Thursday’s Grey’s Anatomy brought back to the fold Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins for a pediatric surgery that was destined to make history. But whether Grey Sloan’s motley crew of interns still had a future remained a question mark. Why? Read on…
‘CAN YOU EVICT FAMILY?’ | As “Baby, Can I Hold You?” began, the surgical residents were questioned about their actions on the fatal — er, fateful — day that Sam died and Max’s DNI was ignored. Of particular note, Simone told the attorneys performing the interviews that she wouldn’t have operated on Sam if Lucas hadn’t already dived in. Mature as ever, he accused her of professionally “slitting my throat.” In turn, she argued that they might have been able to align their stories if he hadn’t abruptly moved out (to become Amelia’s Roommate From Hell).
‘UGH… I HATE BABIES’ | In the big Case of the Week, Arizona teamed up with Amelia to perform a first-of-its-kind surgery on a tot’s brain while it was still in utero. Spooked after two miscarriages, the mom took some convincing, but the team got her from “I can’t” to “OK.” Arizona actually found it tougher to convince Bailey to allow the residents in the O.R. to observe. “If you don’t let them see the magic,” she argued, “then how will they be motivated to get back in?” Despite a scary complication toward the end of the procedure, the surgery was a success. Not that the interns were paying attention. “They didn’t even appreciate the magic,” Bailey marveled.
‘I’D SAY DON’T THINK, BUT YOU’VE ALREADY GOT THAT COVERED’ | In other developments, Jules was mortified when her brother, “wellness influencer” Doug, showed up in support of one of his followers. The patient’s ingrown hair had turned into an abscess that it took help from Owen and Mika to drain — and in such splatteriffic fashion that Doug fainted. Before Owen discharged the faux doctor, he hailed Jules as a promising physician and strongly suggested that the opportunist find another way to “influence” people.
‘YOU’RE NO BOKI’ | Before allowing Teddy to scrub in again, Richard tested her stamina by having her “operate” on a dummy. Once he was satisfied, he invited her into the O.R. with him, only to discover that three weeks without a scalpel in his hand had left him, for the first time, feeling rusty. Meanwhile, Blue froze when Dorian suddenly needed a chest tube. What was up with that? In that moment, he’d seen Max and panicked, Kwan admitted to Levi. That feeling won’t go away, the co-chief resident told him, but the sensation would at least dull.
IN THE END | As the episode drew to a close, Mika became the first intern to complete her log book. But rather than clear her to return to surgery, Bailey said that the bickering residents had to learn to work together. So until they had helped one another finish their log books — d’oh! — they were all still banned from operating. Thawing toward Amelia, Monica offered her a ride home, but she declined. And Lucas worried aloud that maybe he wasn’t cut out to follow in the family tradition. Then the legacy would die with Amelia, she joked. Nah, he’d be fine, she assured her nephew.