Sunday, May 29, 2022

Grey’s Anatomy 18x19 and 18x20 Recaps: “Out for Blood” & “You Are the Blood” (Blood Bath) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]


“Out for Blood”
Original Airdate: May 26, 2022

A two-hour season finale that also doubles as the series’ 400th episode is the way Grey’s Anatomy goes out for the year. It’s a wild ride to the finish that sees big risks have massive consequences. It’s not all stress and chaos because fans are treated with the return of Jackson and April in the second hour, along with Ellis Grey in the both hours as the negative voice in Meredith’s head. Grey’s Anatomy has always known how to go big for its season finales, and this one is a real doozy.

LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE STORMS ARE BREWING

The first episode begins with Mer and Bokhee in the OR struggling through a surgery. Mer sees Ellis instead of Bokhee, and Ellis starts berating Mer with negativity, telling Mer that she is losing control. Mer wakes up with a gasp, and it turns out she was dreaming. However, her dream was an omen... even if she doesn’t realize it yet. 

It’s a rainy day in Seattle, and Maggie and Winston would rather hang out than go to work, but the accreditation council is coming that day. Winston wants to go to Boston to get Maggie’s money back from Wendell, but Maggie doesn’t want it back and would rather return to their old lives. He feels he needs to fix things, and Maggie asserts that she wants Winston to let it go and not get involved in the bad stuff that Wendell got himself into. Winston doesn’t want her interfering with his brother and infers that Maggie doesn’t understand because she doesn’t really have siblings. That really angers Maggie, and Winston tries to backpedal by saying he meant she didn’t grow up with her sisters. 

Mer and Zola sit in the kitchen looking at houses online. Nick is packing some things and states that he won’t miss the rain. Mer laughs at the fact that he has only been in Seattle for a month and is already complaining about the rain. Zola wants to know if they will be leaving if the residency program continues, and Mer says they would eventually leave. Amelia runs in to show them that their Parkinson’s trial paper has been published, and they are all excited to show it to the world.

We then see Todd walking Jo and Luna into the hospital with an umbrella. As they get to the door, Todd tells Jo that she was amazing the night prior and he wants to see her again later that night. Jo doesn’t seem as into it as she usually would. Jo goes inside and walks into an elevator that Link is in. Luna starts crying, and Jo tells Link that Luna didn’t sleep because of Todd. He stayed over for the first time and they had sex. After, Todd told Jo that he loved her. Link cringes as Jo says love is a big word for her.

Upstairs, Schmitt, Tseng, and Perez are talking with Simon and Kristen in Simon’s hospital room. Schmitt tells them the story of how he dropped his glasses in a patient’s abdominal cavity during surgery and makes the group laugh. Richard walks in to check up on Simon, who is now on oxygen and not doing well. Richard tells the group that the hospital has a blood shortage and a donation center is being set up in the lobby. Simon jokes that he wants to donate blood, which unexpectedly foreshadows what’s to come.

Owen and Teddy are in the ER and learn the hospital is out of O- blood. A man named John walks into the ER looking for Owen and finds him. He explains that his wife, Rosie, is a sick Marine, and Heather, Noah’s widow, said Owen could help them. Owen takes them to a private room to talk, and John tells him how Rosie did three tours in Iraq and came back with a bad cough that eventually turned into pulmonary fibrosis. They have tried every treatment and nothing helps. Owen thinks John is there to get Rosie into his pulmonary fibrosis study, but he’s not. John and Rosie live in Utah, where physician assisted death is illegal. Rosie is dying and needs medication from Owen to die with dignity. Owen apologizes and tells John that he can’t do that, so John threatens to go to the police if he doesn’t get the drugs. 

FINDING ANOTHER WAY

Bailey calls a meeting with all the attendings to talk about the blood shortage. She explains that their blood bank is at a critically low level and all elective surgeries need to be canceled. She is trying to find an emergency supply of blood to be delivered, but in the meantime, Bailey asks everyone to donate their blood to help. After the meeting, Mer and Nick walk down the hall, and a nurse congratulates Mer on her Parkison’s article. Nick tells Mer about a patient of his that has a tumor in her portal vein. He wants to know if a whipple procedure might work and shows Mer the scans. She doesn’t think he would get clear margins with that surgery, so she asks to meet the patient and take a look herself. Back at the blood drive, Schmitt and Helm wait for their turn to donate. Schmitt realizes he can’t donate his blood because gay men who have been sexually active in the past three months at the time the blood is drawn are prohibited by law from donating blood. Both he and Helm think that is absurd, and that awful truth becomes a recurring theme for the episode.

