S14.E12: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

April is in charge of the new Grey Sloan Surgical Innovation Contest, and the doctors are eager to start their projects. Meanwhile, Catherine's old friend has a shocking idea for Catherine and Jackson; and Meredith treats a returning patient who inspires her project.

Promo:

[anna0852]

When Meredith goes all in a friendship,  she goes all in. Jo clearly still doesn't know what to make of it.

Watching April spiral and having no one care is painful. She came in obviously hung over and you're telling me not one of those colleagues thought that was wildly out of character for her? Or that Arizona completely missed when April said she was banging an intern and drinking a bottle of wine each night to get to sleep?

[MrWhyt]

so can't cancer girl just sing everything she would've spoken?

[readster]

I see Sam and Deluca are just the one note sex joke. Because we needed to see her with her scrubs off and hacker intern can't realize that Bailey was working on a project? Or how Bailey is known to be "on vacation" instead of recovering from surgery and a heart attack. Also good to know that Jackson's mother just can't keep sex jokes out of a surgery. As for April, this is just painful, she is going over how much she is hurting and in pain and everyone is: "oh, what does this say at the bottom of the rules?" 

[Racj82]

2 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

so can't cancer girl just sing everything she would've spoken?

I'm sure everyone in her orbit would love that. 

This was a good episode of Grey's. Felt old school. Plenty of actual medicine getting done with some small personal elements thrown in. 

But, yeah! More spin off crap next time. I'm already tired of the lead trying to be made into the most awesome badass. Just on promos alone.

Edited February 9, 2018 by Racj82

[UNOSEZ]

This was a good episode... I liked all the medicine... Liked the interns.. Hellmouth is awesome... Poor dahlia is already in love with Jackson abd it's funny to me... De Luca and his chic are bleh... Looking fwd to more episodes dealing with all this research stuff

[chocolatine]

2 minutes ago, MrWhyt said:

so can't cancer girl just sing everything she would've spoken?

I was wondering about that too. Now that Amelia and Alex didn't get the grant money, that may be the only option.

Did anyone else think the all-male committee of emeritus doctors was too homogenous/biased? I can't see any of them grasping the importance of improved gender reassignment surgery (not saying that it was objectively the best proposal).

I know we're supposed to believe that Mere is "the sun," but her proposal sounded the most theoretical to me. Just because in some very rare cases a body can spontaneously create a bunch of tiny spleens, doesn't mean that she can figure out a way to synthesize tiny livers on demand, or that those tiny livers would be able to do all the work required of a full-size human liver. Or am I missing something? I would have thought that a proposal with a working prototype, like Webber's magic cancer wand, would have been the clear winner.

And what was that thing about the patent? It sounded like Owen had just come up with a new polymer earlier in the episode, and Mere needed a patent to be able to use that polymer in her tiny liver synthesis project? Patents take years to be granted. Did she mean provisional patent? And why was Mere worried about not applying for a patent if Owen had just invented the polymer? Did someone else invent it in the same week and submitted an application before them? I'm confused.

[statsgirl]

My biggest hate for Grey's is when the show plays favourites.  I rage quit because Cristina, my favourite character, couldn't catch a break opposite Meredith. Now they're doing the same thing with Amelia:

Research proposals:

Arizona, your study is epidemiology, not surgery.  And we already know why the US has the worst maternal survival rate among the developed countries -- it's because your prenatal care is substandard because if the mother is poor or has a bad medical plan, she's screwed. That research has been done to death, or should I say 'deaf'.

Bailey, do surgeons do colonoscopies in the US?  They don't in my country. Maybe that's a reason your health care is so expensive.  Okay, you want to save surgeons' should pain ... why is it going to cost $5 million to create this plumbing tool?  Shouldn't the company that's going to make millions manufacturing it cough up the money?

Maggie, interesting idea but how is it going to be affected by the other electrical devices that surround us?  Does that mean that your heart patients will never be able to take their laptops or other devices to bed?  (Also, learn the difference between a work husband and a real husband. Just because Jackson understands what you're talking about doesn't mean he's your romantic soulmate.)

Meredith, go back and study your embryology. Just because an organ grows somewhere doesn't mean it's going to be connected to the neural and vascular network to make it work.  You could grow an eye on the back of my hand but it's not going to be able to see anything.  If this idea even works, it's two decades away from being able to be used.

Catherine and Jackson, this idea actually is possible.  Tell me again why it's going to cost $5 million to do it?

The one innovate technique that is also a potential doable was Amelia and Alex's.  So of course, that's the one the show turned down.

I don't care about Richard and Catherine dancing when I'm raging at the unfairness.  Stupid Grey's Anatomy.

Edited February 9, 2018 by statsgirl

[statsgirl]

32 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

And what was that thing about the patent? It sounded like Owen had just come up with a new polymer earlier in the episode, and Mere needed a patent to be able to use that polymer in her tiny liver synthesis project? Patents take years to be granted. Did she mean provisional patent? And why was Mere worried about not applying for a patent if Owen had just invented the polymer? Did someone else invent it in the same week and submitted an application before them? I'm confused.

