Grey’s Anatomy season 15, episode 11 recap: The Winner Takes It All

Well, Grey’s Anatomy season 15, episode 11 was a tough episode to get through.

Grey’s Anatomy went all out with the feels and heartbreak this week, and quite honestly, I’m still wiping away my tears. It has been a while since we’ve had an episode like this, and luckily, it gave us everything we would have wanted from it. “The Winner Takes It All” focuses on Catherine’s scary, impending surgery and the emotional preparation that went into it.

The weight of the surgery was overwhelming everyone specifically Koracick and Amelia, who would be performing it. It doesn’t help that Catherine is a legend in the world of medicine, and the future of her career depended on the outcome of the surgery. While Koracick practiced on a game of Operation, Richard relied on prayer to get him ready for his wife’s surgery.

Meredith planned on being there for Richard, but he had something else he needed her to do–visit her dying father, Thatcher. Thus brought the return of Jeff Perry as Meredith’s father, a Shondaland alum through and through. Luckily for him, Meredith decided to go and visit him after all. Plus, things at Grey Sloan were pretty tense due to the surgery–and Jackson getting on everyone’s nerves.

Before Meredith knew it, she was standing in front of her father. Thatcher was weaker and skinner than Meredith remembered, and it was a jarring sight for all of us to see. Kudos to Jeff Perry for his performance in this episode of Grey’s Anatomy! Naturally, their conversation was awkward and uncomfortable, but Thatcher was intent on making the best of it. It turns out Meredith had some pent-up frustration built up too and it came pouring out when Thatcher spoke of going away to Zimbabwe.

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Before her surgery, Catherine decided to walk around the operating room and take it all in. After all, she didn’t know if she’d survive the surgery and being in the O.R. brought her peace. As she stood in the room, Jackson walked in, presumably to talk more about the surgery.

Thankfully she stops him and starts talking about her very first surgery. It was quite the tender moment for her because she reflected on what brought her peace during that moment–listening to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”.

I find it a bit funny how Jackson is taken aback at how much Catherine has planned. Come on dude, she’s going into a life-threatening surgery and she’s a gazillionaire–why wouldn’t she? She’s made arrangements ranging from who will take over the foundation to the party she wants to be thrown in case she survives.

Then let’s get to the part of this episode of Grey’s Anatomy that brought the tears out. As Catherine got ready for surgery, Jackson blasted “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and the entire surgical staff along with Catherine danced the song away. For a moment, we all forgot what was about to happen. The surgery started off without a hitch but hit a dead end of sorts when the tumor began difficult to remove.

Koracick and Amelia decide to flip Catherine over so they try to approach the tumor from another angle. This could present all sorts of risks including paralyzing Catherine and eliminating any possibility for her being able to perform surgery again. But come on, we’ve got Amelia and Koracick doing this, of course, things were going to end up alright. Or somewhat alright anyway.

Back at Thatcher’s, Meredith and he continued to argue back and forth. Well, rather, Meredith fought with him until she found out he was at Derek’s funeral. Before they can talk any more, Thatcher started coughing uncontrollably and was given oxygen. It might have taken Thatcher’s near-death moment to make Meredith melt, but hey, at least she came around.

They had a father/daughter moment talking about her mother, her and Derek’s children, and about Maggie being the daughter of Ellis and Richard. And as he took his last breaths, Thatcher told Meredith he left presents for his grandchildren as she told him all about them. And then, he died. Sigh. I didn’t think I was going to be so emotional but Perry brings so much to this scene that it’s hard not to be affected.

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While Amelia and Koracick work hard to save Catherine’s life, Jackson has a breakdown over his mom possibly dying. Pierce is there to comfort him and is quite possibly the best one to do so at that moment. It’s another tough Grey’s Anatomy moment to watch in the episode and made me want to cuddle up next to my parents.

The surgery proved to be even more difficult once they had Catherine on her side and they realized the tumor had to be removed one piece at a time. Luckily, Richard has his “not approved by the FDA” path pen which can make their job a little bit easier. And, it worked! Catherine not only survived the surgery, but she kept all her motor function. There’s just one slight problem, they could only remove 95 percent of the cancer and a nodule was still left behind.

But Catherine isn’t hung up on that because she survived and has gotten years back that she would have been robbed of otherwise. I’d say Amelia and Koracick performed a miracle, and should be darn proud of it! Speaking of being proud of it, Koracick runs into Teddy after the surgery who offers to buy him a drink. He says it will have to be an outing for another day–I’m totally shipping these two!

As the Grey’s Anatomy episode came to a close, Koracick was talking out loud to his dead son in the chapel, while Amelia spoke at a meeting about the surgery she performed. She had never been more grateful to be living a sober life because it gave her the ability to do what she did, even if it was imperfect. Oh, the tears.

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