Nick and Mer go see his patient, Cora. Cora’s older aunt, Sally, is watching a soap opera with Nick while Mer examines Cora. Mer thinks they could try the whipple, but they wouldn’t be able to get 100% of the tumor. It might give her more time and lessen her pain though. Cora explains that Aunt Sally raised her and now she takes care of her aunt, so she needs to get better.

Elsewhere in the hospital, Owen finds Teddy and tells her about John. Teddy is very angry that Heather is telling other people about the service Owen provided for Noah. Owen doesn’t know what to do because he could go to jail. Teddy thinks John could be faking the whole thing, and Owen assures her it is real because he video chatted with Rosie and has her medical records. Owen decides he can check the military database to confirm she is who they say she is, and Teddy suggests they find another way to help if Rosie is actually a veteran.

Upstairs, Kristen is yelling for help and Link, Winston, and Schmitt run into Simon’s room. Simon can’t breathe and starts to code. The doctors know they need to intubate him, but Simon says no. He knows he might never wake up, but Kristen gives them permission to intubate and save him.

Downstairs, Maggie and Amelia are giving blood and having a heart-to-heart. Amelia knows the day should be celebratory because of the article, but she’s in a down mood. Maggie asks if she has heard from Kai, and Amelia is intensely aching from the breakup. Maggie talks about how Winston hasn’t heard from Wendell and won’t stop obsessing over him. She also tells her sister about their morning conversation in which Winston implied Maggie doesn’t know what it’s like to have siblings. Amelia understands where Winston was coming from. She knows that she and Maggie are sisters in the best ways, but it is different with her biological sisters that she grew up with. Amelia also tells Maggie to not attempt to stop Winston from obsessing because she won’t be able to. Maggie thought she knew Winston, but is finding that didn’t know a lot about him and didn’t anticipate some of his actions.

Jo goes to check on Link in the scan room while he waits for Simon’s latest images. Link is glad to see Jo and needs a distraction. He asks if she broke up with Todd, but she has not. Jo really likes Todd and likes how nice he is, but he does have flaws, like narrating his life out loud, that annoy her. Link starts to sing opera as a joke, which makes Jo leave. Simon’s scans appear on the computer and show that his cancer is much worse than anticipated.

Outside the hospital, Nick and Mer get some fresh air while trying to come up with bold surgical moves to save Cora. Mer wants to cut around the tumor a little at a time, but knows they can’t with the critical blood shortage. Nick has a lightbulb moment and suggests they do the whipple outside of Cora’s body by removing her liver, pancreas, and intestines. They can remove the tumor and then transplant her organs back inside her abdominal cavity. Mer is in, and they bring their idea to Richard, who thinks it’s a bad and irresponsible move. They want Richard to scrub in to help out, but he knows today is not the day to go rogue and perform a twenty-hour surgery when they will find out whether the residency program is dead or not the next day. Mer thinks the surgery is so cutting edge that it could single-handedly save the program. Richard still won’t budge and won’t help them. Nick thinks they should wait a few days for things to calm down at Grey Sloan Memorial before doing the surgery, but Mer pulls a classic Mer move and decides she will do the very risky surgery anyway.

THE EXECUTIONER ARRIVES

In another room, Maggie, Winston, and Link examine Simon’s latest scans. There are more tumors now, and the cardiothoracic surgeons aren’t sure they can get his lungs to work. Link reminds them that Kristen is 36 weeks pregnant and needs him to survive until she can have a safe C-section so Simon can meet his child. He asks if ECMO would buy Simon time. Maggie thinks Simon could bleed out if they tried, so Link pleads with Maggie to meet Kristen before making a final decision.

