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When we get sick, our bodies launch a coordinated defense. It's called the immune response. Once a germ's detected, a team of white blood cells, proteins, and chemicals swarm to mount an attack. These cells catch up to the invaders and latch on, destroying them in their wake. Or at least that’s what they're supposed to do. The body's ability to come back depends on what you have to fight with and how strong you are. After we've been sick or hurt, our bodies remember. We learn from the past and develop tools to help us cope. Basically, the more we go through something, the better we can handle it if it happens again. Our bodies are prepared to bounce back. Or so we think. Sometimes an unknown throws the whole thing off.

Back in the Saddle is the second episode of the sixteenth season and the 344th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary[]

The Grey Sloan doctors operate on a man who crashed into Maggie's car, as Owen, back from paternity leave, struggles with Tom's new position. Outside the hospital, Meredith's recent firing doesn't stop her from diagnosing those around her. Plus, Richard and Alex start anew and it's not easy. All the while, Jo readies herself to return to work, and Amelia has a new revelation in her relationship with Link.

Full Summary[]

Andrew brings Meredith some coffee out on the streets. She finds out her hearing is in three months. She has attempted to disguise herself so she won't be recognized. Andrew kisses her goodbye. She is approached by Carla, who asks her to check out a burn she got at the dry cleaner's where she works. Since it's infected, she'll need a debridement and antibiotics. Carla asks her to give them.

At home, Bailey brings Ben donuts. He doesn't miss the green smoothies. She talks about having lost her joy at work. He gives her a peptalk and tells her to get it back.

It's time for Jo to go back to work. She's ready for everyone to look at her like a fragile bird. He offers her a job at Pac-North so she can start with a clean slate. She can run her own fellowship. However, her therapist told her to go return to the life she left without changing too much.

Maggie and Amelia are collecting Maggie's stuff from Jackson's penthouse while Amelia agonizes over how to tell Link. Maggie thinks Link deserves a face-to-face conversation. Amelia brings up a photo Jackson posted on social media with #Freedom in the caption.

Owen gets on the elevator Tom and Link. They've all been with Amelia. Tom mocks Owen for leaving Teddy at a hotel with the baby. Owen thinks Tom should return to Baltimore, but Tom replies Catherine made him God of this place. He makes Owen let him get off first.

The residents meet with Bailey outside a patient's room. She announces they are going to do things differently today. She presents the man's case out in the hall, writing down symptoms on the window, and asks them how to proceed. An unfamiliar resident pitches in. Dr. Blake Simms is Tom's protégé, fifth year, from Hopkins. Bailey reveals what the tests revealed and they diagnose Leriche's syndrome. Bailey tells the interns that the interns have been sulking around since she fired Alex and Meredith. She reminds them that she shaped them into the doctors they are today and she can make new ones. They can go study the case.

Maggie and Amelia arrive at the hospital. Maggie wouldn't ever send a message through Instagram, but she's done playing small to protect men's egos. Maggie has to brake abruptly when a car pulls out of its parking space. Moments later, a scooter crashes into her car. They get out to check on the man and page Owen.

Richard catches up with Alex at Pac-North. He's program director of the general surgery program, but there are only two residents, both incompetent, and they are too swamped with scut that they don't have time to hone their mediocre skills. Alex reminds Richard of the hospital's terrible ranking. He hired him to turn this place around so that is what they are going to do. Richard reminds him he wanted an office.

Owen, Amelia, and Maggie put Reid on a stretcher. He's having chest pain but he's more worried about the scooter. He used his girlfriend's credit card for the rental. It's in pieces.

Dahlia presents Wade Foltz' Leriche syndrome case. While Andrew asks Wade how long he's been symptomatic, Levi receives a text from Meredith asking him to call her stat. Wade says he went to his doctor for Viagra 9 months ago. Levi claims to have a patient emergency and leaves while Andrew explains the axillary-femoral bypass to Wade.

Owen rushes Reid into trauma room 1. Maggie gets gowned and gloved as Jackson comes up. She asks him how he's enjoying freedom with his sexy firefighter. As a surgeon dating a firefighter, he must feel superior all the time now that he no longer has to live with an intellectually challenging woman. Amelia follows Link as he passes by while Maggie heads into the trauma room.

