Think of the children: Bailey got good news when the Chief said he was recommending her for a position as an attending in general surgery. She was less happy to learn that Dixon wanted her help with another very sick child — one she could barely face after almost having to murder a serial killer to save her last pediatric patient. Bailey ultimately came through, but Dixon brought her down by opining that Bailey is clearly cut out for the position she fears most: a pediatric surgeon.
The fellowship of the ring: Derek told practically everyone except Meredith that he was planning on proposing to her. He told Mark, the Chief, Lexie — he even told a pregnant patient who had to be treated for high blood pressure after accidentally running over her husband with the car. (Bygones!) Pregnant Wife advised him to hurry up and propose to Meredith, then learned that she herself had a dangerous brain aneurysm. But at least before she got any worse, she got to play the essential role of the Seattle Grace patient: to advance the personal life of her doctor.
Stop dragging my heart around: Once Mark found out that Derek was proposing to Meredith, he decided to break things off with Lexie, because Derek and Lexie would soon be related. (It didn’t make a lot of sense on the show, either.) Callie tried a stern talking-to, but Mark seemed more affected by a visit from Lexie, who vowed to break it off herself if he didn’t stop refusing to be seen with her in public. Seems reasonable!
Too much information: Meredith continued making her way through her mother’s journals, but she pushed one off on Cristina for “pre-reading” because it covers her mother’s affair with the Chief. Cristina provided a few details, including that the Chief once told Mom he was going to leave Adele and propose, but he never did. “That’s sad,” Meredith said. “Is it?” Cristina asked, forgetting that Meredith does not acknowledge feelings other than her own and those of her relatives. Elsewhere, Cristina learned from Dixon to calm an overstimulated person with hugging. So when Hunt flipped out at the sight of a mysterious blonde woman—- whose significance remains unknown — Cristina squeezed him until he fell asleep snuggled up to her while she read her roommate’s mother’s secret romantic longings. So: a typical evening for any couple, pretty much.
Remainders: As always, the show dropped a couple of random bits into the mix. This week, they included a married couple whose sexual experimentation had led to the lodging of a foreign body right in the husband’s dignity, as well as the revelation that Dr. Arizona Robbins is hot for Callie, making her Callie’s third potential blonde this season.
But wait! Derek never wound up proposing to Meredith after all, because Addison — his ex-wife and the lead character of “Private Practice” — called and said she needed his help. He fled town, leaving Meredith to wonder what happened.
Linda Holmes is a writer in Washington, D.C.