Sledgehammer

"So you might be thinking, I’ve been here before. This is familiar. This is old hat. Maybe you’re wondering why we are here. But I promise, you are about to find out that everything has changed."

- Meredith Grey

 is the first episode of the twelfth season and the 246th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary
Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital springs into action to save the lives of two young girls whose powerful story will force some of the doctors to revisit the effects of bullying on their own pasts. Meanwhile, Meredith must adjust to changes at home with her new roommates while Bailey continues to fight for the Chief of Surgery position and Jackson prepares for April’s return to Seattle.

Full Summary
As Meredith's voiceover talks about thinking you've done this before, Meredith awakes to a banging sound. She races down the stairs to find Amelia putting a hole in the wall with a sledgehammer while Maggie watches. Meredith asks what she's doing and Amelia says they talked about it. Meredith defends that they considered it and then they went to bed. Maggie straddles the line between supporting Amelia and supporting Meredith. She talks to both of them and listens as Meredith says she's used to living with people who know her and know not to do things like change the channel during the commercial. Amelia says that she thinks Meredith will just patch it up rather than considering making the change. Meredith says she should stop taking in strays because they have fleas. Amelia says she does the dishes and the laundry. Meredith says she can't find her own laundry because Amelia puts them away. Each says the other is impossible.

Arizona goes to pin a flyer looking for a roommate to the board as Jackson walks by. She asks if he's excited about tonight. He's confused, but she says April's coming back. He says yes and walks away.

Richard tells Bailey she should cancel the anatomy class she's supposed to teach because she won't have time for it once she's Chief. She says she hasn't been appointed yet. They see Tracy McConnell by the elevators and Bailey asks about her. Richard says she's the Chief candidate, Chief of Cardio at Johns Hopkins Hospital with numerous accolades. Tracy comes up and introduces herself to Richard, saying his islet cell research was inspiring to her. She also introduces herself to Bailey, who says her timing is wrong as they aren't presenting to the board until 4. Tracy says Richard offered to take her on a tour. Bailey invites herself to go on the tour with them.

Callie asks Jackson what time the thing is tonight. He's confused, but she means the thing for April coming home. Owen comes up and asks when April gets in and Jackson doesn't know. Jackson says there is no thing and leaves. Callie asks if they should clear Trauma One to remove the bug up his ass. Owen says he needs advice. He has concert tickets and doesn't know if he should invite Amelia. Callie says he's overthinking it as they get to the ER.

Jo walks into the ER. Jackson says she's late. She says she was caught by a train that was just stopped on the tracks. She says they shouldn't be allowed to do that. She continues to argue with Jackson as Ben talks on the phone about two pedestrians getting hit by a train. He ends the call and tells the doctor it's two kids and they survived.

In the ambulance bay, the doctors meet the ambulances carrying Jessica Tanner and another girl. Jessica was grazed by the train and thrown. Her right side took most of the impact. Jessica says it was a shortcut to school and she tripped and her foot got caught in the track. She asks about the other girl, whom she says tried to push her out of the way. Mitchell is shocked to see that one of the other girls' feet is completely turned around. He calls for someone else to look because he doesn't know what to do. Owen looks and calls Callie to check it out. She goes to look, but Jessica catches her hand. She assures Jessica that they're going to take care of both girls. Once she looks at the other girl's foot, she says they need to get inside.

Meredith comes to the trauma bay where they're working on the other girl and Isaac Cross is trying to find her ID in her bag. She's in really bad shape. Her leg was almost completely torn off and she might have a brain injury. Based on her textbooks, Isaac guesses she's about 16. Meredith hushes the doctors as the girl asks for her mom before Owen intubates her. Callie then notices the heart drawn on her arm that matches the one on Jessica's arm.

Callie goes to Jessica and asks her about the other girl. She tries to claim that she doesn't know her, but Callie points out their matching hearts. Jessica says her name is Aliyah. They were out there together and her foot didn't just get caught in the tracks. Callie asks what happened out there. Jessica says they wanted to be together, dead or alive.

Richard shows Tracy and Bailey into a radiology suite, where she's familiar with the new technology. He projects a brain and asks asks to look around. Bailey goes with her. While they do that, Catherine comes up and asks Richard to admit that he likes Tracy. He does, but he likes Bailey better. Catherine says he and Bailey have been together too long. She doesn't challenge him. He says Bailey's not soft and Catherine says she's too comfortable. They need someone who will make them uncomfortable.