Richard and Bailey meet with Ms. Blake from the accreditation council when she arrives at Grey Sloan Memorial. They tout how they have hired six new attendings and their residency teaching cases are up 40%. Blake saw Mer and Amelia’s Parkinson’s trial article and is happy with the positive attention it will bring the hospital. She is excited to see if more of the issues she previously flagged have been addressed too. They walk into the blood drive, which makes Blake instantly appalled. Bailey explains to her that the whole country is in a blood shortage, so they took matters into their own hands. Blake thinks it is a terrible idea for residents to give blood during their shifts. Bailey counters that it’s voluntary and that a nationwide problem shouldn’t count against them.

Next, Link, Maggie, and Winston talk to Kristen about ECMO for Simon. Kristen is instantly in, so Winston tries to explain that there will be a big risk of clots and could make Simon die quickly. Maggie knows that Simon can’t recover from his cancer, and if they put him on ECMO, they will have to unplug him at some point, which may make it harder. Kristen disagrees because the whole situation has been impossible. She explains that Simon wants her to tell their son that they met and wants that one last thing for him. She’s fine with the fact that it could be harder for her since it’s just one more impossible thing to add to the list. As long as Simon meets his son, Kristen approves of ECMO. Winston and Maggie say they will try their best and give her some much needed hope.

Elsewhere, Nick and Mer bring their surgical idea to Cora. They want her to know how difficult it will be and make the consequences clear. Cora is afraid and doesn’t know what will happen to her Aunt Sally if she dies. Mer knows the surgery is tricky, but it is her only chance of survival. Mer tells Cora that she needs to take care of herself, which makes Cora agree to the procedure.

We then see Teddy and Owen meet John outside to talk. Owen tells John that they will help, but it’s a complicated situation. They need him and Rosie to relocate to Washington and become residents, that way Rosie will be able to qualify for physician assisted death. Owen and Teddy will cover the cost. They also tell John that they have to assess Rosie and can’t give her medication without seeing her because that wouldn’t be ethical. John is enraged and doesn’t want to relocate. He says that Rosie wants it to look like she died in her bed. He knows Teddy and Owen are veterans and begs them to allow his wife to die with the dignity and honor that she lived with. Teddy tells him that she is deeply sorry, but they can’t do what he is asking. John storms off into the rain without accepting the offer.

PERFECT FINALE DRAMA

Back inside, Mer and Nick start Cora’s surgery in the OR with Bokhee and Helm assisting. They find the tumor and see that it’s a bit more complicated than they thought. Nick isn’t sure they should keep going, but Mer affirms this is Cora’s only chance to live. They will need to save every drop of blood to transfuse back into Cora, which will be difficult. Richard and Blake walk into the gallery and are not happy with what they are seeing. Helm wants to know if, when Richard said no to the surgery, he meant he wouldn’t do it or that no one should. Mer doesn’t answer and keeps working. 

The next few minutes show intercutting scenes of Cora’s surgery, Simon being put on ECMO, and Kristen waiting for news. Link takes Kristen out of Simon’s room so Maggie, Winston, and Schmitt can put him on ECMO. In the OR, Nick and Mer clamp off the blood vessels and remove Cora’s organs. They put them in a tray and start working to excise the tumor.  Link brings Kristen some food in the waiting room, and she asks him if she is being selfish for putting Simon through ECMO. Link says that the first time he saw his son, his heart left his body from the amount of love he experienced, so it will be worth it. Simon’s blood pressure starts to drop, so Maggie and Winston start working faster. Mer and Nick remove the tumor and begin to put Cora’s organs back inside her abdominal cavity.

We cut to Bailey on the phone trying to find out when the shipment of blood will arrive. She is annoyed that it is delayed from the rain storm and suggests that she should pick it up herself. Schmitt busts in, making Bailey hang up her call, and says that his blood is just as good as anyone else’s. He wants to help and thinks the prejudice against gay men is awful. Bailey agrees that the law is very wrong and tells the resident that if she wasn’t in charge of the rules, they wouldn’t be having this conversation (i.e., she would tell him to go ahead and donate). However, she can’t let him donate his blood, so Schmitt storms out as John walks in to report Owen. 

