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Before surgery, we ask patients a series of questions. Do you have a job to return to? Do you have a support system at home? We’re screening for mental illness. Anxiety, depression, delusions. We need to make sure you’re of sound mind. We need to make sure you know what to expect. But if we check patients for mental illness, why not surgeons? Someone should really get on that. Fixing your mental health isn't like surgery. You can't just run the blood work and check the vitals. With mental health, progress is way harder to measure and if something's wrong, we have to take action. There's a lot of uncertainty. There's a lot of fear. And what might be easy for one person, for someone else might take inner strength you can't even imagine. But we have to try. We have to stand up to our demons. We have to face reality whenever possible and ask for help when we can't. And when we do that, healing is possible.

Fight For Your Mind is the twenty-second episode of the fourteenth season and the 315th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary[]

Alex and Jo go on a road trip to Iowa to find Alex’s mom, whom he hasn’t heard from in a very long time. Meanwhile, Meredith gives a presentation on her mini-livers project, which attracts a ton of attention, and Jackson works to rebuild the foundation after its reputation is threatened.

Full Summary[]

Meredith is pacing around the press room as she practices a speech.

Alex and Jo are on a road trip to Iowa.

Owen carries Leo into the living room, where Betty is throwing up. Amelia explains she's in the worst part of detox. Owen offers to stay and help, but she's got it.

Bailey finds Richard in a conference room with Jackson. She asks him to come to the meeting with Vik and his lawyer brother. Richard fired him, so he has to come. And unlike Jackson, they don't have millions at their disposal to settle. If they want to avoid that, they need to make sure they were 100% right in firing him. Richard can think of some examples, but Bailey warns him every example needs to hold up in court. Jackson suggests Vik taking advantage of a vulnerable April, but Bailey points out she was his superior.

Arizona and Sofia run into April and Owen with their babies at the daycare entrance. She sends Sofia in and informs the others that Sofia got suspended for stealing field trip money. Sofia is acting out.

Taryn and Dahlia are waiting to hear back from Meredith Grey. Andrew comes up. He needs someone to bring blood work to the lab. They do rock, paper, scissors to determine who has to, but Dahlia quickly claims it upon hearing there's a hemorrhoid in the clinic. Taryn stands up to DeLuca for his behavior, but he assigns her to rectal exams in the ICU in return. Maggie comes up and takes Andrew to the coolest thing ever on the tiniest patient ever.

Alex and Jo arrive at his mother's house. She tells him not to think the worst. She might be dead or roaming the streets in her nightgown. He gets out and knocks, but no one answers. He peaks through the window but sees no one. A neighbor appears behind him. Alex inquires about Helen Karev. Jo tries to listen to the conversation from the car, but she's unable to. Alex gets back and tells her that his mother's at work.

Meredith is surrounded by press in the lobby as she talks about her liver project. The reporters soon inquire about the Harper Avery Foundation. Meredith says it's the Catherine Fox Foundation now with a new purpose. As a reporter asks what she thinks about women who were harassed being unable to do research like hers, Meredith sees that Marie Cerone has arrived. Meredith quickly excuses herself.

Maggie and Andrew join Arizona outside Teresa Benson's room. She has tomophobia, a fear of medical procedures. Arizona says her father died during an appendectomy. Maggie explains that she brought Andrew to cheer him up. They're performing a spina bifida surgery on an exteriorized uterus. They enter the room. Andrew presents the case and explains the problem to Teresa. He lists the problems associated with spina bifida. Arizona focuses on the positive aspects. Maggie will make sure the baby stays still and she'll be there to monitor. Arizona explains that Teresa will be under general anesthesia and goes to show where she'll make the tiny incision, but it causes Teresa to freak out. She can't do this. She also can't bring herself to allow Arizona to inject a sedative. Arizona says they'll give her some time. It's going to be okay. Teresa's husband will call the therapist.

Alex enters a library and finds his mother behind the desk. She immediately recognizes him. The neighbor directed him here. It's her old job. She comes up to him and hugs him. She missed him so much.

