews for tonight's episode, which included Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) telling Derek (Patrick Dempsey) to just go to DC already and leave her alone, I was prepared to launch another "Meredith Grey is the Most Selfish Person in the World" tirade. However, the writers bested me with a well-crafted episode that not only allowed me to learn more about the train wreck that is the Grey Family, but forced my heart to open up to an uber-damaged Mer.
In a series of flashbacks, we saw a young Meredith who looked very similar to a Madame Alexander doll with her big, sad eyes, and bangs. Her mother, Ellis (Kate Burton/Sally Pressman), had once tried to kill herself and Meredith had to call an ambulance and accompany her to the hospital. Meredith's quick thinking was praised by a doctor, but that didn't really seem to register with her since, you know, she saw her mother bleeding out on the kitchen floor.
We learned that the suicide attempt was a result of a young Richard Webber (J. August Richards) ending his relationship with Ellis (Pressman). They were both going to end their marriages to be together, but after Ellis was granted her first Harper Avery Award, he was riddled with jealousy and didn't feel he could live the rest of his life in her shadow. After all, she had accomplished so much already; everything she said and did was AUDACIOUS, and he resented her success. Her interactions with Richard are pretty much the only times Ellis come across as even remotely tender, and even those moments are slightly robotic.
Meredith began to remember her mother's pregnancy with Maggie (Kelly McCreary); the dead eyed doll version of herself waiting behind a curtain as Ellis gave birth. Repressed memories don't last long on GREY'S.
After a little push from his sister Amy (Caterina Scorsone), Derek was lead to believe that Maggie had a secret that involved Meredith. Because Meredith was busy being crazy and argumentative, and he was not-so-secretly bitter about giving up DC for her, he couldn't just ask her what the secret was. Maggie was planning on resigning from her position, because DRAMA, and he didn't have a lot of time. After much persistence, Maggie eventually told him that she was Meredith's half-sister. Derek, who has a million sisters of his own, loved this news! He and Maggie exchanged a really long, awkward hug, but their hair looked simultaneously glorious and he ended the embrace with the most beautiful smile the world has ever seen.
Derek confronted Meredith with his newfound knowledge. He said he wanted to table their issues for a moment to deal with this current news flash. Meredith took this as his trying to control when they fight, because she's insane. He dodged that ridiculous argument and Meredith opened up about her rekindled memories of Maggie's birth. They held hands. There was a spark of things being okay for those two crazy kids.
Meredith, who had been reading through her mother's old journals, for hints to her past, took the journal from the Spring of 1983 to Maggie. She told her that she could quit if she wanted to, but that she wanted to show her the journal first. There were signs in there that once Ellis found out she was pregnant, she stopped chugging wine and started watching what she ate. Despite outwardly not caring about anything besides medicine and the ex-lover who had brutally rebuffed her, she showed a clinical care for her unborn child. And it clearly seems that giving her up was the only way she was going to get a chance at a normal childhood. So cheers to Ellis! It was also a nice gesture on Meredith's part; baby steps to becoming a normal, functional human being.
Richard silently watched the exchange from afar. Maggie was still severely irked that he hadn't immediately told her that she was the child he knew nothing about until two seconds ago. Bailey (Chandra Wilson) had spent the episode trying to get him to convince Maggie not to quit, which he couldn't do because he was giving her space. Bailey thought he'd slept with her and was thrilled when he told her the truth. This is why we don't assume disgusting May/December relationships, Bailey. I love her.
How did you feel about the secrets that unfolded tonight? Do you think it may help bring Meredith and Derek back to even ground? Will Meredith and Maggie end up as besties? Will Maggie eventually pick up the Cristina slack so Alex can go back to a semi-normal life with his girlfriend? Will Maggie forgive Richard? Will this be the final surprise child the writers spring on us? Will anyone acknowledge the how KILL BILL that "wiggle your toes" moment was?
Did you think Meredith and company were audacious tonight? Let me know in the comments below.
Photo Credit: ABC
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