This episode of Grey’s Anatomy had me stressed out. Like seriously stressed out. Because everybody was just so angry. At everybody. For the entire episode. I mean, they opened the episode with a major argument scene. This is not a show where they open with a major argument scene. And to boot, the scene was set against the backdrop of a rainy, dark night, so it kind of felt like we were were watching some kind of thriller movie. Needless to say? I loved it.

And here’s why: despite the fact that I spent a good majority of this episode’s 42 minutes stressed out because of how stressed out the entire cast of characters was, it was hard to pick a side. Everybody had differing opinions and everybody had good points, but nobody was actually, fully, 100% right, and that’s what I loved. It was hard to sympathize with anybody, just as it was hard to discredit anybody’s viewpoint as well. Let’s take a look…

Callie initiated the idea of pooling the lawsuit money to purchase the hospital after seeing what Pegasus was going to turn Seattle Grace into – a place with no future, no innovation, and no fun. Derek, though hesitant at first after reflecting on how much he hated his time as Chief, jumps on board with Callie’s idea realizing it is the best opportunity at saving and preserving Seattle Grace. Likewise, Meredith agrees with Callie and Derek and supports their idea to buy back the hospital, though she stipulates that Lexie’s share of the lawsuit money is tied up with her father, Thatcher.

Arizona, however, does not want to buy the hospital. She balks at the idea of using Lexie and Mark’s money as part of the payment, and she makes the astute observation that none of them actually know how to run a hospital. Even more than that, she feels protected in her current state with the money from the lawsuit. Life is unpredictable, and she has a daughter and a family now, and she wants to protect that. She doesn’t want to dump everything into buying a hospital only to be left with nothing and her family being completely screwed over.

Cristina laughs at the idea of buying the hospital as well, once Meredith finally fills her in on the details of what all of the survivors have been planning. Cristina, like Arizona, points out that nobody actually knows how to run an entire hospital and that she doesn’t want to own it anyways. Likewise, she worries about what this could mean for Owen, though Meredith maintains that he would remain Chief of Staff. Still, Cristina isn’t on board with the plan, thinking it is crazy and she is unwilling to betray Owen.

Alana Cahill is trying to close the deal with Pegasus, making sure they purchase the hospital before it officially goes under. In her eyes, Pegasus is Seattle Grace’s last shot (and she’s probably right, despite what the others are thinking). But Pegasus is a little iffy, and the hospital is running out of time, so she warns Owen that nothing else can go wrong at all. Nobody can quit. The hospital must be re-branded, including a new ad campaign featuring the one and only Dr. McDreamy smeared all over the walls and elevators of the hospital, much to chagrin of, well, everyone. And – and this is a big “and” – Owen must keep the nurses from going on strike, as they are all riled up over the changes that have been happening in light of the hospital’s potential sale to Pegasus.

And Owen? Poor Owen. He’s stuck in the middle, with all of his guilt eating at him after realizing he is the one that put those doctors on that plane after making budget cuts and so he’s blaming himself for the crash, for the deaths, for the hospital’s current situation. He’s trying desperately to save everyone – first by divorcing Cristina to ensure that the survivors got the payment they deserved, and now by selling the hospital to Pegasus to ensure its survival. The problem is he doesn’t actually believe in the sale to Pegasus himself, realizing that it will change the heart and integrity of Seattle Grace forever, and when Cristina figures this out, it changes everything. And suddenly she’s on board with trying to buy the hospital.

Everybody’s got their own reasons, and everybody is both wrong and right. And it’s all incredibly fascinating to watch, especially as the survivors continue to meet in a van in the parking lot of the hospital to discuss how to pull all of this off with Derek’s financial adviser like we’re watching some sort of heist movie. The best part? They all basically realize they are in some kind of heist movie and own it. If you didn’t laugh out loud at Callie when she screamed at the financial adviser, then I feel sorry for you, because that was an epically classic moment.

Elsewhere in the hospital, there are other things going on as well. April’s still fooling around with the paramedic, but up until now all of the action has been contained to the back of his ambulance, so he officially and finally asks her out on a date. She says yes, but is hesitant about that decision, realizing that he may not understand her whole “I-was-a-virgin-but-then-I-wasn’t-and-now-I-am-again” stance. April decides to talk through the matter with Jackson, as the two try to repair their friendship, and he basically tells her that she just needs to be herself and own it, and if he doesn’t like it, then that’s his loss. Turns out, April has managed to miraculously hook the only other 20-something virgin in Seattle, as he stops their make-out session before it proceeds any further. April is excited about this belief they have in common, but feels obligated to come clean about her past with Jackson. The problem? She doesn’t, instead leading him on to believe that she is, in fact, a virgin as well. This won’t end well.

Jo and Alex spend the day watching after a newborn and debating the pros and cons of dating coworkers. Jo is skeptical of the idea, but Alex is more accepting, looking to Meredith and Derek and how they were destined to be together. Something – finally - clicks in his head, and we can see that he’s looking at Jo in a new way, like maybe she might just be the person he’s been looking for all along. Unfortunately for him, Jo has set up a date with someone else in the hospital, and Alex has lost his chance (for now).

Someone’s been going around defacing the new ads featuring Derek’s face, and it is deeply disturbing Richard. He catches the culprit, and it turns out intern Shane has been doing the defacing at the request of Derek, in a ploy to get all of them removed from the hospital.

Bailey is trying to save a young boy’s life, but the procedure needs approval from Owen and the board before she can proceed. When Owen informs her that she can’t move forward, Bailey is flabbergasted and pushes Owen for further explanation as to why she’s been rejected, until Owen finally admits that it was him who rejected the procedure, and the board never even saw it. Bailey is shocked and betrayed, and pleads with the young boy’s parent to take him elsewhere to get the procedure at a hospital that will actually allow it. Arizona is shocked that Bailey would say such a thing, but Bailey is unapologetic as she relays her fears about what kind of a place Seattle Grace is turning into and that she’s not sure whether or not she even wants to stick around anymore. Perhaps she’ll move to LA and be closer to her husband, she muses.

Arizona changes her mind. Bailey’s words have struck a deep chord with her and she’s on board with the plan to buy the hospital. But Pegasus has jumped the gun and wants to proceed with the sale much sooner than expected, leaving the doctors in a precarious situation as they try to figure out how to proceed from here. Cristina enlightens them to what Owen has told her – that he doesn’t believe in the sale to Pegasus and that no one else can quit or Pegasus will get cold feet – and so the doctors, one by one, quit their jobs at Seattle Grace in front of the entire team from Pegasus, the board members of Seattle Grace, Alana, and Owen. Pegasus panics and withdraws from the sale, as the hospital has nothing without its star doctors, and the survivors reconvene at Meredith and Derek’s house with his financial adviser to figure out how to proceed.

But here’s the thing: they’ve all just quit their jobs. There is no buyer for Seattle Grace, which is quickly approaching the day where it will no longer be able to stay open, and none of them are sure that they actually have enough money or manpower to actually, feasibly buy the hospital.

What have they just done?

Like I said, it was a stressful 42 minutes. But it was a wonderful stressful 42 minutes, filled with lots of angst, humor, drama, and shades of grey. Nobody’s right, nobody’s wrong, and the future of the hospital hangs squarely in the balance. And honestly? I have no idea how they are going to get themselves out of this mess. It’s all coming to a head. The end to all of this is swiftly approaching. But just what will that end be and what will it mean?

Grade: A+

915 Hard Bargain