Jo finds Todd with a giant teddy bear in the lobby. The sight seems to be the last straw, and she tells him that they aren’t a good match. He doesn’t understand because he wants to be with her. Jo thinks it is more casual for her than it is for him, so she apologizes and breaks up with him. Todd is rightfully stunned as Jo walks away.

In the OR gallery, Richard tries to lighten the mood by telling Blake that only a few people at Grey Sloan Memorial have done the kind of surgery that Nick and Mer are currently doing. Perez, who is also watching, overhears and says that he is glad Mer postponed leaving. Blake didn’t know Mer was leaving, which is a huge strike against the failing residency program in her eyes. Mer finishes operating on Cora’s liver and has Helm bring it to Nick for autotransplantation. Helm quietly tells Nick that she approves of him and Mer together as Nick starts inserting the liver. 

Elsewhere, Kristen, Link, and Maggie go see Simon, who is now awake. Simon tells Kristen that he wants to name their son Jamal after her, because the name means beauty. After the touching moment, Maggie meets Winston outside to talk. She asks what his blood type is because she finds it weird that she doesn’t know. They share their blood types, and Maggie turns things more serious by saying she feels like they knew each other better when their relationship was long distance. She is constantly surprised by things she doesn’t know about him and the decisions he makes. Maggie never knew about Wendell either and starts turning the conversation into a fight. She feels like she doesn’t know Winston and that he doesn’t get her. Maggie loves him, but she now thinks they might have gotten married too quickly. 

In one of the lounges, Owen and Teddy start packing their belongings. Owen thinks he can go to Utah and help Rosie, but Teddy won’t let him. She loves every part of him, but she won’t let him go to prison for this. She says they will run since it is their only option. Bailey walks in and shuts the door behind her. She wants to know if John was spouting lies or if all he said is true. 

As the tension rises quickly, Mer and Nick are almost done with Cora’s surgery when she starts bleeding. They will need more blood to keep up with the amount she is losing. Surgical scenes intercut with ones in the lounge where Owen tells Bailey the truth, and she can’t get past his criminal conduct and that he stole drugs from the hospital. Things start to go downhill in the OR, while Bailey wants to know if what Owen did is now outside the statute of limitations. Owen assures her he didn’t commit murder, rather he did right by the dying soldiers. Mer starts to stumble during the surgery and is plagued by Ellis’ doom and gloom in her head. She doesn’t have a plan to move forward, so they need to stop the surgery since they don’t have enough blood currently. They will resume when the blood arrives, and they will wait in the OR in the meantime. It is the perfect moment for Bailey to get a call from Ben, who is at the site of an accident. The transport vehicle carrying the blood crashed and all the blood is trashed. Bailey is in disbelief, and we get a glimpse of the literal bloodbath on the road. 

This is where episode one of the two-part finale ends, and it would have made a great cliffhanger if it aired on a separate week. Thankfully, you can keep reading to find out what happened next!



“You Are the Blood”
Original Airdate: May 26, 2022

The second part of the finale just so happens to be Grey’s Anatomy’s 400th episode! It starts with a bang as we see Jackson eulogizing Catherine. I’m sure every fan thought they were missing something until we find out he’s doing it as a sort of joke while he, April, and Harriet are visiting Grey Sloan Memorial. Catherine is getting her latest round of treatment and asked him and April to eulogize her while she is still alive so she could hear it. Jackson is also visiting on official Fox Foundation business, and any fan will know this is a special episode when one of the Grey’s Anatomy unofficial theme songs, “How to Save a Life” by The Fray, is playing in the background. That’s one of many callbacks to come during the monumental hour.

We then see firefighters Ben and Travis from Station 19 cleaning up the literal blood spill that closed the first hour. Travis is also mad that he can’t donate blood as a sexually active gay man and hates the law. He doesn’t understand why it still exists when doctors can test blood for HIV. He truly believes the blood shortage would be over in a week if that law changed because the gay community loves to rally behind causes. They search the wreck for any blood bags that didn’t explode so they can at least deliver something to the hospital.

