‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 15 Episode 15: When Parents Attack (RECAP)
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 15, Episode 15 of Grey’s Anatomy, “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”]
There you have it, folks. Grey’s Anatomy is officially the longest-running primetime medical drama on American television, but the record-breaking episode — February 28’s Season 15 Episode 15 a.k.a. “We Didn’t Start the Fire” — didn’t exactly burn the house down.
True, the firefighters were called to Jackson’s (Jesse Williams) apartment during a party celebrating Catherine Avery’s (Debbie Allen) successful surgery and the surgeons responsible — Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) and Tom Koracick (Greg Germann) — but as it turns out, there was no fire.
Alex (Justin Chambers) and Jo (Camilla Luddington) are thrown for a loop when Helen Karev (Lindsay Wagner) shows up at Seattle, and after a series of miscommunications, Helen ends up at the party, where she regales guests with tales of Lewis and Clark and puts her crochet work a little too close to one of the many, many candles Jackson put out for the occasion. (Also, Jackson seems to have a gas fireplace in every room, so the guy was just asking for a visit from the Seattle F.D.) Helen’s erratic antics have Jo and Alex freaking — and Jo even Googles “psychotic break symptoms” — but after Helen smells smoke, Alex is a little too happy when he realizes the smoke is not just in his mother’s head.
(ABC/Eric McCandless)
Also, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) are nervous about people finding out about their relationship — even though Mer did inform Alex, her boss and her BFF, earlier in the episode — so they sneak off to Jackson’s guest room when they want to get hot and heavy. Richard walks in on them, because of course, and Meredith. awkwardly blurts out, “Alex knows!” Later, an embarrassed Mer tries to “act normal” by helping with the catering (because that’s very, very normal). Except she puts a plastic tray into the oven, meaning she’s responsible for smoking everyone out of the party, as she guiltily realizes later when Ben (Jason George) pulls the scorched tray out of the oven.
Meanwhile, Maggie (Kelly McCreary) spends the episode obsessing over a blog post her nemesis Kiki wrote about the lifesaving surgery Maggie performed on her a couple episodes back — before Richard (James Pickens Jr.) tells Maggie to reclaim the narrative. And Catherine spends most of the episode avoiding the party, riding around Seattle in her limo with Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and feeling like she can’t celebrate since she’s technically not cancer-free.
(ABC/Eric McCandless)
After she convinces Bailey (Chandra Wilson) to buy an expensive blender with the “butt-cork” money, Bailey convinces Catherine to “spend joy,” since no one has any idea what the future has in store. “We are right here, and people love us — that’s cause to celebrate,” Bailey tells her, in a wink to Grey’s Anatomy’s longtime fans. Catherine finally acquiesces and arrives at the party just before the guests are smoked out. Later, she, Richard, Jackson, and Maggie eat burgers and drink sparkling cider in the back of her limo, which she says is exactly how she wants to celebrate her good fortune.
The main drama of the episode, though, is the love triangle between Amelia, Owen (Kevin McKidd), and Teddy (Kim Raver) — which, Amelia aptly points out, is more like a love circle since they just keep going around and around. As the episode starts, the Dickinsons leave Seattle with Betty/Brittany (Peyton Kennedy) and Baby Leo, and without the kids to look after, Amelia and Owen fall into a “giant sinkhole of sadness,” as Amelia says. She confronts Owen about him not talking to her about his pain, but even during the conversation, he’s fixated on Teddy and Koracick.
(ABC/Eric McCandless)
Amelia seemingly breaks up with Owen, and after Jackson and Richard tell Owen that he has reason to dislike Koracick, Owen confronts the guy. Koracick ends up punching Owen, so yeah, our favorite trauma surgeon isn’t doing so well this week. When Owen gets home, though, he finds the Dickinsons back at his house: They want Owen and Amelia to take Leo, since they’ll have their hands full with Britney. For her part, Britney thanks Amelia for everything, which is the closure that Amelia was missing from the whole saga.
In the closing minutes of the episode, Mer and DeLuca head back to his place, but they don’t even get through the front door before his sister, Carina (Stefania Spampinato), pulls up in a limo and asks him why he hasn’t picked up his phone. They start arguing in Italian, and then their dad steps out of the limo. You know, the famous Italian surgeon who operated on patients in a manic state and then had the fatal consequences covered up? Ciao, Grey’s fans — see you next week for more parental drama, inevitably!
Grey’s Anatomy, Thursdays, 8/7c, ABC
