| “ | For decades, if we wanted to see inside the brain, we had to inject air into the patient's spinal column. It was painful. It was described as torture. Then in 1971, a British engineer changed everything when he performed the first CT scan. And for the first time, we could see what was happening inside the brain. It was painless, convenient, and an absolute game-changer. But just because we could now see inside a person's brain, doesn't mean we know what it's thinking. Sometimes, we have to work extremely hard to achieve focus and perspective, everything suddenly becomes all clear. You can see your path. You see your life. You see your purpose and why you are here. But just because you see it, it doesn't mean you'll live up to it. | ” |
Happily Ever After? is the twentieth episode and season finale of the nineteenth season and the 420th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Short Summary[]
The attending surgeons fly to Boston, forcing a reunion between Nick and Meredith. Bailey gets a big surprise.
Full Summary[]
Nick orders a scotch at the hotel bar. Meredith texts him to come to her lab STAT.
Simone and Lucas cuddle in bed. She asks what's on his mind. He asks about the wedding. She won't answer as she prefers to live in this moment for as long as they can. Lucas is paged to the ER since Levi is tied in the ICU. They share a kiss and Simone climbs out of bed.
Jo finds Kwame in Sam's room. Kelly gave birth to their son, whom they named Sam. He shows Sam some pictures. Mika arrives and says the wedding ended sooner than expected, so Link sent her to tag Jo out. Jo says she's got it. Mika tries to pull Link's rank as attending surgeon but Jo shuts her down and sends her to the ER. Sam comments that Link really doesn't want Jo alone with him. He asks about the story there.
Nick runs into Bailey, Richard, and Amelia outside Meredith's lab. They enter and find her sitting on the floor surrounded by paperwork as she mumbles that everything is wrong. Amelia asks if she's okay. She says they have to question everything they know about Alzheimer's.
Levi guesses that Maxine's fractured rib punctured her lung. Benson doesn't understand why her pressure isn't rising now that they re-inflated her lung. Levi says people her age don't always bounce back. They have to document everything that happened for the ethics board and inform Teddy. Maxine's pressure continues to drop despite fluids. Jules arrives and is shocked to find Maxine intubated. Benson admits that he did it.
Owen is surprised to see Taryn in the OR. She was in the getaway van and she needs to pee. Owen informs her a trauma is coming in. She'll go change. Owen tells Lucas to join him. They meet the rig outside. The patient is a 29-year-old male who hit a tree with his car. The man says he's a doctor. He just broke his arm. Lucas is shocked to see Trey Delgado. Owen takes him inside and asks Lucas to page Ortho.
Levi, Benson, and Jules are with Teddy. Maxine needs pressors but Teddy says they need to talk to Maxine's medical proxy before they do anything else. Jules says she'll call her son but Benson says it's Jules. Teddy goes over the options but Jules asks her to be quiet so she can think. There's no way to know if Maxine will make it if they remove the tube now. Jules decides to go with the pressors. Once the interns are gone, Teddy has Levi look into her mouth. He can't see anything wrong but he's not a dentist.
Jo concludes her story by telling Sam that there is so much history between her and Link that they are better off as friends. Sam says Link is in love with her, which explains why his doctor looks like he wants to kill him. No guy does all what Link has done for a woman who's just a friend. Jo insists it's not like that and she's tired of having to explain it. Sam comments he figured out in minutes what Link had years for. Jo is an amazing woman and when she is no longer his doctor, he'll sweep her off her feet like she deserves. Jo smiles and goes to check on her other patients.
Simone catches up with Tobey as she's wheeled to the OR. She chose a mastectomy rather than a lumpectomy so she could avoid radiation five times a week and thus only missing a couple days of work. They pass by Lucas. Simone tells Tobey she'll see her in recovery and walks toward Lucas, who tells her Trey is in the ER. She rushes off before he can tell her it's minor.
Benson finds Jules in the locker room and tells her that she pressors are working. She is stable. For now, Jules says. Benson explains they were just talking when she passed out and he had to make a split-chance decision. Jules stresses that this is not the kind of life that Maxine wanted. His actions put her in a horrible position that might lead to her having to unplug her favorite person.
In trauma one, Trey asks Mika if Simone's here but she deflects. Link says he has a comminuted humeral fracture that'll require a plate. Simone and Lucas arrive. Trey pieces together that Simone bailed because of Lucas. He jumps out of bed and punches him in the face. Owen pulls him off of Lucas.
