Grey's Anatomy recap: 'Love the One You're With'

It’s rare that I watch an episode of television and then feel compelled to find out who, specifically, wrote that particular hour. But that was the case with last night’s stellar episode of Grey’s Anatomy, titled “Love the One You’re With,” which — thanks to a quick Google search — was penned by Zoanne Clack, who’s been working on the hospital soap for several years now. Anyway, kudos to you, Zoanne, for putting together an hour of television that was simultaneously funny, moving, delightful, heartfelt, and dramatic. It was purely Grey’s — it just had that signature Seattle Grace magic — and it had me feeling tingly a lot of the time. Is that weird?

But why was the episode so good? Well, I could have just been in a really good mood as I was watching — I’m generally a sunny-side person! — but it seemed to have the right mix, the perfect balance of funny moments, heartfelt moments, and a bunch of other only-on-Grey’s moments. And that’s what it was about while I was taking notes: moments. I found myself zeroing in on a string of really great instances that touched. So let’s examine those particular examples, specifically, as a way to recap last night’s hour.

The touching settlement decision. What would be the virtue of starting at the beginning? Much of the episode concerned a decision by Derek, Meredith, Callie (as Arizona’s proxy), and Owen (as Cristina’s proxy): Would they take a cash settlement for the plane crash and jettison away any findings from an investigation? Could they take the money and walk away from what could potentially be a protracted legal battle? Throughout much of the episode, it seemed like the doctors were leaning toward settling. “We aren’t built to settle, but that doesn’t mean we won’t,” voiceover goddess Meredith Grey told us. The doctors were compelled to take the money to just get on with their lives — in essence to take the money and run.

NEXT: Derek helps the doctor crew make their decision; Callie and Arizona come to a head

But it was the particularly sharp Derek who convinced them all to rethink and consider letting things play out without a settlement. “We can’t do this,” he said, in a moving speech. “I saw the plane. I went to the hangar, and I saw the pieces of our plane laid out on the floor like a jigsaw puzzle. If we agree to settle, they do the investigation. We can’t do anything with the results. We can’t stand by and let this happen to other people’s Lexies and Marks. We have to do something about this, we have to make this right.” Talk about a bullet to the chest! And Derek convinced the other doctors, led by an impassioned Callie, who had previously seemed the most willing to take the cash. “Derek’s right!” she told the sputtering lawyer, who was inclined to get the doctors to sign on the dotted line. “We shouldn’t take the money. We can’t take it!”

And that decision by the doctors brought in my favorite, Meredith, with her sage wisdom at the end of the episode. It was spine-chilling to me, in so many ways — the words she spoke could have so many meanings, depending on what’s going on in your life. “When we follow our hearts,” she said, with her usual measured feeling, “when we choose not to settle, it’s funny, isn’t it? A weight lifts, the sun shines a little brighter, and for a brief moment at least, we find a little peace.” Wow, how powerful is that? I’m inclined to print that on some fancy paper and post it on any surface that I look at on a regular basis. (Read: I’m single. All I have is affirmations like that, people. This satiates some weird part of me.)

Callie and Arizona’s unexpected shower. Um, ohhh-emmm-geee! These two generally get me going because I love what they are together so much, but last night, things went to a new, dark, dirty, fed-up level that was so bad it was good. It had to happen. Since we first saw her this season in the premiere, Arizona has been super surly — as we learned, because wifey Callie made the decision to amputate her leg in the wake of the plane crash without her consultation. (To be fair, it seemed that the unconscious Arizona was going to die if Callie didn’t make such a decision.) So when things came to a head this episode, things really came to a head. Callie came home to discover Arizona sitting in her own urine in the bathroom, which led to a scene where Callie was (somewhat violently) hoisting Arizona into the shower and screaming, simply, “This is my life now, too!” And it seemed that Arizona finally got it: She wasn’t the only one affected by her leg amputation. Callie was living with the effects of it, too. Maybe that realization will lead Arizona to figure out a way to carry on? Here’s hoping.

NEXT: Bailey melts down over a microwave

Bailey’s microwave meltdown. I was laughing at Bailey the whole episode. She was such great comic relief! The scene where she was busily buzzing around the attendings lounge putting sticky notes — “Clean out nasty food!” on the fridge; “This is not your bed” to Karev” — had me doubling over with laughter. It was almost like The Nazi was back! And I loved her line to Webber about the reinstated Kepner going into surgery. “The closest that girl has been to an OR in months is — what? — the Moline Large Animal Vet. Her head is not in the game!”

