Dirty Laundry is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season and the 93rd overall episode of Station 19.
Short Summary[]
The team responds to a tragic freeway pileup. Andy helps Natasha face the fallout of a recent decision just as Ben deals with the fallout of his own.
Full Summary[]
Ross sits at her desk as her desk phone and cell phone repeatedly ring. She has newspapers on her desk talking about the scandal.
Sullivan works out in the gym.
Kel tells Ross a reporter wants a comment from her. She doesn't give one.
Vic finds Maya resting on the couch. She's surprised because it's so early. Then she realizes why and wants details, but Maya refuses to give any. They're both distracted by Dixon on the news talking about Ross. They both look for the remote, but can't find it. Travis comes in and Maya ends up unplugging the television. Vic says it's not right what they're doing to Ross. They're consenting adults who had history from before they were even firefighters. It's needlessly complicated. Maya agrees. She leaves to go throw hoses and pretend they're Dixon. Vic sees Travis's face and says this is more about Ross than about Ripley. They walk out into the beanery, where Travis checks to make sure everyone is registered to vote. Travis realizes Jack's not registered and says he doesn't vote and Dixon gets elected, he can't complain about what he does. Travis then takes Jack's phone to get him started on registering. Kate comes in and talks to Jack. She's subbing for Ben, whom she nicknames Dr. Fire, until he's back at work. Andy advises her not to joke about Ben's injury. Theo comes in and Kate calls him Captain Fire. Jack asks about everyone getting nicknames. She starts giving more out, but when it comes to him, she just says he's Gibson. She leaves and everyone else talks about how awkward that was for Jack. Theo warns him to keep it professional. He and Vic are different because they were together before they worked together. Beckett comes in saying he doesn't think The Chronicle would see it that way.
Travis, Jack, Vic, Maya, Kate, Sullivan, and Andy talk about Beckett's return. Kate says Sullivan should be able to get more information because he has an in with the chief. She says he's not the first person to sleep his way to the top and won't be the last. Vic tells her it's not the time. Theo calls for line-up. Beckett joins the rest of them. He's back on probationary status. Once he's deemed fit, he'll resume as captain. Until then, Theo will continue to act as captain.
Ben sits in Milo's room, poring over the report on the fire. Bailey comes in with food and tells him to eat. She's upset that he's looking at the report again. He's been reading it non-stop. He's torturing and punishing himself. She won't let him end up in a bed like Maya. He starts eating. She leaves to tend to patients, but says she'll be back. She takes the report with her. Ben goes to Milo and tells him to wake up. Moira comes in and asks if he'll be okay. Ben gives her a report and tells her he's a firefighter. She asks if he was at the fire. He says he was. She questions why he was still inside and he explains that the house was hard to navigate. She blames herself. She told him he couldn't call until he was sober for a year. She asks him to tell her how this happened. He starts to explain.
Sullivan tells Andy she can't be mad when he's a punchline. She's upset that he lied to her about what she was seeing. He says he was protecting her and Ross. Andy realizes he'd actually mad because Ross prioritized her career over his feelings and his rank. She tells him to get over himself long enough to help Ross. The team gets called out and Andy watches them all go.
Beckett says he's glad to see Maya back. The team finds his affect weird. He says he's got it all figured out with some professional help. Theo radios that it's a car accident with multiple victims.
At the scene, they jump out and Theo gives them orders. Several injured people are leaving their vehicles.
Vic goes to a car, where Margot Ford introduces herself. She had her feet on the dashboard, so her legs are mangled. Next to her is Paige Donahue, who is in shock and not speaking. Beckett joins them and looks in the backseat, where a third teen was sitting. He reaches in to check for a pulse. He has Vic turn her walkie talkie off and then radios that the car has two immediate in the front seat and one deceased in the back. In another car, John Tucker and Edna Gherkes are trapped. John's worried about Edna, who's been unconscious since the crash. The steering wheel is crushing his chest, but he wants them to focus on Edna. Edna wakes up and says her neck's a little tight. Travis puts a collar on her and says they're going to get her out. Until then, she has to stay still. They call for equipment to free John, then start working on Edna.
