Grey’s Anatomy saw the new mother-of-two Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) returning to Grey Sloan Memorial hospital and getting back to work after her maternity leave. Struggling to get up in bed, Mer and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) get a wake up shout from their new roommate and “sister wife” Callie (Sara Ramirez), who’s clearly the one keeping everything in order at the household.

At the hospital, Alex (Justin Chambers) is wary of introducing himself to his father Jimmy (James Remar). After the last time he saw Jimmy, he changed his last name to his mother’s maiden name, looking to distance himself, and believes that any conversation he'll have with him will turn into a fight. Jo (Camilla Luddington) essentially becomes Jimmy’s surrogate child, coaxing him into a drug rehab program. In a moment of vulnerability, Jimmy tells Jo he doesn’t want to let her down as he did his family. When Alex finally summons the courage to see his father, Jimmy doesn’t recognize him.

Finally officially a couple, Jackson (Jesse Williams) and Stephanie (Jerrika Hinton) have plans to dine with Jackson's mother Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen). Stephanie is most worried about her choice of top, while Jackson is more concerned about taking it off in the on-call room. After lighting a fire under Richard (James Pickens Jr.) to push himself harder in his recovery, Catherine goes to grab more pillows. Where? In the on-call room. After the awkward introduction, Catherine makes it known she’s none too impressed with her son’s new choice of girlfriend. By the end of the episode, however, it looks like Stephanie finally wins Catherine over.

In other relationship news, Callie and Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) appear to be drifting even further apart. Arizona, who got wasted with April (Sarah Drew) in the supply room during the fundraising gala, fears that she may have slept with intern Leah (Tessa Ferrer) later that night. Leah unintentionally stokes Arizona’s fears by bringing her coffee, saying she won’t tell anyone about their night and crashes Arizona’s surgery, which the pediatric surgeon apparently said she could scrub in on. As it turns out, what looked like flirting was all just a red herring. The two doctors just bonded over grilled cheeses, a dance party and watching a recording of a surgery.

Callie, who’s been living with the McDreamy’s, jokes that she’s rebounded into a Big Love situation. For now, Callie has no plans on getting back together Arizona, but wants to move back into her apartment. After a day at the hospital, she walks up to Arizona at the bar at Joe’s and tells her “I need my life back. I need me back.” Hearing Callie kick Arizona out of the house, Leah offers the unfaithful wife temporary housing at her place.

Meredith and Cristina’s (Sandra Oh) friendship appears to be on the rocks as well. With Meredith juggling her duties as a mom to Zola and Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and getting back into surgery, she’s noticeably spread too thin. While trying to read up on performing a liver transplant while another surgeon – Cristina – performs a heart transplant, she’s taking Zola to get stitches and needing to go pump. When it’s time for the surgery, Cristina informs her that Bailey is scrubbing in in her place. Afterwards, Meredith confronts Cristina in the hallway and is dealt a series of blows regarding her abilities in the OR.

"Bailey never let up, she lives here; Callie never let up; Ellis Grey never let up; and I know you don't want to be your mother. I'm saying you and I started running down the same road at the same time and at a certain point, you let up, you slowed down … but don't pretend [your priorities] don't affect your skills. You are a very good surgeon, but we're in different places now — and that's OK."

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays on ABC at 9/8c.

– Chelsea Regan

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For More 'Grey's Anatomy' News:

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