| “ | In 2023, a team of scientists studying hepatitis C made a fascinating discovery. They found that the virus creates a cellular mask to hide from our immune system in plain sight. Camouflaged in molecules already known to our bodies, the virus copies itself over and over. It sneaks in like a Trojan horse, past our immune system, and by the time the body realizes what's happened, the infection has already taken hold. Like viruses, we also wear masks. We disguise ourselves to hide the parts we don't want to be seen. We project confidence when we're insecure, toughness when we're vulnerable, and calm when our lives are spinning out of control. The difference is, those defence mechanisms don't always serve us. The things we do to protect ourselves make it harder to let other people get close. As terrifying as it might be to let your guard down, the rewards speak for themselves. Because at the end of the day, the only person worth being is yourself. | ” |
I Can See Clearly Now is the third episode of the twenty-first season and the 433rd overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Short Summary[]
Simone and Lucas work to balance their relationship while competing to assist on an awake kidney transplant. Teddy offers Amelia a new opportunity, and Ben's interview doesn't go as planned. Meredith's secret causes tension with Richard.
Full Summary[]
Simone sits at the table and studies. Lucas comes in and kisses her neck. She tells him she's still studying for the kidney transplant. Benson comes in. He's going in early. Simone tries to ask him about Molly, but he brushes her off and says they can ride with him if they're ready. Simone goes with him while Lucas says he'll catch up.
Mika and Jules jog together. Jules stops them. She's out of breath. Mika says they've only gone four blocks and then kisses her. That gives Jules the energy she needs to keep jogging.
Bailey is surprised Ben's not in the gym. He is going to help Bailey in the clinic before his interview with Sydney. Bailey says she has business at the hospital. He offers to meet her for lunch in the cafeteria, but she says that doesn't sound good to her because she's too busy for tacos.
Meredith and Nick get ready. Meredith wants Nick to invite Richard onto his kidney transplant, but Nick doesn't think Richard will be interested in it. When Nick pushes, Meredith admits she's doing a biopsy on Catherine, whose cancer might have spread, and needs Nick to distract Richard.
Levi swipes on a dating profile. Then next profile that comes up is James. He zooms in on the picture. James suddenly comes up behind him and makes a joke about him going to hell for swiping left on a chaplain. Levi tries to make excuses. Someone hands James a bag of food, which he says it's treats for the nurses.
As they arrive at work, Jo talks to Link about their schedule for the upcoming days. Among them, she scheduled an OB appointment at Seattle Pres. Link questions why she's not seeing someone at Grey Sloan. She says she's worried they'll treat her differently or think she's not committed to her job. Link says it's her call, but if he had a vagina, he'd want Carina DeLuca all over it.
Teddy finds Amelia in her new lab, which is a significant downgrade from her previous lab. She says she's put Amelia on a wait list for a better lab. In the meantime, she has a patient for Amelia to see. She gives Amelia the chart. Amelia reads it and asks if Teddy thought she wouldn't notice the patient is 20 weeks pregnant. She needs to terminate the pregnant before Amelia can operate. Teddy says she wants to keep it and four other neurosurgeons have turned her down. Teddy asks Amelia to meet with her.
Ben finds Sydney and introduces himself. He's four hours early for their meeting and Sydney has two surgeries to get to. She knows he's Bailey's husband, but she can't shuffle her schedule around for him. They'll meet at the coffee cart at 1:00. She goes from him to the interns. She sends Benson to the ER, Jules to the ICU, Simone with Richard, and Lucas to Nick's kidney transplant. Simone says she was supposed to be with Nick, but Nick specifically requested Lucas. Mika returns from stepping away to take a call and is told she's with Amelia. Sydney sends them off to heal with love. Jules notices Mika's face and asks if she's okay. Mika insists she's fine.
Donna Mae Clarkson asks Levi to pass her her tablet so she can watch the weather. Winston reminds her she can't go outside anyway, but she just wants to see Victor Suarez, who is never wrong in his weather predictions. Jules comes in. She's late because she stopped at the peds floor to get Donna Mae pudding. She reports on Donna Mae, who had a CAGB two months prior, but was still in congestive heart failure. In addition, she was getting dialysis for kidney failure. Jules also notes she doesn't have an advanced directive. She confirms that she doesn't. Winston says an advanced directive would allow her to make her own medical decisions. If she doesn't have one, they have to assume she wants extraordinary measures, which could be uncomfortable. Donna Mae understands, but she's made her choice. When it comes to staying alive, she wants quantity over quality.