Callie asks Jessica if she wants to die. She says it's more complicated than that. They weren't suicidal. Callie says she's going to share something personal about herself. She says she likes men, romantically sometimes, and she also likes women. It's a big part of her life. She asks Jessica if she likes girls and if she likes Aliyah. Jessica smiles and says she loves her. Callie asks what they were doing out there. Jessica says they don't want to die, but it was the only way they could stay together forever. Callie interjects and says there are so many better ways and killing themselves doesn't solve any problems. She says her parents are sending her to a gay conversion camp. They'll make her change her mind about Aliyah. Alex says they won't because those places don't work. She begs the doctors not to call her parents.

Dakhir Hamed comes in and is shocked, saying his daughter's a good girl and would not have skipped school. He wonders why she was at the train tracks in the first place. Meredith explains Aliyah's injuries and has him consent to the surgery. Meredith mentions that she asked for her mother, but he says her mother is dead.

Bethany and Steven Tanner then come in, asking about their daughter, Jessica. Maggie says she's actually one of Jessica's doctors. They say their daughter was hit by a train and Dakhir, who has overheard, says he thinks their daughters might have been together. He tries to introduce himself, but Bethany tells him to keep his daughter away from theirs.

Arizona looks at her flyer and is upset because no one has taken a tab. Stephanie comes to her to deliver labs about a patient. Arizona says her flyer is great. Stephanie asks why she needs a roommate because she has a house. Had Arizona corrects. They sold it. And many of her patients' parents can't afford her fees, but she treats them anyway, so she needs a roommate. She asks Stephanie if she needs a place to live. Stephanie says not with her and then says she already has a place. Arizona tries to get her to take a tab, because it'll make other people take tabs. Stephanie refuses and dismisses herself. Arizona takes a tab herself.

Meredith is operating on Aliyah while Amelia monitors her neuro status. Meredith asks for more breathing room, so Amelia moves over. Meredith still wants more room, but Amelia says she can't move anymore or she can't monitor properly. Owen asks if everything's okay and Amelia says Meredith's mad about the wall. Isaac asks what wall, but he's quickly told to be quiet. Meredith and Amelia continue to argue about the wall. Meredith says it was the tequila talking when she agreed to take down the wall. Owen interjects that it could bring the house down if it's a load-bearing wall and they just stare at him.

Jessica says that she and Aliyah like to pass notes and she kept every one and would read them when she had a bad day. Until her mother found the box and threw it in the fire. The kids at school like to tease them and sometimes throw things. Mitchell comes in and says that Jessica's parents are there. They want to see her and speak to her surgical team. Callie says to tell them she's in pre-op and can't have visitors.

Dakhir defends his daughter to Bethany. He says she's not a bad influence on Jessica. Bethany disagrees and informs him that they want to be together and think they're in love. Steven sees the doctors and he and his wife go to talk to them. Callie, Alex, and Maggie explain her injuries and say they're taking her into surgery and they'll update the parents later. As the doctors leave, they overhear Bethany telling Steven they wouldn't be there if he hadn't told Jessica about the camp. Callie, over Maggie and Alex's objections, goes back to the parents and says she knows they love Jessica, but those camps are damaging and won't give her the support she needs. Bethany tries to dismiss Callie, saying she has no right to talk to them like that. Callie speaks directly to Steven, saying Jessica is right to be afraid, that those camps are harmful. They will damage her and are tantamount to child abuse. Bethany says she's there only to attend Jessica's injuries and she'll either do it or Bethany will get rid of her. Callie turns around and tells Bethany she's going to help her daughter.

In surgery, Callie says the mother is a bully and the father is useless. Jessica has no one in her corner. Maggie asks why people act like that and Callie asks Alex. He wonders why and she says it's because he's a bully.

Jackson and Arizona work on a patient together, a baby. She asks him what his plan is with April. Jackson says people don't have a right to front row seats on his marriage. Jo comes in and says his patient is ready. He leaves with her. Arizona has Stephanie dress the wound. Arizona asks if she thinks April might want a roommate. Stephanie says not if it's Arizona. Arizona wonders why people don't want to live with her. Stephanie fakes a page and leaves.

Callie says she's not wrong. Alex bullied nurses, interns, and even George. Alex says not to project it on him because she got picked on as a kid. She says no one messed with Callie Torres. She was an easy target since she didn't look like the other girls or act like them, but she learned how to stand up to bullies. Once you punch your first bully, the rest fall in line. Maggie says they were both bullies then, but Callie says hers was self-defense. Maggie says people like them used to call her Lil' Maggot because she was younger and smaller and smarter and had a lisp. Callie says that's kind of cute, but Maggie says it wasn't cute when she was begging not to be pantsed or got locked in the janitor's and was left screaming for help until the cops found her the next morning. Maggie says bullies bully because they can. Maybe they got it worse at home or they were bullying to avoid being bullied, but it's because people like Maggie and Jessica are alone and small and vulnerable and pushing them around makes them feel better about their lives. Maggie says they're cool now though.

