| “ | The Greek myths loved to talk about the perils of hubris, the dangers of believing you can outrun the will of the gods. As surgeons, we need hubris just to get through the day. We have to believe we can fix people, even with the odds stacked against us. Humility makes you good, but ego makes you great. If that means flying a little too close to the sun, well, that's a risk we're willing to take. Every surgery is an act of hubris. You open a body knowing you can make it better. On our best days, surgeons decide our patients' fate. It can make you feel invincible, like you can do no wrong. But inevitably, our hubris catches up with us. In those awful moments, we're left with nothing but the wreckage of our shattered egos. And we're in total free fall. | ” |
Drop It Like It's Hot is the eighth episode of the twenty-first season and the 438th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Short Summary[]
In the midst of a deadly heat wave, the team at Grey Sloan struggles to keep up with an overwhelming amount of patients. Amelia and Winston face a challenging surgery, while Jo and Lucas run an errand for the hospital that takes an unexpected turn.
Full Summary[]
From the kitchen window, the four interns observe Mika lying on the lawn chair that she has barely left for the past six weeks. It's already 100 degrees outside. It's supposed to be Mika's first day back. Just as Jules questions whether she's ready, Mika comes inside and says she's ready.
The queue disperses as the barista of the coffee cart outside announces there are no more cold drinks. Owen runs into Nora, who was at the hospital for a follow-up appointment with Teddy, which got cancelled. Her car won't start and she's been on hold with the tow company for 20 minutes. They recall a similar heatwave when they were kids. The sound of sirens reminds Owen to get back to work. He invites her to wait in the cooling center in the clinic.
Amelia hands Winston an iced coffee as she invites him onto an impossible case of hers with a cardiothoracic component. Nurse Freya comes up to thank Winston for last night. She flirts and leaves with his coffee.
Bailey runs into Mika and checks on her wellbeing. It can be hard to return to a place where something traumatic happened so she should be patient with herself. Mika thinks she needs routine. Bailey then welcomes her back as they join the crowd in the ER. Owen and Teddy announce that it will be a full ER today with heat-related illnesses, which require cold immersion. Local doctors are jumping in to help out and all elective surgeries have been cancelled. Owen reminds everyone of heat stroke symptoms. Once their speech is done, Teddy reminds Owen to take a break as he's been working since yesterday, but he's good for now. Amelia takes Winston to introduce him to her patient before she's discharged. Ben walks off with Teddy. He's excited to be on her service but she needs first-responder Ben today to handle overflow. She asks him to keep her updated as he communicates with command center.
Jo is swamped with patients who are in preterm labor because of the heat. Link delivers the bad news that their guy can't fix their AC today. Everyone is slammed. Jo tells him to figure it out.
Amelia introduces Winston to the patient, Jackie Williams, who is accompanied by her mother, Skye Williams. They know Winston as he recently ghosted Skye after a first date. He apologizes and offers to get another doctor, but Skye says it's okay. Benson presents Jackie's case. She was recently diagnosed with Marfan's syndrome. She has three brain aneurysms as well as a thoracic root aneurysm. Jackie was diagnosed a week after getting a full ride to Georgia Tech on basketball. Skye is worried over the surgery being pushed since Jackie's father died of an aneurysm at 27. They'd like to get this taken care of. Winston decides to sneak her into CT to get a look. As they leave, Amelia comments on Winston's dating.
Out in the ambulance bay, Mika assures Jules that's good. They tag along with Bailey as the first rig brings in Carl Holcomb, 52, who was operating a crane when it collapsed onto an apartment building. He had a temp of 109 out in the field. Cooling measures were initiated en route. Temp has gone down to 106 but he's still altered. Carl asks about his nephew, David.
Owen and Link move to the second rig. David Holcomb, 20, suffered crush injuries to the abdomen. The paramedic collapses as he briefs the doctors. Link finds that he's burning up. Owen asks for more hands. As the patient is taken inside, Bailey comes to check on the paramedic as a train of other rigs arrive.
Benson and Simone are taking Jackie up to CT when Molly Tran appears down the hall. Simone tells Benson to meet her up in CT and gets on the elevator with Jackie. Molly says James Dave to her. She hasn't been able to get Benson out of her head since their kiss and she didn't know what to do, so she hopped on a plane. She had to see him. Benson is paged. She tells him to go.
