If only we could spend this entire recap discussing Link’s heartfelt declaration of real and true feelings to Amelia. It’s so lovely there in that moment, what with the honesty about the whole “love not being his thing” thing, and the vulnerability with the “we just learned that a man can simply fall from the sky and kill a woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so attempting to protect yourself from all possible pain is actually impossible and we might as well love while we can” thing. Also, Amelia and Link are really on to something with the whole human-gravity-blanket thing. It’s all just very nice and makes me feel like we’re going to be okay. But, guys, this is Grey’s Anatomy. You know we can’t have nice things without something terrible to balance them out.
So while Link is admitting that he’s falling in love with Amelia and he kind of likes the feeling, the rest of Grey Sloan is in complete disarray because Meredith Grey, freelance writer, doesn’t know how to pitch a story. Last week, Mer admitted to DeLuca that she had sent along 40 ideas for angles on a story discussing what’s wrong with the health-care system that included possible snappy headlines and quick descriptions without any context. Forty ideas! Whatever outlet Meredith sent these to decided to publish those 40 ideas as one terrifying bulleted list without any further explanations under the unfortunate headline “Hospital Hell at Grey Sloan Memorial; Fired Surgeon Speaks Out.” The list, which goes viral, includes items like, “In the eyes of the hospital, you are your insurance,” and “In America, the rich live 10 to 15 years longer than the poor, the health-care industry sells its time to whoever can afford it,” and my personal favorite, “We doctors are the sick ones, we have the disease. The call is coming from inside the house.” Like, how many shots of tequila did Meredith take before writing that one? It is dripping in drama and I love it so.
As Meredith explains repeatedly, she was not pointing a finger at Grey Sloan Memorial, rather hoping to discuss the health-care system as a whole — but no one is going to care about details with a headline like that. The fallout from the bad press is felt immediately. Tom describes it as a complete “slash and burn” situation and people are not taking it well. Chief residents who we’ve never met are quitting (congrats on the promotion, DeLuca?) and patients refuse to get out of ambulances because they sure as hell don’t want to be treated at Grey Sloan anymore. I mean, you’d think a hospital shooting or a MRSA outbreak or a bomb that killed Kyle Chandler would deter people from going to that hospital, but no, it is a listicle written by Meredith Grey that is finally giving people pause.
And then there is Bailey. Bailey is mad. Bailey feels betrayed by her student, her colleague, her friend. Bailey is so upset, in fact, that she cannot stop yelling or sweating.
All of this yelling and sweating turns out to be due to something much more surprising than her rage over what Meredith’s done to Grey Sloan. Talk about some wild story beats, you guys. First, Bailey is concerned that Meredith Grey is giving her a heart attack. Which, honestly, what a great twist that would be for a Grey’s Anatomy finale! But it is not a heart attack. Maggie runs some tests for our intrepid chief of surgery, wondering if Bailey’s problem is more hormonal. Immediately, Bailey spirals, knowing this must be early menopause. She watched her mother go through it. She knew it was likely to happen to her. And hello, IT IS THE TEMPERATURE OF 1,000 BLAZING SUNS IN HERE. She has a full-on breakdown with Ben because not only is her office stifling, she is intensely emotional. She is “feeling all the feelings.” This is just a typical Tuesday for me, but sure.
Friends, Bailey is not going through menopause. No, Maggie arrives to give Bailey the results of her blood tests. She is perimenopausal … but also, she’s pregnant. Bailey is pregnant! Judging by the pure shock on Bailey’s face, I’m sure Bailey and Ben simply assumed pregnancy wasn’t in the cards at this stage. Still, how many accidental pregnancies are we going to get on this show? Use birth control, DOCTORS.
Even before Bailey is reminded just how fertile the doctors in Seattle are, it doesn’t seem like the best time for Meredith to ambush her with an apology. Mer feels awful that her words would cause any type of harm to the place where she grew up — Grey Sloan is her home. But she feels even worse that she’s causing her friend pain. After all, she named one of her children after Bailey. They are family!
The scene in which Meredith and Bailey finally come face-to-face is tough to watch. These are two of our OGs! There is so much history between these two characters that when Bailey lays it out there — that she spent so much of her life helping Meredith become the doctor she is today and that the damage has already been done, there’s no going back — it hurts. It’s hard to see how this fracture in their relationship could ever be repaired. I mean, I’m sure, like, Meredith will save Bailey’s life or something at some point, but for now, very hard to see!
So Meredith doesn’t have Bailey and maybe she doesn’t have DeLuca? The two of them really get into it as DeLuca calls Meredith out for ditching her community service and putting her medical license, her career, and her family at risk. Meredith’s all like, “If you think I’m going to sit by while something is so broken people are dying from it, you don’t know me at all!” A noble speech in theory, but tough to take as she’s saying it to the person who was willing to go to prison for her.
Laughter Is the Best Medicine, Apart From Real Medicine
• Did we just get a pitch-perfect text from one Dr. Cristina Yang?! Who, in the midst of her person’s semi-scandal, does not text comforting words of commiseration, only this: “Move to Switzerland before Bailey murders you in your sleep.” I miss Cristina every day.
• What is the endgame with Pac-North? Now Owen has defected there in the wake of Tom Koracick’s reign of terror. Are we looking at a hospital versus hospital showdown? Another merger situation? I love to see chief Alex Karev absolutely thriving, but the green scrubs are giving me anxiety.
• “It’s amazing what passes for good news around here.”
• Wow, wow, wow. Titling this episode “It’s Raining Men” while also giving us the excruciatingly emotional story line of poor college student Josh who just watched his new girlfriend Alicia get crushed by a stowaway from a plane who fell from the sky in the freakiest of freak accidents really sums up Grey’s Anatomy: at once asking us to acknowledge that there are some horrors you just can’t protect yourself from, witness the toll it will take on this kid who will surely never get over what has transpired, and also to laugh at a silly play on words. Bless this show!
• Anyone else over Helm’s obsession with Meredith? Can we get her a girlfriend or something? She needs more to do.
• Sorry not sorry, I have very little interest in this Jackson Avery versus Tom Koracick situation we have going on. Tom wants to do some damage control by doing a news story on Jackson’s latest patient, a 3-year-old with a deformed skull, and trades a pro bono surgery for the family’s participation in filming what is probably the scariest moment of their lives. It is pretty low, even for Tom, and Jackson eventually flexes his “I run the Foundation” power to put a stop to it. Still, watching Tom and Jackson trade petty barbs over who is who’s boss all episode was exhausting. When will Catherine arrive to put an end to this madness?
• A great nugget of information: Meredith calls bowel resections her “me time.”