Meredith tells the others that the dominant theory is that Alzheimer's is the result of the build-up of amyloid plaque in the brain. Amelia says the top scientists in the field believe that theory. Meredith says they are just the loudest voices and they will shame anyone who opposes the theory. The only approved meds are aimed at reducing the plaque. Meredith met a young neuroscientist from Tennessee who found evidence of image-tampering in the leading papers. With Jackson in London, Meredith had to run her new theory on Alzheimer's past people who know her before she tells anyone else. Bailey wonders if it's going to take long as she's supposed to be presenting the award tonight while Nick wonders when she's slept for the last time. Meredith goes to show them more data.
Maggie peeks out of her hotel room and spots Winston across the hall. She needs help to fasten her dress. He follows her into a room and is in awe of her look. She returns the compliment. As he fastens the dress, she congratulates him on his promotion. She left things very organized for him. They go to leave the room but she turns around and kisses him. He closes the door.
Mika is taking care of Lucas's head lac in the ER. She is Team Skywalker but she just hit her stride and Teddy respects her, so she's not willing to be dragged down into a fight over him and Simone. She can't live with fighting people. She needs ground rules, such no sex in shared spaces and sex noises that'll keep her up. Owen requests Mika's help for Trey's surgery. She goes to call the OR and asks Lucas to keep an eye on Sam Sutton for her.
Simone stares at Lucas from the trauma room. She swears to Trey that she never cheated. She didn't leave him for Lucas. She left because she's a different person now than she was when they got together. Trey is confused as to why she said yes to his proposal and moved up the wedding then. Trey says he can move here and take things slow to rebuild but she is clear she doesn't want this. She apologizes for having let it drag on for so long. Trey tells her Lucas is not good enough for her. He's a screw-up and won't learn because of his family name backing him up. Being with him will make her life fall to pieces and he won't be there to pick up the pieces.
Levi finds Benson on a bench outside. They are weaning Maxine off the pressors and are hoping to stop sedation for a neuro exam soon. Levi tells him not to think about what if it all goes wrong. Benson wonders why he's not yelling at him. Levi recalls the actions that lead to the death of Devon Gomez. He learned from the mistakes that ate at him, not from people yelling at him. Benson points out he saved a life rather than end one and goes back inside. Levi regrets not yelling.
As they lie naked in bed together, Winston recalls Maggie's Olympic Village statement. Just like that night, he does a lightning round of questions. After, Maggie says they need to get dressed to meet Meredith before the pre-reception for the nominees. Winston says these things never start on time and pulls her back into bed.
Meredith has presented her new theory. It is huge. Richard says she can't tell anyone outside this room but Catherine asked her to speak to the fundraisers tonight to update them on the progress. Richard says people who blow up pre-existing, sound ideas are seen as crazy. It could destroy her entire career. Even if she is right, it'll take her five years to prove that she is right and another five for the idea to be widely accepted. By then, she will be forgotten. Meredith turns to Amelia for support but she says Meredith's hypothesis insults decades of genius work, including Derek's. It doesn't sit well with Meredith to sit idly by to let science catch up and let hundreds of thousands of people die in the meantime. Richard wants her to pursue her work on the side so that she can keep the lab open and maintain the respect that she has built for herself. Richard leaves.
Meredith finds Nick studying the equipment in her lab. She explains the protein identification system. She heard the interns are doing well. Nick is not interested in small talk. She pretended not to hear him when he told her she loved him and they have clearly moved on. She asks if he would lie. Nick wonders if she came all this way to follow the rules, because that would piss him off even more.
Simone is on the phone with Trey's mother, who yells that she has done enough and hangs up. Lucas checks on her. Simone says it's her fault. She blew up his life, Lucas got punched, and she lost a lot of money to the wedding. Lucas tries to let her off the hook but she shuts him down. Lucas goes to check on Sam.
Benson enters Maxine's room and tells Jules that he understands why she loves Maxine. He's never met anyone like her and her advice reminds him of his mother. Jules says Maxine worries for her and cares for her in subtle ways, unlike her parents. Maxine wakes up and panics due to the tube. The doctors tell her to relax.