If I'm understanding correctly, Owen needed a kind of polymer for his project but someone in Europe held the patent and it was very expensive to use. That was one of the reasons he didn't apply.  Meredith also needs it for her study (?????) but she didn't know that she needed to get permission to use it and that it would be that expensive.  Yeah, this is the person who got the grant over Amelia and Alex.

It makes even less sense when you realize that they're getting $5 million if their study is selected. Surely that's enough to pay for an expensive polymer, provided the patent holder didn't want to price himself out of the market.

Trivia:  Jonas Salk refused to patent his polio vaccine because he wanted everyone to be able to afford it.  Arizona should look into the kind of altruism when she's looking at why the mortality in the  US is so high.

ETA:  Bailey needs a better cardiologist.  These days heart attack patients are up and walking within a few days not spending a month in bed.

Edited February 9, 2018 by statsgirl

[Free]

40 minutes ago, readster said:

I see Sam and Deluca are just the one note sex joke. Because we needed to see her with her scrubs off and hacker intern can't realize that Bailey was working on a project? Or how Bailey is known to be "on vacation" instead of recovering from surgery and a heart attack. Also good to know that Jackson's mother just can't keep sex jokes out of a surgery. As for April, this is just painful, she is going over how much she is hurting and in pain and everyone is: "oh, what does this say at the bottom of the rules?" 

Deluca is completely useless so I guess they needed another character for him to interact with since he's not actually involved in any storylines.

[funnygirl]

I'm bothered that Amelia and Alex didn't make the competition.

Recent Harper Avery award winner Meredith isn't going to win this one. I mean I know she's the sun, but that'd be overkill. 

Because Dr. Valez is the patient, will she get credit if Jackson and Catherine were to win? She did come up with the idea. 

I know this is petty of me, but I don't want Arizona to win for the simple fact that Andrew's useless sister is her partner. That's a guest star who's getting a whole lot of attention for doing the least. Also, Arizona saying that her and April's patient, Karen, had been in pristine health was a bit WTF for me. Karen died because she had a blood pressure problem that ran lower than most, so when it looked normal while she was in labor it was actually dangerously high.  I wouldn't necessarily categorize that as "pristine health", but then again the Arizona of recent years likes to exaggerate. 

I care not for Andrew and his intern girlfriend. Intern Casey, Hellmouth and the one that was dorkily crushing on Jackson are the ones I can stand out of that group. 
 

Edited February 9, 2018 by funnygirl

[chocolatine]

13 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

If I'm understanding correctly, Owen needed a kind of polymer for his project but someone in Europe held the patent and it was very expensive to use. That was one of the reasons he didn't apply.  Meredith also needs it for her study (?????) but she didn't know that she needed to get permission to use it and that it would be that expensive.  Yeah, this is the person who got the grant over Amelia and Alex.

It makes even less sense when you realize that they're getting $5 million if their study is selected. Surely that's enough to pay for an expensive polymer, provided the patent holder didn't want to price himself out of the market.

Thank you, that clears it up for me, though the premise is still stupid.

18 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

ETA:  Bailey needs a better cardiologist.  These days heart attack patients are up and walking within a few days not spending a month in bed.

Do you mean better than Maggie Pierce, the girl wonder?

[statsgirl]

2 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Do you mean better than Maggie Pierce, the girl wonder?

Oh noes!

Bailey needs a cardiologist, not a cardio-thoracic surgeon.  Someone who knows the recovery literature, who will monitor her and prescribe for her for the next thirty years.  This show tends to forget that there are more specialties than surgery.  I remember back in season 1 when the five interns were assigned a premie baby each to keep alive and I was shouting "Doesn't this hospital have any neo-natologists?  Or at least pediatricians?

[UNOSEZ]

Also.. I like the friendship Jackson and Meredith have... I always figured that on some levels they just got each other... No real drama or super intensity ...just 2 ppl who respect each other and could chill with just each other.. But aren't up into every part of each others lives.. Plus they are connected by Richard.. And Mark.. And Lexie abd possibly Maggie so.. Yeah

[Blonde Gator]

Is anyone else sick to death of Katherine Avery pushing her every desire off on Jackson?  Sheesh, I wish they'd stop with the meddling Mom B.S.  If she wants to do a project, fine.  But Jackson is a grown man, and has ideas of his own (after all, HE conceived and funded this competition so he could actually DO some of the things, medically, he wanted to pursue)!!! 

Sweet of Webber to learn to Tango.  He's such a charmer.  I liked the Webber/Maggie moments, too.  Maybe TPTB have been reading here and decided they need to make Maggie more human and not such a caricature of the goofy over-achiever.  I liked Maggie better this episode.

[Guest]

I'm not entirely clear on what criteria the proposals were suppose to be judged, but Jackson's idea of spray on skin struck me as the type of breakthrough that, if it came to fruition, could help the largest number of people.  Of course, due to his meddling mama, that idea didn't even get submitted.

