Some things are worth going to war over … but what if those wars could have been prevented by both sides taking a moment to think things through? This is the question (unofficially) posed on the Thursday, April 7, episode of Grey’s Anatomy, though the answer doesn’t come quite in time.
Tension was brewing at home between Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Amelia (Caterina Scorsone), but the person who seemed most troubled by it was Maggie (Kelly McCreary). However, their situation was a drop in the bucket compared to the firestorm that was kindling between Jackson (Jesse Williams) and April (Sarah Drew), thanks to Jackson’s mom’s help.
Jackson’s Mom Won’t Back Down
Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.) was no happier with the plan that his wife, Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen), had hatched to sue April than her son had been. “You meddled,” Richard told his better half.
“He is the father of that baby!” she replied.
“Suing his ex wife for fraud is not the way to be a father,” he snapped back. She continued to insist she was simply trying to help her son, and it seemed that no amount of rational or emotional argument from either of the men in her life was going to convince her that her path forward wasn’t right.
Later, Jackson tried appealing to his mom to put an end to this plan, but also seemed to fail. “April has the power—all the power. You’ve got to get some power,” Catherine argued.
In a last-ditch effort to change his wife’s mind, Richard scheduled them to be in the O.R. together so they could talk (while they operated). She then told him about how Jackson’s father had tried to take Jackson away from her, and she’d had to fight to get him back. She also added that Jackson wasn’t Richard’s son anyway.
“You’re my wife, and I think I should be able to tell you when you’re making a wrong turn, and this is a wrong turn,” Richard calmly replied.
Meanwhile, the damage was done — because April had overheard them talking and figured out that a lawsuit from Jackson was likely headed her way.
April and Arizona Are United by a Pregnant Teen
When April ended up caring for a teenage girl with abdominal pain — who happened to be pregnant and hadn’t told her mother — April called Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) to help. Both April and Arizona agreed that surgery was the best option for the young girl, but they disagreed about whether it was appropriate to tell the girl’s mother about the pregnancy. Arizona insisted that it wasn’t within their rights to do so when their patient wanted to keep it confidential, but when the moment of truth arrived and they were explaining treatment options to the mom, April blurted out the news.
“There is the risk that Jenny could lose her baby,” she said. “Jenny is pregnant.” Arizona bit her tongue, but it was clear that she was extremely displeased.
The teenager’s mother reacted exactly the way her daughter had predicted, and the two got in a huge fight in the hospital room in front of both Arizona and April. Later, a complication the doctors had (somewhat) predicted materialized, and the teen needed surgery immediately. April was clearly struggling with a guilty conscience.
“This wasn’t my fault, telling the mother — stress doesn’t just cause arteries to rupture,” she said to Arizona.
“That doesn’t make it right,” Arizona replied.
“It felt right,” April quipped. “It felt like she needed to know, like it was the right thing to do.” Predictably, Arizona commented that she knew the feeling, prompting April to shout that this was not the same thing.
But when the girl’s mother approached her daughter with tenderness and love following the surgery (something neither April nor Arizona had expected), the ice between the two thawed and there seemed to be hope for the future of their friendship.
Another (possibly) brewing relationship was between Stephanie (Jerrika Hinton) and a super-sexy musician suffering from MS, played by Wilmer Valderrama. Though Stephanie did her best to thwart his advances, between his smoldering good looks and wizard-like guitar skills, by the end, she seemed to be softening to his advances, at least enough that he’ll be back for future episodes (wink, wink).
Owen and Riggs Have It Out
There will still more battles brewing, however. Meredith tried to calm the waters between Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Riggs (Martin Henderson), but only ended up making the waves 10 times worse.
“Riggs tried to talk your sister off that chopper,” Meredith said. “She needed to be with her patient. He tried to go — she wouldn’t let him.”
Owen rolled his eyes and asked, “That’s what he told you?” He then gave his version of what had happened: “Meredith, he didn’t say anything to her. He wasn’t anywhere near that chopper! He was off screwing some woman.”
Meredith didn’t have anything to say in response to that, but then Owen confronted Riggs and told him that Megan had called him and told him everything. “You can’t just come in here and pretend to be some nice guy, pretend to be this hero! And lie and fool everyone like Grey and Bailey and Pierce and Amelia. You can’t just take more people away from me. You can’t do it, and I won’t let you!” Riggs looked pretty worried by the time Owen stormed out.
Crisis Averted … Almost
Apparently, Richard’s arguments made an impact on Jackson’s mom, who was singing a different tune when she saw him next. “I overstepped, but you are my baby,” Catherine explained. “I was just protecting my baby.” She acknowledged that she needed to let go, and let him fight his own battles, and he said he intended to do exactly that.
“I’m an Avery. Somebody messed with my baby, so I got myself some power,” he said in response. It sounded ominous, but it turned out that he had actually sent April a gorgeous crib for their baby.
Unfortunately, April didn’t discover it at her house until after she’d already taken her own actions to defend herself.
April confessed to Arizona, “I think Jackson’s going to sue for custody, full custody, once the baby is born … I overheard [his mother] saying it.” Arizona reassured the expectant mom that they would figure out what to do together.
That’s when April said she already figured out what to do. “I’m not going to be the victim. He can’t do this. I won’t let him,” she explained. Arizona asked her what she’d done.
At just that moment, in a bar across town, Jackson was served with papers because April had filed a restraining order against him.
Tell Us: Did April overreact by getting a restraining order against Jackson?
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