Back at the hospital, Mer and Nick are still in the OR with Cora as they wait for more blood to arrive. They had sent Helm for a status update, and she runs back in to say there is no blood. She tells them there was an accident with the blood and that the transport vehicle spun out in the rain. Mer goes into a slight panic and decides to get Cora to the ICU, which Nick thinks is absurd. Mer thinks if they pack her with enough gauze, it will bridge her enough until more blood arrives. Mer turns to the gallery and asks everyone up there to give blood to help them out. That action makes Mer think back to her first day at Grey Sloan Memorial, when she and her fellow newly-minted interns were in the gallery together (the show depicts this in the first of many flashback scenes this episode).

In the lounge, Bailey tells Owen and Teddy about the accident and can’t believe she has a position shortage to deal with too. She had one problem solved and now more have popped up. Bailey also realizes that no one is covering the ER, but that problem is solved when April unassumingly walks into the lounge. Bailey immediately gives her a coffee and tells her to cover the pit, which April does.

We next see Simon and Kristen talking about their future son as Simon gives her instructions. Maggie, Winston, and Schmitt are also there. Simon asks why all three of them are there, and Winston says that all surgeries are now canceled due to the blood shortage. Kristen starts having contractions, so Schmitt pages Jo.

Ben and Travis arrive at Grey Sloan Memorial’s ambulance bay with 37 units of blood. April meets them outside, and Ben is surprised to see her. April explains how she is still Pavlov’s dog because when Bailey yelled at her, she heeled. Ben tells April she will have to close the ER to all traumas because they won’t have enough blood, and April knows that will give Bailey something else to yell about.

BURN IT TO THE GROUND

Jackson and Blake walk through the halls of the hospital and talk. He tells her that the Fox Foundation is committed to doubling its funding for Grey Sloan Memorial’s residency program and its success. Blake brings up the fact that Mer is leaving, and Jackson tries to pretend for a moment that Mer may stay before admitting she has plans to leave. Blake is still upset at overhearing that news from a resident and wants to know what else is being hidden from her.

Owen and Teddy continue their conversation with Bailey and explain what happens to some soldiers from the wartime experiences and how it causes horrible health problems. Teddy asks Bailey what if it was Ben in their shoes, and Bailey is firm that Ben wouldn’t break the law. Teddy doesn’t believe these soldiers should be left to die horribly, so she and Owen are working to change the laws. Owen says they know firsthand what these soldiers have sacrificed and experienced, which is why he had to fight for them. Bailey may understand where they are coming from, but she is still disturbed by everything.

April has closed the ER to new incoming traumas and is in the pit taking her own blood. Amelia walks in to lend a hand and hugs her former colleague. April is happy for Amelia’s article and asks for an update on Catherine’s cancer. Amelia tells her that she is planning on talking to Catherine’s oncologist later on and will give her an update then. She sits down and starts crying and tells April how she is going through a breakup. April asks if she fell in love, and Amelia doesn’t think so because it didn’t feel the same as the other times she was in love. Amelia says she felt seen and known and fit like two puzzle pieces with Kai. She explains that Kai doesn’t want what Amelia wants or has because they don’t want kids. April asks if she is sure it’s over, and Amelia replies that it feels pretty over. April tells her friend to never say never because sometimes love comes back around, which should make you swoon over her current relationship status.

Upstairs in the ICU, Nick, Mer, and Helm have Cora situated in her new room. Helm again questions why they did the surgery, and Mer replies that if they didn’t remove the tumor, Cora most certainly would have died. This prompts Mer to have flashbacks of Derek asking her why she took out a tumor in a rough voice. Richard comes into the ICU and disrupts Mer’s memory and demands to know why she had to do the surgery. He rants about how Mer never cares about the consequences of her actions and how she may have killed the residency program by doing the surgery. Richard concludes by saying that Mer is burning Grey Sloan Memorial to the ground as she leaves, which would finally make Ellis proud of her. The harsh remarks make Mer think back to the times when Derek, Ellis, and even Richard yelled at her in the past. After Richard leaves, Mer tells Nick and Helm that the tumor had to come out before storming out herself.

