Grey's Anatomy recap: Link performs the surgery of a lifetime
It's all hands on deck at Grey Sloan Memorial on this week's Grey's Anatomy.
A guy named Sam shimmied into his favorite wingsuit, based jumped off a cliff, and slammed into a boulder breaking ninety-three bones. How he's alive and managing to flirt with Jo (Camilla Luddington) is a complete miracle.
Link (Chris Carmack) is just the man to put this human jigsaw back together. And he'd like to do it in well-planned, responsible stages like a respectable surgeon. Sure, some of Sam's extremities might suffer from prolonged blood loss, but that's a risk Link is willing to take to keep the man from dying.
Unfortunately, it's not a risk Owen (Kevin McKidd) is willing to take. He thinks Link should work on all of Sam's injuries in one big surgery. It's more complicated and will require a team of doctors, but it would keep Sam from losing a finger or leg. When Owen voices that option during the consultation, Sam immediately leans toward the "all or nothing" column and demands Link wheel him back immediately. If he dies, he dies.
This cavalier attitude affects Link's confidence. And Owen's insistence that Link is the best orthopedic surgeon in Seattle equally shakes him. Remember how Link performed major surgery on the football player who later died of a blood clot? That death haunts him every day, and now he feels that Owen has set him up for another high-profile failure. Everyone who is anyone will be on this surgical team. And if they're not in the OR, they will be watching.
After fighting with Owen over his unprofessional behavior, Link eventually pulls in Jo, Winston (Anthony Hill), Owen, a few residents, and several unknown people who have to be pulled into surgery because everyone else has either left the show, been killed off the show, or is currently in a meeting room with Teddy (Kim Raver) to figure out how to help Yasuda's (Midori Francis) financial problems.
Liliane Lathan/abc Teddy calls an emergency meeting to discuss the intern program on 'Grey's Anatomy.'
Bailey (Chandra Wilson), Amelia (Caterina Scorsone), Richard (James Pickens Jr.), and Nick (Scott Speedman) join Teddy to commiserate about how they all survived on a strict diet of cereal and pasta when they were residents and how these kids need to come up the ranks and pay their dues like every other person before them. However, the cost of living has risen in Seattle since the olden days, and these jokers are making about the same salary.
Yasuda is on pins and needles, assuming that the power players are meeting to eventually fire her. So she beats them to the punch, walks into the room, and quits! When Teddy tells her she is the first recipient of a new grant for residents, she quickly murmurs, "Just kidding," and rushes off to join her friends in the OR where the hours-long surgery is taking place.
Meanwhile, Nick is paged to save a patient going into shock because Adams (Niko Terho) didn't turn off her insulin drip as he instructed. Nick is already needled that Adams stood him up for coffee that morning and yells at Adams to get his meds right. Adams questions his mentor, wondering what meds Nick is talking about. Nick shouts, "Your ADHD meds."
Later Nick finds Adams to apologize and questions him again about his meds. It turns out Adams is undiagnosed, but after a quick Google search, ADHD explains a lot of his erratic behavior and inability to concentrate or focus on some issues. Nick confesses that he, too, has ADHD and encourages Adams that he can still be a fantastic surgeon as long as he manages his prescriptions.
Does this mean that Adams' black sheep label is about to be erased? Will he finally surpass Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.) as a fellow A+ student?
Liliane Lathan/abc 'Grey's Anatomy.'
Speaking of Kwan, he's in the doghouse with Millin (Adelaine Kane). Her roommate Maxine comes in feeling dizzy, and tests show she has a UTI and is dehydrated. Schmidt (Jake Borelli) puts Kwan on Max duty, but Max gives Kwan permission to help with another ER emergency. Presumably, hours pass, and Bailey finds Max roaming the halls. Then she becomes delusional, thinking Schmidt is her grandson. Finally, Bailey figures out she's septic, and Kwan is chastised and brutally rebuffed by Millin.
Back in the OR, we see a 19-hour slow-motion surgery, full of bloody limbs spread open like submarine sandwiches, set to an upbeat and hopeful tune. Link wraps the last bit of bandage around the mummy known as Sam, and everyone in the OR applauds a job well done. It looks like Sam is going to make it! He will walk again! He will have the use of his fingers!
And Sam will use those fingers to call Jo and ask her out on a date. The question remains: Do we support Sam pursuing Jo? Will we have to switch from Team Jink to Team Jam? The verdict is still out, but it's looking promising for our daredevil friend.
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