Winston finds Skye and tells her that his divorce has been rough on him. He's trying to get back out there but he's not ready for anything serious. He should have told her that after the date. He apologizes. Skye says all of her energy is going to make sure Jackie gets the best care. Winston can ghost her but he better not mess around with Jackie. Winston assures her he won't.
Bailey checks on Hal, whose temp has gone down to 105 but his heart rate is rising. Lucas got the last ice bath for his patient. As Hal is still delirious, Jules and Mika run to the morgue to get a body bag. Soon after, Hal loses consciousness. Bailey recruits Lucas to help her intubate him.
In trauma room 1, Link finds that David has an unstable humerus fracture. Owen finds free fluid in the abdomen as Richard arrives with volunteers, among them Cass Beckman. She greets Owen and jumps in as David's blood pressure bottoms out. Cass says they should get to the OR immediately and acknowledges she's bossy as they get moving.
As Jo and Lucas argue over which of their patients deserves the last ice, Ben runs past them and grabs the last ice from the ice machine. He tells them there's a convenience store on Pine and instructs them to go buy as much as they can. Begrudgingly, Jo volunteers to drive.
As Jules grabs a stack of body bags, Mika revels in the quiet of the morgue. She wonders which drawer was Chloe's. Chloe always liked cold weather so Mika bets she was happy here. She then says they can't keep the patient waiting or they'll kill him, too.
Simone asks Benson about Molly and adds that Lucas swore her to secrecy. Benson tells her about her engagement. Simone inquires if he still has feelings, to which he replies too much has happened to make it work now. Simone suggests it may not be as hard as he thinks. Jackie wonders how much longer. Basketball's the only things she has ever loved so she's not letting it go without a fight. Benson is not optimistic that any pro team will be willing to take that risk. Amelia and Winston arrive as the scans come up. The brain CTA reveals a big, new aneurysm on the basilar artery. It needs to be embolized immediately. If she can't get the right angle, she'll have to open Jackie up, in which case she'll need Winston to put her on bypass. Winston counters that the stress that would cause on the heart could cause the aortic aneurysm to rupture. Amelia decides she'll try endovascularly and pray they can avoid an open procedure.
The attendings just explained to a worried Skye that the new aneurysm and its location make Jackie an emergent case now. Jackie reminds her mother that Amelia is the only doctor who has said yes to her case. Amelia assures them that she knows how to do this. Benson thinks they should take a minute to decide. For what his word is worth, Winston says Amelia is the one they want to do it. Since it's her only shot, Jackie decides to take it.
As they scrub in, Cass apologizes to Owen for what happened with Teddy. They were just having a good time and it was a misunderstanding on her part. Owen says no apology is necessary. He trusts Teddy completely and she already told him it meant nothing. Cass admits she would have been mortified now if Teddy hadn't told him about the kiss.
Teddy tells Ben that Seattle Pres's generator is out and there are more patients on their way from a 15-car pileup. Ben adds that that ICU is full. Teddy needs him to bring solutions, not more problems. He'll find a way to deal with the overflow and already sent people to get ice to deal with the ice delivery being delayed.
Jo and Lucas arrive at the convenience store, only to find there is only one bag of ice left. A masked man enters and holds Gladys at gunpoint as he instructs her to open the register.
Carl's temp continues to decline while Mike makes a morbid joke much to Jules's dismay. Bailey sends Jules to assist Teddy with incoming traumas. Carl's blood pressure start falling and he goes into V-fib. Mika freezes and backs away. She keeps repeating that Carl's dying and that they are losing him as Bailey repeatedly defibrillates. Mika screams that Bailey is letting him die. She urges Bailey to save "her" and starts begging Bailey to take her instead. Bailey defibrillates again, with success.
With the PACU and ICU full, Ben suggests moving intubated patients to the ER, but Teddy says they don't have the staff to manage that. The power outage has knocked out a few cell towers and Teddy can't get through to anyone. Bailey appears and asks Teddy to talk about Mika. She's not ready to work yet. Teddy agrees to offer Mika extra time off. Nurse Karen alerts them to the fact that they have no more room for critical patients. Teddy decides to divert traumas. Having been a first responder with no place to take patients, Ben tries to get her to change her mind but can't offer a solution. She gets on the elevator and Ben tells Karen that they are staying open. He'll figure it out. He then texts Jo asking where she is.
