Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Grey’s Anatomy 16x15 Recap: “Snowblind” (What Happens During a Blizzard...) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]


“Snowblind”
Original Airdate: February 27, 2020

It’s not the first time we’ve seen snow wreak havoc on Grey’s Anatomy, but this blizzard definitely allows for some lovely character-driven stories to take place. With the ER overflowing with cases of frostbite and everyone on edge, it’s no surprise that emotions are running high.

WHY CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS?


The episode opens with Jackson on the phone having his first fight with girlfriend Vic. He and Owen are trying to handle the influx of patients in the ER, but they are soon overrun. Meredith, meanwhile, is texting Alex while walking throughout the hospital. She wants to know where he is, but he once again, he doesn’t answer. Mer sees Hayes yelling into a phone about a patient and stops to see what the problem is. Hayes explains that he has a six-year-old girl that is supposed to get a liver transplant, but the weather is so bad that the liver can’t be transported from Seattle Presbyterian Hospital to Grey Sloan Memorial. He is concerned that the girl will die shortly without the liver transplant.

Luckily the recently rogue DeLuca overhears/eavesdrops on Hayes and Mer’s conversation, comes over, and offers to walk to Seattle Presbyterian to get the liver himself. DeLuca starts walking to retrieve said liver and Mer follows to try and talk him out of it. She doesn’t believe he is thinking clearly and attempts to remind him about the horrible weather conditions. Naturally, DeLuca ignores her and decides to go out of spite. At least the tension lifts for a brief moment when we see that Bailey has started tutoring Joey, who is still in the hospital recovering from his collarbone surgery.

The tension returns when Maggie walks into a lounge where Teddy is hanging out and Link is sleeping on the couch. Teddy is finally back to work after being sick. Link wakes up and starts talking to Maggie about how Amelia isn’t showing up at work and is not talking to him. He doesn’t realize that Teddy is in the room, and Maggie shuts down the conversation before he can say too much because Teddy and Owen don’t know the truth of Amelia’s situation yet. Link walks out as Koracick comes in. Maggie decides to go elsewhere, leaving Koracick and Teddy alone. Teddy asks him what is up with Amelia, but Koracick isn’t sure why she asked him for a leave of absence. The look on Teddy’s face says that she might have an idea why she is staying away from work and Link.

Richard and his group of residents are working in the skills lab. We are introduced to a new resident, Dr. Tess Desmond, played by the always wonderful Beanie Feldstein. She starts to buddy up to Richard as he practices for a procedure he has scheduled for that day. Elsewhere in the hospital, Jo wants to start rounds with Schmitt who is on her service for the day. Schmitt tries to divert Jo’s attention from the room she wants to start with because he has lost their patient. Jo gets a little mad at him, but we all know she’s taking her frustration of missing Alex out on the resident. Schmitt frantically leaves to start looking for the missing patient.

QUESTIONABLE DECISIONS


Bailey and Carina have heard the news that DeLuca decided to walk through the blizzard to pick up a liver. Carina wants someone to go after her brother to make sure he’s fine, while Hayes tries to explain why it’s a good and noble thing that DeLuca left. Link chooses this moment to walk up and tell Bailey that he is discharging Joey. Bailey doesn’t want Joey leaving in the middle of the blizzard. Carina announces that she will call her brother every 15 minutes to keep track of him and walks away. Hayes’ patient starts to hemorrhage in a nearby room, and Mer runs over with him to help.

Richard and the residents then go on their rounds. While checking on the patient that Richard is going to operate on, Tess impresses him with her bedside manner and wants her to scrub in. Bailey goes to talk to Joey about being discharged and doesn’t understand why he doesn’t want to meet with a social worker before leaving. She tries to explain that he has options and that someone will want to bring him into their family. Joey disagrees and knows that now that he is 18, no one will want to foster or adopt him. He plans on skipping the rest of high school, not going to college, and finding a job after being discharged. This doesn’t sit well with Bailey, so she decides to take Joey around the hospital for the rest of the day for an impromptu job fair.

