Grey's Recap: Wakeup Call — Plus, Did Amelia Accept Link's

If the promos for Thursday’s Grey’s Anatomy were to be believed, Meredith was at last to awaken in “Sorry Doesn’t Always Make It Right.” And as if she didn’t have enough to catch up on, what with Maggie and Winston’s engagement, Link got down on one knee all ready to propose to Amelia. Did Scout’s mom say yes? Was it even a real question-popping? Read on, and we’ll go over everything that transpired in the episode, Giacomo Gianniotti’s directorial debut.

‘HELL OF A HONEYMOON’ | As we began the hour, in part a continuation of action that kicked off on Station 19, Owen hollered at Jackson for pulling his residents from the ER to help with COVID testing, Teddy backseat-drove Mer’s treatment via Zoom on one of her last days off, Jo continued to bond with Luna, and Amelia marveled at the kids’ ability to create more laundry than existed… just as Link’s parents showed up in the driveway in their RV. They had a bright idea, too: taking the youngsters on a COVID-safe road trip, thereby giving Link and Amelia a break. At Grey Sloan’s testing site, Jackson shared with Levi that he’d sat through endless Catherine Fox Foundation meetings to get the hospital extra tests. In peds, Cormac and Reza treated a baby named Arthur who was waiting with anxious dad Chris for a heart transplant. Finally, Station 19 newlyweds Shane and Carissa were brought to the ambulance bay by our firefighters. He was still pissed that she’d begged the first responders to save her first, and to hell with the guy she’d married only earlier that day.

‘DON’T TELL HER HOW I AM, SHE DOESN’T GET TO KNOW ANYTHING’ | While treating Carissa, the bride beseeched Jo to put her in the same room as Shane. When she admitted to Tom what she’d said to Shane in a moment of panic, Koracick cracked that maybe she could blame it on brain bleed. When Jo filled in Shane on Carissa’s condition, he instructed her not to tell his wife that he was being wheeled into surgery — or anything. Natch, Carissa realized at once that Shane was still mad. “I was wrong that no one would miss him,” she cried. “It’s only been a few hours, and I already miss him so much, I could burst.” Shortly, Jo filled in a still-unconscious Mer as a way of backing into admitting that she wanted to change specialties. “Since Alex left, my house hasn’t been my happiest place,” Jo said, “so I want work to be.” Oh, and she’d repeat it all when Grey woke up. “I can’t take any more worst days here.” Following Shane’s surgery, he seemed ready to stick a fork in his brand-new marriage — until Bailey gave him what-for. At last, he asked to see his bride, at least via tablet. Only when they were face to face, he told Carissa that he wanted an annulment. She’d been selfish when he met her and was selfish now, he just no longer found it charming.

‘LET’S HAVE SEX IN THE KITCHEN!’ | Left alone at home without the kids, Link and Amelia started down the path to sexytime when she broke down crying. In response, off a remark from his mom about Amelia being his wife, Link got down on bended knee. But that wasn’t what she wanted at all, she just needed a good cry. “It just hit me,” she later said, “that it’s been months since I was able to feel whatever I want without worrying that I’m going to scar a child.” But, um, did she want to marry him? Did he want to marry her? He’d sworn he’d never put a kid through what he went through with his folks’ divorce. And she feared that she was wired for self-destruction; lately, she’d gone to sleep dreaming of getting high. She even thought about it when she was feeding Scout. Later, she shared that she couldn’t so much as smoke weed because if she did, she might forget that she couldn’t do heroin. So “for the record, I would marry you in a hot minute,” Link said. She was stronger than most addicts. With that, he got down on one knee again, and she hollered, “No!” again. Later still, Amelia admitted that she loved Link so much, it was all she could do not to have a panic attack. In exchange for her not getting high, he promised to no longer propose to her in a remotely compulsory manner. With that, they took advantage of the empty house and the roaring fire… just as his parents returned with the kids.

‘YOU WANT TO CUT OUT A PART OF HIS HEART?!?’ | When Cormac found Chris in a state, the doc invited him to go outside or to the chapel… “So I can pray for someone else’s kid to die?” Chris asked. He then admitted that Arthur’s mom Holly had been struggling desperately since the pandemic hit. Maybe it was postpartum or the state of the world… but it was bad. “We can’t lose” the baby, Chris sobbed to Hayes. Hoping to save the tot, Cormac attempted to recruit Maggie. “Aren’t you supposed to be a genius or something?” he asked when she suggested throwing in the towel. “It’s not giving up,” she replied, “it’s letting [the parents] go on.” Luckily, a conversation with Jo about forgiving her mother gave Cormac an idea about how to treat Arthur. Chris was skeptical: cut out a part of Arthur’s heart to put in a pump? He had to call Holly. Before the procedure, the new dad tearfully told his baby that he’d already given his parents a lifetime of joy. Miraculously, Maggie and Cormac pulled it off! “He’s OK,” Chris told Holly. “And bionic!”

‘HOTELS ARE KICKING PEOPLE OUT TO MAKE ROOM FOR YOUR NEW ARRIVALS’ | Trying to do some good, Jackson began letting Levi book hotel rooms for patients who tested positive for COVID and had nowhere to safely quarantine. But his good deed backfired, it seemed. A community-outreach program was being stymied by his efforts — their homeless beneficiaries were being thrown out to make room for Richie Rich’s. Ah, he hadn’t realized that that would happen, he told Mama Ortiz when she called him out. Great, she fired back. “We’ll just tell everyone it wasn’t on purpose. That should keep ’em real warm tonight.” Though he remedied the situation, Alma would cut him no slack. Temporary fixes weren’t real fixes. What’s more, “all of this is too much,” she cried. Later, Jackson paged Alma, who quickly apologized for speaking up for underserved communities. But he felt the same way — and wanted to hear her ideas, based on her past stint as a social worker. She had good ideas, he had deep pockets — they could make a hell of a team.

‘HELLO, SLEEPYHEAD’ | As the episode neared its conclusion, Mer woke up and immediately apologized to Richard for having had to put her on a vent. However, “I’m glad I chose you,” she added. Oh, and “we need to talk about Wilson.” Guess Mer heard what Jo’d said earlier about changing specialties! As Jo was leaving the hospital at the end of the day, Richard approached her offering his support. But he had to know what was going on. Back at Mer’s, Link suggested that he and Amelia check in every few weeks to make sure that they were comfortable with their decision not to tie the knot. “Are we super broken or super evolved?” she asked. Definitely the latter, he said. At Owen’s, he apologized to Teddy for his reaction to her confession about Allison. He also admitted that he should’ve known she was going through something to do what she had to him with Tom. He wasn’t sure if he could be more to her now than a friend, but at very least, he wanted to be that. Credit where it’s due: That’s progress, Owen. In our last shot, Bailey, Richard and Maggie marveled at how amazing Mer was. Even when she was sleeping, she was apparently listening.