As the robber has Gladys put all the money from the register into a bag, Jo and Lucas continue to hide in the back of the store. Jo fails to get a signal. She and Lucas cautiously move down the aisle, toward the register, to look for another exit. Gladys sees them and her gaze alerts the robber to their presence. He aims their gun at them and has them join Gladys behind the counter, on which they have to put their phones.
Amelia has coiled all brain aneurysms but the beast. Benson is pessimistic about her developing more aneurysms in the future since they cannot fix the underlying problem. Amelia asks him to hold back on the negativity. She reaches the beast, which looks even worse than it did on the scan. She can't coil it. They'll have to open her up.
Cass, Richard, and Owen have repaired all of David's abdominal injuries. They get ready to close as Link comes in to check on an ETA for his surgery on the arm. Cass is a fan of Grey Sloan so far. She applied for a job here in the past but the department head never got called her back. Owen says they haven't had openings lately but she's welcome to e-mail him her resume again. David starts bleeding again so they open him back up.
Simone finds Mika staring at the ICU room where Chloe died. Her parents let her name Chloe. She was not excited about a third younger sister so it was their way to raise her stake. It worked too well. Chloe was her heart and she's lost it now. Simone can't imagine how she's feeling. This is Mika's new normal, but every day, she'll get a little more comfortable with it.
Winston brings Skye a cup of coffee. He remembers her orders. Skye has been using Jackie's first basketball as a stress ball. Jackie's father died when she was just a baby. Skye didn't think she could do it on her own but Jackie gave her the strength she needed with every giggle and milestone. Jackie kept her going. She's not sure what she would do if she loses Jackie. Amelia arrives to deliver the news that they'll have to open Jackie up to get to the last aneurysm. They'll put her on bypass, cool her down to stop her heart and cut off blood flow to her brain, which will make it safe to clip the aneurysm. Winston will be in there to make sure her heart's okay. Skye consents to whatever they need to do to save her baby. Winston joins Amelia as they head back to the OR.
Mika is pacing in an on-call room. Jules arrives after having received her text. Mika starts kissing her. She wants to feel normal and needs Jules's help for that. They continue to make out and start undressing. Jules caresses Mika's abdominal scar before they get down onto the bed.
Damian doesn't believe that the register only holds $47 on such a busy day. Lucas adds what's in his wallet, which is only $12. Damian asks Gladys about the safe. It's in the back. Damian instructs the other three to move to safe as he flips the door sign to "closed."
Mika and Jules are basking in the afterglow. Jules's whole body is vibrating. She guesses Bailey is looking for them but she needs a minute. Mika starts crying. She assures Jules it's not her. She sees Chloe's face in every room here. Jules assures her it's okay, they'll figure this out together.
In the OR, Benson quietly tells Simone he understands why everyone else said no to Jackie's case. Amelia announces that once Jackie's body reaches a 16°C temperature, Winston will turn off the bypass pump and she'll have 45 minutes to clip the aneurysm. She forbids the interns from asking questions as she needs complete focus. Winston takes her aside and tells her no one will fault her if she cannot do this. Amelia has been in Jackie and Skye's position before, looking for a shred of hope among all the loss. Amelia begins to wonder if she can actually do this. Winston believes in her. Amelia then finds the confidence to step up to the table.
The surgeons finish working on David. Cass jokes they should all have dinner to celebrate. They start closing.
Amelia has dissected as far as she can without the circulatory arrest. The perfusionist stops the pump. The 45 minutes start.
Jules and Mika find Bailey. Jules tells Mika to come find her after and leaves. Bailey informs Mika that Carl made it. He just had a stent placed and he's recovering. Mika apologizes over freaking out. Bailey knows it'll happen again. She still loses her cool sometimes over her mother's death. She leapt into work afterward. She needed purpose to make sense of her mother's death, but as it turns out, death makes no sense. If she could do it again, she would stay home and rest until she was actually willing to come back rather than feeling she needed work to save her. Mika says she doesn't want to be here. Bailey kindly tells her to take more time. They'll be here for her when she's ready to come back. Mika is not sure she can come back. She wants to believe that a few weeks of rest will change her mind, but she knows herself. She's either all in or not in it at all. She can't find a way forward if everything around her reminds her of Chloe. Bailey is sorry to hear that. Great surgeons have great respect for how fragile life is. When Mika is ready to get back into surgery, this experience will make her a better surgeon. Mika prays that she is right.