Meanwhile, Schmitt looks around the cafeteria for the missing patient and finds Nico instead. Nico invites Schmitt to meet him in an on-call room, but Schmitt isn’t so sure about accepting. He would rather talk about the fact that Nico isn’t out to his family, but he gets interrupted by an angry Jo walking up behind him and directing him back into search mode.

Things start to go south in the ER when Teddy and Owen see a woman named Kendra dragging her pregnant wife, Leslie, into the ER. Kendra tells them that she accidentally hit Leslie with her car. Owen and Teddy are joined by Maggie in a private ER room and try to save Leslie, who is in pretty rough shape. Things in the OR are going better, as Tess talks through the steps of the surgery with Richard while scrubbing in. Richard decides to let his resident be the lead surgeon even though she doesn’t think she’s ready. He assures her that he will guide her through it.

We then see Bailey and Joey at the beginning of their job fair day. Schmitt nearly runs them over while searching for his lost patient and is forced to tell Bailey what is going on. Bailey says if the story doesn’t have a happy ending, then his job won’t either, which is the most Bailey thing she has said in a long time.

LIES


Hayes and Mer are working on stopping the six-year-old patient’s internal bleeding in the OR. Since they have time to kill while waiting for DeLuca to return with the liver, Hayes asks Mer to tell him the full story of how she got fired. Mer explains how she committed insurance fraud, and Hayes responds in an unusual way. He feels that the United States’ medical system is insane and that he understands why she did what she did. They get interrupted by a call from Seattle Pres informing them that DeLuca has left their hospital with the liver. Mer and Hayes continue their conversation, and we learn that the patient’s older sister was treated by Alex and died of cirrhosis. Hayes reveals that Cristina told him about Alex when they worked together, and he even knows Alex’s old “evil spawn” nickname. Mer naturally wants to know what Cristina had to say about her, but Hayes stays mum and says he can’t recall anything. Mer isn’t the only one who knows he’s definitely lying.

The best twist from Grey’s Anatomy this year comes when Tess and Richard are about to start their surgery. As Tess is about to make her first cut, Schmitt runs into their OR’s scrub room to check it off  on the list of places his patient could be. He looks into the OR and notices that Tess Desmond is actually his runaway patient, Tess Anderson. A stunned Tess quickly runs out the door while Schmitt chases after her, while Richard stays behind and doesn’t know how to react. Schmitt manages to catch Tess and brings her back to her room. Jo, Richard, and a security guard are keeping watch in case Tess makes another escape attempt. Tess tries to explain herself by telling the doctors that she has her fourth type of cancer in eight years and has spent half her life in the hospital, which inspired her to go to med school. When her cancer came back, she had to drop out of med school because the treatments drained her bank account. She couldn’t afford to go back to school, so she now works as a barista. Tess decided to try and live her dream for one day when the blizzard struck, which made me a little teary-eyed.

COMING TO THE RESCUE


Bailey and Joey continue their job fair in the ER, where they meet Maggie. The three continue on to Leslie’s room, where Leslie is coding. Joey looks scared out of his mind, and Bailey tries to get him to take himself and Kendra out of the room. Owen knows that they need to do an emergency C-section right then and there if they are going to have any chance of saving both mom and baby.

Back in Hayes and Mer’s OR, the doctors are getting concerned that they haven’t heard from DeLuca yet. Mer decides to continue their personal conversation by asking Hayes why he moved to Switzerland. It turns out that Hayes and Mer have another thing in common: he ran away with his kids after his wife died. Mer tells him how she ran away to San Diego after Derek died, which prompts Hayes to ask how Derek died. The conversation gets a bit bleak as Mer says that Derek died quickly, and Hayes says his wife died slowly over several years from cancer. Mer discusses how the first years after a spouse’s death are tough and says that it does and doesn’t get better. They both agree that all firsts after the death of a spouse are tough. Just as they are having a beautiful moment of connection, a half frozen DeLuca busts into the OR with the liver. DeLuca didn’t wear gloves, and his hands look like they are about to fall off from frostbite.