In Simon’s room, Jo has arrived and is talking to Kristen about her pain. Jo wants to take Kristen to the OB floor to examine her and check the baby, which makes Kristen panic about not wanting to leave Simon. Kristen starts bleeding, and Jo tells her they have to go now. On her way out, Kristen asks Simon to stay alive and tells Link to keep him alive for her. Jo, Maggie, and Schmitt get Kristen on a gurney and run through the halls of the hospital with her. The two senior doctors send Schmitt to find some blood for Kristen when Jo realizes she has a placental rupture that will need to be fixed surgically. Winston has stayed with Simon, and Schmitt runs back to Simon’s room looking for blood. He needs the blood they are giving Simon for ECMO because he and Kristen are the same blood type. Simon tells Schmitt to take the blood bags and save Kristen. Winston gives Schmitt the blood, and Schmitt runs to the OR. Link comes back into the room and finds out what just happened. Simon asks the doctors to take him off ECMO and give all the blood to Kristen to save her and their baby.

Elsewhere, Mer is still spiraling and is thinking about Ellis. Nick walks up to check on her, and Mer tells him that Ellis told her not to come to the hospital because she didn’t believe Richard had what it took to teach Mer properly. Mer doesn’t like being told what to do, so she did it anyway. Nick reiterates that they could have waited to do Cora’s surgery, which makes Mer think that Nick agrees with Richard that she must be sabotaging the residency program on purpose. Nick tells her that she is incorrect; rather, he believes Mer is insecure about leaving Seattle, which is impairing her judgment. Cora starts to code, and they run to save her.

THE END OF AN ERA

Blake happens across the room where Bailey, Owen, and Teddy have been talking. She has been calling Bailey, who simply says, “It’s been a day.” Blake informs Bailey that the ER is closed to new traumas, which Bailey wasn’t aware of but is not surprised by. Bailey asks if they can have a few minutes, so Blake says she will wait in Bailey’s office. Bailey invites Blake to donate blood while she waits, and Blake walks out. Bailey tells Owen and Teddy that the world is broken in a thousand different ways that she can’t fix. She needs to call the police because if she doesn’t, she could go to jail too. However, she needs to manage a life-threatening blood shortage first, which might take her a few hours. Bailey says she will accept Owen and Teddy’s resignations and wishes them both the best of luck before leaving the room. 

Owen and Teddy spring into action immediately. Owen wants Teddy to get the kids while he goes home to pack what he can. Teddy thinks they have to go right that moment, so Owen decides to contact Amelia to get the kids for them. As they walk through the halls one last time, police officers start walking in their direction, so they turn and walk the other way and out of Grey Sloan Memorial, possibly forever.

We then get a happy scene in which Catherine is reading a book to Harriet in Richard’s office. Amelia comes in and says she heard about the preemptive memorial, and Richard quips how Catherine likes hearing compliments. Amelia spoke with Catherine’s oncologist, and the tumor is responding very well to the chemo trial. Catherine is officially living with cancer instead of dying from it again. The couple is elated by the news, and it’s great to have one happy moment in an otherwise bleak episode. 

The happiness doesn’t last long because the scene then cuts back to Winston and Link, who tell Simon he still has a chance to meet his son. Link tells Simon that it has been a tremendous privilege to be his doctor, and Winston says it was an honor to witness his love story. Simon tells them that Kristen changed him, noticed every little thing about him, and showed him how to love himself. He wants them to tell her that his life was well lived, as he knows he probably won’t see her again.

Back in the ICU, Nick and Mer have been performing CPR on Cora for 30 minutes. She is in DIC and desperately needs blood. Mer thinks back to when Derek was shot, and she says the same words to Cora as she told Derek about not leaving her. Mer won’t give up, even when Nick tells her to stop as we see blood pouring out of Cora’s nose. 

In the OR, Maggie, Jo, and Schmitt deliver Kristen and Simon’s baby. They are out of blood, and blood is pouring out of Kristen in another gruesome scene. Winston comes in with one last bag of blood and wants to take the baby to Simon. They try to save Kristen, and once the baby is checked out and ready, Winston takes him to meet his father. In another perfect vintage Grey’s Anatomy moment, “The Story” by Brandi Carlile plays in the background. Grey’s Anatomy has always used some great music, and it’s nice to hear some of the favorites back in this episode. 

