Grey’s Anatomy 4.15 “Losing My Mind” Recap

Episode title: “Losing My Mind” 4.15

Original Air date: May 15, 2008

Written by: Debora Cahn

Directed by: James Frawley

 

Intro: “The problem with being a resident is that you feel crazy all the time.” We see Meredith entering the therapist’s office. “You haven’t slept in years.” We see Callie brushing her hair and stopping at the foreign sound of the vacuum cleaner. Did it turn on by itself? Well, perhaps that might have been more believable than what we see next: Cristina vacuuming! Or, at least, her attempt at vacuuming.

“You spend every day around people in massive crisis. You lose your ability to judge what’s normal. In yourself or anyone else. And yet people are constantly asking you to tell them how they’re doing. How the hell are you supposed to know?” We switch over to Alex and Rebecca. Alex is bringing Rebecca orange juice. She looks happy as a clam. And then throws up. Morning sickness? That invisible baby is rather persistent.

You’re Fired!: Meredith and her therapist face off. Meredith says, “I’m firing you!” The shrink says, “You’re quitting.” Meredith insists she’s not a quitter. The therapist insists that Meredith is a quitter. They go back and forth. Meredith exits with, “Now you’re really fired.” In psychology this translates into progress.

The Intern, The Chief, & The Cardiothoracic Surgeon: The Chief is giving George a laundry list of things to do. George is practically jogging to keep up while simultaneously carrying a bunch of files and folders. They run into Dr. Hahn and the Chief addresses her directly, telling her that Dr. Walter Tapley (a.k.a. “God” a.k.a. the Chief’s mentor) is coming in. Hahn says, “Walter Tapley is coming here?” in reply to the Chief asking if there was anything special God could scrub in on. “I will stab someone in the chest if I have to,” is Hahn’s reply. George is amused and so am I. Hahn rocks.

After another laundry list of items, the Chief asks George if he had any messages. Just one: “She said to tell you that your wife hadn’t called in the twenty minutes since you last asked if your wife called.” Poor Chief.

Awkwardness, Tension, & Viral Cocktails: Derek greets Meredith with optimism regarding their clinical trial. Meredith is distracted over the great progress she’s made in therapy, but Derek misinterprets this distraction as apprehension regarding the trial. He offers to do this one on his own, to which Meredith replies, “I’m not a quitter. I don’t need you to rescue me. Let’s just do this.” And then they go do it. The trial, I mean.

We meet our patient du jour: Greta. She’s was all set for surgery but is now having second thoughts. She wants them to wait for her boyfriend, Andre, because she’d like his input before she goes under the knife. Greta’s sister is insistent that they not wait to do the surgery. But Derek agrees to wait.

Rebecca the Confused: Rebecca is asking for Dr. Sloan in a most desperate manner when Izzie happens to pass by. She recognizes Rebecca and instantly pulls her aside, demanding where she’s been and why she hasn’t returned Izzie’s phone calls. Rebecca doesn’t get why Izzie seems upset. Izzie launches into a short rant: “Well, you’re not pregnant, first of all, and Alex has been turning his life upside down to be your baby daddy and I can’t tell him because of confidentiality so yeah I’m upset.” Rebecca tells Izzie that she can tell Alex anything and insists that she is pregnant and to run the test again. Then she says something odd, “I’ve always wanted a baby.” Izzie frowns at this and says, “You have a baby.” Rebecca looks thrown for a split second then says, “Of course I do. I mean I want another one.” In psychology this translates into multiple visits a week.

Imaginary Boyfriends: Greta’s sister approaches Derek and Meredith and cuts right to the chase: “There’s no Andre. She made him up. He doesn’t exist.” The sister explains that Greta went off on a cruise then came back proclaiming that she’d found her soulmate. There are no pictures of Andre and no one has ever seen him. It seems likely that Andre is a figment of the tumor’s imagination. She asks Derek to speak to Greta.

