Grey’s Anatomy S12xEp9 ‘The Sound Of Silence’

It must be the case that Meredith has nine lives. I’ve lost count at the times she’s nearly died or been faced with some impossible situation. And so in that context, I find it annoying that Meredith gets attacked in the hospital. I mean, she’s already survived a plane crash and a mass shooting, nearly drowned at a ferry boat crash, held a bomb, and given birth in impossible circumstances. Okay, but here’s the thing. If I take this episode on its own and don’t allow myself to consider how many times Meredith has faced death, it’s actually really great.

But let’s switch back to the beginning of this mid-season’s premiere; Amelia has moved out of the Grey hotel, and Alex has moved in, meaning his proposal to Jo probably didn’t go exactly as he would have liked. When they realize the traffic jam is the result of an accident, Mer gets excited for the possible life-saving opportunities. She and her carpool buddies run toward the sirens, because deciding to wait in the car and catch up on podcasts wouldn’t make for exciting TV.

After her attack, Meredith’s friends guide her through the initial trauma, in a scene that’s really reminiscent of the time she drowned, way, way back in season three, especially because Webber is at the helm this time, just as he was then. But they can’t do anything about the fact that Meredith’s hearing is gone from the trauma to her head, and that she can’t speak, since Jackson broke her jaw to avoid having to do a tracheotomy.

And when Meredith can’t hear anything, we, the audience, can’t either. It’s an amazingly effective storytelling device. We’re as confused as Meredith is about her condition. We want to be able to hear what happens when the Chief and Amy are screaming at each other about Amy’s relapse (I’m curious about whether those scenes were fully shot or just mimed.) And we try to read lips when her friends say comforting things to her. It’s an actual, palpable relief when she, and we, can hear again.

So, essentially six weeks passed by throughout the entire duration of this episode. She didn’t just suffer some scrapes and bruises during her attack — she had some pretty long-term extensive damage. On top of losing her hearing, she also had to have her jaw wired shut, casts on her arm and leg, and a feeding tube through her nostril. It was pretty gruesome.

Once she finally could speak again, she told Alex to go be with Jo. It was okay. He could have more than one “person.” She had “her own damn village” after all. So that was the message we were left with heading into the 10th episode ? Was it manipulative? Classic Shonda Rhimes?….Absolutely.