‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: Cristina Defends Shane Against Meredith

Avery Thompson

December 5, 2013 11:57PM EST

Courtesy of ABC

Plus, Alex gets a shocking surprise!

The holiday break brought fresh drama to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. The Dec. 5 episode of Grey’s Anatomy featured a surprising kiss, April’s (Sarah Drew) hilarious bridal shower, and Bailey’s (Chandra Wilson) continuing struggle to maintain control of her life.

Lights, Camera, Scalpel!

Cristina (Sandra Oh) was planning a surgery using a conduit from Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) printer. Apparently, this was a HUGE deal. Doctors everywhere wanted a chance to view this groundbreaking surgery. However, the parents of the patient didn’t want cameras in the room. Funny thing is, Cristina didn’t even know about it and wasn’t happy about all the attention.

Owen (Kevin McKidd) convinced her to allow cameras inside the OR. So, Cristina’s surgery got the royal treatment. When the patient started to crash, she asked the cameras to be turned off. In the morning, the patient still wasn’t stable and the parents were getting anxious. Cristina began questioning herself and the conduit’s success.

Over in another part of the hospital, Meredith was partaking in a groundbreaking surgery of her own. She was implanting a 3D portal vein from her printer into a sheep. Stephanie (Jerrika Hinton) was super excited and filmed the whole thing. At first, the surgery seemed to be a success, but sheep ended up dying. (Sigh)

“I’m A Swan.”

April and Matthew’s (Justin Bruening) wedding is approaching fast, so it’s bridal shower time! April’s sisters all flew in for the momentous event. And her sisters were a trip. Their commentary on Matthew and Jackson (Jesse Williams) was hilarious.

Matthew and Jackson spent some quality time together. They both put their “dreamboat” selves to use and saved a man who got dragged by a car. The two hotties came to a truce later in the episode. Jackson didn’t think he was going to show up to April’s wedding, but Matthew said it would mean a lot to April if he was. I have a feeling that Matthew is going to regret saying that.

Later, at the bridal shower, April’s sisters continued berating about her awkward past. Finally, after many “Ducky” references, April broke. “I’m not your hopeless, ugly little sister anymore. I’m a swan,” she said. And that, my friends, is why April is awesome. She then fired her sisters as bridesmaids and asked Arizona (Jessica Capshaw), Meredith and Cristina to take their place.

Dysfunction At Its Finest

Much to everyone’s surprise, Alex’s (Justin Chambers) dad showed up at the hospital and asked for Jo (Camilla Luddington). She thought he was just on a drug binge, but he collapsed and started seizing. He was having withdrawals from trying to get clean.

Jimmy (James Remar) wanted to get so clean that he refused the methadone prescribed to him. Jo wanted to have him sent to a rehab facility to keep him out of Alex’s way, but Owen refused. Jo couldn’t keep the secret for long and Alex wanted him kicked out immediately. He stomped into Jimmy’s room and his dad recognized him! Wait, what? Jimmy said he knew since the bar and had been trying to get clean since.

Later, Jimmy’s withdrawals got violent. He started hallucinating and slammed Jo against a wall. Luckily, Alex came to her rescue. I have a feeling that this Alex and Jimmy inevitable confrontation is going to be brutal. Not just for them, but for me.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

After initially believing that the conduit had failed, Shane (Gaius Charles) was particularly snappy with Meredith. Meredith went to tattle to Cristina and just made matters worse. She said that Shane had become aggressive and mean. “Do you think he’s trying to be like you?” Meredith said. Oh boy, Meredith.

Cristina quickly retaliated in Shane’s defense and said he was focused on being a doctor rather than a flight attendant. This Cristina/Meredith relationship descent is really getting to me. How low is Shonda going to take them?

Did I mention that Cristina and Shane did the deed? Yes, Shane scored Cristina. All across the world, Owen and Cristina fans are losing their minds.

At first, I felt weird about it, but when they did their victory foot shake after the conduit success, I was in. They are too cute. All romance aside, Shane and Cristina make great friends. She is a great mentor for him.

[hl_youtube src=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYAHwFDYo98″ link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYAHwFDYo98″ text=”New ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Promo”]

Richard. Is. Back.

Richard (James Pickens Jr.) finally left the hospital. Seriously, how long was he there? Years? Eons? As he was leaving, he thanked Bailey for getting him back to normal. Too bad Bailey was anything but normal.

Bailey had a doctor following her around. Bailey had to be cleared by this doctor before anymore surgeries. She was put to the test when the doctor told her to do five sutures without checking or rearranging anything.

All this pain and struggle could have been avoided if Bailey just took some meds. Bailey was adamantly against this until Richard came to her aid. Once again, being the voice of reason, he convinced her that medication was the right thing. Hopefully, the old Bailey returns.

Notes Worth Mentioning:

1. Callie (Sara Ramirez) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) were doing some test. I didn’t really care about it. She was also complaining about all the fighting in her life, but all I heard was Callie being the common denominator in all the fighting.

2. After bickering all episode, Callie and Arizona come to terms with their relationship. They decide that talking is not the best policy and they kiss and make-up.

3. The tension between Jackson and April is crazy. Next week’s wedding is sure to be wild. I can’t wait.

So HollywoodLifers, what did you think of tonight’s Grey’s Anatomy?

— Avery Thompson
Follow @Avery__Thompson