Maggie and Winston arrive in the ceremony hall. They join the others at the Grey Sloan table. Maggie claims she got hung up due to work and couldn't make it to the lab but Bailey knows what really went down. Catherine comes over to borrow Meredith and points her to the money table to talk to the fundraisers. Amelia is reading Meredith's research on her phone.
Catherine introduces Meredith to Kenneth Turner, CEO of Rivco. His mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer a year ago and it's been difficult. Meredith has been a source of hope. Meredith has flashbacks to her own mother as Kenneth asks for insider news. Meredith tells him that they have been focused on the wrong thing. She believes the dominant theories and goal of new treatments are built on a faulty premise. Catherine and Kenneth are stunned.
Maxine writes "Take it out. Just take it out!" on a notepad. Benson tells Maxine that she is not dying. She just has a complication from a rib fracture. Benson knows that was not her decision but he thinks she wrong and felt the need to fight for her, just like she made him for Enzo and Carmen. He suggests they keep her on the vent for 24 hours and after tests to check if she can breathe on her own, they will take out the tube. He promises. In the meantime, they'll use meds and Tom Jones music to make her comfortable.
Lucas checks on Sam, who comments on his bruise. Sam says he'll just lie there starved for entertainment while Lucas withholds the juicy story. Lucas only needs to mention that there is a girl for Sam to understand. Suddenly, Sam says he feels funny. His pressure plummets and he loses consciousness. Lucas calls a code blue and finds blood in his chest drain output.
Owen, Link, and Taryn leave Trey's room after the surgery. Trey has refused pain meds but Link thinks that'll change soon. Taryn will monitor him. Mika comes up and asks how it feels to be back. Taryn replies it's like someone took Kryptonite out of her shoe. Or the feeling might be because she had the best date of her life today. Mika is paged 911 about Sam.
Teddy and Mika arrive in the ICU. Teddy figures his aorta must have transected and says they need to move him to an OR. Lucas already booked one.
Jo finds Link outside, staring at the rain. She asks him what's going on with him. He's wondering what she wants. Jo thinks that he should move out, claiming that it's confusing for the kids. She denies Sam has anything to do with it but she does want to be able to meet people and bring them home, which she doesn't feel comfortable doing when Link is there. Link himself hasn't done that in months. He has changed his entire life to revolve around her. She says she never asked him to do that.
Catherine finishes up her speech and says the time has come for the award. She introduces Meredith, who will present the award, as one of the most well-known boundary pushers. Bailey is confused. Ben joins them at the table and apologizes for being late. Meredith takes the stage and goes over the nominated projects. However, Catherine has decided that for the first time ever, the award is not going to a surgical project, even a non-nominee. Three people get up on the stage, whom Bailey recognizes as people she trained at the clinic. Meredith says they are facing a national public health crisis with half of the states denying reproductive care to women, which threatens not only their reproductive rights but also their survival. With these bans in place, doctors are no longer trained in these life-saving procedures, that are not only used for abortions. There is one doctor who is trying to change all that, one procedure and one trainee at a time. This year's award is going to Dr. Miranda Bailey. Bailey is speechless. Ben encourages her to go up to the stage, where Meredith hands her the award. Bailey starts sobbing, finally feeling some relief after the hard year she's had.
The guests head back to the lobby. Maggie is disappointed that a non-nominee got the award but at least it's Bailey. Winston has been thinking about baby Arlo and what he'll do with his life. Maggie says that doesn't matter. He has a life thanks to them. Winston says they're just married-but-apart people now who have mind-blowing sex whenever they're in the same room and pull off medical miracles together. Maggie says that are the two things they always got right. Winston asks if they should get divorced. Maggie asks if he wants that. He wants to excel at his job, teach the next generation, and break new ground. He doesn't want this to be his last nomination. Maggie says they'll start with that and figure out the rest later.
Back in the ceremony hall, Bailey says she can't believe she ugly-cried in front of the best surgeons in the world. Meredith plans on ugly-crying on her way home. She's going to lose her funding because she cannot bite her tongue. Bailey says she'll find more because she's Meredith and she won't stop until she gets it.
