TV REVIEW: Grey’s Anatomy’s “You Be Illin'” Feels a Little Weak

The latest Grey’s installment couldn’t hold a candle to the last few weeks, serving as more of a way to set up some serious dramatic moments in the episodes to come. It lacked huge emotional feels but gave us a few hints of what to expect with the handful of episodes left this season.

It was a case of role reversal with the doctors becoming patients as a nasty epidemic of flu ran rampant throughout the hospital. There were so many subplots zipping around, I felt a little dizzy trying to keep up.  Let’s get to the top three storylines that we are sure to revisit starting as early as next week.

First up, in what will inevitably be a double hanky, heart ripping from your chest plot point of the future, a super cute boy, Braden (guest star Armani Jackson), is brought in with an auto-immune disease.  A compromised immune system thrown into infection central? Not a good combination. This is not going to end well, is it?  He’s got a teeny growth on his forehead; the parents don’t seem too concerned because the super enzymes he’s taking have been doing the trick. Apparently, they weren’t so super after all. He ends up with a flu-infected Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) operating on his brain wearing something that looks like a hazmat suit.  By episode’s end, we hear April Kepner (Sarah Drew) telling his parents he might have to be in isolation for the rest of his life. The promo for next week teases that “The Boy in his Plastic Bubble 2014” has arrived.  Changing my mind on the double hanky … this may be more of a double Kleenex box episode.

In the second important development that is sure to be explored in the outings to come, Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) is being pursued. Hard.  By a man.  Let me explain. Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) is waiting for her buddy, Dr, Lebackes (guest star Patrick Fabian), to show up to perform a surgery.  He’s a private practice proctologist (that’s a whole lotta p’s) who Karev affectionately calls Dr. Butthole.  Butt doc overhears the moniker but takes no offense saying, “I’ll cry myself to sleep tonight on my piles and piles of money.”

(ABC/Kelsey McNeal)
JESSE WILLIAMS, SARAH DREW

Lebackes is a rock star and Karev is throughly impressed.  From the rocking out to 80’s music in the OR, to playing virtual golf in a dream office, Alex gets a glimpse of the good life, and he likes what he sees.  Dr. Butthole is also impressed with the Peds surgeon, even going so far as to call him Boy Wonder.  Is this the beginning of Karbackes or Buttarev?  Never mind, I’m so bad at combining names.  This IS the beginning of Alex thinking about leaving his familiar digs and maybe finally paying off those student loans before he turns eighty.

In the third storyline that will change the future of one of our docs, Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) dumps Peds for Ortho.  She’s treating a guy with tetanus and in the gross out moment of the night she flips him over and his arm falls off or breaks like something out of The Walking Dead. Sort of.  Callie says they have to re-break the arm to set it and wants Jo to do it.  After some initial reluctance, the intern discovers she likes the breaking of bones.  Don’t forget, this is the girl who can put boyfriends in the hospital. Callie can be seen saying dreamily,  “We just clicked. But only four percent of ortho surgeons are women.”  Calzona better look out. Jozona’s in town.

Meanwhile, Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) team up to save a young girl in need of a heart transplant.  They even do a little investigative work looking like the leads on Castle when transplant girl’s sister ends up with the same heart issues.  The final scene shows the little brother of these girls coughing. Uh, oh!

Derek’s prepping for a huge speech to some important doctors for most of the episode. He drones on like a boring robot rehearsing the speech in front of his son.  Meredith rushes in for the save telling him he’s boring their son.  The speech never goes off because he falls too ill to give it.  Meredith sweeps in for the save again, talking to the docs herself winning them over with a cute speech that’s all Mer charm.

(ABC/Kelsey McNeal)
JESSICA CAPSHAW

Overall, the episode will be classified as no classic, just a plot mover setting up some interesting stories for the weeks ahead.  There’s so much to look forward to and dread.  With each offering, we know we’re heading that much closer to the departure of Cristina Yang. Before that, we’ll be facing a sad little boy in a bubble.  Deep breath. We can handle it.  See you next Thursday, same place, same time … big box of Kleenex by our sides.

Random Notes

Who knew “swap monkey” was a thing? The interns make up a little game that’ll force the first one out sick to swap a more desirable rotation for a not so fun one.  Leah looks like she’ll be the first one out until Webber tells her to suck it up.

Bailey flashes her mean streak explaining to April the difference between sick Ben and sick Jackson.  Ben calls out for her like a baby, while Jackson crawls away to die. Bailey says to let Jackson deal in his own way.

After the thrill of breaking tetanus guy’s arm in a surgery, Jo proclaims, “I feel like I might never get angry again.”  Callie has one of the best lines, saying, “Sweetie, you date Alex Karev.  You always have a reason to be angry.”

Jo didn’t want to marry Alex a few weeks back, initially refusing to sign a love contract.  Tonight, she sounds like a nagging wife, telling her guy to deal with his massive student loans. He yells, “Back off, Scrooge McDuck!”  Hilarious.

The episode ends with Dr. Webber’s stomach making sounds that could rival a tidal wave.  A little payback for how mean he was to anyone succumbing to the flu?