Grey's: When the ones you love become the afterthought

After a pretty long holiday season break, Grey's Anatomy returned tonight with a new episode that also housed the beginning of a Grey's/Private Practice crossover. Below is a recap of the episode.

- The chief is still tutoring Meredith, but Derek is becoming a bit suspicious. He also, inadvertently, figures out that Bailey is covering for the chief. It doesn't take long for Derek to realize the chief made a mistake during a surgery, but he has a hard time figuring out the bigger picture. At the end of the episode, Meredith tells him Richard is drinking.
- Alex is back to his womanizing ways, specifically with Reid. When Meredith figures this out, she confronts him, reminding him that he's married. But he says he is done with Izzie and is moving on. At the end of the episode he tells Reid he does not trade sex for passes into surgeries, but that doesn't stop him from sleeping with someone else. Read on to find out who.
- Even though his daughter is taking advantage of his generosity, Mark is going out of his way to help Sloan. He also asks Lexie to help her, particularly by performing a sonogram for her. Lexie does the ultrasound, but finds something wrong. She calls in another opinion, but Mark knows who he needs if he wants the best. He calls Addison and she comes to Seattle to perform a surgery on the baby. During the surgery there is a complication and instead of allowing Addison the chance to fix everything anyway, Mark makes her stop the surgery. Before the end of the episode he decides to take Sloan to LA so Addison can finish what she started. During this episode we also saw Mark finally become a father. He even offers to help Sloan raise the baby, which is a decision he should have consulted with Lexie on first. Lexie realizes she is too young to become a grandmother, among other things, and breaks up with Mark. She moves back into Meredith's house just in time to meet Alex, who is also lonely and upset. The two, without thinking, have sex.
- Teddy gives Cristina a solo cardio surgery, which is a huge step and something Cristina is very pleased about. Then Cristina meets the patient and realizes she is eccentric to say the least. The patient makes Cristina bend over backward for her, but Cristina does it because she knows the end payoff will be worth it. In the middle of the surgery, while Teddy sits on a stool in the corner reading a magazine, the patient crashes. Cristina asks for help, but Teddy tells her she is on her own. Owen is mad at this, but Teddy knew what she was doing. Teddy forced Cristina to save the patient herself because Teddy knows Cristina needs to be pushed. Following the surgery Teddy and Owen talk. This is when Teddy realizes she needs to find another job because working with him is too difficult. When Cristina finds out she is leaving, she runs after Teddy and pleads with her. And, in a decision and discussion that happened so fast neither really thought about it, Cristina offered Teddy Owen if it meant she would stay in Seattle.

The show definitely came back with a bang. I enjoyed the episode and am looking forward to Izzie's return next week. Agreed?