In the staircase, Amelia asks Link to go somewhere private. He expects sex or bad news, but she blurts out she's pregnant. She estimates that she's 8 weeks along. She doesn't expect anything from him but she does not want to keep it a secret. Also, she has a bad track record with pregnancy. She's paged away for an incoming trauma. He's left speechless.

Jo catches up with Bailey, who didn't know she was coming back. Bailey thought she may be joining Alex in his endeavor. Jo admits he offered her her fellowship without supervision. Bailey makes her the same offer. She allows Jo to take the day to think it over.

Richard finds out Meredith sent a man to the ER for a head CT. He finds Alex, who has trouble finding a working pen, to ask where to find the forms, but Alex says CT is out. He sent out word that they are closed to trauma, but rigs keep coming in. He tries to walk off but is approached by another one of Meredith's crew patients.

A line has formed for Meredith out on the street. She tells another woman to go to Pac-North and ask for Alex or Richard to get an ultrasound. Levi arrives with supplies for her impromptu clinic. Levi feels he might get arrested, but Meredith says the hospital is hers, so it's her stuff. Meredith's crew's supervisor Robin yells at Meredith for keeping people from working. Meredith brings up a nodule she noticed in Robin's neck and offers to take a look.

Bailey has organized a skills lab for the residents to practice the most difficult part of the surgery: attaching the graft to the axillary artery. Andrew points out she's using other grafts than Meredith. Studies have shown that one is not superior to the other, she says. The first person who completes the anastomosis gets to do it in the OR. "Joy," she tells herself as the residents get to work.

Owen tells Reid he's lucky to only have a few fractured ribs. Reid says Maggie's lucky, too, since she hit him. She sets the record straight. Suddenly, Reid deteriorates. Maggie learns Blake didn't do an ECG. She does an ultrasound and finds a cardiac tamponade. They need to open him up.

Jo finds Link in a research room. She says she's being treated like a commodity. She tells him about her two job offers. She notices he's lost in thought. He tells her Amelia is pregnant with his baby. They didn't discuss what they want to do yet, but he thinks she might want to keep it.

Meredith is examining Robin's neck. It hurts to cough. She saw her primary physician, who referred her to an ENT, but insurance took two weeks to approve a specialist and she couldn't get an appointment until November. Meredith says she knows someone who can see her right now. Robin doesn't want to leave since it could cost her her job, but Meredith argues it could be cancer, which convinces her.

Bailey tells Jackson and Tom that she has set out to improve the caliber of the surgical department. Tom says he doesn't teach and ignores Jackson's reminder that this is a teaching hospital. Tom gets paged to the ER. Jackson leaves, too, as Andrew calls out he's done, followed by Taryn mere seconds later. Bailey checks their work and tells Taryn that she gets to do the anastomosis this afternoon, but Andrew gets to scrub in, too.

Richard is scolding an intern for paging him for a non-surgical patient while Alex calls Meredith to tell her to stop sending people over. He then checks in on Jo, who tells him about Bailey's offer. He swears he didn't ask Bailey to do that. Alex counters with the offer to make her a general surgery attending right now. He needs the extra hands. A patient interrupts Alex's phone call as he suspects the man sitting next to him is dead. Alex hangs up and goes to check on the guy.

Tom finds Owen and Maggie have opened up Reid. One of the ribs has hit the heart. Maggie needs to temporize the bleeding. Reid goes into V-fib. Tom takes Blake to another patient. Maggie panics that she might be charged with a felony if Reid dies. If that happens, Amelia will have to take care of the kids if Meredith ends up in jail, too, and she can't have that on her plate now. Owen inquires about Amelia but Maggie deflects and defibrillates.

Alex and Richard are operating on the man from the waiting room. Richard criticizes Alex, who offers to get him another assist. Richard refuses the subpar residents. He admits he doesn't want to work here. He drove to Grey Sloan out of habit, so he was late this morning, which he hates. He figured he'd drop dead in OR 2 one day, which made him happy. He misses his hospital.

Link talks to Jo about how much he hated his childhood with all the cancer treatment. Jo assures him that won't happen to his kid. Besides cancer, there are so many other problems to worry about, like global warming. Besides, he's not even sure he gets a say. Jo says it's Amelia's body so her choice, but gets to weigh in. Link receives a text from Amelia. Jo assures Link he'll be an excellent dad if it gets down to it. He tells her she's a commodity.