We then check in on the other gory scene: Cora’s ICU room. Nick tells Mer that that’s it, and she finally stops CPR. She replays the memories of Derek dying in her mind, pulls off her gloves, gives the time of death, and walks out. Winston arrives in Simon’s room with the baby, and Link tries to wake up a fading Simon. He opens his eyes as Winston puts the baby on his chest. In a truly touching moment, Simon gets to hold his son, says the same “Hello, forever” line that he constantly says to Kristen, kisses the baby’s cheek, then dies with him on his chest. Winston takes the baby, and Link is visibly sad to see Simon pass. In the end, it was nice that the writers decided to let Simon hold on just long enough to meet his son and have that sweet moment he wanted.

Amelia brings Leo and Allison to Joe’s Bar to meet Teddy and Owen. They can’t tell Amelia what is going on and can’t tell her where they are going. They assure her that everyone is fine, but they have to go. Amelia tries to protest, so Teddy asks her to let them go. Amelia tearfully says she can’t lose them and starts to cry. She needs to at least know where they are going, and as they leave, Owen promises to call soon. 

Back at Grey Sloan Memorial, Mer sits down with Sally to tell her that Cora died. She explains that they did everything they could, but Cora went into organ failure. Sally can’t remember who Cora is due to some unknown memory issue, which makes Mer think back to Ellis deteriorating from Alzheimer’s. Elsewhere, Bailey finds Helm, Schmitt, and a ton of men in the halls. The residents explain that they put out a call on social media to their gay, sexless friends to help donate blood. Tons of gay men showed up in response, including Nico, just like Travis said they would. Bailey tells Schmitt that she will fight the “stupid rule” with him, which makes Schmitt’s day.

In the ICU, we see that Kristen survived her surgery. Maggie and Winston introduce her to her baby as Jo and Link watch from outside the room. Kristen cries while telling the baby, “Your daddy loved you beyond the beyond.” Jo looks at Link, and he walks away. Link goes outside in the rain for some fresh air, and Amelia comes running back to the hospital. She asks if he knows what’s going on with Owen and Teddy, but Link doesn’t know anything either. Amelia decides to apologize to Link for breaking his heart and making him feel blindsided. She had forgotten how much that hurts, and if she had remembered, she would have handled things differently. Link responds that without her, he never would have had a kid because he is too clinical. However, Scout changed his world, so he doesn’t hate Amelia. Link says he still loves her, but not in a painful way anymore. After a full year of pining, it’s nice to see these exes finally make up and be friends again.

Bailey finally decides to go talk to Blake in her office. Blake heard about the accident with the blood transport vehicle, and Bailey tells her about the blood drive’s success through social media. Bailey wants to be fully transparent with Blake and tells her that Teddy and Owen have left, but she will have candidates lined up for their positions very soon. She goes on to say that Mer is also leaving, and even though she will be hard to replace, they will persevere. Blake brings up the unnecessary surgery that Mer performed and believes she wasted blood for no reason. Blake says that working with the same people for too long can make it feel like a family and blur the lines of who is in charge. She knows that is how rules get broken and things get messy, especially when students are also in the mix. With that, Blake announces she will have to shut down the residency program. Grey Sloan Memorial’s residents will be orphaned, but the accreditation council will try to get them into spots at other hospitals. Blake tells Bailey that the hospital needs to start over from scratch. Bailey sees a group of residents waiting for news outside her office window and gives them a sad look. 

TURMOIL

With the residency program officially dead, Bailey and Pru erase all the surgeries from the surgical white board while the residents clean out their lockers. Mer watches them pack and remembers her time as a resident and all the things that happened in the old locker room. We get tons of quick moments of the original cast of residents in a “best of the locker room” montage. We then see Owen, Teddy, and their kids on a plane, but we have no idea where they are going or if they are officially leaving the show or not. Catherine and Richard then leave the hospital while holding hands, but we will learn what they are up to shortly.

It’s fitting that it is the end of a day, and Winston and Maggie sit in their car in the parking lot before going home. Winston says he never told anyone that he loved them until he said those words to Maggie. He didn’t say it lightly, didn’t propose lightly, and explains that it takes him more time to open up than some people. Maggie responds that she is the same way. She also loves her sisters and states that they are her sisters even though she grew up an only child. She goes on to say that it takes a lot to tell her secrets to anyone. Winston doesn’t think they got married too quickly. He thinks they just need to keep learning about each other and protect their love. They kiss as another classic callback song, “Where Does the Good Go” by Tegan and Sara, plays for the audience. 

