'Grey's Anatomy' Season 11 Spoilers: Recap for Episode 12 'The Great Pretender'
On last Thursday's episode of "Grey's Anatomy," Maggie suspects that Meredith is cheating on Derek, and Ben finds out what's really ailing his brother.
The episode starts with Ben and his brother, Curtis, scattering their dad's ashes onto the forest floor, and they say that their father would have wanted them to do that. Bailey is with them and goes along, despite worrying that what they're doing is illegal. In a fit of merriment, Curtis suggests that he and Ben race up the hill. They do so, but Curtis collapses and falls down the hill.
At the hospital, Meredith finds out that Curtis' liver enzymes are "off the charts." She suspects that he might be an alcoholic. Bailey and Ben demand that they run more tests on him, but Curtis refuses to do.
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Meanwhile, Meredith is lying to everyone about her trip to see Derek. She got her sister, Maggie, to babysit her kids so she can go to D.C., but Meredith never got on the plane. Maggie starts to think that Meredith may be cheating on Derek. At one point, Derek calls and asks where Meredith is, and Maggie tells him that his wife got called in for an emergency procedure.
Maggie confronts Meredith, and Meredith tells her the truth: she did go the airport, but when they called for boarding, she just stood there. She couldn't go on the plane to see Derek and she doesn't know why. Instead, she left the airport, checked into a hotel nearby and stayed there so she wouldn't have to explain to anyone why she didn't have the courage to see her husband.
Later, Meredith finds out that Curtis isn't an alcoholic. He's a transgender woman and has been taking off-label hormone treatments that are affecting his health. Bailey figures this out and tells Ben, and he laughs as he thinks that this is a joke.
Once Curtis is awake after his surgery, Ben goes into his room to talk about his transition. Curtis tells him that he wanted to be a woman ever since he was five. Ben doesn't believe and understand it and they argue. Bailey catches the end of their argument and sees Ben storm out. She follows him and tells him that he's disappointed in him. Ben tells her that he's not angry with Curtis deciding to be a woman, but he's mad at his brother for not telling him.
Bailey asks Jackson for help, and Jackson goes to Curtis and asks him if he wants to be called another name. Curtis tells Jackson to call him Rosalyn.
"Grey's Anatomy" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.
