On this episode of Grey’s Anatomy, titled “One Day Like This,” April gets a lesson in faith from a dying rabbi, Meredith is attracted to a fellow surgeon and Owen spends time with Teddy.
As if there aren’t enough hot MDs at Grey Sloan Memorial, Scott Speedman guest stars as Dr. Nick Mars, a transplant surgeon from the Mayo Clinic who collapses during an organ recovery. Marsh himself just underwent a kidney transplant five weeks prior.
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Like at First Sight
Nick Mars, who should still be on medical leave, refused to abandon his favorite patient who has been waiting six years for the liver he arrived in Seattle to recover. He wasn’t about to let her fate rest in some other surgeon’s hands.
There’s a nice chemistry between Mars and Meredith. He’s aware she’s a Harper Avery winner and is impressed but doesn’t gush. She learns he’s looking after his 16-year-old-niece, Charlotte, because his sister isn’t up to the task. His mother died of heart failure when he was 15, but he became a transplant surgeon because he can’t sit still, and this career enables him to be on the go.
Their interaction is like a first date, but the elephant in the room is the looming question as to whether Mars is going to lose his kidney. He was a near-impossible match but managed to snag the kidney from his best friend.
He speaks about what life might be like if he weren’t a doctor. — a Plan B. Mars tells a story of canoeing with his dad that sounds so lyrical, like poetry (all he does is remind us why we fell in love with Ben on Felicity all those years ago). He manages to get Meredith to admit her fantasy life would be kicking back in Sardinia, Italy — a place she visited with a girlfriend after college.
The more time they spend together, the more emboldened Mars becomes in his advances towards Mer. And as much as they have in common and as cute as he is even though he’s pretty damn sick, she keeps it professional.
Mars’ labs come back, and they’re inconclusive. Meredith knows something is wrong, and finally discovers he has a clot in his renal vein (probably the result of the plane ride) and needs emergency surgery. It’s up to Meredith to operate and try to save his kidney. As they wheel him into the operating room, Mars gives Meredith a list of instructions to carry out regarding his niece in case he doesn’t make it.
One and Done
Owen arrives in Germany to surprise Teddy, and she immediately knows something is up. He reveals that he and Amelia are done, and for the first time, there’s nothing standing in the way of him and Teddy being together. For a few seconds it seems like we’ll be let down again when Teddy announces she’s dying or dating or both, but it’s a false alarm. They begin to kiss and although we don’t get to see them seal the deal in her kitchen, it’s a given.
They eat, they drink, they reminisce about old times, they watch the snow and cuddle. But, eventually, Teddy wants to know where they go from here. She loves her job and her friends, and she’s getting ready to open up a clinic for refugees. She’s built a life for herself, and it’s one that is thousands of miles and several time zones away from Owen.
Owen doesn’t have all the deets figured out, but he does make it clear he’s in love with Teddy and has been for some time. Owen’s declaration isn’t enough for Teddy who is already overthinking the entire situation. She worries what will happen if things don’t work out between them. Things really go downhill when Teddy learns that it was Amelia who shoved Owen in her direction, and that he and Amelia had just had sex the previous night.
The honeymoon is over almost as quickly as it started. Teddy thinks the only reason Owen showed up is because his marriage is over, and he’s terrified to be alone. (That’s not a stretch since Owen hasn’t really been single since Cristina.) Owen accuses Teddy of being scared when faced with the prospect of real love. He brings up her dead husband Henry, which is a really bad idea.
Teddy does fear she’ll get hurt because all Owen’s ever done is hurt her. She reminds him how he’s strung her along for years with half-baked declarations and then marries other women. Now he shows up at her door, swearing it’s about her when it’s never been that way. And he’s only made this grand gesture because his ex-wife, who he was screwing only 24 hours earlier, told him to. Teddy’s done being Owen’s sloppy seconds. He begs her not to end things, but she’s finished. After one day, she kicks him out of her apartment.
