ABC 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 10 Episode 21 Review

Almost two days after Cristina's loss at the Harper Avery's, she is missing without giving word to anyone.  

With no word from Cristina, Meredith is in full-panic mode.  Cristina is Meredith's person, as everyone knows, and the disappointment with the award is also a disappointment for Meredith.  Though she was jealous of Cristina, Meredith knew that Cristina worked towards this moment her entire life.  Meredith could only be more upset about the Avery's if she was nominated and missed out.  With Meredith in a hostile mood, she verbally attacks anyone who brings up the ceremony and anyone who might be of relation to the Avery's.  Case in point: She screams at April because she's an Avery, technically.

This is unsettling for April for a number of reasons.  She's been hiding at Callie and Arizona's house after her and Jackson's blow-out fight.  The fight, if you need to be reminded, was all about how they would raise their children.  Jackson, a firm believe in science and non-believer in religion, wanted their children to be involved in the Avery foundation and be raised respecting science and its values.  

April, a born-again Christian and farm-raised, wanted their children to be raised Christian with prayer and bible school and preferably with a knowledge of live stock and farming.  These obviously different viewpoints led to April fleeing their apartment with her only planned return to be for her IPod. She breaks down in the operating room working with Owen, but he urges her that it's just their "first fight" after being married and they will work through it all.

Speaking of conflicting interests, Derek's sister Amelia (Amy) has come into town.  She's the one sister of Derek's who is a former junkie and brain surgeon who brought Derek a brain tumor surgery almost four years ago.  Derek initially refused the surgery because she only met the patient when the two of them were inducted into the Mile-High Club on the way to Seattle...  Amy wanted to visit and test-run taking care of children because she hopes to one day have children with her current beau while she juggles being a doctor.

When Cristina finally shows her face, it's for a surgery- obviously.  The three, related children patients of hers that she worked on before she went to the ceremony are facing complication after complication.  She stayed with them while their parents fought about what their course of action should be and when one daughter's heart transplant fails, Cristina gets the call that another heart became available.  Unfortunately, the other daughter goes into heart failure and needs a new heart, too. She asks the parents if they would allow the new heart to go to the second daughter because the first daughter will probably reject the heart.  They are at a loss and push Cristina to make the decision for them.

First the Avery's and then she must make a decision that will essentially kill a patient either way.

Following the theme of disappointment, Richard has met with Catherine for a romantic rondevu but he's more focused on Cristina's loss than Catherine.  He says he read every paper from every other nomination's work and he didn't see why Cristina didn't win the award.  The shocking truth is that since the Harper Avery Foundation owns the hospital, Cristina could never win in the first place.

When she notices his shock, Catherine tells him that it's just business.  The hospital is part of her business and the hospital and Cristina received a lot of publicity.  Catherine tells him that if it makes him feel better knowing the truth, the truth was that Cristina had the votes.  If she didn't work for their hospital, Cristina would have won the Harper Avery Award.  

Even more disappointed than he was with Cristina's loss, the news that she would have won stuns him.  If Meredith is like a daughter to him, Cristina is his daughter's best friend who he watched grow up.  He says to Catherine, "I was going to tell you how much I love you... I was going to ask you to be by my side for the rest of our lives... And now I'm leaving."  He leaves Catherine with his broken heart and a diamond ring.  When he returns to the hospital, he immediately tells Owen everything Catherine said.

Speaking of disappointing Avery's, Jackon is reviewing every surgeon's research in an attempt to cut costs and reserve resources.  He is so bold as to interrupt Derek and Meredith's surgery date to ask Meredith if she needs to work on her project five days of week.  Derek interrupts her and warns of Jackson's motivations to which Meredith says to Jackson, "If they cut my funding, I cut their tires."

Jackson not only hit up Meredith for a budget-cut evaluation, he talked with Derek earlier who waved the president's approval of his and Callie's work.  Licking his wounds from Meredith's threats, he stops by Miranda's lab and notices that she has not started her trial run of her de-activated HIV strain.  This is a get-out-of-jail-free card for Jackson because he has possibly found a way to cut costs without getting too many people upset if he eliminates Miranda's trial.  Jackson's get-out-of-jail-free card is Miranda's red flag to get a move on with her work, but the mother of her patient wigs out while signing consent forms.

Jackson is being painted a villan throughout the hospital, but he is just trying to do his job.  When he runs into April in the hospital hallways, he tells her what he has been trying to get done but she is less than sympathetic.  Outraged and sarcastic, she says, "Classy move, Avery family.  Way to make it all about the medicine."

When the board meets to discuss the next moves with the budget, Jackson gives his recommendation to the group which is more than likely cutting Miranda's trial surgery.  Alex interrupts the discussion with his announcement of his move towards the private practice.  Everyone is happy for Alex, but the decision on the table is still looming.  The axe is above Miranda's head and she can feel it.  While everyone heads home, Miranda starts her patient on her trial of de-activated HIV.

When Jackson returns home, April is still picking up her IPod from their apartment.  Jackson tries to squash their fight, but April is relentless.  He asks her if they can stop arguing about their hypothetical children, but April says, "No, because they're not hypothetical anymore."  Shocker!

Not too shocking, Owen finds Cristina showering in her clothes in a daze.  She tells him, "I did everything perfectly."  

Owen has seen a broken Cristina before and he thinks he has the remedy.  He tells her, "You won.  You won the Harper Avery....  The politics screwed you...  You never stood a chance."  With this information, Cristina leave Owen, the shower, and the hospital.

 Next week: Farewell to Cristina.