Richard sees Meredith in the hallway and asks what brought her to Seattle. She says she's there for a consult. He was hoping she was there to see Catherine, who hasn't been acting like herself. He thinks their rift is eating away at her. Meredith agrees to consider reaching out to her.
Meredith comes into the clinic. Catherine chides her for being late and she chides Catherine for not telling Richard. Bailey stops their bickering and tells them the only enemy in the room is cancer.
Mika takes Rhiannon Fletcher's blood pressure and reports it to Jo. Jo asks about tingling and numbness in her legs. She has none, but does have some weakness. Teddy comes in with Amelia and introduces her. Rhiannon introduces her brother, Julian, and his husband, Carl. They have a vested interest because the baby she's carrying is theirs. Julian corrects that they're invested because she's his sister. Rhiannon hopes Amelia is there to tell her she'll do the surgery. Amelia tells her that her pregnancy hormones are causing the tumor to grow more quickly and the safest way to proceed is to terminate the pregnancy before operating. Rhiannon asks about waiting for a few weeks, but Jo doesn't advise that because it's not guaranteed. Amelia adds that she could be paralyzed by the pressure of the tumor if they don't remove it soon. Julian says they can adopt. He and Rhiannon are both adopted themselves. Rhiannon insists that she'll do whatever it takes. She reminds them of everything they went through for her to get pregnant with their kid. She wants them to take another look before she agrees to terminate. Amelia orders more scans and says she's not promising anything, but will take another look.
Benson reports to the ER and tells Owen he's there for whatever Owen needs. Owen assigns him to Ronald Meinero, who broke two ribs and needs incentive spirometer exercises ten times per hour. Ronald explains that he's recovering from hemorrhoid surgery to and slipped getting out of his sitz bath.
Nick goes to Richard and asks if he wants to assist on Nick's kidney transplant. Richard wants to pass, but thinks an intern might enjoy it. Nick says this one's kind of groundbreaking. It's only been done once before in the United States. He wants to walk Richard through the case and see if that changes his mind.
Catherine questions what's taking so long. Bailey says they don't do a lot of biopsies in the clinic. Catherine thanks her for her discretion. Meredith arranged to distract Richard for at least an hour. She defends her decision to tell Nick in order to keep Richard from walking in on them. They look at the ultrasound and pick a lesion near the edge as the target for the biopsy. Meredith gives Catherine one last chance to get Richard there. Catherine says they'll tell Richard when there's something to tell.
Lucas tells Simone that Nick requested him. She knows, but she stayed up half the night studying for the transplant. Lucas reminds her that if the situation were reversed, she would have taken the surgery from him in a heartbeat. Richard interrupts, telling Simone they're doing a transplant with Nick.
Amelia, Teddy, Jo, and Mika review Rhiannon's scans. The pregnancy has moved her internal organs, making things harder to access. Teddy suggests cutting off the blood supply to the tumor, but it's too large already and is extremely dangerous. Teddy says that she's going to go to someone else if they say they can't help her. She won't stop looking.
Nick checks on Tom Costello, and asks how he's feeling. He's anxious. He's a scrub nurse at another hospital and is too aware of things that can go wrong. Lucas is surprised that Tom isn't intubated. Simone says he's going to be awake for the surgery, which was in the chart. Nick asks Lucas the benefits of an awake surgery. Lucas can't answer, so Simone steps in. Tom is displeased that Lucas isn't prepared. Nick says he's just new to the case, but assures Tom he's in good hands. Tom asks how many sponges BokHee has opened up. She tells him she has ten and he okays them to start. Then he stops them and asks if they're sure everything's been sterilized enough. Richard tells him to relax.
Levi still has not managed to talk Donna Mae into signing an advanced directive and he's starting to feel pushy. Winston says they just need to make sure she knows what she's facing. Levi explained to her how violent life-saving measures can be. Levi thinks she might listen to someone else.
Levi and Jules go to see James in his office. Levi makes awkward small talk and then Jules tells James about Donna Mae. James asks if they're asking him to talk her into signing a DNR. They assure him they aren't, but think he would help her understand her options.
