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‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: Alex Gets Demoted at Hospital, Snubbed by On-Off Girlfriend Jo

A little emotion can be a dangerous thing — especially at Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital. The Thursday, September 29, episode of Grey’s Anatomy began with Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) desperately trying to not think about the fact that in a matter of hours he would be charged for beating the living daylights out of Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti). They headed to work for some good, old-fashioned distraction therapy, but reality hit hard when they arrived in court. It turned out that not only was Alex being charged, but he also was getting charged with a felony assault in the second degree.

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Alex pleaded not guilty, and then Mer did her best to assure him he was “not going to prison.” Neither one of them seemed all that convinced, though. Back at the hospital, Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) told Alex that DeLuca would be starting back at work, and asked if that would be a problem. Naturally, Alex said no.

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Meredith (Accidentally) Threatens DeLuca

About two minutes after DeLuca had returned, Meredith seized a (very convenient) moment in the elevator with him to try to nudge him in the right direction. Spoiler alert: She only made things worse. “I was attacked,” she said, trying to find common ground. DeLuca didn’t bite, however, noting that her attacker had been unaware of his actions, whereas Alex knew exactly what he was doing. Meredith took that in and then tried a different angle.

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“Have you ever made a horrible mistake?” she asked before explaining that Alex was “genuinely sorry” and would like to tell DeLuca that himself. DeLuca said he wasn’t ready for that. Getting even more desperate, Meredith made one last ditch effort to get through to DeLuca, suggesting that he shouldn’t be “wasting” his time in the courtroom when he should be “scrubbing in on surgeries” instead. “This job is hard enough. You don’t need to make it any harder,” she added. That did not go over so well.

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“I know you can keep me out of the OR. You can end my career and ruin my life if you want to. You don’t get to!” DeLuca snapped. “You think because you’re an attending, and Dr. Karev is an attending, you can threaten me? I don’t care! It’s not going to work!” The elevator doors opened, and Meredith found Alex to tell him that she’d accidentally maybe threatened DeLuca. Alex was about as happy to hear that as you’d expect.

Maggie and Amelia Take Big Swings … and Strike Out

In other news, Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) was hot and heavy with Nathan Riggs (Martin Henderson) — in her subconscious, at least. After confessing to Mer about her sex dreams involving the hunky doctor, she finally decided to go for it and just ask him out.

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Meanwhile, Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) persuaded Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) to let her throw a housewarming party. Included on her guest list was Riggs. Owen wasn’t very jazzed about that attendee, but Maggie was! She decided this was her chance to turn her fantasies into reality. Long story short, Meredith intercepted Riggs before Maggie got to him, and instructed him to “be very nice” but “say no.”

During the get-together, Amelia did her best to get the two men together, but Owen refused — and ultimately, Maggie didn’t get the courage to ask out Riggs until the following evening. When she did, he followed Mer’s instructions perfectly. (Sorry, Maggie!)

JUSTIN CHAMBERS
Justin Chambers in ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’

April Sort of Loses Her Mind

It was time for Harriett to go home, but April Kepner (Sarah Drew) had to stay behind in the hospital following complications with her incision from her at-home C-section. April didn’t deal well with the impending separation and spent most of the time in tears or screaming at Jackson (Jesse Williams) or both.

Jackson took Harriet home, but brought her back for daily visits. April seemed inconsolable, however, and Jackson decided to push a little harder to help, inviting her and their daughter to come live with him. Jackson argued that Harriet needed her mother, and her mother needed help. April didn’t say yes, but she also didn’t say no. Jackson took that as a win … or at least one step closer to a win.

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Alex Makes (Another) Big Mistake

Clearly distracted by his court case, Alex missed signs of infection in a former patient who happened to be a very sweet young boy who had undergone a kidney transplant. After Alex checked out for the day (and ignored warning signs that something might be wrong), the boy needed emergency surgery and was at risk of losing the kidney.

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Miranda pulled Alex off the case and called Meredith in — and Meredith, in turn, called DeLuca in. This was a clear olive branch to try to correct her earlier gaffe, but it did seem to work. Happily, they ended up saving the kidney. Miranda then reassigned Alex to the clinic, pulling him from the hospital, but saving him from being fired.

Alex also tried to talk to Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) about what happened, but she wasn’t having it. “Sorry doesn’t fix anything,” she snapped. “You lash out, and you hurt people.” She stormed off, and Alex’s future seemed more uncertain than ever.

Tell Us: Do you think Alex is going to be convicted of a felony?

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

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