TV REVIEW: Grey’s Anatomy “All I Could Do Is Cry” Leaves Not a Dry Eye in the House

Packing an emotional punch like no other show in the history of the universe, Grey’s Anatomy sends us into a tailspin of sadness in “All I Could Do Is Cry.” Dead babies, dead fiancés, dead relationships, and dead faith … you feel a theme here?

We felt like we were watching the first fifteen minutes of Up, quietly crying from the starting gate, cursing the powers that be, or just those darn writers. From start to finish, “All I Could Do” was a feel inducing, emotionally draining experience to which only the best writing coupled with the best acting could subject its viewers. And that’s exactly how I felt at episode’s end, like I’d been subjected to some major manipulation. I was the sad little marionette to Shonda’s string pulling, and I loved it!

A Question of Faith

This one opens with typical Grey’s narration coming from the non-typical April, instead of Meredith. She’s talking about the empty words of “I’m sorry” and how doctor’s hollowly use them to avoid relating to a patient’s problems or any real feelings. The couple will be getting plenty of those tonight as they face the biggest tragedy of their lives.

The Averys receive the devastating news that their baby does have the dreaded Type 2 osteogenesis imperfecta, meaning death is imminent, a horrible, painful death.

April and Jackson spend most of “All I Could I Do Is Cry” making us cry. Heartstrings were pulled to their maximum capacity threatening to snap throughout tonight’s episode. April can’t accept that her God could let a thing like this happen, shaking her faith throughout the installment.

“I’ve spent my life believing in a God who is just… and then this… I feel like God is laughing at me.”

April goes back and forth on whether she can go through with the Herman prescribed induction. One minute she agrees, the next she’s refusing to sign the death certificate laid out in front of her, BEFORE she’s even induced.

Debbie Allen shows up as Catherine Avery to counsel the couple, giving them the best Mama Avery advice she’s ever doled out. She tells them what they have to do. “You’re going to look at him and memorize every little detail of his face… you will do that until God takes him.” Heartbreaking dialogue delivered by an amazing Allen. Could this scene have been any more perfect? No.

“This isn’t fair. None of this is fair,” April cries to Jackson, voicing what we are all thinking.

The turning point for April comes in the form of a young woman with a dead fiancé and it is almost too heartbreaking to watch. She talks about the hopes and dreams she had with her future husband as April hugs her, taking comfort in giving comfort to someone feeling her same pain. April asks if she believes in God with the woman saying yes. She adds that her fiancé wasn’t a believer, but April says, “You can believe enough for the two of you.” This was the sign that April needed to go through with the procedure, to restore some of that Kepner faith.

(ABC/Kelsey McNeal)
JUSTIN CHAMBERS, ROB NAGLE

Everyone’s Sorry

All of our favorites head to the chapel to light a candle and pray (or cuss if you’re Karev). Alex and Owen are out of sorts, church not being in either’s comfort zone. Stephanie confesses to Jo that she’s wished terrible things on the couple, feeling guilty that such a tragedy has come their way. Webber and Catherine talk for the first time in six months with the bitterness of Mama Avery preventing the pair from any reconciliation.

Jackson’s pain cuts no less deep than April’s as he goes to the hospital chapel demanding that God “show up” for his wife. He doesn’t believe but he knows April does, so he’s there trying to make things right for his wife. Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew have never been better. Their talent was on full display with a doomed baby storyline that showcased their raw emotions and desperate inner turmoil.

Hope Comes in All Forms

Hope and happy endings come in the form of two troubling medical cases. Amelia treats a patient with a huge brain tumor causing total blindness, giving him some of that hope she’s so good at handing out. She doesn’t think it will be a success but goes through with the surgery anyways because it will be excellent practice for the big Herman surgery. The ethically challenged reasoning pays off in the end with the blind man able to see again as well as given a couple of extra years of life.

The next case of the week is a wife accidentally shot by her husband while duck hunting. She questions the accidental part with him saying she’d still be out in the woods if he meant to hurt her. While in surgery, Bailey discovers that the woman is nine months pregnant, in labor, and clueless of her condition. What? She repeatedly says, “I can’t have babies.” Oh yes you can. She has a beautiful baby girl but her heart stops after delivery leaving Maggie working frantically to revive her.

Not. Done. Crying. Yet. We see new daddy walking into a hospital room holding baby girl so that his wife can hold her. Yes, wife survived and they are overjoyed, overcome with emotion at their miracle baby. Grey’s takes away with one hand but can certainly give with the other. The two medical turns were scary and tense but also uplifting in their outcomes, giving us something to smile at in between our tears.

(ABC/Kelsey McNeal)
JUSTIN CHAMBERS

The Final Feels

Just when we thought the fountain had run dry, we watch the montage of April having her baby, holding her baby, loving her baby, and we know those tears for Grey’s is never ending. Tragedy has a way of tearing apart or bringing together. In these final April and Jackson moments, we somehow know they’ve faced the worst of it and will come out on the other side. Or at least we hope so.

In the last two feels of the night, we see Catherine Avery reuniting with Webber after all, saying, “Take me home, take me to bed, hold me.”

In the final scene of the night, Amelia admits to Owen her baby lived for 43 minutes. They hold hands in the chapel, with all of the candles lit up brightly. It was almost too much, the feels, the tears, the tragedy, the miracles. Grey’s Anatomy offered one of the best episodes of the season, conjuring up a depth of emotion from way back, we’re talking the era of George or Denny dying past. “All I Could Do Is Cry” was so good, it was really the first episode this season where we didn’t have at least one fleeting thought of Cristina off in Switzerland or Derek booking it to DC.

So what did you think of tonight’s cry-fest? Is it any wonder that Grey’s keeps on ticking after all these years, still relevant? We’ll see you back here next week for another installment of our favorite medical drama. Hopefully, those Grey’s writers will recognize that we’ve called “mercy” and will give our tear ducts a rest. We could use a good laugh after tonight. Just saying.

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