Amelia joins Richard as he watches how Catherine mingles with other surgeons. She spent the last hour in the lobby reading Meredith's research. It's going to sink Derek's legacy and the irony of that is too much for her to handle, so she needs to hit a meeting. Richard tells her he tried to drink Catherine's martini on the plane until Bailey knocked it out of his hand. Ever since, he has only been thinking about alcohol. Sobriety's already hard on a normal day but they thought they were dying today. Richard wishes he could take the edge off. Amelia understands, which is why she needs a meeting. Richard says he wants to wait for Catherine. Amelia will find a meeting and text him the address. She leaves. Seconds later, a waitress brings over the vodka tonic he ordered. He hesitates.
Meredith is at the hotel. She slips a note under Nick's door and goes to leave until he opens the door. He quickly reads it. She did pretend not to hear him. She was scared, tired, and overwhelmed and figured she had to focus on the kids in that moment, so that's what she did. However, she misses him. Nick brings up Michael. Meredith is surprised to hear that he went to her house. He didn't mention that before because she was in mad scientist mode. She explains Michael is Zola's tutor and he's gay. Nick says he went to her house because he thought he was dying and it made him realize how badly he wants to live. He wanted to tell her he never should have let her walk away and how he wants a whole life with love and mess and pain with her. Meredith kisses him.
Back in Seattle, Benson returns to Maxine's room. She's on the minimum settings, which is good news. Jules is enraged at Benson. He is one of the most arrogant people she has ever met. He doesn't care how anyone else feels or what they went. He put her in an impossible situation and she hates him for that. The worst part is that in doing so, he saved her favorite person, so she has to love him too. He hands her a tissue. Together, they watch Maxine.
Teddy, Lucas, and Mika get gowned and gloved in the OR. They'll open Sam up as soon possible, clamp the aorta, and give anesthesia time to catch up on blood volume. Then they'll do the repair. Mika is on retraction, Lucas on suction. They need to work quickly so they need to anticipate her moves. They move to the table when Teddy suddenly collapses. Mike asks for a crash cart.
Link tells Jo he's switched clinic days around and changed Scout's schedule to be there for Jo and Luna. Jo doesn't want him to use her or Luna for his constant need to save the day. Link says it is not about that. He cares about her and Luna. Jo says if it's all chores for him, it should be easy to move out. Link brings up how she told Sam that they are just roommates anyway. He thinks they are more than just people cohabitating. She can't believe he's getting hung up over semantics. HE shouts that is not semantics, it is love. He is completely in love with her. He's loved her since she was a freshman and he was a senior and they worked together. He said it to himself a hundred times before but he never said it out loud as to not freak her out. He will love her forever. She calls him a dummy and tells him she loves him too. They share a kiss in the rain.
Lucas and Mika try to wake up Teddy to no avail. Simone arrives and asks what happened. Sam starts coding. Mika starts compressions on Teddy, who has lost her pulse as well. Lucas asks for a new gown and glove. They need to cross-clamp Sam's aorta as soon as possible. They paged everyone that they could but they can't wait any longer for them to arrive. Lucas knows that Pierce mentored Simone so he asks her to cross-clamp the aorta after he has opened Sam up. Mika objects but Simone decides to follow Lucas's lead. Lucas makes the cut.
Karen finds Owen and says he is needed in OR 1 for Teddy right now. He rushes off.
Jo and Link kiss and smile in the rain.
Owen arrives in the OR and sees Simone and Lucas standing over an extremely bloody surgical field, with blood poured across the floor. He then sees Mika defibrillating Teddy, who has gone into V-fib, and takes over from her as the interns watch.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey
- 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
- Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce
- Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman
- Jake Borelli as Dr. Levi Schmitt
- Chris Carmack as Dr. Atticus Lincoln
- Anthony Hill as Dr. Winston Ndugu
- Alexis Floyd as Dr. Simone Griffith
- Harry Shum Jr. as Dr. Benson "Blue" Kwan
- Adelaide Kane as Dr. Jules Millin
- Midori Francis as Dr. Mika Yasuda
- Niko Terho as Dr. Lucas Adams
- Scott Speedman as Dr. Nick Marsh
Guest Stars[]
- Debbie Allen as Dr. Catherine Fox
- Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren
- Jaicy Elliot as Dr. Taryn Helm
- Sam Page as Sam Sutton
- Juliet Mills as Maxine Anderson
- William Martinez as Dr. Trey Delgado
- Karen Obilom as Tobey Barrett
- Kwame Patterson as Kwame Reynolds
- Dorian Gregory as Kenneth Turner
Co-Starring[]
- Payton Silver as Dr. Knox
- Fran Nichols as Nurse Karen
- Rasta Thomas as Paramedic
- Emily Carr as Waiter
Medical Notes[]
Sam Sutton[]
- Diagnosis:
- Transected aorta
- Doctors:
- Teddy Altman (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Jo Wilson (general surgeon)
- Mika Yasuda (surgical intern)
- Lucas Adams (surgical intern)
- Simone Griffith (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Thoracotomy
Sam told Lucas he was feeling funny, then he coded. Lucas saw that he had blood in his chest tube output and paged Teddy. She said his aorta must have transected and they moved him to the OR. They planned an emergent thoracotomy. When Teddy collapsed in the OR, Simone and Lucas stepped in to start the thoracotomy and cross-clamp his aorta.