Benson goes to Owen, saying he can handle more cases if Owen has them. Owen sends him to bed one for a scalp laceration. Benson says he's interested in trauma as a specialty and would love to work on bigger traumas. Owen says all traumas are traumas. Ronald babysits his granddaughter every Tuesday and is a ping pong legend and he wants to get back to both of those. Carla in bed one cut her head sliding into home plate. Those patients are counting on Benson to help them. Benson says he'll check on them.
Sydney and Ben talk about his work history. She worries that his jack of all trades attitude will work against him as a surgeon. He says he's a very good surgeon. He says he was a surgical resident for four years, a firefighter for five, and an anesthesiologist for seven. When he sets his mind to something, he masters it. She asks if he's going to leave the next time something shiny comes along. Surgery is a calling. It requires patiences and commitment. She's not sure he has what it takes. Ben says he's carried people down ten flights of stairs while wearing 75 pounds of equipment. He's talking down hopeless teens. And he's been happily married for 12 years and has three children he loves more than any career. If she doesn't want to bring him back, he'll be fine. He thanks her for her time and leaves.
Amelia tells Rhiannon she's willing to try, but she'll prioritize Rhiannon's health and well-being if it comes down to that. Julian and Carl still don't feel good about it, but Rhiannon says she wants to do it.
Meredith inserts the needle for the biopsy while Bailey operates the ultrasound. She collects the sample and removes the needle. As she hands it off to go to the lab, Catherine coughs up blood. They move her onto her side and hang blood. Then they prepare to intubate and move her to the IR suite so they can place a shunt. Meredith says it's time to call Richard and Bailey agrees.
Nick places Tom's new kidney in his body. Tom asks them to pause for a sponge and needle count. Last month at his hospital, a patient went septic because the doctors left a lap pad in her abdomen. Nick asks BokHee to count. She counts and comes up with ten. One of their phones buzzes and Nick asks Simone to check it because Lucas is attaching the kidney. It's Richard's phone and Meredith is texting 911 for the IR suite. Richard says he'll check in with her later, but Nick tells him it's Catherine and says he needs to go. Richard pulls off his gown and leaves.
Benson has Ronald doing his exercises. Owen comes in with a trauma from a car accident. He calls Benson to assist.
Julian comes to Mika and asks if she has siblings. She says she has eight. Julian only has Rhiannon. When he and Carl first started looking for a surrogate, she offered, but they went with someone else. Then when that didn't work out, she offered again and he decided not to fight it. She got pregnant and then they found the tumor. He asks if he's going to regret not fighting her. Mika says she doesn't know, but Rhiannon has excellent doctors working on her. She wishes she could tell him it'll be fine, but she doesn't know.
Richard comes into the IR suite as they're placing Catherine's shunt. Meredith and Bailey explain what happened and that Catherine wanted to wait for the results before telling him. He kisses Catherine's hand and tells them to take care of her. Then he goes to wait outside.
At they finish up the transplant, Tom asks them to do a final count. They start that, but in their heads, so he can't hear it. Tom asks if Nick is surgery the kidney looks good. Nick says he's done over 600 kidney transplants and had one done himself, so he knows how it feels, but everything is under control. BokHee quietly tells Simone a sponge is missing. Simone tells Nick. They recount.
James talkes to Donna Mae about his faith and death. She says she's not afraid of death or anything that comes after. She insists she knows the consequences of not signing the papers and she knows why she's not signing them. She refuses to die before her ex-husband. She'll outlive him if it's the last thing she does. James says it seems like she could use some closure. She says yes, closure on his casket.
During Rhiannon's surgery, they lose signal to her legs. Amelia asks for a fluid bolus and then pressors. Jo says she's having late decels. The pressors are affecting blood flow to the baby. She wants them to give fluids time to work, but Amelia doesn't think they have that kind of time. They argue over it until Mika tells them to stop. Rhiannon is a person and they need to figure out how to fix it instead of fighting. Rhiannon stabilizes and Mika leaves the OR.
The doctors whisper as they search for the missing sponge, so they don't worry Tom. Tom notices this and starts to panic. Then he admits he's the one who miscounted the lap pads on the patient that went septic. He's always so careful, so if it happened to him, it can happen to anyone. Lucas finally notices the missing sponge is on Nick's shoe. They laugh and prepare to close.