Meredith's doing an ultrasound on Robin's neck in Grey Sloan's parking lot. Levi explains Meredith used to work here. Jackson arrives per Meredith's request. Given the concerning features on the ultrasound, she pleads with Jackson to do a biopsy. He agrees and warns her that Bailey might see her if she keeps practicing medicine there.

The time has come for Taryn's big moment in the OR. Andrew reminds her the artery is fragile. Bailey hushes him, but he blurts out that he beat Taryn. Bailey replies just by one second and encourages Taryn to start.

Owen and Maggie have shocked Reid 18 times already. Maggie tries again. If she wasn't blaming herself, she would call it quits by now. Tom walks in and says she should. Owen defies him and takes over from her. He shocks again. Tom wants them to free up the trauma room. Owen charges to shock again, but Reid's rhythm returns before he can do. He takes out the paddles and accidentally shocks Tom in the crotch. Tom screams and falls to the ground.

As Owen and Maggie get on the elevator to take Reid up to the OR, Owen apologizes to Tom as Blake helps him to a wheelchair. Tom only wants Catherine for this.

Levi is assisting Jackson with the biopsy and tells him all the supplies he brought to Meredith. He's brave and sometimes stupid, so he went when she called. He lied to Bailey, so he's hoping that Jackson will cover for him and Meredith. Jackson concedes. Meredith's his friend, so he's not scared of getting in trouble if it allows her to help people.

Link and Amelia are in the plant room. She tells him about Christopher and how it made her terrified of being pregnant again. It's why she's so militant on birth control, which she has been on for so long that she it took her a while to notice that she was pregnant. She's in a privileged situation now with her sobriety and career, so she could give a kid a good life, but she doesn't think that's a reason to have a child. The odds of birthing another anencephalic baby are zero to none, she knows she wouldn't survive it. She asks about his feelings. He shares some of his imagined worst-case scenarios but admits they are irrelevant in comparison to her problem. But now he knows that more than anything, he does not want her to get hurt. If she wants this kid, he'll suck up his fears and be a dad. If she doesn't, he'll be there for her in every way that he can. "Damn it, Link," she says as she leaves.

Taryn finishes up the anastomosis. The graft is looking good. However, once the second clamp comes off, the patient starts bleeding. It appears to be coming from her suture line. Taryn panics and Bailey just stands there. Bailey instructs DeLuca to step in. He places clamps and switches places with Taryn.

In the waiting room, Meredith and Jackson tell Robin that she has papillary thyroid cancer. It's perfectly treatable. Robin is relieved. She would have had to wait two months if it wasn't for Meredith, that is assuming she could afford to take the day off. If she misses work, she doesn't get paid, can't pay rent or buy another inhaler. Her insurance only covers one inhaler per month. She guesses the $500 for the inhaler is cheap in comparison to the inhaler. Jackson assures her they will find options for her. Bankruptcy or death, Robin says. Bailey and Taryn walk by. Taryn spots her. Meredith says she is just visiting a friend.

Maggie tells Tara, Reid's girlfriend, that it'll be a long road to recovery. Tara wonders why she's staying with someone who lives at her place, eats her food, and steals her credit card. Maggie thinks because things were good at some point. Maybe a quiet part inside her raised some red flags every now and then, but she ignored them because dating is heard, even for successful, smart women. She advises Tara to rip off the Band-Aid herself, because otherwise he might leave her first, leaving her to feel like a victim, which is worse.

Alex tells Richard that their patient is stable. His wife's on the way. Richard is happy at least one thing went right today. Alex admits he didn't want to work here. He inherited his and Bailey's legacy at Grey Sloan. Contrary to Grey Sloan, failure is the culture here, but they can change that. Richard can find a new legacy here. Alex asks Richard to do the impossible with him to prove Bailey wrong. Also, he pulled some strings to allow Richard to change a janitorial closet into his office.

Maggie and Jackson end up on an elevator together. He tells her she was wrong about Vic, who is smart and brave. She is different from him, but he thinks that's a good thing. Maggie apologizes for what she said, but his caption was spiteful, even though it was unconsciously.

Andrew and Taryn are examining Wade in post-op. Everything's looking good. Andrew leaves the room and confronts Bailey about her decision to let Taryn do the most critical part of the surgery. He should have done it. He thinks she sidelined him because of his relationship with Meredith Grey. Bailey warns him not to question her methods. Taryn needed to feel the adrenaline and fear that makes you a surgeon. It's not personal, unless he makes it personal. She advises him to think about his career and let go off certain loyalties.