Tracy talks about some more of her accomplishments. Bailey questions why she'd want to move to Seattle because it seems like her hospital is doing great work. Tracy says that wasn't through the hospital. She did that on her own, through her non-profit. Bailey mentions the free clinic as they walk into a gallery and see that Aliyah is crashing. They go to page cardio, but no one's available, so Tracy gives them advice from the gallery. They follow her advice and save Aliyah's life. Richard says it was a hell of a save, but Tracy says they did the hard work. Bailey dismisses herself, but isn't acknowledged.

Arizona ambushes Stephanie and asks again why people don't want to live with her. Is it because she has a kid or because she's a boss? She threatens Stephanie with overnights in the NICU if she doesn't tell her. Stephanie says that Arizona is kind of a legend with the residents and interns. She survived a plane crash, a car crash, and a shooting. She might be immortal. She masters one of the most exclusive specialties really quickly and took Herman's job and her eyesight. Stephanie says she's screwed dozens of interns and gotten them all fired. She speaks really fast, like superhuman speed. And has a weird name. Arizona says that's not true. She only slept with one intern and she has an awesome name. She asks if people have a problem with the fact that she only has one leg? Stephanie says they think she's faking it for the parking space.

Maggie and Callie come to Alex and ask for good news. He says Aliyah's hanging in there. Callie admits that she made a few calls and doesn't think Jessica will be going to that camp after all. Bethany comes up and asks which of them called child protective services on her. Callie immediately stands her ground, but Bethany goes around her and gets in Maggie's face, saying it's her right to send Jessica to that camp. She backs Maggie against a wall and Maggie punches her.

As Callie checks out Maggie's hand, she says it was like her hand had a mind of its own. She didn't know she was going to punch Bethany until she did. She says she's a monster, but Amelia and Callie would have paid money to punch her. Meredith comes in and says it won't be so funny when Maggie gets fired. Amelia says Maggie won't lose her job. Callie says Bethany deserved it. Meredith says there's a right way and a wrong way for them to handle themselves. Callie says she has a point and advise Maggie to keep her thumb outside of her fist next time to avoid bone damage. Alex comes in and says Bethany's fine, but she's pissed and after Maggie's head. Arizona comes in excited and asks if it's true that Callie punched a homophobe. Amelia corrects that it was actually Maggie. Arizona says that's unexpected and offers Maggie a high-five, which she rejects. Callie accepts and the rest of the doctors share high-fives. Maggie realizes she has go go apologize to the horrible woman.

Bailey is scrubbing in and Ben asks her what she's doing. She says she's scrubbing in and he's surprised because it's a three-hour surgery and she's supposed to make her presentation to the board in 45 minutes. She says she has the ability to stop her patient's pain, so she's going to do that. Ben asks if she's not going to her presentation. She says it doesn't matter anyway because they're going to pick Tracy. She's perfect. They'd be lucky to have her. Bailey says she has other things she can do and it doesn't matter. She tells Ben to leave it alone and goes to her surgery.

Arizona sees Andrew looking at her ad. He asks if it's still available. She asks if his friends put him up to it and he says that since the other interns believe he posed as an attending on purpose, they don't like him and don't want to live with him. She says he needs two months' rent up front and they can work it out.

Ben comes into Bailey's surgery and says he'll finish while she makes her presentation. Bailey just asks Andrew to escort him out. Andrew goes to do that, but Ben tells him not to. Ben steps up to the table and says she wouldn't let him or Tuck quit. She didn't let Tuck quit French Horn and now he's first chair. He asks her what chair she is. She says she's first chair.

Alex tells Steven that Jessica's surgery went well and she'll make a full recovery. He asks when she might be discharged. His wife wants to know because they can have the camp people come pick her up from there. Nearby, they hear Meredith talking to Dakhir about Aliyah. Dakhir says they came to the US to give Aliyah a future. She was eight when they moved and her mother died two years later. His family said he couldn't raise a girl by himself and he's beginning to think they were right. Steven says all he knows is that it's hard. Dakhir says his daughter doesn't confide in him. In their community, they don't talk about things like that. His wife would have known what to say. They came to the US to give Aliyah a future and now she might not have one. Steven asks if he has a picture of his daughter. He shows Dakhir a picture of Jessica and says she has the best smile. Dakhir shows Steven a picture of Aliyah and says he didn't know before, but Jessica is also in the picture. They look happy together. Steven properly introduces himself and Dakhir does the same. A few feet away, Meredith asks Alex if he waited to update Jessica's family until Aliyah was out of surgery and he shrugs and walks away.

