This Magic Moment

"Have you ever had the starring role in a play? A solo in a recital? All eyes on you. Waiting for you to do what they came to see. Feeling the incredible pressure to perform. There was a time when they used to call operating rooms an operating theater. It still feels like one. Scores of people get ready for the show, the sets are arranged, there are costumes, masks, props, everything has to be rehearsed, choreographed, all leading to the moment when the curtain goes up. You know what they say about Carnegie Hall? There is only one way to get there. If only life was just a dress rehearsal... And we had time for do-overs... We'd be able to practice and practice every moment until we got it right. Unfortunately, every day of our lives is its own performance. It seems like even when we get the chance to rehearse and prepare and practice, we're still never quite ready for life's grand moments."

- Meredith Grey

 is the eleventh episode of the eighth season and the 159th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary
The doctors split into teams for a risky surgery involving conjoined twins; Bailey recruits Meredith to be a buffer between her and Ben when he puts pressure on moving their relationship to a more serious level; Richard teaches Alex a tough lesson in the OR; meanwhile Teddy questions Cristina about what exactly happened to Henry during his surgery.

Full Summary
Episode in detail.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey
 * Sandra Oh as Dr. Cristina Yang
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres
 * Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan
 * Chyler Leigh as Dr. Lexie Grey
 * Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt
 * Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins
 * Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman
 * Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner
 * Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd

Guest Stars

 * Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren
 * Holland Roden as Gretchen Shaw
 * Brendan Coughlin as Charley Evans

Co-Starring

 * Miguel Nájera as Janitor Mike
 * Payton Silver as Dr. Knox
 * Kate Mines as Nurse Gloria
 * Lak Rana as N.D. Peds Surgeon
 * Carla Vila as Angela

Notes and Trivia
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 * This episode's title originated from the song This Magic Moment, originally sung by The Drifters.
 * This episode scored 10.71 million viewers.
 * Two weeks have passed since Henry's death in the previous episode.
 * The surgeons work all together to separate conjoined twins. The hopistal will later be asked to send surgeons to another hospital to perform the procedure over there, following the success of the surgery in this episode. While on their way to the hospital, the plane crashes.
 * In this episode, Alex criticizes Dr. Webber's teaching tactics, saying he was the chief for "twenty years." This is either a goof or a mere exaggeration, because earlier in the season Dr. Bailey stated that Dr. Weber had in fact only been chief for eleven years.

Quotes

 * Richard: You get to a point in your life when you realize you have more yesterdays than tomorrows.


 * Miranda (to Meredith): The fact that I know things about your personal life is one of the great sadnesses of my existence.


 * Alex: Yours over mine, everything's fine. Mine over yours, babies in the morgue.
 * Arizona: That's your mnemonic device?


 * Cristina: I'm sorry.
 * Teddy: Oh, you don't apologize, you hear me, you don't blame yourself. You did every single thing that I would have done. You were me in that OR. You were good and you did it right. He just... (breaks down) He just died!


 * Alex: [looking at Richard Webber] What an ass. He pretends he's all gentle and sad with the Alzie wife at home, dispensing Zen wisdom from his half century of being a surgeon. Well, guess what. Yoda down there? Biggest shark of them all. The guy's dangerous and mean.