Jo finds Bailey and asks her to talk. She has made a decision. She wants to be a general surgery attending. Nobody at this hospital made her this offer, but Alex did. She has trained under the best and she knows this place. She would be an asset to any hospital, so the question is if Bailey wants it to be hers. Bailey says they'll talk in her office.

Owen visits Tom in his room to apologize for the incident. Owen extends his hand, but Tom ignores and reveals he obtained an emergency restraining order against him. He can contact his lawyer for questions. Owen points out they work together, but Tom just asks him to shut the door on his way out.

Jo has informed Alex that she accepted Bailey's offer to become a general surgery attending. Grey Sloan is the better choice for her. Alex concedes and advises her to demand a parking spot. Jo says Bailey gave him his.

Bailey and Ben are eating donuts in bed while they laugh about what happened to Tom.

Andrew drops by Meredith's house. He heard she was at the hospital today. She stumbled across a lot patients at work crew. She was fired for helping a kid who fell through the cracks, but as much as she tries to keep her head down, she keeps noticing people who fall through the same cracks. Andrew warns her jail is not fun. Meredith is not planning on going to jail, but she does plan to write about the things she's seeing. She can't lay low. Andrew finds her sexy and they start making out.

Link sits down with Amelia outside on a bench. He thinks he said the wrong thing. She says she had made up her mind. She was scared of doing it alone and because of what happened with Christopher, but his words made her less scared and a bit a love, which might be the hormones. She asks him not to say it back. She thinks they would make an amazing kid and she would like to meet it. He does, too.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Medical Notes[]

Carla[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Steam burn
    • Infection
  • Treatment:
    • Debridement
    • Antibiotics

Carla showed Meredith a steam burn she'd gotten at work. It had blistered and gotten infected. Meredith said she needed debridement and antibiotics. Carla asked asked Meredith to treat it for her.

Wade Foltz[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Leriche syndrome
  • Treatment:
    • Axillary bi-femoral bypass

Wade, 55, came to the hospital with weakness in his hips after walking short distances and erectile dysfunction. He had no palpable pulse in his femur and near-complete blockage in his distal aorta. He was diagnosed with leriche syndrome. He was scheduled for an axillary bi-femoral bypass to redirect blood flow. After winning a skills lab, Taryn was allowed to do the hardest part of the surgery. When they got to that point, she completed it, but when they removed the clamps, he started bleeding profusely, so Andrew stepped in to stop the bleeding. He was stable after his surgery.

Reid Kim[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Fractured ribs
    • Cardiac tamponade
  • Treatment:
    • Chest tube
    • Thoracotomy

Reid was taken into the ER after running into Maggie's car in the hospital parking lot. He said his neck hurt a little, but most of the pain was in his chest. Owen said he had only a few fractures near his sternum, but then he coded. They diagnosed cardiac tamponade and did a thoracotomy to find the source of the bleeding. His broken rib had punctured his heart. They worked to stop the bleeding and then defibrillated with difficulty. They were able to restore sinus rhythm.

Simon[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Head injury
  • Treatment:

Simon came into the ER at Pac-North with a head injury, telling him Meredith sent him there and told him to ask for Richard to get a head CT.

Robin Jones[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Papillary thyroid cancer
  • Treatment:

Robin had a lump on her neck. Meredith looked at it and said it needed to be biopsied. She was waiting to see an ENT, so Meredith took her to Jackson to get the biopsy that same day. Her biopsy showed papillary thyroid cancer. She'd need surgery and possibly iodine treatments.

Pac-North Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Gastric artery laceration
  • Treatment:
    • Surgery

A man in the waiting room informed Alex that a man sitting next to him appeared to be dead. They were able to get him to the OR, where they operated and saved his life.