Tracy finishes her presentation and thanks the board. They applaud. Catherine says Bailey should be there by now just as Andrew comes in and says that Bailey had a request of them.

The members of the board watch as Bailey operates. She says that the hospital will be just another project for Tracy, but Bailey wants to take the hospital to new levels and she loves the hospital no matter what it is. It's not a stepping stone for her. The job was made for her. It belongs to her. She's earned it. They all know it. Catherine even admits Bailey made a good play.

Steven waits outside the room. Maggie comes up and asks if Jessica was having her post-op x-rays. Steven says she is and Bethany comes out of the room angry when she sees Maggie. Maggie starts to apologize, but Bethany says she's going to sue. Steven tells her to shut up and says no one is getting sued and Bethany is the one who should be apologizing. They almost lost their child and they're not sending her away. He says it stops or he will leave and take Jessica and she'll never see her again. He doesn't care if she's gay. He cares if she's loved and happy and that's what Bethany should care about. Just then, Jessica is brought back to her room and she smiles at her father.

Meredith tells Dakhir that Aliyah is awake and she thought he might want to see her. Aliyah sees her father and he tells her Jessica is okay. He says not to try to talk. He has a letter for her from Jessica. He'd like to read it to her. It starts "Dear My Beautiful Aliyah," and Dakhir says he already likes Jessica.

Jackson lies down in an on-call room. The door opens and April comes in. She's surprised to see him. She thought she'd be at home, which is why she came to the hospital. He says she can sleep at home, in a real bed. She thanks him and asks if they can talk tomorrow. She wants to talk. Jackson just says good night and she leaves.

Ben finds Bailey on the catwalk and says that everything the light touches is hers. He says, "Congratulations, Chief."

Alex dishes out food Jo. She says she loves it, but she can't keep eating like that or she'll get fat. He says there's nothing wrong with being fat. He used to be fat. She laughs, but he's serious. He wasn't just roly poly. He was big. He says it didn't matter until fifth or sixth grade and then he started getting picked on for it. They shoved him in a locker once and he got stuck. He was the fat kid at school and the screw up at home. And it sucked. The summer after eighth grade, he spent all day every day on his bike. When school started, no one recognized him. He toughened up. He offers her more food, but she stops him and kisses him.

Amelia walks up to the house with Owen, wondering who carpools to work with someone and then leaves without them. She can't believe Meredith just left her. Owen says he's happy to drive her home. He starts to ask her a question, but she says she doesn't even want to go inside because she might lose it. He kisses her. She asks what's happening, but Maggie comes out, pulls Amelia inside, and apologizes to Owen.

Maggie sits Amelia down next to Meredith. She says they need to figure their crap out. Amelia apologizes for the wall. Meredith apologizes for saying she has fleas. Amelia's confused, but Meredith says she doesn't know how to talk to Amelia. She's a lot sometimes. She doesn't totally like Amelia, but she doesn't have to. She's family and Meredith loves her. Meredith stands up, grabs the sledgehammer, and hits the wall. She offers it to Amelia. The three of them take turns hitting the wall.

Meredith walks into the anatomy lab and tells them to forget everything they know about anatomy and start new with her. They all make the first incisions on their cadavers.

Once the wall is broken through, they look through it and smile.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres
 * Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt
 * Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins
 * Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner
 * Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery
 * Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd
 * Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson
 * Jerrika Hinton as Dr. Stephanie Edwards
 * Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce
 * Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren

Guest Stars

 * Joey Lauren Adams as Dr. Tracy McConnell
 * Eric Lange as Steven Tanner
 * Giacomo Gianniotti as Dr. Andrew DeLuca
 * Maz Jobrani as Dakhir Hamed
 * Jenny Cooper as Bethany Tanner
 * Joe Adler as Dr. Isaac Cross
 * Joe Dinicol as Mitchell
 * Mandalynn Carlson as Jessica Tanner
 * Debbie Allen as Dr. Catherine Avery

Co-Starring

 * Sade Benyaminov as Aliyah Hamed
 * Nicole Cummins as Paramedic Nicole
 * Maria Elena Maglaris as O.R. Nurse

Jessica Tanner

 * Diagnosis:
 * Hemothorax
 * Leg fractures


 * Doctors:
 * Callie Torres (orthopedic surgeon)
 * Alex Karev (pediatric surgeon)
 * Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon)
 * Mitchell (surgical intern)


 * Treatment:
 * Chest tube
 * Exploratory laparotomy

Jessica, 15, was swiped by a train in an attempted suicide. Her right side was seriously injured and bruised. She had a hemothorax that required a chest tube to drain. Her left leg was broken in two places. They then took her into surgery to address her other injuries and fix her leg. Despite her extensive injuries, her surgery went well and she was awake and stable afterward.