[RedheadZombie]

2 hours ago, readster said:

I see Sam and Deluca are just the one note sex joke. Because we needed to see her with her scrubs off and hacker intern can't realize that Bailey was working on a project? Or how Bailey is known to be "on vacation" instead of recovering from surgery and a heart attack. Also good to know that Jackson's mother just can't keep sex jokes out of a surgery. As for April, this is just painful, she is going over how much she is hurting and in pain and everyone is: "oh, what does this say at the bottom of the rules?" 

I thought the hacker intern was the trans man.  The nerdy intern is the one with the ONS with Jo.

[Blonde Gator]

4 minutes ago, RedheadZombie said:

I thought the hacker intern was the trans man.  The nerdy intern is the one with the ONS with Jo.

Correct on the first.  "Nerdy" is either "Glasses", but a.k.a. "Blood Bank". 

[OtterMommy]

I have a very high, inexplicably high, tolerance for bullshit on this show and this episode just blew that all up.  Seriously?  It seemed like everything was some sort of public service announcement in this show.  Gender affirming surgeries! Maternal mortality!  Livers!  Brain Tumors!  Chip eating!  Holy mother forking shirtballs, I wanted to reach through the screen  and punch every single person...well, almost.

The only person who I'm finding even mildly interesting to me right now is spiraling April.  I'm pretty sure we're heading to some sort of ugly rock bottom with her, but I'd rather see that than pretty much anything else going on here.  

And the contest?  I was hoping that it would be a device that would bring some sort of unifying element to the show, but I really doubt that after this episode.  Now, my only hope is that Jackson loses.  Because I want Jackson to lose it all...

Can they please put Deluca with any other doctor?  Seriously, any of them.  Stick him with Owen for all I care--just get Dr. Dance off my screen.  And did the interns all become residents all of a sudden or was Deluca demoted to intern?  Because it really seems like he's on the same level as the rest of them right now.

Oh, and Maggie?  Stick with your stockbroker or whatever he is.  He may not know about pacemakers and whatnot, but he probably doesn't have to discuss vaginas with his mom.

Even the worst of last season did not piss me off as much as this episode.  I don't think I've hated an episode this much since the musical episode--and that was just a one-off thing.  This one is going to keep going on and on and on....

[statsgirl]

"Glasses" is the one working with Bailey, and had the ONS with Jo.

I thought "Blood Bank" was the trans intern working with Owen.

[OtterMommy]

1 minute ago, statsgirl said:

"Glasses" is the one working with Bailey, and had the ONS with Jo.

I thought "Blood Bank" was the trans intern working with Owen.

Blood bank could be either Glasses or Dr. Hacker.  It could be Glasses because he donated his blood to the woman with spontaneous spleens while she is in surgery.  It could be Dr. Hacker because he hacked into the blood bank.  The fact that there is any confusion here is a fail for the show.

[Blonde Gator]

8 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

"Glasses" is the one working with Bailey, and had the ONS with Jo.

I thought "Blood Bank" was the trans intern working with Owen.

No, when the hack attack happened, Meredith was in surgery and drained "Glasses", aka "Blood Bank" dry during surgery.....he was hanging on an IV pole as he was drained dry, and fell on the floor. 

I got the feeling that Owen's intern was hinting that he could hack the polymer needed for Owen's project, remember, he has MAD hacking skills, as evidenced during the same episode Blood Bank crashed on the floor.

[statsgirl]

Is there a name for the other intern then?  Or does one intern get two?

[RedheadZombie]

The contest would be much more fair if the propositions were submitted anonymously.  Catherine and Jackson are far too powerful at this hospital to ensure the decision making was fair.  And Meredith, being the most recent Harper Avery award winner, would possibly influence the judges.  I'm pissed that Jackson's skin making experiment was dismissed, as if burn victims have perfectly lovely skin versus tight leathery skin grafts.

[OtterMommy]

Just now, RedheadZombie said:

The contest would be much more fair if the propositions were submitted anonymously.  Catherine and Jackson are far too powerful at this hospital to ensure the decision making was fair.  And Meredith, being the most recent Harper Avery award winner, would possibly influence the judges.  I'm pissed that Jackson's skin making experiment was dismissed, as if burn victims have perfectly lovely skin versus tight leathery skin grafts.

The contest would be much more fair if doctors who did not work at GSMH would enter and maybe, just maybe, get selected.  But, you know, then the show couldn't continue the facade that GSMH is the only competent health care provider on the North American Tectonic Plate.

Man, this show put me in a snarky mood tonight!

[RedheadZombie]

5 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:

The contest would be much more fair if doctors who did not work at GSMH would enter and maybe, just maybe, get selected.  But, you know, then the show couldn't continue the facade that GSMH is the only competent health care provider on the North American Tectonic Plate.

Man, this show put me in a snarky mood tonight!

I know.  I find it very self indulgent for Jackson to front the contest that he and his mother will likely win.  It bugs.  And I dislike that neither trauma surgeon was able to participate.