Meredith enters Joe's bar, which is empty except for one other customer. She orders a black coffee, which the man says she'll regret. It requires cream. She says there's a great cart at the hospital. He likes it here. She agrees this bar makes for a good hideout. She takes a sip and asks for the cream. He asks if she's here for the Meredith Grey presentation. She says yes. He is, too.

Sanjay tells Bailey and Webber that after some soul searching, Vik is prepared to return to work immediately with pay for the weeks he has missed, free medical expenses for the injuries sustained, and a former apology from the Chief. Bailey says they'll take it under advisement and leaves slamming the door.

Betty wakes up as Amelia is reading a magazine. She promises Betty the nightmares will stop. You have to keep telling yourself it'll stop. Betty lashes out and says her life must be pathetic if she has all that time to sit around and watch her. Amelia ignores the demon. That last high is a demon that is dying a painful death and trying to push Amelia away so it can live, but Amelia is the exorcist. Betty calls her pathetic.

Helen tells Alex that the doctors said that with age, schizophrenia can burn itself out. That doesn't mean it's cured, but it's like the volume has been turned down. The meds have a better effect and she has to be vigilant with her daily routine. She keeps her days the same. It helps to keep reality tangible. Alex asks if she's fine now. He wonders why she didn't tell him. She said he deserves his space. Alex reminds her she's his mother. He asks why she didn't tell him. She says she had a lot to manage. Alex says he's her son. She wants him to go. She's sorry she caused him worry, but she has to take care of herself and this is upsetting her. She needs to focus.

Jo is sitting outside. Alex storms out and tells her that his presence is upsetting his mother. He came all the way out here for nothing. Jo suggests they go somewhere else.

Arizona tells Carina about what Sofia did. It makes her feel like she fundamentally failed at being a mother. Carina says every kid steals something at some point. She was an excellent thief. Arizona arrives at Teresa's room and she's told by Maggie that Teresa is checking out. Teresa says she'll try to come back. Arizona reminds her the baby could be paralyzed if they don't operate. Teresa knows that, but she can't stay here.

Richard catches up with Bailey. An apology isn't much to ask. Bailey believes in the power of words and of an apology, but she won't sully her belief by putting fake words into a forced apology to a person who is in the wrong. Richard says Vik made a big mistake, but he may have overcorrected in firing him. Vik didn't operate under the influence, something Richard has done. Bailey says that is manipulative.

April finds an emotional Arizona eating ice cream by herself. Arizona tells April that Sofia stole the money to buy a ticket to New York and she didn't tell Arizona because she was afraid of hurting her feelings. Arizona picked the lock of Sofia's diary, which is how she found out. April advises to do whatever she thinks is best for Sofia. Arizona hands her the ice cream and leaves inspired.

Meredith and David are playing darts. He likes Seattle. He grew up in Los Angeles so he's over his sunshine quota. Meredith forgot people also grow up in L.A. rather than move there to have their dreams crushed. The bartender comes up to ask if they want a stronger drink, but Meredith declines. The bartender tells Meredith he'll make a fresh pot of coffee and mentions her name in doing so. David says this makes it hard for him to keep hating her. She wasted a year of his life.

Arizona shows up at Teresa's home. Arizona asks her what she would do if her daughter needed surgery after birth. Would she allow her to have it? Teresa allows her to come in.

Jo and Alex are a batting cage. He thinks it's dumb, but she thinks he needs it. She leaves the cage. He stands there as the machine starts shooting balls. As he hits one ball, he starts venting. His mother screwed up his life. He had to take care of Aaron and Amber. He failed geometry because that was the year that she decided to walk out of the house every morning without shoes or money. He would spend the entire first period looking for her and he'd find her laughing her ass off or yelling at nobody. He had no friends or girlfriends, because who wants to hang out with the freak with a psycho mom. Jo says it's good that she's better now. He agrees. She's fine and working and eating. She has a perfectly normal life now. Jo asks why he's angry. He yells why now. Nobody needs her now, nobody needs a mother. All the damage has been done. He can't even say a thing about that because he's been cleaning up her mess his whole life. Not once did he cause a mess, and he's not about to start now. He asks her to load up the machine again.