Maxine Anderson[]
- Diagnosis:
- Pneumothorax
- Doctors:
- Levi Schmitt (surgical resident)
- Benson Kwan (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Chest tube
- Pressors
Maxine had coded due to her broken rib puncturing her lung. Defying her DNR, Levi had placed a chest tube, but her blood pressure was still critically low, so Levi wanted to start her on pressers, but Jules said that wasn't what Max wanted. As Max's medical proxy, the decision was left to Jules, who decided to do it. The pressors worked and Max stabilized. As she improved, they weaned her off pressors. She woke up and tried to pull out her breathing tube. When they stopped her, she wrote out a message telling them to pull it out. Benson explained what had happened to her and told her she wasn't dying.
Trey Delgado[]
- Diagnosis:
- Comminuted humeral fracture
- Doctors:
- Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon)
- Atticus Lincoln (orthopedic surgeon)
- Taryn Helm (surgical resident)
- Lucas Adams (surgical intern)
- Mika Yasuda (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Surgical repair
Trey, 29, was in an accident in which his car spun out of control and hit a tree. He had facial bruising and said he believed his arm was broken. An x-ray showed a comminuted humeral fracture, which he would need a plate to align and stabilize, so he was taken to the OR for that. He was stable after his surgery.
Teddy Altman[]
- Diagnosis:
- Ventricular fibrillation
- Doctors:
- Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon)
- Levi Schmitt (surgical resident)
- Mika Yasuda (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Defibrillation
Teddy was still struggling with tooth pain. She asked Levi to look in her mouth for an abscess. He didn't see anything, but said he wasn't a dentist. While preparing to operate, she collapsed on the OR floor. She went into ventricular fibrillation and Mika and Owen attempted resuscitation.
Tobey Barrett[]
- Diagnosis:
- Breast cancer
- Doctors:
- Dr. Robinson
- Simone Griffith (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Mastectomy
Tobey was taken to the OR for her mastectomy. She was scheduled for a breast reconstruction as well.
Lucas Adams[]
- Diagnosis:
- Facial laceration
- Doctors:
- Mika Yasuda (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
Lucas was punched by Trey. Mika patched him up in the ER.
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Be Yourself" | Wilder Woods |
|
| "Silence" | Ships Have Sailed |
|
| "River" | Nina Lee |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song Happily Ever After?, originally sung by BAND.
- This episode scored 3.02 million viewers.[1]
- The episode marks the first on-screen appearance of Ellen Pompeo since I'll Follow the Sun.
- The episode marks the final appearance of Kelly McCreary as a series regular.
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Quotes[]
See Also[]
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A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
| Grey's Anatomy Season 19 | ||||||
| #01 | "Everything Has Changed" | #08 | "All Star" | #15 | "Mama Who Bore Me" | |
| #02 | "Wasn't Expecting That" | #09 | "Love Don't Cost a Thing" | #16 | "Gunpowder and Lead" | |
| #03 | "Let's Talk About Sex" | #10 | "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" | #17 | "Come Fly With Me" | |
| #04 | "Haunted" | #11 | "Training Day" | #18 | "Ready to Run" | |
| #05 | "When I Get to the Border" | #12 | "Pick Yourself Up" | #19 | "Wedding Bell Blues" | |
| #06 | "Thunderstruck" | #13 | "Cowgirls Don't Cry" | #20 | "Happily Ever After?" | |
| #07 | "I'll Follow the Sun" | #14 | "Shadow of Your Love" | |||
| << Season 18 | Season 20 >> | |||||