Edited February 9, 2018 by RedheadZombie

[bybrandy]

The only thing that would have made Dr. Dance's chip scene less appealing is if she were eating Lady Doritos.  

Felt terrible for April the whole episode.  She had a couple of cries for help and literally nobody cared.   Meanwhile they clearly still think Jackson and Maggie are being cute with the "you just get it".   I don't really ship Jackson and April anymore but Jackson being all cute and getting everything and April going through hell and nobody caring?  It is making me a rage monkey.  

I am all for lowering maternal mortality rates in the US.  But Arizona's proposal was... "Um... we should do that."  As opposed to every other proposal that was like here is a specific problem that we could fix.  I don't feel like Arizona's project belonged in the same contest.

I feel like there are probably other grants that Alex and Amelia could apply for to fund their project.  Pretty funny if they didn't get selected at all for the award paid for by Jackson (is this award solely for doctors at GS?) and they found another way to do it and won a Harper Avery.  

[UNOSEZ]

I see Jackson still hasn't made many fans... Not sure how spending 250 million to advance MediCal innovation is a bad thing.. And when it comes to April.. If her behavior continues and no one says somn then yeah not a good look for the other doctors.. But to be honest her only real friends have been Arizona Owen and Jackson... And to a lesser extent Catherine and the Richard... I feel like most of the other doctors subconsciously sided with Jackson when she left... He stayed.. So when they split.. He got the friends in the divorce per se..  Which I'm totally fine with btw... I wouldn't want her mistreated (like Arizona did for the better parts of two episodes)  but with the contest eating up so much bandwidth and as surgeons who always are kinda in their own heads I get why maybe no one is really paying attn.. 

[NUguy514]

The intern April is banging is so hot.  That's...all I got.

[Guest]

Deluca and the intern irritate me. I’m sure it’s supposed to be comic relief, but it’s not.

This episode was as ridiculous as the contest.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I will take any opportunity to see Debbie Allen aka Lydia Grant on Fame dance!

When Arizona asked Deluca's sister to work on this project with her, I was REALLY hoping that Deluca's sister would say, "I'd love to but I can't because I'M GOING BACK TO ITALY - ciao!" Alas, she's still here.

I was totally with April when everyone kept asking her questions about the contest rules. Read the piece of paper she just handed you BEFORE you start asking questions! I work with people who have MDs and PhDs and I get that kind of thing too. Just read the damn email before you ask, people.

Honestly, I have never been an April fan but I loved when she got right up to her intern's ear and then yelled, "GET UP!" Ha, that's what you get for breaking the sex rules, man.

I actually really like that Owen decided that what he does every day is important enough and that he doesn't need to participate in the contest. That's not a criticism of anyone who IS doing the contest. The whole purpose of this contest is to turn some innovative ideas into reality, which is great, but there's nothing wrong with Owen realizing that he is happy doing what he's doing which is being a doctor who isn't doing cutting edge research.

I could relate to Maggie suddenly tearing up while talking to Webber. The four year anniversary of my dad's death is coming up and sometimes the tears come really unexpectedly. It feels like I'm over the bulk of my grief but sometimes out of nowhere, suddenly I'm crying.

I would like to say in Clive's defense, that of course Jackson understood what Maggie's project was about and Clive didn't because Jackson is a doctor and Clive is not. Yes, it's great that a doctor like Jackson instantly understood what her project was about but Clive NOT knowing that immediately doesn't mean that she should just give up on him. I know a couple who have very different careers. The wife is a neuroscientist. The husband works in IT. There is no overlap in what they do at work but they somehow manage to have conversations about work and other stuff. They have been happily married for over a decade. As important as it is to have some common interests, sometimes it's great to be with someone who has nothing to do with your job or your industry.

I'm afraid that the intern who's crushing on Jackson is going to turn into a crazed stalker. I know I'm supposed to think her crush is cute (and obviously this show likes to depict adults acting like twelve year old kids when they're obsessed with someone new) but the whole "I love you!" when he walked away was creepy, not cute.

I agree that Jackson's spray on skin had the potential to help a lot more people than the surgery that Catherine wanted him to do. I hate that she pressured him into doing her surgery. There's nothing wrong with the surgery she wants to work on, but there is no need for her to guilt trip him into giving up his project to work on hers.

I totally support the show shining a light on topics like the United States having a higher rate of death than Italy or the issues with the existing surgery that Catherine and her friend want to improve, but when they have the characters start spouting off statistics, it makes me feel like I'm watching those scenes on Law & Order where the detectives sit around trying to make a bunch of facts and figures sound like normal conversation.

Webber's magic wand sounds like a mini gas chromatograph.

6 hours ago, chocolatine said:

And what was that thing about the patent? It sounded like Owen had just come up with a new polymer earlier in the episode, and Mere needed a patent to be able to use that polymer in her tiny liver synthesis project? Patents take years to be granted. Did she mean provisional patent? And why was Mere worried about not applying for a patent if Owen had just invented the polymer? Did someone else invent it in the same week and submitted an application before them? I'm confused.