The Pearly Gates: George has been called to stand watch over a door. The residents pass by and ask if Dr. Tapley is inside. George says no. He’s proclaimed a liar. George agrees that he is indeed lying. I must say I simply adore George in this episode.

Callie the Concerned: Callie passes by and grabs both Meredith and Cristina. She tells Meredith that something is wrong with Cristina. “She cleaned.” Meredith tells Callie to leave Cristina alone. Callie goes on, “Walter Tapley is here and she doesn’t want to meet him.” Meredith agrees “that’s bad,” but Cristina tells Callie to mind her own business. Callie tells Cristina to get help. Meredith and Cristina bond over their misery and perpetual residency in “the dark place.”

Meeting Dr. Godly: Hahn walks into the forbidden room to meet the famous Dr. Tapley. Introductions are made. Hahn proclaims it an honor. They spend ten or so seconds in friendly banter and then Dr. Tapley reveals that the reason for his visit is of a personal nature. It appears the Godly doctor is going to need some very risky heart surgery that his other colleagues refuse to do. Hahn poses the question, “What makes you think we’ll do it?” And Tapley bluntly states, “I didn’t start their careers, they can say no to me; Webber can’t.” No pressure or anything. 

Hahn vs. The Chief (Round 1): Hahn doesn’t want to do the surgery because she doesn’t want to be known as the surgeon that killed Walter Tapley. The Chief tries to argue but Hahn’s mind is made up. One point for Hahn.

The Forgotten Rose: Rose pops up beside Derek to subtly ask why he hadn’t called her after they’d had sex. Derek says it’s because he lost a patient. Rose is understanding to the point of seeming desperate but I can’t help but feel sorry for her character; it’s got Plot Device written all over it.

A New Leaf for Sloan: Sloan appears next to Derek just in time to overhear the entire conversation. “You didn’t call her?” The disapproval almost sounds sincere. Derek turns it around on Sloan, “When was the last time you called a woman after having sex?” Sloan says that’s going to change because he’s turning over a new leaf. The old leaf had ‘whore’ written on it and he wants to feel like a virgin.

Romantic Email Is Romantic: The Chief shows up to complain to the boys about Hahn not wanting to perform the surgery on Tapley. They proclaim her a “lightweight.” But nevermind all of that, the Chief has another, more seemingly pressing dilemma: his wife still hasn’t returned his call. He asks if he should call her again. They agree that another call would seem desperate. An email, however, would be “casual”, “confident” and “romantic.” 

George runs by and the Chief calls him over. Again, George is carrying a multitude of files and folders. Who needs to go to the gym when you can be the Chief’s intern? George give the Chief the update on Tapley. Is it just me or is the Chief more preoccupied with his wife than he is about his mentor’s well-being? Ah well, it wouldn’t be Grey’s Anatomy otherwise, I suppose.

The Chief gives George another mission: to write his wife an email inviting her, no telling her to go to dinner with him. The email should be “casual”, “confident”, “sexy.” It should also include the phrase: “The train is leaving the station; she better get on it.” Bwahahaha.

The Stairwell of Hard Truths: Izzie catches up to Alex and tells him that Rebecca isn’t pregnant. Izzie tries to tell him about the lab results but Alex snaps at her and tells her to mind her own freakin’ business and stay out of his life. In psychology this is called denial.

Meredith Wants Her Chart: Meredith shows up at the therapist’s office and demands that the shrink hand over her chart. She’s told to make an appointment. There’s more of the “you’re fired” vs. “you quit” talk, and then the doctor closes the door on Meredith. Meredith takes this as an invitation to barge in and stops mid-complaint when she realizes that there’s another patient in the room: Hahn. Hahn tells Meredith to make an appointment. Meredith does a quick exit.