Mer pages Jackson, who pulls DeLuca into an exam room. Carina shows up is very mad at her younger brother. The siblings yell at each other in Italian, so you know the emotions are flowing. Upon examination, it’s clear that DeLuca’s hands are in rough shape. DeLuca wants to get back to work and help more patients, but Jackson assures him that if he doesn’t sit down, he will lose his hands. That reality check does the job and DeLuca finally starts to calm down. Hayes and Mer go tell their patient’s parents that her transplant went well and that she will make a full recovery. They want to thank DeLuca for getting the liver, but the doctors explain they can’t see him at the moment. Hayes and Mer look very pleased with their success, which further strengthens their bond.

Leslie’s emergency C-section doesn’t appear to be going well, as she is clotting inside her body. Owen and Teddy are having an extremely tough time trying to stop the bleeding. Owen finally gets the baby out and starts compressions on Leslie. In another room, Kendra is talking to Bailey and Joey. She is naturally very upset about the possibility that she killed her wife. Bailey decides to check how things are going and instructs Joey to stay back with Kendra. As Bailey gets back to Leslie’s room, both Leslie and the baby have been resuscitated. Joey has tagged along and is very impressed that the doctors saved both Leslie and her baby girl.

FRIENDSHIPS MADE AND DESTROYED


After saving Leslie, Owen brings her to the OR, while Teddy goes outside for a breather. Koracick walks out behind her with two cups of hot chocolate. It’s really nice how sweet Koracick still is towards Teddy considering she broke his heart, but the two make some progress towards staying close friends by having their first real conversation in weeks. Teddy is trying to quiet her mind by taking a break outside because she’s been afraid that Owen might be the father of Amelia’s baby since she heard Amelia was pregnant. She hasn’t been able to shake the feeling and doesn’t trust that things will work out in her favor. Teddy thinks that Owen might always be in love with Amelia, but Koracick shuts down her negative thoughts by describing how clear it is to everyone that Owen is head over heels in love with Teddy. He also adds that he would be the first one to tell her if Owen thought otherwise, but he knows the dark feelings that Teddy has been having. Teddy tells Koracick that he is a good man, but he thinks she is the only person that thinks that. With that, Koracick starts a snowball fight and their friendship resumes.

On his way to check up on Tess, Jo tells Richard that they pushed Tess’s surgery until the morning since a psych consult deemed her to not be a flight risk. Richard visits his faux resident on his own and gives her the good news that the surgery she tried to scrub in on went well. He continues by telling Tess about his difficult journey to make his dream of becoming a surgeon come true. Richard tells Tess that if she can survive four types of cancer, then she can certainly finish med school. In another unexpected twist, Richard shows Tess that he, all of the sudden, has shaky hands and isn’t sure what is causing it. He knows he won’t be able to keep it hidden for long and feels his operating days are done. As a gesture of goodwill and a symbol for keeping dreams alive, Richard gives Tess his stethoscope before leaving. Tess is touched by the moment and so is everyone at home. While this is the end of Tess’s story for the episode, I do hope that the producers find a way to bring Beanie Feldstein back for more episodes, whether as a patient or a potential intern one day.

Jackson checks up on DeLuca, who has been admitted for frostbite, and feels that surgery will probably be necessary to save his hands. Before leaving, Jackson states that the next 12 hours are critical to the long-term function of his hands. Mer and Carina come in to visit, and Mer tells DeLuca that the liver transplant was successful. DeLuca gets snippy and tells Mer that she is essentially thanking him for not listening to her. Carina doesn’t appreciate the comment and tells her brother that he sounds like their father. That sets DeLuca off once again because he doesn’t think that he has the same mental condition as his father. He gets downright nasty when he tells Mer that he doesn’t accuse her of having Alzheimer’s every time she forgets something. Hayes has been standing outside DeLuca’s room the whole time and hears everything, but he oddly doesn’t try to stop Mer as she gets upset and leaves. It is nice to know that Hayes is keeping a watchful eye on DeLuca because he currently isn’t to be trusted.

