Grey's: "In the face of the impossible, we're inspired"

Tonight's Grey's Anatomy episode centered on Derek as he tried to operate on an inoperable tumor in a hospital staffer's spine. Below is a recap of what happened throughout this storyline, as well as a few other plot points.

- Derek starts the episode with a voiceover about how most surgeons enjoy the rush of surgery, but for Derek he likes the silence. Early on Derek is approached by a lab tech who wants Derek to operate on his tumor. The patient came to Derek because he takes a lot of risks, but Derek is sure the operation would kill the patient. When he approaches the chief, he says Derek cannot do the surgery because the tumor is too intricate. But Derek plans to do the surgery anyway. Right before the surgery, the patient gives Derek permission to paralyze him if it means saving his life while also giving an inspirational speech in the moments before he is knocked out. Ten hours into the surgery Derek has not done anything, all the while trying to plan his first move. The chief finds out about the surgery and makes Derek close the patient up. The patient, once he awakens, tells Derek he wants him to try again tomorrow. Derek refuses, but after going home and discussing it with Meredith, she gives him faith and he wants to try again. So Derek lies to the chief so he okays the surgery. The patient has given Derek the OK to be risky, so Derek goes in with no plan this time since overplanning led them nowhere the day before. Throughout the day-long surgery, Derek's only concern is the patient and everyone - except the chief - supports him. At the very end of the surgery, Derek takes a gamble with the last cut, not knowing if what he is doing will save or kill him. The patient wakes up later and can move his toes, which he thinks means the surgery did not work, but in reality Derek completed the surgery successfully and saved the patient's life. At the end of the episode Derek goes to the chief and says he is willing to put their feud behind him, but in a shocking twist, Richard fires Derek with no explanation. We'll see if it sticks, but Richard seemed pretty serious about it.

In other happenings: Izzie has an appointment for a procedure she needs to continue to live life without sickness, so Alex assumes she will show up, but she doesn't, which leads to Alex breaking down because she is being careless and putting her life in danger; Cristina does not perform well on a skills test and is kept out of Derek's surgery, which unleashes her inner perfectionist; Arizona stands up to the chief in a way no one would ever expect, only to then burst into tears on Callie's shoulder; Lexie proves she is extremely dedicated to her work, even going to the length of wearing a diaper during the long surgery; all of the new doctors have joined together in the belief that Alex is a douchebag.

What did you think of the episode? I was worried when they announced the episodes were going to start straying away from the core characters, but with limited Meredith and no Izzie the last few episodes, I found myself not even really noticing their absence. Though I want to point out that I am really looking forward to Kim Raver's appearance coming in the next few weeks.