Ross hears a knock. She thinks it's Kel, but doesn't want to be disturbed. Andy walks in. Ross says she's tying up some things as she packs up her office. Mayor Rothman has called for her resignation. Andy tells her Rothman's on his way out. He hasn't fired her. That matters. She knows how it works and wants to leave on her own terms and minimize the damage to the department and others. Andy says her backing down doesn't benefit the department. She's the first female fire chief. She has a legacy. Ross says her legacy will be tarnished. She wants to make things okay for the next woman after her. Andy doesn't believe she really wants to quit. Andy wants to be her someday because she's been Ross do it. It's forced her to dream bigger. She wants to know what Ross wants. Ross says she doesn't know and orders Andy to go back to 19. Andy refuses to take orders from someone who is giving up before the fight.
Moira tries to wrap her head around what happened to Milo. She blames herself. Milo's been in and out of rehab since he was 17. She would always meet the therapists and tour the facilities. She spent her life savings on it. It left her broke in more ways than one. Finally, she found the only place she could afford and shipped him away. She wonders what kind of mother does that to her son. Ben thinks she was doing the best she could. When he left, she cried out of relief. The house was peaceful and she was able to sleep through the night. Ben says she did what she could, but she thinks she abandoned her child.
As Sullivan works, Firefighter Walden and Firefighter Greene talk about him.
Vic explains to Morgot what she's going to do. It's going to hurt. Margot's phone rings, but she doesn't know where it is. Paige finally looks around and questions where they are and what happened. She sees Margot's leg. Margot's phone rings again. It's her mom and she lied to her mom so she could get a sexier prom dress because Fynn finally asked her. Margot remembers Fynn and Vic tries to calm her by asking about her dress. She reaches back and asks if Fynn is dead. When her hand comes back with blood, she cries.
Margot tries to get herself out of the car. Beckett tells her she needs to calm down so they can assess her properly. Margot's phone rings again and she answers it when Paige hands it to her. She apologizes to her mom for lying and asks her mom to come get her. Paige says they just wanted to listen to their favorite song one more time. She only looked down for a second.
Ross tells Andy she's tired. Andy says she had things she wanted to accomplish, so she should do that instead of walking away. Ross says she wants the job and the man. She's been focused on her career for as long as she can remember. She's sacrificed herself along the way. She let her guard down a little and now it's everywhere, undoing everything she's worked for. Andy says it wasn't that long ago that they were in her car and she was telling Andy to wait until a jury of her peers judged if she was acting in self-defense with Jeremy or if she'd been asking for it. Instead, she faced what people were saying about her and challenged them to see her. She wants Ross to change the narrative and talk to the press herself. Andy says her dad worked within the system. The biggest change he made was when he stopped playing by the rules and made noise because she had nothing left to lose. She wants Ross to make them see her and be unashamed of herself. Ross grabs her jacket and tells Andy she'll make a great chief someday. She leaves because she has a job to do.
Edna is worried because John is coughing up blood. He's having trouble breathing, so they call for oxygen. Edna was a nurse and wonders if he's bleeding into his chest. They admit that he might be. She tells him he can't die after they've found each other again. She knows he has a ring and tells him the answer is yes. So he can't die. He says he loves her. She kisses him on the cheek, which she says isn't goodbye, then allows herself to be pulled out of the car.
Ross arrives at the scene. She thanks Maya, even though it didn't turn out how they wanted. Maya says she's sorry.
Moira asks Ben if he has kids. He says he does. She's amazed he is still there with her son. He feels guilty because he wasn't able to save Taylor. He needs Milo to survive. Moira says when she was pregnant with Milo, she was afraid of anything hurting him. She did everything she could to keep him healthy, then she watched him destroy himself, which destroyed her. It was like living in a house on fire. She couldn't save him and then she reached a point where she needed to breathe. But Ben was in a literal house on fire and saved her son. She thanks Ben and hugs him.
Beckett, Sullivan, and Vic remove the car door. Beckett tells Margot close her eyes and keep them closed as they pull her out onto a gurney. Paige is next, but she blames herself for the accident and says she should have died instead. Beckett climbs in the car with her and says this doesn't define her. He knows how she feels because his friend died in an accident that's probably his fault. And he had a daughter. It's the first and last thing he thinks about every day. Paige is only 16. They're going to get her out of the car and she'll be reunited with her family. She's going to live and learn from this mistake. She'll make amends and live. He says he's sorry about her friend and she says she's sorry about his. It's time to get her out.
As they prepare to open up the car to free John, he's more worried about Edna. He's loved her since she was 13. He thought he'd lost her forever when she moved away in high school, but he never forgot her. After he got divorced, his grandson showed him how to search for people online. He only wanted to find one person and he combed through many Edna Gherkeses to find her. He's glad he did because she makes his heart race just like when they were kids. Jack warns John that he might get lightheaded as they open up the car. He tells them the ring is in the front left pocket of his bag if he doesn't make it. Jack says he'll give Edna the ring himself. He hopes so, but if not, at least he had her for a while.
