Image credit: Eric McCandless/ABC

FAMILY FEUDJackson (left) and his mother, guest star Debbie Allen, faced off over her hook-up with chief Webber.

Had it not been for a mid-episode sex scene that ever-so-briefly turned my anxiety into white hot lust for Jackson Avery, I would have been a ball of nerves throughout the entire hour of last night's Grey's Anatomy, which found every resident having a meltdown moment during their medical board exams.

I attribute at least part of the nail-biting to the fact that, as your normal recapper Tanner mentioned last week, we knew one of the residents was heading for failure. But who? If I'm being honest, my guess changed about 20 times during the course of the episode. But, in the end, we learned it was April who had failed to make the grade. To examine why, let's rewind:

The episode began with the residents walking out of their boards with the weight of the world on their bony shoulders. Meredith bemoaned the "actual physical hell" that was their test, Cristina confessed that she went "way, way overboard" in the testing room, April ranted about trick questions, and Jackson claimed they were all about playing "mind games." (Now they know howwe feel watching Grey's Anatomy's season finales.) You can't always Carpe the Diem, voiceover Meredith said, which is really all you can say after you've had a crappy Diem. Though, I certainly never could have guessed just how crappy it went for all of them.

Flashback to six hours earlier: We first learned exactly how the much-touted boards work -- not that we cared all that much. But hidden among the yada-yada was the fact that a resident could flub one of three test sessions and still pass. This was good news for Alex, who was still racing against the clock to get there in time, arguing with the taxi driver to go faster in a traffic jam. It was all very '80s rom-com. (Did I mention I love '80s rom-coms? No? Well, the more you know.) Alex was far from the only person facing an obstacle, though. (More on those in a bit.) April, however, seemed to be on the right path -- she was inquisitive, careful, yet surprisingly authoritative when giving her answers. That was my first hint that something was likely going to go awry for her -- but I was hoping I was wrong. I wasn't.

NEXT: Avery vs. Avery

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'Grey's Anatomy' recap: 50 Shades of Grey's