We all knew that the Meredith-Derek cohabitating storyline was not going to be smooth sailing. Oh no. While going through the den to create a space for himself, he finds Meredith’s mom’s journal. Meredith is upset in her Meredith-y way -– at Derek for going through her mom’s stuff. This prompts Derek to tell Sloan the next day that he won’t sell his trailer, as “there’s a real possibility that she kicks me out in a week.”

George O’Malley completely steals my heart with his care for the eight-year-old boy with heart failure. Makes me wonder if there is a future in pediatrics for Dr. O’Malley. His ability to relate to both the child and the parent was endearing (excepting when he took kid to check out a surgery and ended up in the midst of one of the nastiest surgical procedures I’ve seen on Grey’s – not so smooth, George).

Callie and Erica make a date – their first real date. Callie is nervous and spouts off to Bailey about it – concern that she won’t like it, that maybe it’s not for her, and what if she doesn’t like what’s “south of the border”. This prompts a later monologue from Bailey to Callie likening the “vah-jay-jay” to a country in Africa – undiscovered country – and proceeding further with a travel/sex analogy, before finally telling Callie simply to “talk about it.” That Bailey – she’s so smart. In the end, the two ladies go out for a first date, and Erica tells Callie – she’s not sure she’s ready either. Whew, sigh of relief for them both.

A patient comes into the hospital after getting a remote control tossed at his head by his angry wife who is on the verge of leaving him. Izzie notices a quirk with his mouth, and realizes that quite possibly the man has a neurological issue. Alex steals Izzie’s patient who is diagnosed with a tumor the size of a baseball. Izzie convinces the patient to request her for the surgery, in essence, stealing him back from Alex. In the end, Alex tells Izzie that he’s taking his anger out on her because he can’t take it out on anyone else – and Derek tells them both if they pull that patient-stealing-hooey again, both Alex and Izzie will be out of the program.

Meanwhile, Christina spends a lot of time hanging in the dermatology unit, marveling how “dermatologists apply lotion for a living” and are “devoid of blood lust.” Seems like an odd hang-out for Christina, but bathed in the warm glow of good skin, she seems to be a calmer, not so high strung Christina.

George finally passed his intern exam, and rather than just share his victory with Lexie, opts to share his news and celebrate with Izzie and Meredith as well. At the bar, Lexie opts to not sit with the rest of the group – this storyline is going to annoy me if something doesn’t happen soon.

Finally, Derek tells Meredith that he can move back to his trailer, but Meredith assures him that she wants him with her in the house and gives him some space to have his own den. Could our Meredith be growing up?

What did you think of Thursday’s episode? What storylines are of the most interest to you so far this season?

Screen images courtesy of Grey’s Anatomy Insider.

Sarah also writes at The Mom Chronicles.