Grey's Anatomy Recap: Malcontents Under Pressure — Plus, Addison's Back

When last Grey’s Anatomy aired a new episode, Meredith’s mind had been made up: She was moving to Minnesota to run the Grey Clinic and get serious with Nick. But considering that the title of Thursday’s episode was “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” she obviously wasn’t quite ready to start packing. Did anything or anyone wind up swaying her? Read on and find out.

‘IF THAT’S HOW YOU SPEAK TO YOUR RESIDENTS, NO WONDER WE ARE ON PROBATION’ | As the hour began, Catherine arrived at Grey Sloan with smoke coming out of her ears. Since the surgical residency program was put on probation, the Medical Accreditation Council had inquired about visiting 20 (!) more Fox Foundation hospitals, she told Bailey and Richard. And no way in hell was Catherine going to let her legacy shrivel up and die just because Grey Sloan couldn’t get its act together. Desperate, Bailey begged Jo to give up her OB residency and come back as a surgical attending. Though she had a date that night with nice guy Todd, she asked Link to join them. She could talk to Laura’s brother, sure, but not about medical stuff, and this felt like a request that she couldn’t deny.

Later, Bailey informed Jordan — in front of Catherine — that she was transferring him back to the clinic in Minnesota. If she was unable to save the surgical residency program, he might be “orphaned,” so to speak, and “I want to protect your future.” Besides, she added, “you can still learn from Meredith Grey there!” That evening, Todd and Link helped Jo figure out that she could keep her OB residency and still grant Bailey’s request by “moonlighting” for her. Link would help Luna’s mom with the baby. Todd, too, said the eager beaver, quickly retracting his offer upon realizing that he’d overstepped. Meanwhile, Bailey informed Catherine that, hospital be damned, she was taking a vacation day. “I’m done being the superhero,” said Miranda. “If Meredith Grey can go away, then so can I.” And to be clear, Bailey wasn’t quitting or even taking a leave, she hastened to add. She was just taking a day off. Maybe two.

‘I’M NOT A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER, I DON’T CARE WHO’S TALKING TO WHO’ | As Addison returned to Grey Sloan to check on Tovah, who was feeling inexplicable pressure in her belly at 11 weeks pregnant with her late husband’s baby, Dr. Montgomery found Meredith being given a hard time right and left about leaving the hospital when it needed her most. Nonetheless, Grey and Richard would have to put aside their differences when it turned out that blood clots were threatening both Tovah’s transplanted uterus and the baby. “We’re all adults here,” Addison reminded her colleagues. “Let’s act like it!” Easier said than done. Richard took shots at Mer every chance he got, prompting her to marvel during surgery, “When did it become a thing that you owe the hospital you trained in?” Of course it was more than that for Mer and Grey Sloan. As Addison put it, somewhere along the line, Grey had “become some kind of hospital mascot.”

Sadly, despite throwing a Hail Mary in the O.R., Mer and Addison were only able to save Tovah’s uterus, not her baby. Which made immediately after surgery the absolute wrong time for Catherine to barge in and start yelling at Mer. A woman had just fought to have her late husband’s child, and she had lost, Addison pointed out. “Can we just take a moment and honor her?!” Later, after Addison broke the news to Tovah, Levi tried to ease the patient’s pain by reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish with her. Richard, for his part, attempted to console Addison, who was surprised that he so fondly remembered her residency. If it had been such a rough program, why hadn’t anyone complained before? They couldn’t, she noted. What he had to get into his head and keep there was that the program he was trying to save was old and broken. So “what’s the new way to train surgeons?” With the Webber Method, he’d tried to answer that question and failed. “Well,” said Addison, “try again.”

‘IF LEO SAYS “I’M A GIRL,” I’M GONNA LISTEN’ | En route to drop the kids off at Grey Sloan’s daycare, Owen and Teddy had very different reactions to Leo’s assertion that he wasn’t a cowboy but a girl. They didn’t get into it immediately, though, because before they could, in came a man whose arm had been ripped from his body by a conveyer belt. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he flatlined in the O.R. Owen performed CPR to save his life, but the patient was too unstable to undergo the 10-hour surgery to reattach his arm. Thinking fast, Owen utilized a technique that the military had been testing when he and Teddy were in Iraq to keep the arm viable. Um, that technique hasn’t been approved for civilian use, Teddy noted. Did Owen really want to draw the military’s attention to himself when he’s been helping dying veterans end their lives on the DL? He didn’t care, he just wanted to — and did — save the arm. Later, Teddy expressed her reservations about letting Leo decide his gender before he was old enough to tie his shoes. “Let’s just love Leo,” said Owen. “Let’s listen when he tells us who he is” and “not be our kid’s first bully.” In the meantime, they’d get a therapist so that they themselves could agree on how to do everything right by Allison’s sibling.

Elsewhere in the hospital, after a morning elevator ride in which they said nothing to one another, Levi and Nico finally spoke as they were leaving work. “I was in pain when you came to see me,” offered Schmitt by way of apology. In response, Nico pointed out that Levi had dumped him. True. But when Nico had been in pain, Levi had kept showing up. “I guess that’s the difference between me and you,” said Nico, reverting to jerky form. Meanwhile, Winston and Maggie tried out the HeartPatch that Wendell was peddling, only to discover that it didn’t work. “My brother is a walking pawn shop,” Winston lamented. It got worse. Wendell soon admitted that he didn’t really have a job but had taken out a $10k loan (and not from a bank) to buy the HeartPatches after seeing a demo online. “How could you be this stupid?” marveled Winston. “How could I be this stupid?” More pressing was the question of what they were going to do about it now. “You have to help me sell them,” Wendell told Winston, “or pay back the loan.”

‘I’VE EARNED THE RIGHT TO LEAVE’ | When Mer returned home at the end of the day, she was delighted to find Nick waiting for her… until he began to speak. “Don’t come to Minnesota,” he told her. The people she cared about wouldn’t be OK, and she’d always resent him for taking her away from them. Instead, he’d get a place in Seattle, take some time off from the clinic and work at Grey Sloan. “We can be together here.” Mer was not pleased. She resented being made to feel disloyal for wanting to leave in the first place, and thank you very much, “it’s my decision, so this is all very patronizing.” Once she’d cooled down, Nick admitted that her angry side… well, “I’m not gonna lie, it was kinda scary.” She also warmed to his idea — up to a point. “OK, fine,” she said, “we can stay, but just for a little while.” So, your thoughts on “Should I Stay or Should I Go”? Owen’s levelheadedness where Leo is concerned? The obvious need to have Addison back forever? Hit the comments.