Donna Mae tells the story of meeting her ex-husband. It was nice at first, but they started fighting as soon as they got married and it never stopped. The only good thing that came out of the relationship was her sleeper sofa. Winston and Levi come in and say they found her ex-husband. He was living in assistant living until he died a few months ago. Donna Mae finds herself unexpectedly emotional over that. She admits to missing him. She says she'll sign the DNR.
Ben goes to Richard, who is waiting. Ben admits that Bailey sent him to check on Richard. Ben shares a story about the fire academy, using the training building. Not being able to see his team was terrifying. Then he admits that there wasn't a point to the story.
Catherine wakes up and Bailey tells her they had to covert to an EGD and TIPS procedure. They don't have the results yet. But she's alive and Richard is waiting outside for her. They had to tell him because it became more than a biopsy. Catherine understands and thanks Bailey. She knows she's been stubborn and difficult. Bailey is part of what makes the hospital great and should always be there. Bailey asks if she's giving her her job back. Catherine refuses to say it directly, but Bailey is happy and thanks her.
Julian and Carl are relieved that Rhiannon is okay. Amelia was able to remove the tumor and she and the baby are both stable. Julian apologizes for being mistrustful. He's always looked out for her as her older brother and he felt helpless. Amelia understands because of what she went through with her own older brother.
Meredith sees Richard in Catherine's room and keeps going. Richard comes out and confronts her for lying to him. She says she's sorry, but it was hard enough to get her to agree to the biopsy at all. Richard has stood up for Meredith so many times. Meredith says they she wanted to tell him, but Catherine wouldn't let her. She was scared. That's why Richard thinks she should have told him.
Owen tells Benson he did good work and asks if he's still thinking about going into trauma. He says yes. Owen says some days are slower than others, but most days have interesting cases. Benson's not sure he wants to be the guy waiting around for a car wreck. A man was in a medically-induced coma from a brain bleed. His life will never be the same and neither will his family's.
Nick gives Lucas post-op instructions for Tom. He tells Lucas he did good work. He heard Lucas is repeating. But Nick thinks it's a good thing. Internships should be two years anyway. He'll be more prepared. He needs to keep working with good people, like Simone. It'll make him better.
Teddy congratulates Amelia on Rhiannon's surgery. Teddy has more cases like Rhiannon's, people who have been turned down by other doctors. They all want to see Amelia. She tells Amelia to think about it. Mika comes up and apologizes for her behavior in the OR. Amelia says her outburst was inappropriate, but she wasn't wrong. Mika asks to speak to Teddy for a minute.
Bailey finds Sydney packing up her office. She's been fired to allow for Bailey to take her job back. Sydney doesn't hold it against Bailey. She just takes it as a sign that she's needed elsewhere. She tells Bailey that she hired Ben. She never got the hang of the job and never did it as well as Bailey. She could never get the interns to want to work, but Ben does. So she hired him so Bailey could avoid the nepotism accusations. Bailey thanks her sincerely. Sydney takes her things and leaves. On her way out, she tells Bailey she promises the interns a retreat.
Link saw Jo's OB appointment on their calendar. She tells him to forget about it. He moved an appointment to take her. But she's decided to see someone at Grey Sloan. She figured she can sacrifice a little privacy to get the best care.
Levi brings James coffee and biscotti as a thank you. James asks about Donna Mae. She survived her surgery. He thinks James doesn't see a lot of patients like her, but he says Levi would be surprised. Levi is happy to see a more human side of James. He brings pastries to the nurses, so he seemed like a saint. James jokes about hooking up with the barista. Then he says he doesn't get many matches on the apps, probably because of his job. Levi makes a show of pulling out his phone and swiping on James's profile, but accidental flips to a shirtless pic. James says Levi could just ask him out because they're sitting together.
Lucas goes to Simone and she admits it was wrong to bring up his family. He says he could have said something and didn't. But the competition will make them better. They work well together. She recalls that he said girlfriend about her earlier. He remembers that. Simone says she's cold. She gets up and they race to the car.
Jules decides not to ask Mika if she's okay because she knows she isn't. She asks if she did something. Mika says her sister Chloe called and she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at 22. Teddy's going to see if someone at Grey Sloan will take her case. Jules asks if she can do anything. Mika asks her to be a friend, since she's not sure she can handle whatever's starting to happen between them but could use a friend. Jules sits with her and says she will.