Tom Koracick[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Electrocution
  • Doctors:
  • Treatment:
    • Ice

Tom had accidental contact between a defibrillator and his genitals.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"I Feel Good" Rayelle X Lucky Dropout
  • Andrew brings Meredith coffee and she tells him her hearing is in three months.
  • One of the other workers shows her a burn she got from work and Meredith says she needs medical attention.
  • Bailey brings in donuts and tells Ben it's because she has no joy.
  • Ben tells her to take her joy back.
  • Alex sits down next to Jo.
"Dear Nighttime" Seeker Lover Keeper
  • Alex asks Richard for his help turning the hospital around.
  • Maggie gets on the elevator with Jackson. Jackson tells her she's wrong about Vic.
"Don't Give Up on Me" Andy Grammer
  • Bailey and Ben laugh over what happened to Tom.
  • Andrew comes to Meredith's and says he heard she was at the hospital.
  • She explains to him about the patients who keep falling through the cracks.
  • She wants to write and publish something about the patients.
  • Link is worried he said the wrong thing to Amelia.
  • She says she'd made up her mind because of fear, but then he said things.
  • She says she kind of wants to meet the kid they'd make together. He agrees.

Notes and Trivia[]

Grey's_Anatomy_16x02_Promo_"Back_in_the_Saddle"_(HD)_Season_16_Episode_2_Promo

Grey's Anatomy 16x02 Promo "Back in the Saddle" (HD) Season 16 Episode 2 Promo

Grey's_Anatomy_16x02_Promo_2_"Back_in_the_Saddle"_(HD)_Season_16_Episode_2_Promo_2

Grey's Anatomy 16x02 Promo 2 "Back in the Saddle" (HD) Season 16 Episode 2 Promo 2

  • This episode's title originated from the song Back in the Saddle, originally sung by Aerosmith.
  • This episode scored 6.08 million viewers.[1]
  • This is the 25th episode of the series directed by Kevin McKidd.
  • On the night of the episode, Kevin did a live video chat on Twitter from his trailer on set to answer fan questions.[source?]
  • Ada Luz Pla appears as Carla in this episode. She was also credited in the previous episode but did not appear then. Given that both episodes feature similar scenes shot on location in Seattle, it is possible that the scenes were shuffled around between episodes and the credits were not adjusted accordingly.[source?]
  • This marks only the third time in the entire series that two current main characters are employed together on screen some place other than Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital or any of it predecessor hospitals. The first time was when Shane Ross and Cristina appeared working together at Klausman Institute for Medical Research at the end of Fear (of the Unknown). April Kepner and Jackson Avery were also seen together on their first day as interns at Mercy West Medical Center in Unbreak My Heart.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

Ben: I don't know what the special occasion is, but I want it noted I do not miss the green smoothies.
Bailey: The occasion is that I have no joy. My best surgeons work elsewhere, and Catherine gave away my job.
Ben: Oh, but you still have a job.
Bailey: I have a job, but then a man, a man who I can't stand, has another job and he has a title above my job. Where's my joy, Ben?
Ben: Let me tell you something about the woman I married. She don't let anything stop her. No surgery, no intern, and certainly no man. Now, you go back in there, and you take your joy back.

Amelia: Is it appropriate for me to tell Link in a text? So I can avoid having to look him in the eye while I say, "Hey, remember how careful we were? Not careful enough, Daddy!"

Amelia: You kept medical textbooks here?
Maggie: I like to study.
Amelia: It was a sex thing, wasn't it?

Tom: You are such a stand-up guy. Leaving Teddy all alone in a motel with a new baby.
Owen: What are you still doing here, Tom? Don't you have a job back in Baltimore or did you lose that, too?
Tom: That's a funny way to talk to your boss. What, Teddy didn't tell you?
Owen: Tell me what?
Tom: Oh, since your friends went rogue, Catherine made me God of this place. So, practice kneeling. Maybe throw in a few prayers.

Maggie: Hey, how's freedom? You enjoying it?
Jackson: What's that?
Maggie: The sexy firefighter. She's freedom, right? Freedom from having to live with someone who intellectually challenges you? A surgeon dating a firefighter. You get to feel superior all the time.
Jackson: Nice.
Maggie: It wasn't. That was the point.

Levi: Am I gonna get arrested? I feel like I'm gonna get arrested.
Meredith: For what?
Levi: I just stole from the hospital.
Meredith: I own the hospital. That's my stuff. You just brought me my stuff.

Richard: I was 15 minutes late for work this morning, and I'm never late. I find it to be an indicator of laziness. But I got into my car this morning, and I drove to Grey-Sloan because for the past 35 years, that's where I've driven every day. I spent more of my life in that building than in my own home. It's where I was called "Dr. Webber" for the very first time. I figured one day I would just drop dead in OR 2, and the thought of that made me happy. So, no, Karev, I don't want to work here. I want to work at my hospital! That is no longer an option.

