Grey's Anatomy Episode 6.18 Suicide is Painless
Grey's Anatomy Photo

Grey's Anatomy Episode 6.18 Suicide is Painless

Episode Premiere
Mar 25, 2010
Genre
Drama,Medical,Comedy,Romance
Production Company
Mark Gordon Co., Touchstone TV, ShondaLand
Official Site
http://www.abc.go.com/shows/greys-anatomy/
Episode Premiere
Mar 25, 2010
Genre
Drama,Medical,Comedy,Romance
Period
2005 - now
Production Co
Mark Gordon Co., Touchstone TV, ShondaLand
Distributor
ABC
Official Site
http://www.abc.go.com/shows/greys-anatomy/
Director
Jeannot Szwarc
Screenwriter
Tony Phelan, Joan Rater
Main Cast
Additional Cast
  • Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman
  • Sarah Drew
  • Robert Baker
  • Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery
  • Derek Cecil
  • Zachary Knower
  • Lance Barber
  • Adam Kulbersh
  • Richard T. Jones

Callie tells Mark how Arizona's stance on children has upset her. "She doesn't want kids, in her womb, in her house, ever." He urges her to tell Arizona how important it is to her.

Even though Richard is no longer the Chief, no one quite knows how to treat him. Their "I'd hit that," conversations dry up when he comes around and no one wants to sit with him at the cafeteria. When Richard complains, "I'm not a coach anymore, I'm a player," Mark tells him, " It's a sign of respect." Meanwhile, Derek can't eat in the cafeteria at all because he's besieged by people asking for favors. He's also missing the rush of surgery, so when Meredith tells him about a tumor she diagnosed, he steals the surgery from her! Richard advises him to schedule at least one surgery a day so he can keep his hand in. And to eat with someone so people will leave him alone. "You can eat with me," Richard says and Derek thanks him for the offer and the much-needed advice.

Teddy has a patient, Kim, with terminal cancer who wants to end her own life, which is now legal in Washington state. She needs another surgeon to sign off and asks Owen. She's shocked when he disapproves and even more so when he goes to Derek to object. "What the hell is your problem?" she demands. "This patient is exercising her legal right to die." She goes to Mark instead, who gives her the necessary second signature.

Owen doesn't explain why this case bothers him so much: He remembers his time in Iraq and how he and his men's jeep were hit by an explosive device that killed everyone but him and his superior officer, Dan. But Dan is badly injured and begging for Owen to let him die, as no one is coming and the pain is more than he can bear. Owen finally gives in and lets Dan bleed out-just as a helicopter arrives. Owen confronts Kim about why she won't wait for a possible cure and we're wiping away tears as she tells him, "Maybe you have to be dying to understand, but there's a point when death stops being scary. It's hope that's scary."

Kim's husband returns with the barbiturates that will end her life and finds Owen sitting outside. We're so moved when Owen tells him, "There'll be a moment when her face will relax and all that pain will be gone. And you'll feel relief for her and for your. And you'll know with absolute certainty you did the right thing." Owen urges him to hang onto that moment and that anything else he'll feel is just "your own garbage." Owen can't stop thinking about Teddy and their time in Iraq, but Teddy's moving on: After Kim's death, it's Mark she turns to for comfort, and sex.

Callie tells Arizona they need to talk and Arizona thinks she's breaking up with her. "It's not a bad thing," Callie says, then tells her, "I want to have a baby. At some point in my life. I really have to have a baby." But we can see it's a blow to Arizona, who pulls back her hand from Callie's grasp.