Gladys struggles to open the safe as Lucas and Jo are sitting in the corner against refrigerator doors. Lucas talks about his grandfather's death in his convenience store. Jo doesn't want to hear about that. She starts cramping. She thinks she's having a vaginal bleeding, revealing that she is pregnant.
With one minute left, Amelia only has to deploy the clip. She manages to do so with 35 seconds left. The pump is restarted. Simone and Benson are in awe.
Lucas gets up and tells Damian that Jo is pregnant. Damian simply congratulates her but refuses to let anyone leave until he gets his money. Gladys repeatedly says that the safe won't open. Damian forces Lucas to sit back down. He starts pacing as he watches Gladys. Lucas takes Jo's hand to offer comfort.
Benson informs Skye that they got the last aneurysm. They are warming Jackie up now. Skye wants to thank the entire team, Amelia specifically. Benson says they'll have more updates for her soon. As he walks off, he texts Molly to ask if she's still around.
Benson takes Molly into a supply room, where they start to make out. He admits that he hasn't been able to get her out of his head, either. He's wanted this for so long.
Teddy arrives in a crowded ER. Ben asks Link if he has seen Jo. He hasn't and he needs to go pick up their kids. Teddy then asks Ben what happened to her order of diverting all incoming traumas. Ben says he has a plan but she shuts him down. He has to think like a surgeon. Teddy disregards his objections and announces that they are closed to trauma, effective immediately.
She gets on the elevator and is joined by Cass. Teddy asks if she ever feels like no one listens to her. As a woman in male-dominated specialty, Cass is used to having to say everything thrice before being heard. To ease the burden, Teddy asks Cass to stay. Cass happily obliges and puts her hand on Teddy's shoulder as the doors open, revealing Owen. He immediately sees Cass's handling Teddy. As Cass walks off, Teddy goes to ask Owen to do something but he interrupts her to say he's taking that break now.
Jackie's body temperature is back a 37°C but her heart still hasn't restarted. She goes into V-fib. Winston starts shocking her, to no avail. Jackie flatlines. The surgeons are speechless.
Jules finds Mika packing her stuff in the locker room. She realizes that Mika is leaving and begs her to talk about this. A teary-eyed Mika says she's sorry and starts leaving. She drops her bags and returns to Jules for a last passionate kiss. She then grabs her bag and walks out.
Owen is surprised to find Nora still sitting in the ambulance bay. There are still 8 people ahead of her. Since she couldn't pick up her kids, her ex booked a fancy lake house for the weekend. So either she goes and ruins their vacation tomorrow or she misses out on seeing them for a few days. Her ex is always the hero to her kids while she is crying in public. Owen decides to give her a ride to the hotel.
Jules finds Bailey and asks her what she told Mika. Bailey told her to make the best decision for herself and for her family. Jules says is leaving for good. Bailey says Mika needs their support. Jules reproaches Bailey for letting Mika go like she meant nothing to her.
Damian asks Jo how for along she is. While he is distracted, Gladys grabs a bat from behind the safe. She goes to hit him but misses. Lucas jumps into action and tries to wrestle the gun from Damian's hands. A struggle ensues and results in a shot fired.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey (voice only)
- Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
- James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
- Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt
- Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd
- Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson
- Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren
- Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman
- Jake Borelli as Dr. Levi Schmitt (credit only)
- Chris Carmack as Dr. Atticus Lincoln
- Anthony Hill as Dr. Winston Ndugu
- Alexis Floyd as Dr. Simone Griffith
- Harry Shum Jr. as Dr. Benson Kwan
- Adelaide Kane as Dr. Jules Millin
- Midori Francis as Dr. Mika Yasuda
- Niko Terho as Dr. Lucas Adams
Guest Stars[]
- Sophia Bush as Dr. Cass Beckman
- Floriana Lima as Nora Young
- Dianne Doan as Molly Tran
- Vinessa Antoine as Skye Williams
- Victoria N. Alcala as Jackie Williams
- Matthew Barnes as Damian
- Joy DeMichelle as Gladys
Co-Starring[]
- Michael Petrone as Carl Holcomb
- Genesis Corvo as Nurse Freya
- Fran Nichols as Nurse Karen
- Kevin Clarke as Paramedic 1
- Rasta Thomas as Paramedic 2
Medical Notes[]
Nora Young[]
- Diagnosis:
- Doctors:
- Teddy Altman (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Treatment:
Nora was supposed to have a follow-up with Teddy, but it was cancelled.