There is an existing polymer (patented by a doctor in Spain) that both Owen and Meredith need to make their projects work. Owen's intern found out that it was really expensive to use said polymer which caused Owen to realize that he didn't need to spend a bunch of money to work on a research project. Meredith, on the other hand, did not know that the polymer was so expensive so depending on how much it costs, she may not be able to continue working on her project.

Side note: April said the 25 proposals that made the first cut would each get $100K. The five finalists each get an additional $1 million. The winner gets $5 million. Depending on how much of the polymer Meredith needs and how expensive it is, she may not be able to progress any further on her liver project. But this is GA and Meredith is the sun so what are the chances that she will find another polymer to use - or better yet, that she will INVENT a superior polymer!

Anyway, this is the little information we were given about the polymer in question:

Quote

Owen: It's a 33 triple C cross polymer. It's the only one that adheres to hepatocytes and it's the key to my clotting factor project.
[Owen sends Parker off to research the polymer]

Meredith: A small multi-fragmented organ can still provide the same function as a whole single organ, injecting native cells into lymphatic tissue with the utilization of growth enhancing - I'll need a biopolymer. We need to look up biopolymers with adherence properties.

Owen: Who holds the patent?
Parker: The 33 triple C polymer is patented by a doctor M.J. Saroyen in Madrid and it's pretty expensive.
Owen: So I'm screwed.

Owen: How did you get that polymer?
Meredith: Which polymer?
Owen: The 33 triple C cross polymer that you inject into the cells. I wanted it for my thing but Suroyen has that thing locked up tight.
[Owen leaves to get a drink]
Jo: Wow, that patent must have cost a ton. You did get the patent, right?

4 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Also.. I like the friendship Jackson and Meredith have... I always figured that on some levels they just got each other... No real drama or super intensity ...just 2 ppl who respect each other and could chill with just each other.. But aren't up into every part of each others lives.. Plus they are connected by Richard.. And Mark.. And Lexie abd possibly Maggie so.. Yeah

Same here. They are friendly, they joke around without devolving into being totally unprofessional, there's no animosity, etc but without knowing every intimate detail of each other's lives. It's a good relationship. I wish there were more of those on the show.

Ugh, somehow the formatting got screwed up because of the second quote box and the forum won't let me edit or delete it. I really miss being able to see our posts in plain text with the manual coding. Sorry @UNOSEZ!

Edited February 9, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[beautifulGA]

I'm glad that Alex and Amelia & Arizona's theme of innovation was something that was need of hour and not just for the purpose of winning the grant. Still not sure why Alex & Amelia got rejection.

The way April's eyes lit up when Arizona told her that it was not their fault that Karen died, it was like a weight got lifted off of April. I'm all for dark April the little moments she have with Arizona are always quite pure.

Can't believe that Greys went there where it will challenge America's healthcare system (maternal mortality is a touchy subject, one USA wants to overlook). 

I liked Meredith's point of innovation also but she just won Harper Avery, it's time for other doctors to get their recognition, especially Alex and Arizona.

Still not sure whether I would like to see more Carina or not. Her accent is really heavy.

Jo and Meredith together are just too much for me to digest, I would have preferred those Jo scenes with Alex but yeah yeah yeah Meredith is the sun.

Catherine Avery will always be annoying to me. Bailey was magical for me in last episode, but again in this episode she's impractical.

The new set of interns are.... acceptable. But I'm tired of seeing season after season having someone fawning over Jackson like please. Give the 'he's charming' sl a break, we have been seeing that since season 6.

Overall it was a built up episode, wish we could skip the crissover and jump straight to competition.

[Deanie87]

8 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

I have a very high, inexplicably high, tolerance for bullshit on this show and this episode just blew that all up.  Seriously?  It seemed like everything was some sort of public service announcement in this show.  Gender affirming surgeries! Maternal mortality!  Livers!  Brain Tumors!  Chip eating!  Holy mother forking shirtballs, I wanted to reach through the screen  and punch every single person...well, almost.

The only person who I'm finding even mildly interesting to me right now is spiraling April.  I'm pretty sure we're heading to some sort of ugly rock bottom with her, but I'd rather see that than pretty much anything else going on here.  

 

Oh my god, same here.  While I don't mind the show tackling societal problems and issues, I always, always have a problem with the speechifying.  I don't like the dumb childish dialog that usually makes up a Grey's speech, and I really don't like the amount of explication that we got in this episode.  Arizona may as well have been reading off a clipboard while she was sternly rattling off the stats about maternal mortality TO ANOTHER DOCTOR!  Same with Catherine and the woman that she brought in (I forget her name).  I get that they need to give the non-medical audience some background, but it just.doesn't.work as natural dialogue.  Save it for the PSA afterward.  This episode seemed more like a film strip that you would see in school than a supposedly character-based drama.  Surprisingly, I also agree about April.  I am all for the doctors getting to be doctors, but let's also remember that most of these characters have recently been through a thing or two and I'd like to see them deal with the aftermath beyond just a passing remark.  I want to see April freak out on someone and I want anyone to actually care.  