All Hands on Deck: Bailey and the Chief make it clear to the residents and interns that the priority is to make sure Tapley is comfortable. “If he wants a steak, kill a cow,” is the Chief’s order. Bailey gets paged by the daycare and the Chief sends George down to find out what the daycare wants.

Pod Cristina: Cristina passes on her duties to Lexie despite the fact that Lexie doesn’t know what to do. I miss the old Cristina.

MerDer on the Bridge: Meredith catches up to Derek and asks how it went with Greta. He says he didn’t talk to her yet. Meredith wants to move on with the surgery seeing as the boyfriend is imaginary. Derek wants Greta to enjoy him – or the idea of him – for as long as possible. They argue about real vs. imaginary love. Meredith states, “That’s where love exists, in delusional fantasies. Real love isn’t like that.” Derek says, “Good to know,” and walks away. He looks like Meredith just kicked his puppy. Poor McDreamy.

Tucker Punch: George appears with baby Tucker in tow and reveals to Bailey that the baby punched another child. The dispute was apparently over a graham cracker. It’s serious business, that daycare.

Lexie Seeks Aid: Having been left to fend for herself by “Dr. Yang who’s even more evil than usual,” Lexie runs over to George for assistance. She doesn’t know how to do a central line and George is aghast that Cristina passed on the duties to Lexie. He says he’ll do the central line himself.

Words from the Dark Place: Cristina mocks George and spews a bunch of hurtful words at him, all the while sticking paperclips into a styrofoam cup.

Boy Talk: Derek wonders if he was ever happy when he was with Meredith. Sloan replies, “Of and on.” Derek comes to the conclusion that he’s idealized his time with Meredith. New-Leaf-McSteamy tells Derek to allow himself to grow with Rose, share experiences. Derek mostly laughs at Sloan’s feeble attempts at wisdom.

Doctors Make the Worst Patients: Tapley is irritated that the Chief can’t get the head of cardiothoracic surgery to cut him open and throws a bit of a tantrum. He starts to get up but the Chief yells at him to get back into bed. Then the Chief agrees to talk to Hahn again.

Lunch Time: [You can watch this scene in the sneak peek I posted yesterday.] Cristina spews more awful things, this time at Lexie. Callie and Hahn share a sapphic salad, and the two tease Sloan with talk of threesomes. And the Chief faces off with Hahn again, only this time he lays down the law. One point for the Chief. Bottom line: he wants her to do the surgery.

More Hard Truths: Meredith and Derek try to tell Greta that Andre is imaginary and a result of the tumor. Meredith sounds a bit too blunt for Derek’s taste and he glances at her disapprovingly throughout the scene. Greta refuses to believe them.

Rebecca Has Issues: Rebecca finally tracks down Sloan and asks him for more surgery – this time in the rest of her body. She doesn’t feel that it matches her face or her personality. Sloan tries to say that he can’t operate if she’s pregnant but she’s insistent. Sloan looks concerned.

Bathroom Talk: I don’t know how, exactly, but Meredith tracks down the therapist all the way to the bathroom and demands her chart. I suppose Meredith felt it was a safe bet that she wouldn’t be interrupting another patient session in there. The therapist keeps telling her to make an appointment. Meanwhile, Lexie barges in and tells Meredith that she forgives her for being a biotch to her and for altogether failing as a sister. At the end of her speech, Lexie marches out, and the therapist pipes in with, “Two o’clock worth for you?”  Yep. Back to therapy for Meredith.

Hahn vs. The Chief (Round 3): It looks like Hahn has admitted defeat but she’s not going down without a fight. She tells the Chief that if Tapley dies she’s going to tell every reporter in the land that it was the Chief’s idea and that he will look like an idiot. What an inappropriate conversation to have in front of the patient in question. I love Hahn but her hissy fit over this was really annoying to watch. I would’ve thought she’d be more professional than this. All the same: The Chief wins.

A Heart to Heart: The Chief states that Hahn has impeccable judgment and that this might be the dumbest thing he’s ever done. Tapley softens up and admits that he tracked down the Chief because if he died, he wanted to be near a friend.

