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‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: Meredith’s First Hookup Since Derek’s Death Goes Disastrously

Love is blind … and confusing … and painful … and perhaps no one knows this better than the MDs of Grey’s Anatomy. On the Thursday, March 31, episode, many pairs of docs found themselves in uncomfortable romantic situations, and while some worked through the valleys to reach the peak on the other side, others packed up their gear and went home (proverbially speaking, that is).

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The story opened with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Dr. Thorpe (Scott Elrod) saying good night after what appeared to be a rather successful date. Thorpe was grilling Mer about how many dates they’d been on at this point, prompting her to ask why he was counting. “Three’s my lucky number,” he said with a heart-stopping smile.

“Well, then I guess you’re out of luck,” Meredith replied. She played hard to get for about two more seconds before letting him kiss her — and, apparently, inviting him inside.

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Meredith Is Not a Morning Person

The next morning, Meredith started shrieking and kicked Thorpe out of her room. “I was sleeping, and then there was screaming,” he said to Maggie (Kelly McCreary), clearly stunned. Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) was there, too, as she’d been crashing on the couch (unbeknownst to Mer) since discovering Owen (Kevin McKidd) beyond drunk in his trailer when she’d gone over to celebrate his birthday.

Maggie didn’t give Thorpe one moment to explain, kicking him out as he was asking for his shoes. She tried to coax Meredith out of her bedroom, but Mer didn’t emerge until later. Though Amelia and Maggie offered her coffee and tried to get to the bottom of what happened, Meredith only had one thing on her mind: cleaning. She immediately began a cleaning rampage that could not be stopped. Rather than try to stand in the way, Maggie and Amelia ended up helping, but it wasn’t clear if their efforts were doing any good.

When “Thank You” Isn’t What You Were Going For

Meanwhile, Callie (Sara Ramirez) and Penny (Samantha Sloyan) were snuggling in bed when Penny said three little words: I love you. Callie replied, “Thank you.” Ouch. Though it was a small moment, it set off all kinds of fears and insecurities for both women that later reared their ugly heads.

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The following day, when Callie’s daughter ended up in the hospital for a cut, Penny ended up treating her. Though it wasn’t a big deal, and Callie’s daughter was fine, Callie was not happy that Penny waited to page her until she was finished — but it wasn’t about that, obviously, and Penny figured that out pretty quickly.

“This is about what I said last night, isn’t it?” she asked. “The last thing that I wanted to do is make things weird.”

Callie then said that Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) was actually the reason she was upset, arguing that Arizona wasn’t ready for Callie and Penny to be such an item. “It’s all happening so fast,” she said. The only problem? Callie made that part up — and Penny found out when she tried to apologize to Arizona for crossing the line and treating her daughter.

A surprised Arizona replied that she “never said that,” adding “the subject [of Penny’s relationship with Callie] had never come up before.” Jo (Camilla Anne Luddington) was on hand to helpfully point out that Callie had been lying.

Penny was hurt and Callie was confused. After a quick chat with Miranda (Chandra Wilson), Callie knew what to do, telling Penny they were “in the same place,” and invited her out to ice cream with her daughter. A delighted Penny said, “Thank you.”

Mother Knows Best

Jackson (Jesse Williams) was convinced that his mother coming to town was going to be trouble. He gave her clear instructions to stay away from April (Sarah Drew), but she didn’t listen. Instead, she had a heart-to-heart with April that actually seemed to go really well.

“When I was pregnant with Jackson, a three-hour surgery felt like 12,” she began. “I know you’re tired.” After exchanging a few more pleasantries, April confessed that she found out she was pregnant the same day that she signed the divorce papers. “It was a rough day,” she said. “I sat there listening to those lawyers, but all I could think about was just that I needed time to think, process.” Jackson’s mom told her she would have done the exact same thing.

April, bolstered by this discussion, then approached Jackson to say that the conversation with his mom went well and asked if they could find a time to talk soon. Jackson was nothing short of thrilled and thanked his mom later for speaking to April.

JUSTIN CHAMBERS, ELLEN POMPEO
Chambers and Pompeo in ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’

Everything Implodes

For her part, Maggie had started to realize that Andrew (Giacomo Gianniotti) had been brushing her off lately, and she raced to the hospital to confront him. “You’re avoiding me,” she began. “Do you want to be with me or not?” When he hesitated, she had her answer.

Things weren’t any better for Owen and Amelia. In a Hail Mary attempt to salvage their on-again, off-again relationship, Owen showed up at Meredith’s place to apologize.

“About the other night, I’m sorry. I was thoughtless. I don’t know why. I don’t have an excuse, Amelia. Riggs said some things to me, and I’m really sorry,” he began before she cut him off to say that she just got sober again, so finding herself in that position (around someone who was very drunk) was not OK. Owen promised it wouldn’t happen again, and she said she knew that it wouldn’t because she couldn’t be with him.

“Right now, I have to count on myself. It’s not your fault. It’s just you’re not in this with me, so I can’t do this with you, not right now, maybe not at all,” she explained. “I know that right now, I’d like you to leave.”

As for Meredith and the hot doctor, while she was cleaning she found one of Derek’s old blankets and realized she just wasn’t ready to start dating again. When Thorpe showed up to apologize (and maybe try to get his shoes back?), she told him, “I lost my husband two years ago, and you are the first person I’ve been with since.” He surmised that she wasn’t ready, and she replied, “I guess I’m not.”

Because he is perfect, Thorpe told her he was “pretty sure” she was “worth waiting for.” Sigh.

The final blow of the episode came at the very end when, after Jackson thanked his mom for her help, she revealed her true motive. “I got everything we need. What she knew, when she knew it, who she spoke to and when,” she said with a smile. Before Jackson could even ask her what she meant she added, “I needed to confirm that she withheld information from you when she was signing those divorce papers, that she legally committed fraud, and she did and now we can go after her.” Dun dun dun!

Tell Us: Do you think Jackson will be able to stop his mom from going after April?

Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. 

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