Quote

 

I'm bothered that Amelia and Alex didn't make the competition.

 

I'm bothered that once again, Alex seems to just be there to hold someone's hand.  Other than the fact that the patient is a kid, I'm really not sure what his role is.  If its all about the brain, I guess he will just stand there, furrow his brow and wink at the kid.  Per usual.  I realize that the show is really only about Girl Power now, and I don't begrudge them that because there are certainly plenty of tv shows about brooding white men, but it sucks that I find the men on this show to be so much more interesting than the women, and really the only reason I keep subjecting myself to this show.  Speaking of which, long live the Chief Richard, the suave, sophisticated, smooth operator.  

Finally, I like the interns and while I will never, ever be as attached to them as I was to the original 5, I really like the scenes of the interns as a group, complaining, competing and forging friendships.  I like that no matter what the intern group is, albeit with diminishing returns each time.  I miss lunch scenes and I miss casual scenes at Joe's so I hope that we can get a little more of it.

[Quark]

I love April. I hope someone starts caring soon.

Plus, she has been looking absolutely fabulous recently.

[TigerLynx]

April kicking the intern out of bed, and snapping at everyone the information they needed was on the paper they were holding, just read it, was the only time I have found her entertaining.  "I've created a monster."

I don't know how or why Jackson puts up with his mother.

All the annoying characters who's names I still can't remember can exit stage left anytime now.

[Guest]

I know we are supposed to laugh at Glasses’ stupidity, but how did he possibly think Bailey was hitting on him? He knew there was a contest of innovation going on and she clearly was doing some sort of research. Whether it was appropriate or not for her to have him in her house working on research is a separate subject, but it was clearly not sexual.

[Qoass]

I really did not need to hear Glasses observe that Bailey's bedroom has a personal smell.

And if Maggie's project works, no intern will be tempted to cut an LVAD wire ever again!

[OtterMommy]

10 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

I know.  I find it very self indulgent for Jackson to front the contest that he and his mother will likely win.  It bugs.  And I dislike that neither trauma surgeon was able to participate.

The only thing that would have been better than Jackson (hopefully) losing would have been for him not to be selected at all and then having to watch everyone else compete for his super-duper special prize.  

10 hours ago, bybrandy said:

The only thing that would have made Dr. Dance's chip scene less appealing is if she were eating Lady Doritos.  

Not gonna lie...this made me snort.  Thank you for the morning amusement!

 

40 minutes ago, deaja said:

I know we are supposed to laugh at Glasses’ stupidity, but how did he possibly think Bailey was hitting on him? He knew there was a contest of innovation going on and she clearly was doing some sort of research. Whether it was appropriate or not for her to have him in her house working on research is a separate subject, but it was clearly not sexual.

And what kind of sick sex thing was he expecting when she was asking him to bring tubing and the like?  I mean, really?

 

6 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I could relate to Maggie suddenly tearing up while talking to Webber. The four year anniversary of my dad's death is coming up and sometimes the tears come really unexpectedly. It feels like I'm over the bulk of my grief but sometimes out of nowhere, suddenly I'm crying.

I would like to say in Clive's defense, that of course Jackson understood what Maggie's project was about and Clive didn't because Jackson is a doctor and Clive is not. Yes, it's great that a doctor like Jackson instantly understood what her project was about but Clive NOT knowing that immediately doesn't mean that she should just give up on him. I know a couple who have very different careers. The wife is a neuroscientist. The husband works in IT. There is no overlap in what they do at work but they somehow manage to have conversations about work and other stuff. They have been happily married for over a decade. As important as it is to have some common interests, sometimes it's great to be with someone who has nothing to do with your job or your industry.

In all my bitching about this episode, I do have to admit that I found the exchange between Richard and Maggie about her mother to be moving (and weirdly awkward, but I'll take weirdly awkward over most everything else here).  My mom died 10 months ago--right around the time (I think) of Maggie's mom dying on the show and that one hit just a bit too close to home.

Clive!  That's the guy's name.   Yeah, Maggie should stick to being slutty with him.  As far as we know, he doesn't have any weird mommy issues and he seems genuinely interested in her.  And, really, would Maggie know the details of his profession if he sort of went down a rabbit hole and began yakking in technical terms?  I've said for a long time that this show needs at least one character who has a relationship with someone not involved with the hospital, and this is their chance (although I guess they do have that with Ben and Miranda know, but that does not support my point, so it doesn't count.  ha!)

[RedbirdNelly]

13 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Maggie, interesting idea but how is it going to be affected by the other electrical devices that surround us?  Does that mean that your heart patients will never be able to take their laptops or other devices to bed?  (Also, learn the difference between a work husband and a real husband. Just because Jackson understands what you're talking about doesn't mean he's your romantic soulmate.)