A driver gets out of his car and tells Maya they can't keep everyone there all day. She tells him to get back into his car. Judi Ford and Shauna come up next. Maya tries to send them back, but the say their kids are in the accident, Judi's Margot and Shauna's Fynn. Maya radios Ross, who says to send them through. The driver is upset at that. He'll be filing a formal complaint. Maya tells him that people behind her are hurt. Those parents' lives are forever changed and he's worried about the inconvenience. He's an inconvenience to her doing her job. Everyone behind her would rather be somewhere else, just like him. She tells him to get back to his car, which he does. Maya watches as Shauna breaks down crying.
Milo wakes up and extubates himself.
Jack and Tavis open up John's car and pull him out.
Paige waits to be rescued.
Jack starts CPR on John.
Paige is pulled onto a gurney.
Two nurses come in along with Bailey to calm Milo.
Jack says John has a pulse, so they move to the aid car.
Paige is taken to another aid car. Ross grabs Fynn's backpack out of the back seat.
Bailey puts a mask on Milo as a nurse holds him down. He starts to calm down.
Ross gives Fynn's backpack to Shauna, who holds it and cries as Ross comforts her.
Moira hugs Milo and cries with him. He sees Ben and tells him he lied. He tells Ben he hates him and wants him to leave. Ben walks out. Bailey tells Moira Milo's doctor will be in soon, but it's good that he's breathing on his own. She steps outside and tells Ben not to do this here. She pulls him away with her.
As they put Paige in an aid car, Beckett tells Vic that her life will never be the same, but she lived, so that's a win.
Ross radios and tells them to get the scene cleaned up. Greene and Walden joke about her thinking she's still in charge. Sullivan hears this and confronts them. Jack and Travis hold him back as he defends her and her military and firefighting careers. What's worse is that she'd still risk her life to save them. She's a hero. He walks away from them and Theo orders everyone to get back to work.
Jack gets off the phone and tells Travis that John lived and proposed to Edna, who accepted. Travis is surprised he called the hospital. Jack just needed to know. He doesn't really know who he is anymore. He used to be ambitious and cocky. Now he's not like that anymore. Travis likes him better now. The things he's been through have changed him. For him, it made him more honest and now he admits to having feelings. Travis says people change all the time. Like John and Edna, who lived entire lives before finding each other again. Jack thanks him and hugs him.
Beckett is grilling and tells Andy she'll spoil her appetite with snacks. Vic comes in and asks about him cooking. He says he never ate with them when he was captain and he's decided to change that. He takes the steaks inside. He apologizes to the team. He was not himself for a long time and the mutiny probably saved a lot of lives. He's grateful to them. He knows who he is and what he wants now. He won't be seeking his captaincy back now. He just wants to clean his slate and hopes they can accept that. He offers Theo a steak and a potato. Theo accepts the food, but isn't sure about the rest. Kate hopes Ben's out for days and thanks "Becks." Jack points out that everyone gets a nickname, but takes his desire back when she nicknames him Gibby. The team discusses it as they start eating.
Ben gets a call as he, Pru, and Bailey leave the hospital. It's Ross. When he hangs up, he tells Bailey they're giving him a medal of commendation for his bravery at the sober-living house fire. Bailey says Milo might not ever be able to understand what Ben did, but he's alive. Ben saved his family. Ben says he saved Moira's family, not Milo's. He picks up Pru and they leave.
Kate finds Theo. She thinks it was cool to be there when he learned he could be captain for real again. She never thought she'd see that.
Andy looks at her father's picture, then the captain's office.
Andy finds Sullivan, who is working out in the gym. She heard he had a moment at the scene, but he thinks it was less exciting than she heard. She leaves and he starts working out again. He gets a text from Ross asking to talk.
Ross waits for a response. Sullivan starts typing, but then stops without sending anything. Kel comes in and introduces Shelly from The Chronicle, who is there to talk to Ross.