But the real moment — a great mixture of hilarious and heartfelt — came when Bailey was maniacally cleaning out the attendings lounge microwave, which was covered in splattered, cooked food. “It is a horror movie inside this microwave!” she bellowed, as Webber approached. “It is a horror movie!” That was the humor — then came the drama, when Webber told her that she needed to channel her increased free time and energy into something productive, not microwave cleaning. “Hell, invent the Bailey Method! You gotta get out there and don’t look back.” Hopefully coming soon: good things for Bailey. With Ben gone and Tuck in kindergarten, she’s in need of a good, meaty storyline. Bring it!

Cristina makes friends with Mr. Feeny. I don’t know what his real character name is, and I don’t know that I care to figure it out. But Cristina — locked away in Minnesota — really made some progress with her fellow heart surgeon, played by the same guy who played Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World. They really seemed to connect! I was especially touched by those final moments when Mr. Feeney told her that he, too, had been in a plane crash in Vietnam and then offered her a cigarette, even though he doesn’t smoke. “Seems like everything kills you these days,” he said.

Cristina’s storylines also produced a bevy of other delightful moments. I loved it when, in the OR, Mr. Feeney — okay, let’s call him Dr. Feeney — had just explained why he did the surgery the way he did. And then said, “This way Bo Bo has a chance at life.” It was Cristina who — under her breath — corrected him with the patient’s real name: Pop Pop. She knew it! She was paying attention! There were other touching moments to Cristina’s story that were hilarious: the tater-tot hot dish stuff with Pop (maybe you only love that if you’re from the Midwest?); when her boss (you know, Rex from Desperate Housewives) accused her of just Googling the Mall of America and jeggings; and when she told Rex that she was “laughing, just not externally.” See what I mean about the moments? The mix of laughs and drama? It was so great last night.

One addendum to Cristina’s storyline that I feel needs to be addressed is: When is she coming back to Seattle? Like, it better be soon. I’m totally into her traipsing off to become a more whole person, but she’s going to be needed back at Seattle Grace before too long. It’s just weird for her to be away for too long. Am I right?

Alex’s dance with his new intern. Alex’s storyline wasn’t as pronounced or delicious but it eventually had a nice moment. The surly doctor spent most of the hour giving his spritely new intern Jo mundane tasks, until she finally convinced him to take her seriously — mostly because she dished his stupid, sleep-with-the-interns tactic right back into his face. “I have absolutely no interest in you since you’ve already screwed every one of my friends.” It certainly wasn’t as powerful as the rest of the episode, but it was definitely a good moment.

NEXT: Kepner and Avery get sexy, yes!

Kepner and Avery’s makeout session. Wowza! This is just what I wanted, and the build up to it was perfectly metered out. I was dying for them to get back together, and finally — after Avery rode Kepner hard for wanting to sweep what happened between them under the rug — they had a passionate tango. Kepner was trying to be steely — she claimed (a big nope!) to be “revirginizing” herself — but Avery’s final speech got her back in his arms. “I am not going to pretend it didn’t happen,” he told her. “I can’t do that.” Yes! It was satisfying.

And there were other genius moments of this pair’s story last night. I find myself really reveling in Kepner’s insanity, and her dedication to it. “I’m revirginizing!” she told Avery in a cold moment. “It involves a lot of prayer, which I had time to do in Moline. It’s my second chance, Jackson, and I didn’t think I’d get one. I get to recommit myself to God. I can accept forgiveness and have a second chance. A do-over without all the mistakes!” It was all so nutty, so wrong, so right, and so Grey’s.

Again, bravo to the episode’s writer Zoanne Clack. Grey’s seems to really have some mojo going right now, despite all the tragedy recently.

There were probably tons of other great moments, ones which I didn’t mention here. What’d you think, Grey’s viewers? Did you like the episode as much as I did? Did you have moments that had you feeling tingly last night? Sound off in the comments below, with moments, thoughts, or any other relevant viewpoints you may have.

Tanner on Twitter: @EWTanStransky