There’s Nothing Cute About It: Sloan catches up to Izzie to discuss Rebecca Pope’s case. He asks what Rebecca is being treated for and Izzie says it’s for a pregnancy she doesn’t have. Sloan tells Izzie about his session with Rebecca and Sloan says that Rebecca might have Acute Stress Disorder. He tells Izzie to make it clear to Rebecca that she’s not pregnant and to get her a psych consult.

The Love Train: George runs in with phone in hand to show the Chief the casually confident sexy email he’s written for the Cheif’s wife. The Chief asks George to read it out loud. “Dear Adele, Eat with me. The love train is leaving the station and you know you want to take a ride. Take a ride on the love train…” The Chief interrupts him and George says, “With all due respect, sir, I didn’t come up with the train or the station.” The Chief takes the phone. He’ll do it himself.

Sexually Confused Callie is Sexually Confused: Callie has sex with Sloan on the brain. In fact, that seems to be all she’s got on the brain lately. Sloan offers some psychology (part of the new leaf, no doubt): “Do you ever think about why you need to have sex all the time? Is it replacing something or…” Callie says that she uses it to clear her head. Sloan says they can sit in the on-call room and talk but not have sex. Callie looks somewhat repulsed at the thought of sitting in conversation with Sloan. She doesn’t know what they’d talk about, but Sloan suggests the topic of threesomes.

In the OR: He goes on to imply that if Callie were to have a threesome, Erica Hahn wouldn’t be a bad choice. He starts to get graphic and Callie kinda looks like she’s not minding the topic so much but then seems to freak out and tells Sloan to stop talking about Erica Hahn. She walks away.

In the OR: Speaking of Erica Hahn, the surgeon is operating on Tapley.

More Therapy: Meredith has shown up for her two o’clock therapy session and she and the doctor are digging right into the tough stuff. It all boils down to Meredith not realizing that she gives up on things: love, relationships and even life. The doctor brings up Meredith’s two near-death experiences as confirmation that Meredith might not be directly trying to kill herself, but that she’s consistently putting herself at risk. The therapist points to Meredith’s mother as the source of Meredith’s lack of value for her own life. Meredith gets up and demands her chart again. This time she gets it.

Back in the OR: Things start to go very wrong at one point and she freaks out, and starts saying, “I told you this was a bad idea,” etc. But in the process of freaking out she manages to patch things up quite nicely and in the end, Tapley lives on. Crisis averted. Me thinks Hahn just needs a bit more confidence.

Waiting for Prince Charming:  Greta, her sister, Meredith, and Derek sit around waiting for Andre to show up. He doesn’t. Greta finally faces the fact that maybe Andre never was real. This was really heartbreaking.

Hard Times: Husband Tucker shows up with baby Tucker. It doesn’t take long for Bailey and her husband to start the fighting. George comes in to rescue the baby from having to listen to his parents’ fighting.

Harsh Reality: Izzie does a sonogram on Rebecca to prove to her that there’s no baby. Alex comes in and finally realizes that Izzie was right. Rebecca doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that she was never pregnant, though. She starts crying at the thought that she lost the baby. Alex looks distraught.

Some Kind of Fairy Tale: In the other OR, Meredith and Derek are operating on Greta. A nurse comes in to whisper something in Meredith’s ear. That something is that Andre had arrived.

God Speaks to George: Tapley offers kind words and motivational advice to George. “Listen, keep running, but not because you want to cut corners but because it makes you a better doctor.” I think that made George’s day.

More Dark Cristina: Lexie passes by and sees Cristina on the floor. Her kind heart doesn’t let her walk away without asking if Cristina is okay but of course her concern is met with more harsh words. Cristina is a fountain of negativity but Lexie manages to stand her ground. She got to scrub in on Dr. Hahn’s surgery while Cristina sat around writing notes, and that’s something Cristina can’t take away. Cristina responds with, “Yeah. Okay.” There was the flicker of respect in Cristina’s eyes.