In the most heart-warming moment of the episode, Bailey and Joey continue to bond while visiting Leslie’s daughter in the NICU. Joey tells Bailey that watching Leslie and the baby be saved was the coolest thing he’s ever seen. Out of nowhere, Bailey offers to have Joey stay with her family while he finishes school and applies to colleges. She wants him to then come back for holidays and let her help him get a real career. Bailey makes a beautiful speech about having extra room in her house and her life to love him. She feels that Ben and Tuck will understand her choice to bring Joey into their family, but doesn’t even consider checking with her husband first. With a huge smile on his face, Joey accepts Bailey’s offer. This is actually a very wonderful way to allow Ben and Bailey to heal after her miscarriage and a clever way to bring another child into their lives.

MAKE UP OR BREAK UP


Elsewhere in the hospital, Teddy decides to run her theory past Maggie. She asks if she is being crazy about reading into Amelia and Link’s behavior and her thought that Owen might be the father. Maggie admits that Teddy isn’t crazy to think that, which confirms Teddy’s worst fear. On his way out for the night, Jackson runs into Vic, who is dropping off the patient with an amputated foot from the night’s episode of Station 19. They both apologize for getting into their first fight and make up.

Nico walks in on Schmitt chilling in an on-call room, and Schmitt starts telling him all about Tess. Nico tries to silence him with sex, but Schmitt isn’t into it. He understands if Nico isn’t ready to talk, but tries to get the point across of having a deeper relationship. Nico decides to literally tell Schmitt about who he is and how he doesn’t like to talk about feelings. In a more relatable moment, Nico explains that he simply wants Schmitt to accept him for who he is and not try and change him. Schmitt tells Nico he loves and accepts him, but the look on his face says otherwise. I’m guessing their days as a couple are numbered.

We then see Koracick in the hotel room he is living in. Someone knocks on his door, and when he opens it, he is shocked to see Teddy standing there. Without saying anything, Teddy kisses her ex. He pulls her inside, shuts the door, and our imaginations get to go wild with what might have happened next. The real questions are whether Teddy is trying to get revenge on Owen or whether she still has feelings for Koracick or both.

Home life gets more complicated when Ben shows up at home early. Bailey meets him at the door, but he sees Joey and Tuck playing video games. Ben’s clearly confused about what’s going on, and all Bailey manages to say is: “We should talk.” Jo’s home life is even messier when she thinks she hears Alex outside their apartment door and is disappointed that it’s only Link who has shown up for them to be miserable together. Jo puts the pieces of the puzzle together and realizes that Alex must have left her. Link objects, but Jo believes that Alex woke up one day and felt the need to escape his life and her. Jo reveals that she called Alex’s mom, who told her that Alex never came to visit her.

This causes Jo to have a panic attack, and Link attempts to comfort her. Whether Alex truly abandoned Jo or not will be revealed in the March 5 episode. If Alex actually did abandon Jo, it would be very disappointing because he was always the guy that stayed no matter what, while his significant others always left him. It would be very against his character for him to up and leave like that, so hopefully the writers found a better way to write him off.

The episode ends with one more bonding moment between Mer and Hayes, who leave the hospital for the night at the same time. They are both going home to their kids, but Hayes decides to ask Mer who DeLuca is to her before letting her leave. She replies by saying DeLuca is one of her firsts and is the first man she said “I love you” to since Derek. Hayes asks whether saying “I love you” to someone new helps, and Mer says it was really good for her. Their similarities continue to appear when Hayes reveals that he has been lonely since his wife died and never met anyone widowed so young like him. He says that it helps him to have a friend like Mer, who says it helps her too. Mer starts to walk away, but Hayes stops her again by saying that Cristina told him she had a twisted sister, which he guesses must be Mer. She smiles before walking away, and it’s clear that they are both into each other. It’s only a matter of time before these friends become something more.

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