Link: I started chemo when I was 10, then radiation, then more chemo, and so on. I spent my entire childhood getting poked and prodded and listening to my parents fight.
Jo: Link, that's not gonna happen to your kid. Your cancer wasn't even genetic.
Link: It was random, which is I swear to God, it's worse. There's no way to prepare. I mean, forget cancer. What sane person turns on the news and thinks, "Oh, great, the polar ice caps are melting. The planet is on fire and all of humanity is whining on Twitter while doing exactly nothing to prevent any of it So, yeah, yeah, I should bring a baby into this world"?
Jo: Sometimes I forget how dark your dark streak is.
Link: It's her choice, so if she wants to have this kid, do I say any of this?
Jo: It's her body, her choice, yes. But you're a person, too. You get to weigh in.
Link: It's Amelia.
Jo: Wait, Link. You're an excellent friend. And if it comes down to it, you will be an excellent dad.
Link: Jo, if people are treating you like a commodity, it's because you are.

Levi: I'm a Gryffindor. I'm brave. I'm scared all the time, but I am brave and sometimes stupid. So, when Dr. Grey called, I went. I just do not want to lose my license or go to jail. So, when Chief Bailey asks me why I took those supplies, I'm hoping maybe you could say you asked me for them.
Jackson: Fine. Here's a sample.
Levi: Fine? Really?
Jackson: Meredith Grey's a good friend and the best doctor I know. I'm not scared of getting in a little bit of trouble if that means she's helping someone. Also a Gryffindor.

Amelia: I named him Christopher. I donated his organs and it was the hardest thing I've ever gone through. So, the thought of being pregnant again, the idea of reliving it, it just, it was always paralyzing. That is why I am militant about birth control. I mean, I've honestly been on it for so long I barely get a period anymore, which is why it took me a while to notice this. And I've had a long time to process it, to grieve him. But even though I'm in a privileged situation now, I'm with my sobriety and with my career, and even though I could give a kid a good life, I just don't think that's a reason to have a child. And even though the odds of what happened with Christopher ever happening again are like a million to one, I just, I know I wouldn't survive it. So, um... Sorry. And I know it's my body but you are free to have feelings.
Link: I've spent the day trying to wrap my head around this, imagining worst-case scenarios if we actually went through with this and I've got about a million of them. Cancer, global warming, gun violence, antibiotic resistant superbugs. But talking to you now, looking at you, listening to you, and hearing what you have survived, I... What I know I don't want is for anything to hurt you. That feels real to me. That feels tangible. And everything that scares me suddenly feels irrelevant. So if you want to have this kid, I will suck up my fears and I'll be a dad because, well, I mean, let's be honest. Kids love me. And if you don't want it, I'll drive you to the appointment. I will be there for you in every way I possibly can. That's what I know. That's my feelings.

Tara: Why do I stay with him?
Maggiee: Because at one point, things were good. He made you laugh. You were attracted to him. And maybe a quiet part inside of you raised a red flag here or there, but you ignored it because dating in today's world is miserable. It's digital and terrifying, and, let's be honest, the pickings are slim for an educated, independent woman. So you stayed. But, Tara, the longer you stay, the harder it will be to leave. And maybe you think that he will leave first, but if he does that, then you'll just feel like a victim, which I think is worse than just ripping off the Band-Aid yourself.

Alex: Hey, Dr. Webber. I didn't want to work here, either. You know, at Grey Sloan, I inherited a legacy. Bailey's legacy, your legacy. You know, I mean, every choice I made, I heard your voice in my head "Don't settle. Do better." At Grey Sloan, failing was our last option. But here, failure's the culture. But we can change that. I mean, dying in an OR at Grey-Sloan is one plan, but maybe there is a better plan for you here. A new legacy. Help me turn this place around. Help me do the impossible. Help me prove Bailey wrong.

Jackson: You're wrong, you know?
Maggie: Excuse me?
Jackson: What you said about Vic. She's really smart, Maggie, and she's brave. And you're right. She is different from me. I don't think that's a bad thing.
Maggie: I'm sorry for what I said. Even so, #Freedom is a little aggressive.
Jackson: I wasn't being consciously spiteful.
Maggie: Unconsciously, then.

