Grey's Anatomy 5.16 'An Honest Mistake' Recap/Discussion

ABC aired the sixteenth episode of Grey’s Anatomy’s fifth season last night and I have to say I thought it was a really great episode. It had its light moments, it had its intense moments, and I thought it was a really wonderful hour of television.

The main story from last night’s episode was Derek’s struggle with his own guilt. He messed up during surgery last week and this error ultimately cost a woman her life. To go along with this theme of mistakes, we saw Izzie dealing with messed up test results, and Cristina and Hunt dealing with another surgeon’s errors.

Other storylines from the episode:

• Mark finally tells Derek about Lexie -which leads to the bloody fist fight on the bridge. I thought it was clear that Derek wasn’t really angry at Mark necessarily. Ausiello said that Derek was angry at Addison, but I think Derek was really angry at himself.
• Callie finally stops avoiding Arizona and asks her out, only to get turned down.
• Bailey is on her way to applying for that fellowship and trying desperately to gather some recommendation letters. The one that really matters – the Chief’s – isn’t what she hoped it would be.

So let’s recap:

Derek does his best to try and save Jen. The first surgery goes well, but the good news doesn’t last long. Jen isn’t out of surgery for long before she has to be rushed back in. In the OR, Derek goes head-to-head with Addison. Addison wants to save the baby, but Derek is obsessed with saving Jen’s life – at all costs. Eventually, Addison sends Alex to get the Chief and with the Chief’s nod, Addison takes out the baby. Though the baby is premature, Arizona seems to think that he’ll pull through. But Rob (Jen’s husband) is terribly broken by the news that his wife didn’t survive the surgery. All Derek can say is, “I’m sorry,” while the other surgeons try to explain to Rob what went wrong. Rob calls Derek a murderer.

Cristina, Hunt and Callie see to a patient whose surgeon, Dr. Campbell, is an ageing “dinosaur” (according to Cristina) who keeps making routine mistakes. Cristina is unforgiving and goes out of her way to make sure that Dr. Campbell is held accountable for screwing up the man’s surgery. Hunt is compassionate toward Dr. Campbell, going as far as telling Cristina that she’s too tough on people and that people make mistakes. Cristina doesn’t budge, and keeps a firm stance on her belief that Dr. Campbell should retire the scalpel. Hunt eventually gives a subtle hint to Dr. Campbell that perhaps it’s time to know when to stop.

Izzie finds out that her test results were screwed up and spends the episode trying to come to terms with this news. She finds a questionable mark on her back and goes to dermatology to have it removed. Actual test results come back and Izzie decides to get the interns – whom she spent all episode blaming – to help her figure out what’s wrong with her.

Callie’s talk with God seems to have given her newfound confidence and she walks up to Arizona rather confidently and tells her that though she’s been avoiding her, she’s ready to take on this sapphic adventure, for the second time, and asks Arizona on a date. Arizona – who seemed like she very much would’ve said yes if Callie hadn’t used words like “adventure” and “second time” – turns her down because she’s aware that this is an experimental time for Callie and she doesn’t really want to be part of someone’s experiment.

George has a minimal plot line in this episode. His entire task is to write a letter of recommendation for Bailey.

Speaking of Bailey, she spends the entire episode collecting recommendation letters for her Pediatric surgery fellowship. The Chief, however, doesn’t seem to be very enthusiastic and his recommendation letter disappoints Bailey. Bailey eventually faces off with him and finds out that the Chief had plans for her that didn’t include Pediatrics and they start fighting. But their fight gets cut short because over on the bridge a fist fight has errupted.

Derek is hanging out on the bridge, depressed about Jen and probably feeling very much like the murderer Rob accused him of being, when Mark decides this is the perfect moment to reveal his relationship with Lexie. Derek answers by punching him twice. Then Mark punches back. They go at it until the fight is broken up.

At the bar…

Addison is probably pretty happy to be returning to Private/Practice. But before she leaves she gives Bailey her recommendation letter.

Callie decides to go in for another shot at Arizona and approaches her with a memorized monologue. She tells Arizona that she’s got plenty of experience to give. That she’s been married, and was in the Peace Corps, and can cook (an excellent chicken piccata) a wide assortment of delicious meals that Arizona would be lucky to experience for herself, and that if she can’t open her eyes and see that then it’s Arizona that’s inexperienced. Arizona takes the end of the monologue to introduce Julie, her date. And Callie walks off, embarrassed.

Cristina and Hunt have a heart to heart about mistakes and compassion (of which Cristina has none). He says he imagines that Cristina will be just like Dr. Campbell in forty years and that he’ll have to take the scalpel from her. Cristina says that he’d have to pry it from her cold, dead hands. But Hunt tells her that the point is that he wants to be there in forty years. Aww.

Derek and Meredith get drunk.

And we finish off with Izzie introducing the interns to her medical case.

Here are my thoughts on the episode:

• I really enjoyed the whole Jen/Rob/Derek/Addison storyline. I really think that it was more complex than Derek feeling guilty over his surgical mistake. When the couple was first introduced he commented to Meredith that they reminded him of them. And so I wonder if it’s possible that the reason Derek was so desperate to save Jen is because he felt that it was like he was saving Meredith.
• The Cristina/Hunt/Dr. Campbell storyline was interesting too. I can totally imagine Cristina being that stubborn in forty years and the fact that she’s so unforgiving of other people’s mistakes is something that will undoubtedly come back to bite her in the butt. I loved Cristina and Hunt in this episode. They make such a balanced team. It’s great to watch.
• The Izzie storyline makes me sad. It feels so detached from every other storyline. I look forward to the others finding out what’s going on with her because I feel like they should be a part of this. Whatever happens, I think we’re in for some really intense episodes.
• At first I was surprised that Arizona turned Callie down, but then I was sort of relieved. Not because I don’t want them together, but because I think Arizona has something of a point. Callie was all depressed like… two days before? And suddenly Arizona kissed her and she’s all better now? I think if they’re going to actually make it as a couple, then jumping into a first date might not be the best way to do it. I’d love to see Callie ask Arizona out because she really is interested in her and not because she’s open to an “adventure.” I really hope that’s where they’re going with this. It was so much fun to see Callie walking tall again. I thought Sara Ramirez was brilliant.
• Mark and Lexie are really cute together and I’m so glad that’s out in the open now. I can’t wait to see what happens next with them.
• I loved MerDer at the end. There was no dialogue and there didn’t have to be. Meredith was there for Derek and it was really sweet to watch them just being together.
• I’m excited about Bailey going to Pediatrics. The whole exchange with the Chief about how Bailey isn’t his daughter was really great. I think in a lot of ways the Chief does think of Bailey as a daughter. They have that kind of dynamic.

Did I forget anything?

What did you all think of the episode?

I’m incredibly bummed that there’s no new Grey’s for three weeks! Argh.

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