After leaving viewers hanging for almost two months, Network ABC finally screened the next episode of Grey’s Anatomy, Season 8 Episode 10. The New Year return episode: “Suddenly” scored ratings that were better than the winter finale.
Shonda Rhimes Created Gold
This episode was the best of the season, absolute gold. However, at the end there was a vital question that went unanswered. I will talk about that in a moment. “Suddenly” began where “Grey’s” left off almost two months before.
Flashbacks of previous episodes were shown, and we were taken to the accident scene where Alex and Meredith had just left the ambulance to discover an over-turned van and bodies sprawled all over the road. Teddy was still in surgery; Owen having just made the decision to lie to Teddy about Henry’s death. Bailey and Webber are arguing about whether they should tell Teddy the truth.
Meredith and Alex Face an Awful Scene
As Meredith and Alex exit the ambulance there are four people on the road; injured. A young girl is extricating herself from the van and runs over demanding they help. Meredith gives her the baby and tells her to keep squeezing the ventilation bag, whilst Meredith helps what seems to be the mother. The young girl and father of the group suddenly alert them to the fact another child is missing; he is trapped under the door of the van.
The grandmother dies at the scene, and Alex has to resuscitate the father, however while Meredith is freeing the boy, headlights appear from around the corner. She tries to pull the boy free but can’t and runs into the road hoping to get the vehicle to stop in time. It does and it turns out help has arrived; they are all transported to hospital.
The young girl is unharmed; however her younger sister has a shard of glass in her eye. The father is critically injured; the boy has a tear in his liver and sadly the mother dies on arrival at Seattle Grace/Mercy West (SGMW) hospital. Meredith runs in and makes the ER residents keep trying because the daughter is watching.
Mark Brings Girlfriend Julia in on a Surgery
The girl with the glass in her eye is in a serious condition. Derek has Lexie call around for an eye surgeon; however Mark steps in and call Julia who is luckily five minutes away. She agrees to come and they take the young girl to surgery. The shard of glass is removed successfully. It was quite a graphic procedure. Not something you would want to see everyday.
Meredith and Bailey take the boy to surgery to repair his liver and whilst he is on the table he goes into malignant hyperthermia. They pack him with ice and have to wait it out. Meredith suddenly realises that it could be genetic and races to the other theatres to warn the others. Owen, Webber and Callie are operating on the father; he makes it through the surgery but is still on a ventilator.
Unfortunately the father keeps coding and it is taking longer every time to keep his heart beating. Meredith explains to the oldest daughter that his kidney tests are elevated and his organs could be failing. The daughter having just turned eighteen in the six hours that they had been at the hospital elects to take her Dad off life support. Meredith stays with her while the staff unplug the machine, to comfort the girl. This scene was so sad
Teddy Calls Cristina for Help
Teddy’s heart patient is having complications and Teddy needs Cristina. She pages Owen to get Cristina to come and scrub in. Teddy still does not know about Henry, and Cristina has to go help Teddy do a difficult surgery and pretend everything is okay. She deflects Teddy questions about Henry by making fun of April. And when they are finished, she orders April to come in and close up the patient. Chief resident my foot! I am not liking April in this role.
Once finished Cristina asks Teddy if they can speak in private and they walk out to the scrub room. It is then that Cristina breaks the news. She explains the entire surgery and says that she and Dr Webber were unable to bring him back. Teddy asks her to say that Henry is dead. “You need to say it! It’s the first thing we’re taught and I never really thought about it before, I need you to say it Cristina.” Poor Cristina has no choice but to say “Henry is dead.” Teddy thanks her and leaves the scrub room, two tears rolls down Cristina’s face. That scene had me in tears again and Sandra Oh deserves an Emmy for her work.
Owen tracks Cristina down in the resident’s lounge and enquires, “Did you tell her?” Cristina replies: “Of course I told her.” Owen gets upset and says: “It should have been me.” Cristina tells him it doesn’t matter, Teddy knows. Cristina says “I don’t want to hear it and neither will she.” Here it comes. The big blowup between Cristina and Owen is about to happen.
Callie Takes the Fall for Jackson
Callie explains to Jackson that she will give him a free ride regarding the spinal surgery given it was her patient and her OR. She does not want to, but feels he deserves that chance and hopes he will learn something from it. He should check his work and that of his residents. Quite frankly, I had trouble with this story arc, especially when you see the next episode. You will get it when you watch the next episode.
Welcome Home Zola
This was great news for Derek and Meredith. At the end of the episode Janet turns up with Zola and they were so happy and it’s really great to see the McFamily back together, however I want an explanation. How did this come about? Janet said they were not getting her back. It’s possible a mistake was made, however this was not explained and I want it to be explained. My best guess however, is that something happened regarding the judge and his medical condition. But this needs to be explained.
Overall this was the best episode so far this season. Shonda, her writers and the Grey’s Anatomy actors are knocking it out of the park this year. It’s fantastic. It gives me hope for Season 9.
What did you think of “Suddenly?” Are you happy to see Zola back? What do you think will happen now with Teddy, Cristina and Owen? Is this the straw that breaks the camels’ back for Cristina and Owen? Sound off below or comment via Twitter or Facebook.