Arizona and Teresa are sitting on the couch. Teresa says she'll never come back if they put her under. She'll die and never see her baby. Arizona says she used to rollerskate. Her family moved around a lot. Her dad would take her skating. No matter where she was in the world, that was always the same and it made her feel safe. She did it all throughout college and med school and her first job here. She made kids feel safe. Then she was in an accident and she was told she might lose her leg. She feared she would never skate again. A lot of her life would change, but that tiny thing was the one thing that made her feel like her entire life was being taken away, all the magic and safety that her dad had given her. So she made her wife promise her not to let them take her leg, no matter what. But then it came down to her life or her leg, and her wife consented to an amputation. Arizona is so lucky that she and her doctors could see what she couldn't. And she skated again. Her worst fear was wrong. All she ever really lost was her leg. There's more joy in her life now than she could ever imagine. She has a daughter and work that she loves. She wants the same for Teresa. Arizona firmly says Teresa won't die. Her father died and it was unfair, but Teresa's a mother now. She needs to do what's best for her daughter.

Jackson finds Maggie in a lounge. Her surgery got cancelled. He spent all day cutting checks worth $38 million combined. Then he read an op ed titled "Too little too late: how much did grandbaby Avery know?" Maggie says it's easy to attack people from the outside of a situation. But she finds it sexy that Jackson keeps doing him. She suggests they find a private place to take his mind off the money. They kiss.

Amelia knocks on the bathroom door. She knows Betty hates her, but she wants to change her fluids. Amelia offers to let her insult her until she cries. There's no response, so Amelia forces herself a way in and finds that Betty has fled through the window. She runs off.

David tells Meredith that he and his team were working to perfect the abdominal transplant when she pulled it off. She fails to see how that warrants hatred. He asks if she knows Pete Conrad. She doesn't. He was the first guy to walk on the moon during the second moon landing, making him one of only 12 people in history to have walked the moon. No one cares because he wasn't first. Meredith won't apologize and tells him to get in line if he wants an apology. She tells him someone tried to steal her mini livers from her and told her that to her face. He feels there's a story there.

Ed finds Maggie and yells. Teresa texted him to tell him she was coming here, but she's not here. Arizona and Teresa come up. Arizona says they had some trouble getting out of the car and in the door, but they are here now. They are going to keep going with those little victories.

Alex apologizes to Jo for having a depressing family. Alex recalls the one good year his mother had when he was a kid. They would hang out at the library together. They played hide and seek in the stacks. His whole life, all he ever wanted was a mom who wasn't sick. Now she finally is okay and she doesn't want him there for it. Jo says he may never get what he wants to hear from his mother, an acknowledgement or an apology, but he has a shot at having a mother. That is something real.

Arizona helps Teresa get settled on the OR table. Arizona promises she'll wake up. Teresa points out it's easy for her to say. Arizona repeats her promise.

Richard and Bailey are informally interviewing Levi. Bailey inquires about his experiences working with Vik. Levi says firing him was the right call. If the Chief can't admit to being high, so shouldn't an intern. He watched high Bailey staring into a patient she had opened up, but she ended up making the right call. That is leadership. Richard wonders how well that would go over in court.

Jackson paged April to a conference room. He shows her how much he has managed to set aside for Harriet. Everything else he owns might be up for grabs. The Foundation has to keep the hospitals afloat, so he has decided to pay all the personal settlements himself. People all want different things, but it's hard to quantify a loss like theirs. April says this will mean a lot to Harriet. April tells him about a Bible story where a rich ruler was told by Jesus to sell everything he owns and give to the poor. For what it's worth, she thinks Jackson is on the right path.

Meredith has updated David. Her mother had to choose between the money and her friend. Meredith would choose her friend. Marie got the short end of the stick and she felt like it was okay to stab Meredith in the back. It pisses her off because she won fair and square. Something terrible happened to her, but that doesn't justify what she did. David saw Ellis speak once on her method. It was the most inspiring presentation of his career. It made him switch from plastics to general. Meredith says she inspired many people. David says that's the dream. She agrees. She realizes everybody wants their place in history. Ellis stole the dream from Marie, who deserves that place in history.