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You Gotta Have Faith
April, who is still circling the drain, works on a rabbi named Eli with some help from Jackson. The former patient of Dr. Bailey, who had been treated with antibiotics for diverticulitis three times, suffers a nasty complication — his skin begins to fall off his body.
Bailey expresses concern over Eli’s condition and gets an earful from April who questions how Bailey handled the case. Bailey feels guilty enough, and Jackson reassures her that Eli’s reaction boils down to just bad luck. Bailey wants to take over Eli’s care, but April refuses. She’s not letting Bailey off the hook. No matter what they do, Eli isn’t likely to make it and that’s on Bailey. (April is so much more tolerable these days when she drinks.)
Even in his suffering, Eli sees Bailey hovering and tells April she can come in, but April thinks Bailey is fine where she is. Eli gets the vibe that April doesn’t like Bailey and can’t understand why. He likes her and believes Bailey is a good doctor. April doesn’t agree, blaming Bailey for Eli’s current predicament. Eli processes that Bailey may have screwed up but lets it go. He’s more interested in what’s going on with April because he can tell she’s in pain.
Eli’s wife is on the way, and he’s hurting, so he’s got time. April offers up morphine, which would be the drug of choice for most, but Eli’s a rabbi, so he gets his high from helping others. If he can take away even a fraction of her pain “then that’s goodness. That’s God.” He prefers to do his job until the bitter end. Eli knows he’s dying, and he wants her to grant him his last wish.
April is reluctant but finally opens up. She reveals she’s made a choice to start looking out for herself. Eli understands that if someone faces enough hardships, they can’t help but feel like they’re being punished or have done something to deserve it.
April tells Eli that her whole life she followed God’s rules. She studied, she believed, she practiced what she preached; she did everything God asked of her. Eli points out that just because someone does all of that, it doesn’t mean life is going to be good. There are no guarantees. April clarifies that she’s not asking for everything to be good all the time, she’d just like some fairness. Eli offers up several example of religious figures who got the shaft. In fact, nobody in the Bible lived a life free from suffering or injustice.
Eli breaks it down for April: If people only believed in God when things were good, then after the Holocaust, not one Jew would be a believer. It’s difficult to argue when someone plays the Holocaust card. After a toke of oxygen, Eli tells her that faith wouldn’t be real faith if she only believes when things are good. April can’t get past the idea that life can just be random and cruel, and there’s nothing she can do about it.
Eli’s running out of time, so there’s no sugar coating things. He questions who April thinks she is to question why things happen. Who is she to wonder or ask why some people live and some people die? In life, wonderful and devastating things happen. Just like he doesn’t get to question why he’s dying from a medication that usually saves lives. Either April can believe in God and goodness, or she can believe it’s all pointless and cruel, whatever makes her happier.
Eli asks if April is happy. She begins to cry, and Eli reassures her that God is not indifferent to our pain. The world is full of brokeness, and all people can do is put it back together again.
Eli’s in agony and fading fast, so April begs him to let her give him morphine and take away some of his pain, and he lets her know that she already has. He also asks April to tell Bailey he forgives her. April urges Eli to hold on until his wife arrives, but he’s delirious and thinks April is his wife, so she lets him say his good-bye to her instead (And if you aren’t crying right now, you have a heart of stone). Eli dies, leaving a weeping April by his side.
April finds an upset Bailey in the chapel trying to light a candle for Eli. April helps her and takes Bailey’s hand. April relays Eli’s message and says some things just happen, and they don’t get to know why. It looks like April may be on the road to spiritual recovery.
Single White Female
At least Mars gets a happier ending. Meredith is able to save his kidney. At Joe’s, Meredith tells Alex about Mars — the smart, funny, single and hot transplant surgeon. She admits that Nick made her feel something she hasn’t felt in a long time, since Derek, but she’s Nick’s doctor, and he lives in Minnesota. Alex wonders if it’s the worst thing in the world, knowing it’s out there if she wants it. Nope, for Meredith, it’s not.
Will April resume her goody-goody ways? Is this really the end for Teddy and Owen? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC. Want more news? Visit our Grey’s Anatomy page on Facebook.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