Aliyah Hamed

 * Diagnosis:
 * Wishbone tear
 * Broken pelvis
 * Internal bleeding


 * Doctors:
 * Callie Torres (orthopedic surgeon)
 * Meredith Grey (general surgeon)
 * Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon)
 * Amelia Shepherd (neurosurgeon)
 * Tracy McConnell (cardiothoracic surgeon)
 * Mitchell (surgical intern)
 * Isaac Cross (surgical intern)


 * Treatment:
 * Exploratory laparotomy
 * Thoracotomy
 * Sternotomy

Aliyah was injured by a train in an attempted suicide. One of her feet was completely turned around by the impact. She had internal bleeding, which required an exploratory laparotomy. Her legs had been pulled apart by the impact, causing a wishbone tear. Her pupils were sluggish, so Amelia ordered a CT. They took her into surgery and Amelia monitored her neuro status as they worked on her other injuries. While they were working, they uncovered a pulmonary artery bleed. They paged cardio, but no one was available to respond, so Tracy McConnell helped from the gallery, telling them to open a sternotomy. They were reluctant, but eventually agreed and opened her chest in a second place to clamp the bleed. They finished the surgery, but they informed her father that it was complicated and she lost a lot of blood. Despite this, she woke up after her surgery.

Baby Wildings

 * Diagnosis:


 * Doctors:
 * Arizona Robbins (fetal surgeon)
 * Stephanie Edwards (surgical resident)


 * Treatment:
 * Fetal surgery

Stephanie delivered the labs from the Wildings baby to Arizona and said they looked good.

Baby

 * Diagnosis:


 * Doctors:
 * Arizona Robbins (pediatric surgeon)
 * Jackson Avery (plastic surgeon)
 * Stephanie Edwards (surgical resident)


 * Treatment:
 * Surgery

Jackson examined a baby post-op and said the incision looked nice. He applied some more cream to it and Arizona had Stephanie dress the wound.

Jackson's Patient

 * Diagnosis:


 * Doctors:
 * Jackson Avery (plastic surgeon)
 * Jo Wilson (surgical resident)


 * Treatment:
 * Gastrocnemius flap

Jo came in to tell Jackson that his gastro flap harvest was ready for him.

Maggie Pierce

 * Diagnosis:


 * Doctors:
 * Callie Torres (orthopedic surgeon)


 * Treatment:

Maggie injured her hand when she punched Bethany Tanner. Callie looked at it and recommended keeping her thumb outside her fist next time to avoid bone damage.

Bailey's Patient

 * Diagnosis:


 * Doctors:
 * Miranda Bailey (general surgeon)
 * Ben Warren (surgical resident)
 * Andrew DeLuca (surgical intern)


 * Treatment:
 * Open cholecystectomy

Bailey did an open cholecystectomy on a patient.

Notes and Trivia

 * This episode's title originated from the song , originally sung by Peter Gabriel.
 * This episode scored million viewers.
 * This is the first episode in the entire series not to feature Patrick Dempsey in the opening credits.
 * It's also the first episode to credit Jason George as main cast.
 * The episode will be Jessica Capshaw's 150th appearance on the series.
 * It's also the fourth season premiere written by Stacy McKee and the second directed by Kevin McKidd.
 * This episode introduces Meredith with shorter hair.
 * This episode, along with Good Mourning, breaks the "tradition" of Rob Corn directing the first episode of the season being filmed, which he has done since season four. He also didn't direct the season 11 premiere, but that episode was filmed after the second episode of the season, which Rob did direct.
 * The table read for this episode took place on July 15, 2015.
 * Filming for this episode started on July 22, 2015.
 * The episode will start three months after You're My Home.
 * Shonda Rhimes already revealed that despite of Jackson's ultimatum, April did re-enlist.
 * During the shots of Maggie in the kitchen, pictures of Derek are visible on the fridge.