Inside, Link goes to daycare to pick up Scout and finds Jo there with Luna. They share a long glance, which prompts Jo to repair her friendship with Link. Jo asks Link and Scout to come over and watch Encanto with her and Luna because he is her best friend and favorite person and needs their relationship to not be screwed up. Link accepts the invite and says that he will sing along to every song in the movie just to annoy Jo, who rolls her eyes. Could this be the official start to something proper between the best friends?

Before leaving for the night, Jackson and Mer finally get to talk. Jackson tells her that Richard and Catherine are taking a sabbatical to travel and see the pyramids. Catherine is hoping Jackson will run the foundation in her absence and that Mer and Bailey will restart the residency program together. Jackson asks Mer to stay at Grey Sloan Memorial for the time being because her Parkison’s article is causing a lot of noise, and if she leaves, the hospital will be sunk. He believes Mer’s fame and reputation is how they will rebuild the hospital. Mer instantly resents Jackson for asking her to stay. Jackson reminds her that her name is on the building, but Mer shoots back that it is actually Lexie’s name. Jackson also says there is nothing worth saving if Mer and Richard leave. 

Bailey walks up to Jackson and Mer and does something truly shocking. She gives her keys to her office to Mer and tells her, “You broke it, you bought it.” Bailey declares that she needs to protect her health and sanity and quits without giving any notice to Jackson. She says she has cookies to make with Pru and leaves the hospital without another word. Jackson turns to Mer and tells his friend that she is not allowed to leave now. He will offer her twenty percent more money than Minnesota offered her and make her chief of surgery. Mer wants to be interim chief of surgery because she believes Bailey will come back for her job. April walks up to say hi, and Mer is less than thrilled to see her. Harriet is napping in the stroller and the family is ready to leave for the night. Jackson tells Mer to think it over and that they will talk the next day before leaving with April. When they get into the elevator and the doors close, Jackson and April finally kiss and affirm that they are back together in the happiest moment of the episode. It’s doubly happy as we get Grey’s Anatomy’s favorite song, “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol, playing too.

It has finally stopped raining, and Amelia goes to leave Grey Sloan Memorial for the night. On her way to her car, she drops her keys in the parking lot. When she stands up, she sees Kai standing in front of her. Kai says they haven’t been able to sleep, and Amelia walks over and they passionately kiss. I think it is safe to say Kai will be back next season in some capacity. 

The episode fittingly ends inside Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Mer is sitting in Bailey’s office chair and thinks back to a very prominent line that Cristina said to her years ago in regards to Derek: “He’s very dreamy, but he’s not the sun. You are.” After the clip, Nick walks in and Mer tells him that he should go back to Minnesota where his life is because her life is in Seattle. Nick doesn’t think she intentionally sabotaged the program and wants to make that clear. He tells Mer that she has spent her whole adult life in one place, which makes it hard to leave. He says that no one knows what really drives them and that everyone has issues and drama and that Mer has more than her fair share of that. He thinks that their unsuccessful surgery made everything harder, and the two things aren’t unrelated. Mer wants to know why he didn’t stop her. Nick thought he would have been wrong to stop her because she is Meredith Grey and doesn’t like being told what to do. Mer cries while telling him to go and that she has a lot of work to do there. Nick walks out, and we are treated to a long montage of the best, worst, and most impactful moments over the last 400 episodes of the show. When the clips stop playing in Mer’s head, she sees her younger self looking at her through the office’s window, which prompts her to snap out of her thoughts. She runs out the door and calls for Nick, but he is nowhere to be seen. 

Nick, Owen, Teddy, Schmitt, Helm, and the rest of the residents’ fates are the most up in the air by the end of the season, as there have been no official announcements on if any cast members are leaving the show. We do know that Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, and James Pickens Jr. will all be back for season 19, so Mer, Bailey, and Richard will be back in some capacity. It looks like Mer will be staying in Seattle after all, but we will have to wait until the fall to find out what else is in store for the hospital.

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