Grey's Anatomy recap: Catherine's life is on the line in a liver-centric episode

Is it weird that the thing that excited me the most in the "I Can See Clearly Now" episode of Grey’s Anatomy was Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) power pantsuit? Who needs a pair of scrubs when you’re operating on the boss lady? And don’t get me started on Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman) playfully grabbing her loose-fitting necktie in a moment of flirtatious banter. Yes, doctor! 

I love it when my favorite couple is in Seattle together. Meredith is biopsying Catherine’s  (Debbie Allen) liver and asks her boyfriend if he will invite Richard (James Pickens Jr.) to assist with Nick’s groundbreaking liver transplant so Richard doesn’t learn about Catherine’s surgery. The gang is all here, and they are all keeping secrets about various livers. So fun! 

Meredith and Bailey sneak off to the clinic, begging Catherine to just tell Richard about how her cancer has spread. She refuses, and of course, there are complications during her procedure that produce large amounts of blood to spew forth from Catherine’s mouth. When she becomes unconscious, Meredith calls an audible and insists that someone page Richard. 

But Richard is elbow-deep in his own liver situation with Nick, Griffith (Alexis Floyd), and Adams (Niko Terho). Jack McBrayer from 30 Rock fame lies on the table, completely awake during his character Tom’s liver transplant. It’s as if Kenneth Parcell was dictating every moment of the surgery as the entire team summoned the courage not to tell this man to mind his own business. 

Tom is a scrub nurse who knows exactly what’s going on and demands that the instruments and surgery pads are continuously counted. No one needs a spare scrap of gauze trapped in their belly, thankyouverymuch. And the fact that Richard leaves in a huff after receiving Meredith’s 9-1-1 page makes his OCD kick up a notch. 

The hysterical part is that Tom was spot on. Only nine of the 10 pads are accounted for, and most of the medical staff standing around the open gut of a man badgering people to count again look toward Adams as the culprit. He may be a Shepherd, but he is repeating his internship again. Surely, he did it. 

Luckily for Tom, Adams spies the missing piece stuck to the bottom of Nick’s shoe. Griffin receives the honor of closing Tom up, and Adams gets a great big “job well done” from Nick, who thinks Adams is going to be a better surgeon for having more time to learn. It’s also not bad that he has Griffin to spur him on. 

You need other people to hold you accountable. Unless you are a resident who shouts at the chief of staff and the head neurosurgeon during an extremely risky surgery. Yasuda (Midori Francis) is undoubtedly having a no-good, very bad day. 

A woman is 20 weeks pregnant with a massive tumor on her spine. She is unwilling to terminate the pregnancy like four other surgeons have instructed her to do. Teddy (Kim Raver) encourages Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) to try and make something work, and even though it’s extremely risky, Amelia agrees to operate. She agrees to attempt the impossible. 

Jo (Camilla Luddington) joins the surgery team, and when things look grim for the patient, Amelia demands they save the mother before the baby. Jo barks that Amelia should give the meds a second to work. Yasuda screams at everyone that the human on the table is counting on everyone to work together to save her and, ideally, the baby. She is not a science experiment. Figure it out!

Then she excuses herself from the OR.

Using context clues, something else is clearly bothering Yasuda, especially after she received a mysterious phone call earlier in the day. It turns out her sister has cancer and will be arriving at Grey Sloan Memorial soon. And because of this added stress in her life, she won’t be able to go on jogs with Millin (Adelaide Kane) before stopping to make out after about four blocks. 

Speaking of making out, how long do you think it will take for Schmidt (Jake Borelli) to make out with the hospital chaplain? When a woman refuses to sign a DNR, Schmidt takes it upon himself to enlist the help of James (Michael Thomas Grant) to try and explain the gravity of her medical decision. James is able to learn that the woman isn’t afraid. She just wants to outlive her ex-husband. Fortunately, this exchange gives Schmidt some much-needed face time with James, and he has no qualms later swiping left on the good chaplain. Was that a shirtless pic? 

Meanwhile, back in another OR, Meredith and Bailey are working to save Catherine. Richard comes in to check on his wife, picks up her hand, and kisses it with tears in his eyes. Stop the madness! No one wants to see Richard cry! It’s a good thing she makes it through the emergency and, as a result, gives Bailey her job back for saving Catherine’s life!

You know what this means. Poor, cheerful, annoying Sydney (Kali Rocha) is outta here! We will not miss her chipper personality, but we will be forever grateful that she gives Ben (Jason George) a job before she hits the road. Who’s ready to see the Ben and Bailey dynamic next week?

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.