12×13: “All Eyez On Me” Recap

This episode of Grey’s Anatomy was heavily focused on surgeries, something that has been lacking in the previous episodes. You would think that Grey’s, a medical drama, would focus more on actual cases, but this season has been somewhat lacking in that department. This episode, however, had Callie, Meredith, Bailey, and Jackson perform a really cool surgery on an army veteran. The idea behind the surgery was to replace both of the guy’s legs and instead just make him have one leg. I don’t really have any medical knowledge so I’m not sure if this is even possible (it doesn’t seem so), but all I know is that apparently it has never been done before, it’s very risky, and the guy would die without this treatment.

The doctors go to a different hospital to treat the guy, and the Chief of Surgery greets them. Dr. Will Thorpe interrupts and says that he doesn’t think they should perform this dangerous and risky surgery on his patient, who has no chance of surviving. Callie interjects and says that they are confident that they can save this man and give him a chance at life. After they walk away, the doctors don’t seem as certain though. It seems like they were only able to practice one time instead of the multiple times they were supposed to since the patient was in critical condition.

Before the operation, they all stand in the scrub room and try to motivate each other to do well and be able to successfully complete the innovative surgery and save the guy. Callie gives a great analogy about how they all have to be squirrels, since squirrels store nuts for the winter, but they don’t do it all at once, and instead they do it one nut at a time. She says that everyone has their part to play, so everyone needs to handle their own nut. When they start operating, Callie realizes that the method of treatment she was going to use won’t be possible anymore. She starts to freak out because the guy is on the operating table and they don’t have a course of treatment. Dr. Bailey sees that Callie is starting to become overwhelmed, so she gives her a little pep talk and tells her to be a “squirrel.” Callie says she has to step out to think about what to do, and Dr. Thorpe is rightfully worried and annoyed at them since she promised she had a good plan.

Again, I don’t know much (or anything) about surgeries or medicine in general, but somehow Callie is able to think of a new way to perform the surgery. She goes back to the operating room and tries her technique, and she is able to successfully save the patient. As they are leaving, Thorpe apologized for his hostility and congratulates them on the surgery well done. Before he leaves, however, he asks Meredith out and she unknowingly gives him her number under de guise of checking on the patient. Meredith hasn’t dated anyone for years since she started dating Derek so this was somewhat weird to see, but it also felt refreshing to see Meredith moving on.

This episode wasn’t too interesting in terms of personal relationships and the usual drama, but I have to admit, the surgery was pretty cool to watch. I’m usually not into medical stuff, but Grey’s has a way of sucking you in and making you care about the patient and the case. Besides, I’m sure soon enough we’ll have more personal drama to make up for it.

One response to “12×13: “All Eyez On Me” Recap

  1. Zachary Zydonik

    These are my favorite types of episodes on Grey’s Anatomy. I love the thrill of seeing them in the operating room under pressure. It makes me jump up and down, screaming at the TV as if the patient can hear me, shouting LIVE! I appreciated and enjoyed your thorough description of the episode. Well done.

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