Super George: George drops in on Bailey who’s doing paperwork while watching her son. George offers to take Tuck for a while so that Bailey can go find her husband and continue their heated discussions. Bailey seems to think this is a good idea.

Alex the Dependable: Alex is in Izzie’s room looking to borrow girl clothes for Rebecca. Rebecca is staying over for a few days. Izzie questions him about what he’s going to do about her and tries to get him to see that Rebecca needs professional help, but Alex insists he can handle it. Izzie watches as Alex helps Rebecca get dressed. None of this bodes well.

The Return of Super George: George shows up at the Cheif’s office with a stack of files and a baby in tow. He drops some files on the Chief’s desk. The Chief looks up and asks what George is doing with Bailey’s son. George replies, “Dr. Bailey and I are in love and I’ll be heading back to Vegas with her as soon as my divorce from Dr. Torres is final.” Bwahaha. The Chief rolls his eyes and moves on to his reply from his wife. It’s a typo. No wait, it’s not a typo it’s a winky. What does it all mean? “She’s flirting, sir,” George explains. Casually confident sexy email saves the day! Before George exits, the Chief tells him he did a good job today.

And that’s enough to make Super George float all the way down the hall.

No Happily Ever After: The clinical trial did not go well. It looks like Greta is not going to ever wake up. A heartbreaking end to a heartbreaking storyline. A very real Andre stands by and cries while Meredith and Derek look at each other morosely.

Narrator Meredith speaks: “Don’t wonder why people go crazy, wonder why they don’t. In the face of all we can lose in a day, in an instant, wonder what the hell it is that makes us hold it together.”

In the Elevator of Misplaced Sexual Tension: Sloan happens to catch the elevator just in time to ride down with Callie and Hahn. Surprise, surprise. Callie says to Hahn, “He’s thinking about a threesome.” Though I think she means that she’s thinking about a threesome. Sloan denies this but Callie insists that he has been thinking about it, “Aaaaaall day.” He eventually admits that she’s right.

Hahn joins the conversation and says that Sloan, “couldn’t handle the two of [them].” Sloan says he could. Hahn asks if he wouldn’t find it intimidating. Sloan says “not at all.” Callie laughs. And then Hahn does what would’ve been entirely unexpected if we hadn’t heard about it already – she kisses Callie. Sloan has a “Whoa” look on his face. The kiss is surprisingly long and when Hahn moves away she smiles at Sloan and says, “See? Too much for ya.” She walks away with her head held high, while Callie stands there looking stunned. Sloan says, “Damnit! On-call room right now.” But Callie looks like she’s got a lot more on her mind than a simple quickie with Sloan.

If Hahn has her eye on Callie then she’s one smooth operator.

Down in the Lobby of Relationships That Should Never Be: Derek calls to Rose. Rose is irritated that he’s been ignoring her all of this time. But Derek – also a smooth operator – manages to convince her to let him use her for no good reason, under the guise of having an “easy” and “fun” relationship. There are so many levels of wrongness to this relationship I don’t know where to begin.

Meredith Asks to be Fixed: Meredith wanders back into the therapist’s office, sits down, and says, “My mother tried to kill herself when I was a kid, after the love of her life disappeared. I never told anybody that before. So you think I’m broken … fix me … cause I’m no quitter. Let’s go.”

And fade to black.

Final thoughts: I found this episode to be a bit of a drag, honestly. It had its moments of amusement and I can see they were trying to set some stuff up for next week’s two-hour season finale. But it was still a bit of a drag for me. That said, I can’t wait until next week.

So what did you think? Are you liking where the storylines are going? Callie and Hahn seem to be headed somewhere. Alex and Izzie have a lot of potential. Meredith seems to be getting her act together – finally.