‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: Season 19, Episode 16 — ‘Gunpowder and Lead’
Sedatives, stat! Thursday’s Grey’s Anatomy was an anxiety-inducing affair that found the pressure on Bailey mounting. And yes, apparently, it could get higher! One patient in particular brought into frightening focus the threats that had been leveled against Miranda for her work at the reproductive-health clinic. Read on, and we’ll discuss how…
‘EXHAUSTION IS A CONSTRUCT’ | As “Gunpowder and Lead” got underway, Jules turned down Blue’s invitation to join him on what sounded suspiciously like a date. Soon, she was teamed up with Lucas to treat Matt, a patient injured in a live-action role-play accident involving a foam sword. Jo went off on Link for starting to teach Scout sign language before she’d had time to process Luna’s hearing loss. Bailey discovered that Addison was back in town to stock up the PRT — and see baby Connor in the NICU. Richard and Mika were consulting with a man named Russell who was in for a colonoscopy when he suddenly freaked out. Not about the colonoscopy, though; he outta nowhere didn’t know who they were, where he was or how he’d gotten there. Wife Grace said that he’d been experiencing some brain fog but nothing like this, at least not until now. Upon getting a scan of Russell, Richard and Mika discovered that he had three bullets still in his body from a shooting a while back — he was suffering from lead poisoning.
Once Owen was called in to consult on the case, he explained to Russell that if they removed the bullets, his symptoms would dissipate… except possibly for the confusion. Nonetheless, he agreed to have the surgery. Owen, considering Amelia the only person qualified to perform the operation, had Mika go shake her out of her post-breakup funk. When Amelia arrived at Grey Sloan, she confided in Addison that, in the wake of Mer and Maggie’s departures, she’d been dumped by Kai. “And you know how well I do with abandonment.” Not well at all, we all know. As Amelia consulted with Owen, Winston, Simone and Mika, her hostility was palpable. Not remotely unheard of for a doctor at Grey Sloan to bring their personal s–t to work, but still, not a great look. Scrubbing in, Amelia unleashed the bulk of her anger on Winston. “You let your ego destroy what was once true love,” she told him. Maggie might someday forgive his “smallness,” but Amelia wouldn’t. During surgery, Mika slipped up and was ordered not only out of the O.R. but off Amelia’s service forevermore. Oh, Amelia. Come on.
After Amelia’s part of the surgery was done, Winston complained to Owen that she blamed him for Maggie leaving, which hardly seemed fair. When Amelia is pissed, Hunt replied, it’s rarely fair. Since Maggie no longer worked at Grey Sloan, Winston told Simone that she could perform a tricky part of the procedure. Owen wanted to step in when a problem arose, but Winston insisted that Simone see the crisis through. Once Hunt was out of the O.R., he marveled to Teddy that the country used to grieve together after a shooting. Now we were so used to it, it was barely a blip. Mika apologized to Amelia, who responded with nastiness. Overhearing, Addison pulled her friend aside and asked if she was using again. Since she wasn’t, Addison ordered her to go to a meeting and figure out a way to be of service to the world rather than adding to its pain. “No one has abandoned you,” Addison pointed out. “Everyone’s just doing the best that they can.” Stop the spiral or find someone to help stop it! (Go, Addison!)
‘YOU ARE WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD, NOT ME!’ | In the ER, a middle-aged guy complaining of what he said were probably kidney stones asked Blue to page Bailey, who at that very moment was commiserating with Addison about the doxing that had turned her life upside-down. “I just hope to God these lunatics move on before I have a second heart attack,” Miranda said. At least being around the babies — and old friends like Addison — helped a bit. By the time Bailey reached the patient’s bedside, Blue had revealed to her that the patient had lied about having only one kidney. His issue, it would soon become clear, had been but a ruse to gain access to Bailey. “How’s the new place? Boys settling in OK?” he creepily asked her. Shaken, Miranda retreated, but the psycho chased after her and would’ve continued yelling at her, or worse, had Blue not subdued him. Later, Teddy explained to Blue that he hadn’t attacked the patient, he’d simply fallen while pursuing Bailey — that was their story, and they were sticking with it.
When Addison handed Bailey hot chocolate outside the hospital, Miranda chucked it, thinking that it would make her feel better. It didn’t. So Addison encouraged her to let loose her feelings on her. Bailey did, expressing her horror that this nut job had threatened little Pru and her boys. How could her mother have ever said “kill them with kindness”? That gave Addison an idea. She had Teddy give Bailey’s fellow doctors the numbers of her most frequent callers. The docs then phoned the pro-lifers and respectfully explained what the clinic actually did and what a wonderful doctor Bailey is. Maybe if they knew that she wasn’t the monster they imagined, the reasoning went, they’d leave her the hell alone.
‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? YOU HATE PREGNANT WOMEN’ | In other developments, Jo reported to Levi that she was awaiting the results of tests that would reveal whether Luna’s hearing loss was the result of an underlying condition. “My job as a mom just changed in the blink of an eye,” she said, “and I’m not sure I’m going to be any good at it.” She would be, Schmitt assured her, adding that he knew how to say three things in ASL (including “butt”). Oh, and as for Matt, he was dying to get back to the renaissance fair to proclaim his love to the princess of his dreams. When Jules wouldn’t let him leave, he said that she had the heart of a troll. Or did she? Lucas thought she seemed jealous when she saw new hero Blue with another doctor. Shortly, Matt’s airway closed up, and Lucas and Jules defied protocol to perform an emergency tracheotomy on the patient right then, right there, without an attending. It was that or let Matt die. Though the patient survived thanks to their fast action, Levi read Lucas and Jules the riot act and insisted that next time, they wait. Later, Jules confided in Lucas about the stupid, obsessive crush that had once cost her so much. Maybe there’s a difference between that and love? Adams suggested.
As the episode drew to a close, Matt’s crush showed up and was excited to hear that he’d spoken about her. Russell wept and admitted that he hadn’t realized how much he’d hated having those bullets in him. Jo received the call that she’d been waiting for and ran to Link: Luna’s healthy! She just has isolated hearing loss. “I was an ass,” she admitted, “and I’m sorry.” In the locker room, Lucas told Jules that he needed her to take his place as Simone’s person of honor. “You must really love her,” Jules cracked. And she was noticeably peeved at seeing Blue leave with the doctor with whom he’d been flirting. Winston approached Teddy to be considered for cardio chief. Seeing how Mika was struggling to pay her bills and study and live, Helm marched into Grey Sloan and yelled at Teddy to do better by the hospital’s residents. Maggie FaceTimed Richard to update him on how things were going in Chicago. Seeing Amelia leaving the hospital, he quickly approached her and said that he was in a spiral, too. Maybe they could go to a meeting together? Finally, Addison copped to coming to Grey Sloan just for the day to check on Bailey. Aw, and the supplies with which they loaded up the PRT… were from Cristina.
What did you think of “Gunpowder and Lead”? You know the drill — reviews, comments, questions below.