Teresa has been put under. Arizona makes the incision and starts the procedure, which she pulls off without a hitch. Andrew assists her throughout.

Alex approaches his mother at the library. He doesn't want to mess with her routine, but he needs to say a couple of things. He then asks for a library card so he can talk while she does her job. He tells her he's happy for her and proud of her. It does a lot to see her doing well. He realizes it's also been a lot for her. He knows he hasn't stayed in touch, but he always thought about her. He goes to leave, but she asks if he wants to change the date on the due date stamp. He used to love doing that as a little boy. He would love to do it. They smile.

Meredith is met with applause as she gets up on the stage. She thanks everyone for coming. She has a statement to make. She says her mother did not come up with the Grey Method on her own. She did it with the help of and alongside Marie Cerone. She explains why Ellis did it. She will correct the error her mother made, so from this day moving forward, the method will be known as the Grey-Cerone Method. Marie is moved. David is proud of Meredith. Meredith then starts her presentation.

Teresa has woken up after surgery. The baby is fine. She apologizes for what she put the doctors through. Ed calls Teresa his hero. Arizona acknowledges that Teresa did everything she could for her daughter. Teresa says she's a mom.

Back in the meeting, Bailey can't bring herself to actually apologize. She tells Vik that he's lucky to learn from good doctors who have given everything in the face of obstacles he can't begin to imagine. They fought and paved the way for him. Bailey has made mistakes, but firing him wasn't one of them. That said, she is willing to have him back for a one-year probationary period, during which she will watch him like a hawk. She has spent the better part of a year researching the best way to get up in someone's butt and she will be all up in his. If he does not screw it up, she will shape him into an amazing surgeon. Vik accepts her apology.

Amelia's at an AA meeting. She talks about the doctor who got Betty addicted. It was a surgeon, like her. She feels like there's an epidemic going on. Good kids have their lives ruined because someone like her, who doesn't understand addiction, wrote a prescription in an attempt to help. Amelia is so angry about it all that she's craving drugs. She hopes Betty will return.

Jo and Alex are sitting outside the library. Jo is really nervous to meet his mother. Helen walks up and Alex introduces her to Jo. Jo wants to hug her, but she has to settle for a handshake. They walk Helen to the bus stop. Jo says they would love for her to come to the wedding. Helen would love to come, but travel is hard for her to manage. Alex says they understand. The bus arrives right on time. Helen caresses his cheek and calls him her sweetest boy, her truest love, like she always did. She then gets on the bus.

Marie is waiting for Meredith in the lobby. She thanks Meredith for what she did and asks to talk, but Meredith thinks everything has been said. She walks off.

Arizona has informed Carina about a decision. She knows Carina thinks Arizona coddles Sofia too much, but she has to do what's best for her daughter. Carina wishes that what's best for Sofia wasn't what's worse for her. She and Arizona kiss each other goodbye. They both clearly hate that their relationship is over. Carina leaves.

Arizona enters Sofia's bedroom, where Sofia is sleeping. She calls Callie and tells her that she thinks Sofia should move back to New York. She then adds she's moving back with Sofia.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Medical Notes[]

Teresa Benson[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Tomophobia
    • Pregnancy
    • Fetal spina bifida
  • Treatment:
    • Fetal surgery

