The return of the plot: When last we left Pregnant Aneurysm Lady — actually named Jen — Derek had caused a complication and punished himself accordingly. After a risky procedure, she stabilized, then decompensated again.
This week, after she was again stable, Addison told Jen that she had preeclampsia (the same condition that killed the mother in the notoriously devastating “ER” episode “Love’s Labor Lost,” to which this episode bears a strong resemblance). When Derek didn’t want Jen to be told what was wrong, Addison sensed that he’d become too guilt-ridden to exercise good judgment.
Surgery goes south: During Jen’s next surgery, her condition deteriorated. Derek removed her temporal lobe, startling everyone, but when it got even worse and he wanted to take out her frontal lobe — which all agreed would leave behind little of the person Jen’s husband knew — Addison and Derek wound up in a standoff. They stood poised over Jen with scalpels, Derek rather senselessly wanting to remove most of her brain to keep her nominally alive, risking the baby’s life; Addison claiming Jen was gone and wanting to save the baby.
The big finish: Ultimately, the Chief stopped Derek, Jen died, and the baby was delivered. Jen’s husband put Derek through a wrenching “you’re a murderer” grief-driven breakdown, which sent Derek into such a spin that he wound up in a brutal fight with an unsuspecting Mark, who chose exactly the wrong moment to reveal that he’s sleeping with Lexie.
Dunaway we go: Faye Dunaway played Dr. Campbell, an older physician Cristina considered well past her prime, and who had botched a gall-bladder surgery performed conventionally rather than laproscopically. It became clear that it was time for Campbell to retire, which she finally did, but not before lowering the boom on Cristina, predicting a future much like her own, where the end of surgery would be the end of everything.
No surprises: Izzie learned her blood had been switched on an earlier blood test. A patient who thought she had cancer turned out to have only anemia, sending Izzie on a wild goose chase of lymph-node exploration. Ultimately, she sneaked over to dermatology to have a mole addressed. The episode ended without a firm verdict on the mole, but Izzie looked grim as she set the interns to the task of diagnosing a not-so-routine “Patient X.”
Rote recommendation: Bailey was baffled when the Chief gave her only a so-so recommendation for the pediatrics position she’s now decided is her destiny. After seeing that her performance was “fine,” she set out to right the situation. The Chief eventually admitted that he wasn’t thrilled about helping her escape succeeding him, so she got by on recommendations from Addison and — surprisingly — George, who unsurprisingly was wandering the halls looking for something to do.
Linda Holmes is a writer in Washington, D.C.