Vic wonders why Theo suddenly has so much paperwork to do after shift. He says because Beckett left his program without finishing, he has to report on Beckett's condition at the end of every shift. Vic's surprised he didn't finish. Beckett comes in with an axe. His old captain, Fowler, retired and told Beckett he'd be replacing him and gave him the axe. Now he's giving it to Theo. He puts it on the desk and leaves. It's personalized with Beckett's name, which Vic finds suspicious. Between that and the steak dinner, it doesn't feel right. Theo thinks she's reading too much into it. He says he has to finish the paperwork, so he says he'll catch up with her later. She leaves.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Jaina Lee Ortiz as Lieutenant Andy Herrera
- Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren
- Boris Kodjoe as Lieutenant Robert Sullivan
- Grey Damon as Jack Gibson
- Barrett Doss as Victoria Hughes
- Jay Hayden as Travis Montgomery
- Danielle Savre as Lieutenant Maya Bishop
- Stefania Spampinato as Dr. Carina DeLuca (credit only)
- Carlos Miranda as Lieutenant Theo Ruiz
- Josh Randall as Captain Sean Beckett
- Merle Dandridge as Fire Chief Natasha Ross
- Pat Healy as Michael Dixon
Special Guest Star[]
Guest Stars[]
- Kiele Sanchez as Kate Powell
- Brigid Brannagh as Moira
- James Read as Jonathan Clifton Tucker
- Alejandra Flores as Edna Gherkes
- Grace Powell as Margot Ford
- Holly J. Barrett as Paige Donahue
- Jonathan Slavin as Bystander
- Andrew Yackel as Milo
Co-Starring[]
- Luke Loving as Asst. Deputy Chief Kel
- Janai Kaylani as Pru
- D'Emmanuel Ball as Wiggins
- Jeremy Gram Weaver as Walden
- Joe Corzo as Greene
- Jennifer Field as News Host
- Stacey Moseley as Shauna
- Amie MacKenzie as Judi
Rescues[]
Interstate Crash[]
Station 19 was called out to Interstate 5 Seneca Street. They arrived to find a multi-car accident. In one car, which had been crushed from behind by an SUB, Paige Donahue was driving with her friend, Margot Ford, in the front passenger seat and Fynn in the back seat. Margot's feet had been on the dashboard, so her legs were seriously injured on impact. Paige was conscious, but in shock and unable to respond to questions. In the backseat, Beckett determined that Fynn had died. In another car, Jonathan Tucker and Edna Gherkes were trapped. Edna was unconscious. She woke up as they worked on the car. She said her neck was tight, so they put a collar on her. The steering wheel was crushing John's chest, so they called for tools to get him out. Back at the other car, Vic stabilized Margot's leg in preparation for getting her out of the car. They then got the door open. When they got back to John, he was coughing up blood and struggling to breathe. They got Edna out of the car. Margot was removed from Paige's car, then they got ready to get Paige out. John was freed from his car, but arrested and had to be resuscitated. He was then loaded into an aid car. Paige was also extracted and moved to an aid car.
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Black Heart" | Stealth |
|
| "Head-up" | Talos |
|
| "Lift Me Up Into Your Light" | syml |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song Dirty Laundry, originally sung by Don Henley.
- This episode scored 3.79 million viewers.[1]
- This episode marks the directorial debut of Danielle Savre.
- Emily Culver had COVID while writing this episode. She started writing in January right after the holiday break.[2]
- There are scenes at Grey Sloan, which were not shot on the Grey's Anatomy set. Instead, the Station 19 crew built an exact replica of a Grey Sloan set for this purpose.[2]
- The episode was originally titled "Easy on Me."[2]
- The first scene filmed for the episode was the interior truck scene. Since Maya is in this scene, Danielle Savre had monitors in front of her to direct and act at the same time.[3]
- Margot Ford was named after Emily Culver's dog Margot and Danielle Savre's dog Ford. Milo was also named after a dog.[4]
- The two nurses who came to aid Milo were played by Danielle Savre's real-life best friends Chris Harkins and Macey Marshall, who are both nurses.[5]
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Quotes[]
See Also[]
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A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
| Station 19 Season 6 | ||||||
| #01 | "Twist and Shout" | #07 | "We Build Then We Break" | #13 | "It's All Gonna Break" | |
| #02 | "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" | #08 | "I Know A Place" | #14 | "Get It All Out" | |
| #03 | "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" | #09 | "Come As You Are" | #15 | "What Are You Willing to Lose" | |
| #04 | "Demons" | #10 | "Even Better Than the Real Thing" | #16 | "Dirty Laundry" | |
| #05 | "Pick Up The Pieces" | #11 | "Could I Leave You?" | #17 | "All These Things That I've Done" | |
| #06 | "Everybody Says Don't" | #12 | "Never Gonna Give You Up" | #18 | "Glamorous Life" | |
| << Season 5 | Season 7 >> | |||||