Teresa was 24 weeks pregnant and her baby had been diagnosed with spina bifida with meningiocele in utero. She also had severe tomophobia as a result of her father dying while getting an appendectomy when she was five. She was in the hospital to have surgery to repair the spinal defect so her baby could develop normally. When they went to sedate her, she panicked and left the hospital. Arizona then went to Teresa's house and helped her through her panic and back to the hospital for surgery. After surgery, she was told it went well and her baby would be okay.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Landspeeder" The Bullitts
  • Meredith prepares for a presentation.
  • Jo and Alex drive through Iowa toward his mother's house.
  • Owen finds Amelia helping Betty through her detox.
"Mr. Blues" Big Pete Pearson
  • Meredith plays darts at the bar with David and they talk about Seattle.
  • The bartender offers them a drink and then tips him off that she's Meredith Grey.
  • He says that makes it hard to keep hating her when she wasted a year of his life.
"Waves" Dean Lewis
  • Arizona asks Teresa if she'd let her daughter have the surgery if it were her.
  • Jo takes Alex to the batting cages.
  • Alex starts ranting about his mother and everything he lost because of her.
  • He says it's great that she's better, but he's mad that it happened now, when nobody needs her anymore.
"Doomed" Moses Sumney
  • Arizona starts Teresa's surgery.
  • Alex tells his mom he's happy for her and he always thought of her.
  • She offers to let him change the stamp over, as he did when he was a kid.
"I Get Overwhelmed" Dark Rooms
  • Vik accepts Bailey's apologize.
  • Amelia goes to an AA meeting and talks about Betty.
  • Jo is nervous to meeting Alex's mom.
  • When she comes out of the library, Jo invites her to the wedding, but she says she can't come because travel interrupts her routine.
  • Alex says goodbye as her bus arrives.
  • Marie thanks Meredith and wants to talk, but Meredith says she's said all there is to say.
  • Arizona and Carina fight over Sofia. They kiss and then Carina leaves.
  • Arizona calls Callie and says she thinks Sofia should move back to New York and Arizona's coming with her.

Notes and Trivia[]

Grey's_Anatomy_14x22_Promo_"Fight_For_Your_Mind"_(HD)_Season_14_Episode_22_Promo

Grey's Anatomy 14x22 Promo "Fight For Your Mind" (HD) Season 14 Episode 22 Promo

  • This episode's title originated from the song Fight For Your Mind, originally sung by Ben Harper.
  • This episode scored 6.66 million viewers.[1]
  • Jesse Williams revealed the title on Twitter.[source?]
  • The prep dates for this episode were from March 6 to March 14, 2018.[source?]
  • Filming for this episode was scheduled from March 15 to March 27, 2018.[source?]
  • On March 19, 2018, while filming for this episode, a plane with a banner reading "We <3 Sarah Drew & Jessica Capshaw" flew over set during lunch. The plane was sent by fans as a reaction to the two actresses leaving at the end of the season.[source?]
  • The surgery on Teresa Benson is Arizona Robbins's last on screen surgery.
  • During a scene in the hospital over the speaker you can hear Dr. Myers being paged, possibly Jason Myers.
  • The library scenes were shot at the Walter Reid Middle School in North Hollywood. That school is the old junior high of Lindsay Wagner, who plays Helen Karev.[source?]
  • Goof: In the darts scene, Meredith says she never knew someone who has grown up in Los Angeles; however, her best friend, Cristina, is from Beverly Hills.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

Bailey: If we can't settle, we have to make sure we were 100% justified in firing him.
Richard: I do recall his having a disrespectful attitude toward a patient who tried to cut off his own hand. Acted as if it were a joke.
Bailey: Oh, go on.
Richard: Well, I called Dr. Carina DeLuca to tell the boy that masturbation was perfectly healthy-
Bailey: Stop. I want you to imagine that sentence with "Your Honor" at the end of it.
Richard: Yeah, never mind.
Bailey: Avery, do you have anything helpful on Dr. Roy?
Jackson: I think I do. He tried to take advantage of Dr. Kepner during a particularly vulnerable time in her...
Bailey: When he was an intern and she was an attending, Your Honor.
Jackson: You know what? Forget I said anything.

Bailey: So, how would you describe your experience working with Dr. Vikram Roy? Especially any mistakes or gross incompetence you may have witnessed.
Levi: If you're asking if I think you made the wrong decision firing him, I don't. It was the right call. If the Chief of Surgery can admit to being high, so should an intern. And I watched you. I watched you stare into the abyss of a patient you'd opened up, higher than a kite, for what felt like an eternity. But you made the right call. That is leadership, on drugs or not.
Richard: Your Honor.

Bailey: I would like to tell you that you are lucky. Lucky to learn from good doctors who have given everything in the face of obstacles you cannot begin to imagine. People that fought and bled to pave a way. Doctors like me. And I have made mistakes, but firing you was not one of them. You got what you deserve. That said, I am willing to have you back for a one-year probationary period, during which time I will watch you like a hawk. I've spent the better part of a year researching the best way to get up in someone's butt, so expect to find me up yours. And if you don't screw it up, I will shape you into an amazing surgeon.

