Good one, Grey’s Anatomy. The ABC drama’s midseason finale left us to wonder whether Owen, Farouk and David would survive. But in the winter premiere of the ABC drama, it turned out that it was someone else entirely that we should’ve been worried about losing. Who? Read on…
‘WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS, HUH?’ | As “No Time to Die” began, we rewound a bit from Station 19 (recapped here) to see Cormac catch a ride back to Grey Sloan in the same car that Teddy had flagged down. They’d made it to the hospital in time for the donor heart to be viable for Farouk, but dammit, it was bruised. Maggie, for fear that the boy would go into cardiac arrest, advised that Winston not perform the transplant. But reluctant to waste the opportunity at hand, he decided, “I’m gonna take the miracle and trust my gut.” Thankfully, his gut was very trustworthy, and Farouk pulled through. “His heart is beating,” Winston was able to tell Megan after completing the surgery with his wife’s help, “and it’s beating well.” Whew!
Meanwhile, as Teddy tried to process the overwhelming feelings with which she was left by the sound of Owen’s car going over the cliff, her spouse, having been rescued by the first-responders of Stations 19 and 23, was being treated by Amelia and Link, who was barely able to contain his hurt over seeing his babymama kissing Kai. Of course Scout’s parents had more pressing matters at hand, like the fact that they’d both be operating on different parts of Owen at the same time, and one wrong move could leave him paralyzed. (Focus, people!) Before being wheeled into the O.R., Owen beseeched Cormac to forget what he’d told him about dispensing life-ending drugs to dying veterans. Hunt even played the “I fell off a cliff so you didn’t have to” card. However, Hayes remained unsure whether he could remain silent and make himself complicit.
‘THE SURGEON WHO HASN’T LOST A PATIENT HASN’T DONE ENOUGH SURGERIES’ | During Owen’s surgery, Link noticed Kai come into the gallery and ordered it cleared. Light-bulb moment for Amelia, who realized that he must have seen her kissing Dr. Bartley. Following the operation(s), the exes finally had it out, with Link marveling that Amelia had “just moved on like the last year and a half didn’t matter.” In turn, she argued that she hadn’t “just moved on,” she’d had to work at it. And now “you want to gaslight me into thinking that I played you?” Mm-mm. No. That wasn’t gonna fly. It was a good, intense fight, the kind that after the dust settles, should allow them to happily co-parent Scout.
Elsewhere in the hospital, in the wake of Levi breaking Webber Method protocol and killing a patient, Bailey suspended the program… at which point Richard pulled rank on her. All the while, Levi was understandably freaking the freak out. In fact, he spent most of the rest of the episode washing his hands to the point that they began to bleed. Eventually, Jo recruited Taryn and Jordan to intervene, and when the hospital’s newest resident physically moved Schmitt away from the sink, he completely lost it and, a shattered shell of his former self, had to be carried out of the room.
‘THIS WILL BE MY LAST SHIFT’ | Following David’s surgery, Meredith read him the riot act for keeping his condition a secret, thereby risking all the work that she and Kai had done over the last year. When Grey stormed out, Kai remarked, “Yeah, I’m walking out, too… but only ’cause I need more coffee.” (Dr. Bartley really sneaks up on ya; they’re quickly becoming a favorite.) Later, Cormac approached Bailey, it seemed like, to rat out Owen. But Miranda’s speech about what a good man Hunt is stopped Hayes in his tracks. Whether he really had been going to disclose what Owen had been doing, he didn’t. Instead, he said that his boys weren’t thriving in Seattle, and he was moving back to Ireland. Immediately.
As the episode rounded the bend toward its conclusion, Nick arrived in Seattle to take Mer to dinner — or straight to the nearby hotel he’d also booked to order room service. Amelia revealed to Kai just how messy her life was. Their perfect response? They offered Shepherd some more French fries. In front of a roaring fireplace, Jo encouraged Link not to feel bad about Amelia all over again. “There are other women who would love to love you,” she noted. And seconds later, though they wondered if they were making a mistake, she became one of them. Finally, Owen awakened following surgery and was informed by Teddy that yes, he would walk again. But, aware that Cormac had suddenly quit, she wanted to know WTH had happened between them in that car.
So, what did you think of Grey’s winter premiere? Cormac’s decision? Link and Jo’s hookup? Grade the episode below, then hit the comments.