Stand by Me (Grey's Anatomy)

"Stand by Me (Grey's Anatomy)"

"Stand By Me" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of the ABC series, Grey's Anatomy. It aired on March 19, 2009.

Summary

After his fellow surgeons try and fail to bring Derek back to work, Meredith must summon the strength to convince him. Meanwhile the hospital is abuzz as Mark attempts a rare face transplant surgery. Cristina, at last awarded her first solo surgery, is more focused on the needs of her friends, and Izzie does her best to keep her medical condition a secret.

The episode begins as Cristina is in Meredith's house with Izzie trying to help her find a treatment plan. Cristina wants Izzie to call in sick to work to read up more on her illness, but she goes to work anyway.

The Chief is still "a mess" according to Bailey. She wants Callie to try and persuade Derek to come back, since Bailey's attempts have failed.

The residents are informing their interns about a special face transplant that Mark is performing on a victim of a drunk driving accident who doesn't have lips or a nose, just a "blowhole". Mark chooses Izzie and Lexie to scrub in on his surgery. Bailey lets Cristina have her first solo surgery. Meanwhile, Cristina continuously tries to get Izzie examined by a first-rate oncologist as soon as possible.

Callie goes to Derek to try and convince him to come back by telling him her own mistake earlier in her career. He doesn't understand how she lives with herself.

Meanwhile, all of the interns seem to be injured in some way, whether it is a black eye, constant crying or an injured arm. George and Meredith don't know why, but decide to ignore it. Cristina has to deal with the numerous questions that her solo surgery patient has. Later, Izzie yells at her interns for making an inappropriate comment during a talk with the face transplant patient. Mark finds her yelling at them and throws her off his case.

The hurt interns, Pierce, Megan and Steve, apparently have some history together, which caused a fight between the boys over Megan. In another part of the hospital, Bailey tries to get Owen to find Callie and also persuade Derek to come back. In reality, Callie and Derek are out in the woods having a beer, but Bailey thinks she is in trouble.

Cristina gets Izzie an appointment with an oncologist, but at lunch, Alex overhears them talking about it, so they pretend she is getting an enema instead of going to an oncologist so they can talk in code. George is the only one who notices they are pretending.

Owen's attempt to reel Derek in just ends with him grabbing a beer from him and joining Derek and Callie. Izzie blows off Cristina's appointment, saying she isn't even sure if she wants treatment.

The face transplant patient throws his support group that he met online out of his room. Mark can't perform the surgery unless the patient has a support group after the surgery. The patient is afraid his friends will have this picture of him with his injured and damaged face, and he wants them to see him as a healed person. Lexie gets his friends to come back to see him.

Now that Owen and Callie are both with Derek, the Chief goes out to break up the party. Derek is mad at the Chief because he doesn't understand, and he is also mad because he told Meredith about the ring, which he hit with a baseball bat into the woods. The Chief won't give up, and Derek becomes livid and starts yelling at him. Derek is worried that he won't be able to get Meredith back.

George and Meredith try to teach the interns not to turn on each other. Meredith tells Pierce to ice his eye, Steve to go get an x-ray on his arm, and Megan to go to OB because her pregnancy test is positive. Meanwhile in Cristina's surgery, she cannot begin until she blurts out to Alex and Bailey that Izzie has cancer. In Mark's surgery, Lexie's fellow interns mock her because Mark lets her assist in the surgery. After it is over, Lexie kisses Mark in front of them.

Meredith finally goes to see Derek again, and he tells her he loves her. She tells Derek about Izzie's condition, and tells him that she doesn't know if she can respect or love him if he won't save her. She leaves all of Izzie's scans with him.

The episode ends with the residents helping Izzie into a hospital gown, and they all surround her as she begins to tell them what is going on.

Title reference

This episode's title refers to the song, Stand by Me, by American soul singer Ben E. King.

Music

• "Everywhere" - Common feat. Martina Topley-Bird
• "A Mirror Without" - Royal Wood
• "Driveway" - Great Northern