Jackie Williams[]
- Diagnosis:
- Marfan syndrome
- Brain aneurysms
- Aortic aneurysm
- Doctors:
- Amelia Shepherd (neurosurgeon)
- Winston Ndugu (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Simone Griffith (surgical intern)
- Benson Kwan (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Aneurysm clipping
Jackie, 18, had been recently diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome. She had three brain aneurysms and an aortic aneurysm. Her surgery was supposed to be push, but they got her a CT, which showed that her condition was emergent due to a new and large aneurysm in her basilar artery. Amelia hoped to be able to get it endovascularly, but if she couldn't get the right angle, she said she'd have to open her, which would mean putting her on bypass. Winston said her heart was too weak for that, as her aortic aneurysm could rupture. They decided to attempt it. In surgery, Amelia was able to clip the other aneurysms, but when she went to the last one, she found it was worse than the scan showed. She had to open Jackie to continue. She was able to clip the aneurysm within the 45 minute time limit, but when Winston attempted to take her off bypass, he was unable to restart her heart.
Carl Holcomb[]
- Diagnosis:
- Hyperthermia
- Myocardial infarction
- Doctors:
- Miranda Bailey (general surgeon)
- Jules Millin (surgical intern)
- Mika Yasuda (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Coronary stent
Carl, 52, was operating a crane when it collapsed on an apartment building. He was overheated, with a temperature of 106°. They began cooling measures in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, but he remained altered. There were no ice baths in the ER to continue his cooling, so they used a body bag and ice to cool him. While waiting for that, he crashed and had to be intubated. He later had a heart attack and had to have a stent.
David Holcomb[]
- Diagnosis:
- Crush injuries
- Humeral injury
- Doctors:
- Atticus Lincoln (orthopedic surgeon)
- Richard Webber (general surgeon)
- Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon)
- Cass Beckman (trauma surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Surgery
David, 20, had crush injuries to his abdomen. In the ER, they found an unstable humerus and free fluid in his abdomen. When he crashed, they moved him to the OR. They re able to repair the damage to his abdomen and Link was told he'd be able to reset the arm soon, but then he started bleeding again, so they had to re-open. They were able to find the source of the bleeding and repair it and closed again
J. Gause[]
- Diagnosis:
- Hyperthermia
- Doctors:
- Atticus Lincoln (orthopedic surgeon)
- Miranda Bailey (general surgeon)
- Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon)
- Treatment:
Gause collapsed in the ambulance bay while dropping off a patient.
Jo's Patient[]
- Diagnosis:
- Pregnancy
- Doctors:
- Jo Wilson (OB/GYN resident)
- Treatment:
Jo had a patient with a temperature of 104° while pregnant.
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Everything's Going My Way" | Beginners, Night Panda |
|
| "Release" | Margaret Todd |
|
| "Through Your Eyes" | Jordan Critz feat. Birdtalker |
|
| "Forgiveness" | UNSECRET feat. Katie Garfield |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song Drop It Like It's Hot, originally sung by Snoop Dogg.
- This is Midori Francis' last appearance as a series regular.
- This episode scored 2.28 million viewers.[1]
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Quotes[]
See Also[]
|
A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
| Grey's Anatomy Season 21 | ||||||
| #01 | "If Walls Could Talk" | #07 | "If You Leave" | #13 | "21.13" | |
| #02 | "Take Me to Church" | #08 | "Drop It Like It's Hot" | #14 | "21.14" | |
| #03 | "I Can See Clearly Now" | #09 | "Hit the Floor" | #15 | "21.15" | |
| #04 | "This One's for the Girls" | #10 | "21.10" | #16 | "21.16" | |
| #05 | "You Make My Heart Explode" | #11 | "21.11" | #17 | "21.17" | |
| #06 | "Night Moves" | #12 | "21.12" | #18 | "21.18" | |
| << Season 20 | ||||||