Dinner with the Shepherds. Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) and Link (Chris Carmack) fly to New York to do a surgery, but when they run into Amelia’s sister, they end up getting more drama on their trip than they bargained for on the Thursday, April 11, Grey’s Anatomy episode.
In fact, as soon as Link and Amelia arrived at the hospital they were supposed to operate at, they ran into her sister, Nancy (Embeth Davidtz), who was covering for the chief of OB, much to Amelia’s dismay — and Nancy seemed to have no idea how prolific a surgeon her little sister has turned out to be. And Amelia didn’t seem to want to explain to her, because she let her think that Link was actually Owen (and that Owen was still her husband) and avoided conversation altogether.
Despite her best efforts, Amelia got roped into going to dinner at Nancy’s… and begged Link to join her. He couldn’t understand why she’d go to this dinner when her family hadn’t supported her — or even showed up to her wedding.
“This dinner is a chance for me to brag, prove them wrong, I’m not sure,” Amelia admitted. “I’m just sure that I have to go, and if you go with me I’ll make it worth your while in very creative ways that you will enjoy.”
That was enough to convince him, and after surgery, they showed up to Nancy’s — with Link in character as Owen. But much to Amelia’s surprise, her sister, Kathleen (Amy Acker), was there, too, and she immediately started to grill Link as soon as Amelia wasn’t in the room. He realized that Kathleen didn’t believe in Amelia at all, and he made it his mission to prove to her how far she’d come that night.
But there were still plenty of surprises to come. They made it as far as dessert before Amelia’s mom (guest star Tyne Daly) showed up, and jig was up. She’s met Owen before, and she knew right away Link wasn’t him. Oops.
Amelia was forced to explain that she and Owen got divorced, and that’s when the jokes started. She found out that her family bet on how quickly her marriage would end, and the jokes only kept coming when they heard about her brain tumor. At that point, they said they couldn’t blame the drugs anymore, because she was sober.
Finally, Amelia had heard enough.
“You don’t know me. You have not seen me in years. I am trapped in your mind and on your stairs at 14 years old,” she said. “I am sober, I am responsible, and I am a neurosurgeon at the top of my field.”
And Link had to speak up, too.
“I’m new to all of this and I haven’t known Amelia that long but I wanted us to stay for dinner tonight so you can get to know the woman I’m getting to know,” he chimed in. “She is a brilliant surgeon. The kind you fly across the country when you need the best.”
At that point, they both decided to make their exit from dinner — and it turned out that it was at the right time, because their patient was going into respiratory distress. Hot off their stressful dinner, Amelia decided to try a risky surgery to help him, and even though Link didn’t think it would be successful, she pulled it off.
After the surgery, Amelia ran into her mom at the hospital, and they were able to talk one-on-one about what her life has been like lately, including her split from Owen. Mrs. Shepherd admitted that Amelia has never been afraid of failure, and that’s what makes her the most like her father — she always gets up again stronger. She apologized for not being there when Amelia needed her most.
“If you don’t think you’re worthy of love, if you don’t think your love is valuable, you’re wrong. That’s on me,” she said.
Later, Amelia and Link met up on the plane, and she thanked him for going to dinner with her and apologized to him for acting like she didn’t want more than a hookup from him, telling him she’d like to make it up to him.
Link shared his donuts with her, and they headed home. Definitely a good sign for these two going forward — and when Maggie got home, her other sisters, Meredith and Maggie, were ready to welcome her home with open arms.
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