Alex: She ruined my whole damn life. I hid Aaron and Amber from her. Failed geometry 'cause that was the year that she decided to get up and walk out of the house every morning, no shoes, no money, nothing. I'd spend all of first period looking for her, and there she'd be, just laughing her ass off or yelling at nobody on the street corner. No friends, no girlfriends, 'cause, I mean, who the hell wants to hang out with the freak with the psycho for a mom?
Jo: But it's good that she's better, right?
Alex: Yeah, yeah. Sure. It's freaking great. She's nice. She's calm. She's working, and she's eating, and she's looking perfectly normal in her perfectly normal life!
Jo: Okay, if she's good, why are you so angry?
Alex: Why the hell now?! Now?! Why now?! Now, when when nobody needs her, when nobody wants her around, when Aaron and Amber don't need a mother instead of me raising them?! Why, when all the freaking damage is done?! Now she's good? She's fine?! She's okay?! And I can't even say a damn thing about it. Because I have been cleaning up her mess my whole damn life. But never once did I cause it. And I am not about to start now!

Alex: I'm so happy for you. And proud. And seeing you here doing so well, it was a lot. And I got mad. And I know it was a lot for you, too. So much more. And I know that I haven't stayed in touch. But I always thought about you. And I'm so happy. I'm really happy for you. Uh, I'm gonna go.
Helen: You want to do the stamp? The due date stamp. I always change it at the end of the night for tomorrow. And when you were a little boy, you used to love to do that for me. It's silly. Never mind.
Alex: No, no, no. That'd be cool.

Alex: Sorry me and my family is so depressing.
Jo: Shut up.
Alex: She had one really good year when I was a kid. She worked at that library, and I would hang out with her there. We'd play hide and seek in the stacks. My whole life, all I ever wanted was a mom who wasn't sick. I didn't care about toys or sports or any of that crap. I just wanted a mom who was okay. And she is. She finally is. And she doesn't want me there.
Jo: You may never hear what you want to hear from your mom. You may never get an acknowledgment. You may never get an apology. But you have a shot at having a mom. And that, Alex, that's something that's real.

April: So, you know, there's this story in the Bible.
Jackson: Oh, yeah?
April: Yeah, hear me out. Hear me out. You're gonna like this one. About this rich young ruler who wants to follow Jesus. And Jesus tells him to sell all of his belongings and give the money to the poor. So for what it's worth, you are on a really good path.
Jackson: Your buddy Jesus interested in buying a yacht?

Arizona: I used to roller-skate. My family used to move around a lot, which was really scary. But whenever we'd get somewhere new, first thing, my dad would take me skating. And so no matter where I was in the world, that would stay the same. And I felt safe. I did it in college and I did it in med school, and then I did it when I first got my job here. I worked with kids, and so it kind of made them feel safe, too. And then I was in an accident. And they told me that that I may lose my leg. And all I could think about was I'll never be able to skate again. And a lot of my life would change, but that seemingly tiny thing felt like... I felt like my whole life was being taken away from me. And that all the stuff that my dad had given me, you know, all the magic and all the safety, was just gonna be gone. And so I made my wife promise me that she would not let them take my leg. No matter what. But then it came down to my life or my leg. And they needed her consent to amputate. I am so lucky that she and my doctors could clearly see what I couldn't. And you know what? I skated again. And my worst fear was wrong. And the only thing I really lost was my leg. And I would've died if I'd have kept it. And I have so much joy in my life right now. More than I could possibly imagine. I have a healthy daughter, and I have work that I love, and I'm okay. I'm great. And I want that for you. I want that for your life, too.
Teresa: I just... I'll die.
Arizona: No. Your dad died. And it was unfair. It was terrible. And it still scares you. But you're a mom now. You're her mom. And you need to do what's best for her.

Arizona: Callie, hey. So, I was thinking. And I think that Sofia should move back to New York with you. Yeah. And I think I need to move back with her.

See Also[]

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


References[]

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