Bailey: Monitor proximal and distal pulses every hour.
Andrew: Really? That's it? Nothing else to say?
Bailey: What? Oh, you want praise? Good work, Dr. DeLuca. You did your job.
Andrew: You let someone who wasn't ready do the most critical part of his surgery. I should have been doing that anastomosis from the beginning. But instead, you sidelined me because of my relationship with Meredith Grey.
Bailey: Excuse me?
Andrew: I aced that skills lab, Bailey. My suture technique was far more advanced Helm needed the practice!
Bailey: She needed the adrenaline and the fear because all of that is what makes you a surgeon! And don't you dare question my methods! This is not personal, DeLuca, unless you make it personal. If I were you, I'd start thinking about my career and let go of certain loyalties.

Jo: Bailey? Hi, can you talk? Is now a bad time?
Bailey: I no longer have good times. What?
Jo: I've taken the day, and I've made my decision. I want to be a general surgery attending.
Bailey: I don't recall giving you that option. Did Tom Koracick?
Jo: No one did. Well, no one here did.
Bailey: So, you're going to Pac-North?
Jo: That's up to you. They've made me a tempting offer.
Bailey: Your husband.
Jo: Their chief. They believe that I'm ready. I've trained under the best and most of whom no longer work here. I know how this place works. I know how you work. And I'm ready. I would be an asset to any hospital. The question is do you want that hospital to be yours?
Bailey: Let's go to my office.

Owen: I wanted to apologize for the... I'm sorry, Tom, for the incident.
Tom: Incident? You deep-fried my nads.
Owen: It was an unfortunate accident, Tom, and I am very sorry, so...
Tom: Actually, champ, I'm gonna need you to step back a few feet. 500 feet, if we're gonna be sticklers about it. Court orders.
Owen: What?
Tom: I've obtained an emergency restraining order against you, Hunt, due to acute emotional and physical distress.
Owen: Restraining order?
Tom: If you need any clarification, feel free to reach out to my attorney, Ron Brickman. He can answer any questions you have. He's a good friend, hell of a tennis player, actually.
Owen: Tom, we work together.
Tom: Shut the door on your way out, would you?

Alex: You took my offer to Bailey to get a better one?
Jo: It didn't feel that calculated in the moment, but basically.
Alex: I feel used.
Jo: I know! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But it's the smart choice. The facility's better. The tech is cutting-edge. Higher-profile patients.
Alex: Look, you're making it sound like I'm the Chief of a burger joint.
Jo: Someone died in your waiting room.
Alex: Nobody died. Webber and I got to him in time. He's fine.
Jo: Okay, you're basically making my argument for me.
Alex: All right, just make sure you get a parking spot. Bailey's really tight with them, so demand one.
Jo: She gave me yours.

Andrew: I heard a rumor you were at the hospital today.
Meredith: I stumbled across a patient at work crew. I actually have stumbled across a lot of patients at work crew. I know I got fired for trying to help a kid who fell through the cracks. And as much as I try to keep my head down and lay low and just get through my hours, I keep coming across people who can't get the help they need because of the same crap. They keep falling through the same cracks.
Andrew: Okay, look, before you decide to do whatever it is you're doing, okay, jail sucks. It's not fun. You're not gonna be able to see your kids or pee in private. The water tastes like feet. Should I go on?
Meredith: Okay, I'm not planning on going to jail. But what I'm planning to do is write about what I'm seeing.
Andrew: You want to publish?
Meredith: I do.
Andrew: You're about to face the medical board.
Meredith: I know.
Andrew: Didn't the lawyer say to lay low?
Meredith: Yes, but I don't think I'm capable of that. What?
Andrew: Nothing. You're just very, very sexy when you're about to burn your whole life down.

Link: Did I say the wrong thing?
Amelia: I had made up my mind. Because I was scared. Of what happened with Christopher and of doing this alone. And a million little things. I was scared. And then you said things.
Link: That made you less scared?
Amelia: Less scared and a little bit in love. It's probably just the hormones.
Link: Probably.
Amelia: Please don't say it back.
Link: Okay.
Amelia: You and I, we'd make an amazing kid. And now I kinda want to meet that kid.
Link: Well, I kinda do, too.

See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.


References[]

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