“Breathe” brought more happy tears than sad ones.
We knew Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) was coming back and would be on the beach with Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), but we had no idea Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) was coming back too! I wondered why they told us about Lexie, and now I know it was because they had another big surprise in store for us.
Mark and Lexie are together in heaven, and they’ve been yelling in their loved ones’ ears when they know something bad is about to happen. It’s a beautiful thought to think of them always there helping Meredith, Callie and Arizona along the way.
They were also there to tell Meredith to live and to make every moment count. Once again, because they knew what was coming. She was getting off the vent! How can she not come back, not just for her kids and sisters but all those people dancing because she got off the vent? She’s so loved, she has come back.
More happy tears followed after all of the Mark and Lexie scenes and Mer getting off the vent because Dr. Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) proposed to Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary)! I had a feeling it coming when he said one more song. But it was still beautiful to watch.
“Breathe” still had the heartwrenching parts of Covid, but it was nice that it reminded us that life is still happening. It’s hard to remember that sometimes with all the grief around us, especially for the Grey’s Anatomy doctors.
In this horrible time, Maggie came up with a life-saving measure by doubling up the vents and she got engaged. It’s nice to see her happy.
Dr. Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) may be on her way back too. She definitely has needed the break. I think a day with Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) was exactly what she needed. I liked how Amelia asked her if she had tried another therapist after the first one didn’t fit. Teddy definitely needs therapy after everything she’s been through. Most of the characters on this show do. And it’s nice that Grey’s is normalizing talking about therapy. I think a lot of people may need therapy now or when the pandemic is done.
Then, Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) came to pick up the kids and told Zola (Aniela Gumbs) the good news about her mother. It was so good to see everyone, so happy and relieved. And Owen gave the credit to Teddy. It’s definitely a start. They do have kids together, so Owen will have to extend an olive branch at some point. Maybe this was it.
Owen even had some wisdom for Dr. Tom Koracick (Greg Germann). Tom is feeling a lot of guilt about getting better when Meredith hasn’t yet. And Owen talked about how he was asking himself “why him” when he got to come back from the war and said he wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Maybe Amelia got through to him?
Grey’s Anatomy, of course, didn’t give us all happy tears. Two of their patients were a mother and daughter with covid. Both wanted the doctors to save the other and then Maggie had to choose between them with so few vents. The daughter also wanted to say goodbye to her mother because she said, “everyone is dying, and you have no clue how to save us.” That was so heartbreaking how scared she was. But she didn’t know she was in good hands since, as mentioned, Maggie came up with the sharing the vents idea.
Dr. Cormac Hayes (Richard Flood) also had a tough episode. His former wife’s sister was brought in with a kidney stone, but she also has MS, and there was a complication during the surgery. This brought out Cormac’s past trauma of losing his wife. He couldn’t go home and tell his boys they lost someone else. Their aunt has been everything to them. He’s also fiercely protective. That could be because he lost his wife, or that could be his default. He had Dr. Caterine Fox (Debbie Allen) do the surgery. It’s good she did with the complication, but it was definitely not something she would typically do.
Thankfully she’s okay, and Cormac doesn’t have to tell his boys they lost someone else.
And Dr. Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) may have another specialty she might look into. Catherine was asking her if she ever thought about switching specialties because she has a good touch. Of course, she started laughing and said no because she hasn’t officially come out and said she wants to move to OB.
I get why she wants to. The joy of it all. But that’s not who she is. And I’m not sure her place on the show if she switches. Will she change her mind again?
What did you think of “Breathe”? Did you shed more happy tears than sad ones? Tweet me @MandyTTCarr or comment below.