 

this episode was actually the 2nd epi in a row where I liked Maggie. She wasn't a stumbling idiot, but you mention the 2 things I didn't like:

a) her idea didn't seem appropriate to me for cardiologist--seems like an engineering project. Why would a cardiac surgeon need to work on a battery project? just seems the least medical of the others

b) she was cute with Clive and I thought it was unfair to be all " you understand me" just because your coworker knows your jargon. It's not like she couldn't use common words to explain what she meant or that she really needed to have a high level conversation but was frustrated because her date couldn't keep up. Clive doesn't come across as an idiot. My husband and I are in totally different fields but when we want to share frustration, etc. about work, we can talk about it while explaining "here is what is normal; I'm so annoyed because XYZ did the complete opposite!" I don't lament that I'm not married to another person in my field.

Maggie's little scene with Webber where she makes awkward slutty talk--but then notes she realized that was weird as she said it cracked me up.

25 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:

 

Clive!  That's the guy's name.   Yeah, Maggie should stick to being slutty with him.  As far as we know, he doesn't have any weird mommy issues and he seems genuinely interested in her.  And, really, would Maggie know the details of his profession if he sort of went down a rabbit hole and began yakking in technical terms?  I've said for a long time that this show needs at least one character who has a relationship with someone not involved with the hospital, and this is their chance (although I guess they do have that with Ben and Miranda know, but that does not support my point, so it doesn't count.  ha!)

yes--this!

and this--realized I'm just repeating what others have said better after typing in my post!

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

 

I could relate to Maggie suddenly tearing up while talking to Webber. The four year anniversary of my dad's death is coming up and sometimes the tears come really unexpectedly. It feels like I'm over the bulk of my grief but sometimes out of nowhere, suddenly I'm crying.

I would like to say in Clive's defense, that of course Jackson understood what Maggie's project was about and Clive didn't because Jackson is a doctor and Clive is not. Yes, it's great that a doctor like Jackson instantly understood what her project was about but Clive NOT knowing that immediately doesn't mean that she should just give up on him. I know a couple who have very different careers. The wife is a neuroscientist. The husband works in IT. There is no overlap in what they do at work but they somehow manage to have conversations about work and other stuff. They have been happily married for over a decade. As important as it is to have some common interests, sometimes it's great to be with someone who has nothing to do with your job or your industry.

[moonorchid]

3 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

 

b) she was cute with Clive and I thought it was unfair to be all " you understand me" just because your coworker knows your jargon. It's not like she couldn't use common words to explain what she meant or that she really needed to have a high level conversation but was frustrated because her date couldn't keep up. Clive doesn't come across as an idiot. My husband and I are in totally different fields but when we want to share frustration, etc. about work, we can talk about it while explaining "here is what is normal; I'm so annoyed because XYZ did the complete opposite!" I don't lament that I'm not married to another person in my field.

 

It was a weak example of a “bond” between Jackson and maggie. Him understanding her jargon isn’t “soulmate” worthy, he’s a doctor, of course he’s going to get it. Someone else already said this best, learn the difference between a home husband and a work husband, lol. 

[RedbirdNelly]

11 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

The contest would be much more fair if doctors who did not work at GSMH would enter and maybe, just maybe, get selected.  But, you know, then the show couldn't continue the facade that GSMH is the only competent health care provider on the North American Tectonic Plate.

 

I guess I wasn't paying attention but before this week's show, I had thought it was a broader contest--not just one for GSMH. Seemed weird to me to have this contest just at one hospital.

[OtterMommy]

Just now, RedbirdNelly said:

I guess I wasn't paying attention but before this week's show, I had thought it was a broader contest--not just one for GSMH. Seemed weird to me to have this contest just at one hospital.

If it is only open to GSMH doctors, which it appears to be so, it is basically just Jackson giving money to the hospital...which he could have just done.  But no...instead he had to set it up to have himself recognized (anonymously).  And, folks, him standing there telling everyone that they were all going to lose to him was just (yet another) step to far.  I used to be a Jackson fan, but this character has long since outlived his usefulness to this show.

[RedbirdNelly]

I was distracted by how are you going to get 25 solid entries from one hospital? who are these other mystery people at the hospital?

[moonorchid]

I’m really confused about this contest, is it only to the GSM doctors? And man this Jackson has regressed to season 6/7 Jackson in a big way. But I still don’t remember him needing to win an award this badly, and his relationship with Catherine bugs at times and this week is an example why. Jackson is almost 40 and Catherine is still micro managing his career. 

I feel for him thst his legacy and money makes him ineligible for things like Harper Avery’s but it’s all so weird and inappropriate that he’s funding this and joining forces with Catherine Avery. Like even without people knowing he funded this but he’s still using his privalage to his advantage and he doesn’t even recognize it. I still want to see him lose just to see how he’s react. 

[statsgirl]

When the contest was originally introduced, it was never said that it was limited to GSMH.  By some strange coincidence, all the entries were from GSMH and so were all the winning projects. Hmmmm

10 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

I see Jackson still hasn't made many fans... Not sure how spending 250 million to advance MediCal innovation is a bad thing..

It's not a bad thing. Limiting the contest to the flakes at GSMH is.