Nick and Meredith watch Catherine sleep. Nick asks how she took the news that Richard knew. Meredith says she took it better than he did. Neither of them is sure Richard will ever talk to them again. Meredith asks if Nick is mad at her, too. He says he's not mad at her for letting him in after he asked her to let him in. He's a little mad that she hasn't asked about his transplant yet. He tells her it was great. He thinks it's the future of kidney transplants. She wants to hear more about it on their plane. They get up to leave.
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
- Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren
- 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 Kwan
- Adelaide Kane as Dr. Jules Millin
- Midori Francis as Dr. Mika Yasuda
- Niko Terho as Dr. Lucas Adams
Guest Stars[]
- Debbie Allen as Dr. Catherine Fox
- Scott Speedman as Dr. Nick Marsh
- Kali Rocha as Dr. Sydney Heron
- Jack McBrayer as Tom Costello
- Michael Thomas Grant as James Morgan
- Michelle Veintimilla as Rhiannon Fletcher
- B.J. Minor as Julian Fletcher
- Nancy Youngblut as Donna Mae Clarkson
Co-Starring[]
Medical Notes[]
Catherine Fox[]
- Diagnosis:
- Esophageal hemorrhage
- Doctors:
- Meredith Grey (general surgeon)
- Miranda Bailey (general surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Esophagogasteroduodenoscopy
- TIPS procedure
Catherine had a biopsy of her liver in the clinic. During the biopsy, Catherine started hemorrhaging, so they had to move her to the IR suite for an upper endoscopy and TIPS procedure. She was stable and awake after her procedure.
Rhiannon Fletcher[]
- Diagnosis:
- Pregnancy
- Hemangioblastoma
- Doctors:
- Amelia Shepherd (neurosurgeon)
- Teddy Altman (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Jo Wilson (OB/GYN resident)
- Mika Yasuda (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Tumor resection
Rhiannon was 20 weeks pregnant and had a hemangioblastoma on her thoracic spine. She had weakness in her legs, but no numbness. Amelia advised her to terminate the pregnancy due to the additional risks of the surgery, but she refused and asked them to figure out a way to allow her to continue the pregnancy while they removed the tumor. After reviewing her scans again, Amelia agreed to try operating. During surgery, they lost blood flow to her legs, which caused the baby to become unstable. After a few minutes, they were able to stabilize her and complete the surgery. She was stable in the ICU after her surgery.
Donna Mae Clarkson[]
- Diagnosis:
- Congestive heart failure
- Kidney failure
- Doctors:
- Winston Ndugu (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Levi Schmitt (surgical resident)
- Jules Millin (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Dialysis
- Surgery
Donna Mae, 82, had had a CAGB two months prior and had a history of TIA. She was in congestive heart failure and kidney failure, for which she received dialysis three times per week. She had surgery and was stabled afterward.
Ronald Meinero[]
- Diagnosis:
- Broken ribs
- Doctors:
- Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon)
- Benson Kwan (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Incentive spirometer exercises
Ronald had broken two of his ribs when he slipped getting out of his bath. Owen had Benson do incentive spirometer exercises ten times per hour.
Tom Costello[]
- Diagnosis:
- Kidney failure
- Doctors:
- Nick Marsh (transplant surgeon)
- Richard Webber (general surgeon)
- Simone Griffith (surgical intern)
- Lucas Adams (surgical intern)
- Dr. Robertson
- Treatment:
- Kidney transplant
Tom, 33, was in the hospital for a kidney transplant while he remained awake. The transplant went well and Nick handed off his post-op care to Dr. Robertson.
Carla[]
- Diagnosis:
- Scalp laceration
- Doctors:
- Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon)
- Benson Kwan (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
Carla had a scalp laceration from sliding into home plate. Owen asked Benson to take care of it.
ER Patient[]
- Diagnosis:
- Brain bleed
- Doctors:
- Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Surgery
A patient came into the ER after flipping their car over the median. Owen suspected he'd need to go directly to the OR. After surgery, he was left in a medically-induced coma due to a brain bleed.
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Giving Up" | Michigander |
|
| "Hold Me Steady" | Ronen |
|
| "In Your Arms" | BIANCO |
|
| "Falling" | Anna Moon |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song I Can See Clearly Now, originally sung by Johnny Nash.
- This episode scored 2.36 million viewers.[1]
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 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 | ||||||