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Side note: April said the 25 proposals that made the first cut would each get $100K. The five finalists each get an additional $1 million. The winner gets $5 million. Depending on how much of the polymer Meredith needs and how expensive it is, she may not be able to progress any further on her liver project. But this is GA and Meredith is the sun so what are the chances that she will find another polymer to use - or better yet, that she will INVENT a superior polymer!

If these four made the first cut, then there must be another 21 that did also.  Were they from other hospitals?  And how were they better than Amelia and Alex's?  If you're going for innovative surgery, A&A's was the best one,  Catherine and Trans Doc's one was good too but it's not competition-worthy.  Maggie's and Richard's ones seemed more engineering, Bailey's was urology and mechanics and Arizona's was pure epidemiology even if she did talk about pr eeclampsia at the end of her unresearched rant.

My problem is that if $100K isn't enough to procure the polymer, then the guy holding the patent has priced it out of the market.  That's really stupid. Selling more at less of a profit on each is a better strategy to make money.

You're right that Meredith will invent a better, cheaper, more useful polymer. She's Meredith Grey!

2 hours ago, Deanie87 said:

Arizona may as well have been reading off a clipboard while she was sternly rattling off the stats about maternal mortality TO ANOTHER DOCTOR! 

While the speech itself was bad, I will give them that there is no way April would have known those statistics on her own. She's a trauma surgeon, she doesn't read about maternal mortality.

[CED9]

I didn’t get why Jackson anonymously fronted a $125 million bill to start up a contest where $5 million is the top prize.

[OtterMommy]

4 minutes ago, CED9 said:

I didn’t get why Jackson anonymously fronted a $125 million bill to start up a contest where $5 million is the top prize.

As for the money, my guess is that the $125million was to keep it going for a while.  Assuming there are no administrative costs, or--more likely--that the administrative costs can be payed with the interest on the initial money, $125million is enough to fund the award for 10 years.

Now, as to why Jackson anonymously fronted the money--my guess is that because he's a spoiled brat who doesn't feel he's getting enough attention.

ETA: It's shady that Jackson is participating in this, but I'm also not entirely okay with Bailey participating either. She knows who is putting up the money and she knows why he is doing it, which makes it strange that she's participating at all.  I mean, I'd much rather she and her "device" win than Jackson, but it still doesn't quite sit right to me.

[moonorchid]

7 minutes ago, CED9 said:

I didn’t get why Jackson anonymously fronted a $125 million bill to start up a contest where $5 million is the top prize.

It’s him being short sighted and honestly very selfish. This is for him! For him to fulfill whatever professional hole he feels he has. He doesn’t have an interest in helping anyone, he just wants an opportunity to show off honestly. This is shown by Meredith having to tell him that even 1% is still 75 million people. This is how he pitched this to bailey too. How he wants a chance to compete.

Jackson had a real opportunity to make a difference and he didn’t see it. 

Edited February 9, 2018 by moonorchid

[UNOSEZ]

2 minutes ago, moonorchid said:

It’s him being short sighted and honestly very selfish. This is for him! For him to fulfill whatever professional hole he feels he has. He doesn’t have an interest in helping anyone, he just wants an opportunity to show off honestly. This is shown by Meredith having to tell him that even 1% is still 75 million people. 

Jackson had a real opportunity to make a difference someone and he didn’t see it. 

I think you just don't like the character.. His skin idea could probably help more people his mom just kinds brow beat him into doing the vagina thing.. Worthy cause for sure.. His mom just told him his idea was too far off... And I fail to see how anonoumsly dropping over 100 Mil to help innovate medicine is selfish.. Of course he wants to win.. And stand apart from mommy and daddy and grandpa.  Wouldn't you?? If he hand-picked what to fund and what not to fund he would eventually be called out for playing faves or just ruining relationships.. Now it's out of his hands abd he has a chance to compete like his peers.. His skin idea can help way more than 1% of the population... Again you don't like the character that's cool I just don't think these reasons stand up to scrutiny... These surgeons are hyper competitive and all a bit narcissistic.. Do you remeber mark and Addison and jeez Derek??? 

[OtterMommy]

11 hours ago, bybrandy said:

I feel like there are probably other grants that Alex and Amelia could apply for to fund their project.  Pretty funny if they didn't get selected at all for the award paid for by Jackson (is this award solely for doctors at GS?) and they found another way to do it and won a Harper Avery.  

I read this and realized that there is a(nother) really big problem with the Jackson Avery Awesomeness prize.  It's not a prize.  It's essentially a grant--the doctors are applying/competing for money to do a research project.  That's a grant.  A prize would be that a doctor makes some sort of breakthrough and it is recognized for its innovation.  

There is nothing wrong with a grant--without grants we'd probably be, in technological terms, decades behind where we are now in any number of fields.  It's just that...it's not a prize.   It's not something were people compete necessarily with each other but rather where they put their best idea forward for a chance to implement it.

But back to what @bybrandy said...there are grants galore out there so, yes, Alex and Amelia could apply to one to get the funding for their project and then, yes, they could be up for the Harper Avery (which is a prize, not a grant...)