| “ | Every disease has its unique course it takes in the body when left untreated. The process begins with exposure to a root cause that sends a ripple effect throughout the body. The disease then progresses, ultimately resolving in one of three possible outcomes: you get better, you stay chronically ill, or you die. Surgeons swoop in once the diagnosis is made and the patient needs reinforcements. We take decisive action in order to give them a fighting chance. Sometimes, despite our schooling and centuries of medical advancement, the disease wins. It takes over our cells one by one, until the damage can no longer be reversed. When that happens, all you can do is take the loss and move on. But when you can change the course of someone's disease, you can change the course of their life. It's enough to make you want to come back the next day and do it all over again. | ” |
Love Don't Cost a Thing is the ninth episode of the nineteenth season and the 409th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Short Summary[]
Simone is met with a life-changing decision upon the return of someone from her past. Blue and Jules shadow Maggie on a risky case, while Jo and Link tend to a pregnant woman. At the intern house, Lucas and Mika throw a party filled with surprises.
Full Summary[]
Lucas and Mika are decorating the house for a party while Trey and Simone argue while getting dressed in her bedroom. Simone thinks Trey chose to ignore her mental health and refused to speak up for her to protect his own reputation at the hospital. He says he was just an intern.
Down in the kitchen, Lucas and Mika discuss their non-stop arguing since his arrival last night. Lucas wants to cancel the party but Mika refuses. She points out as long as they're fighting, Lucas still has a shot. Mika picked up on the sexual tension and she's on Team Skywalker. She encourages Lucas to come clean to Simone about his feelings.
Teddy comes home after a day of fighting off the press about Jermaine's death and dealing with budget deficits. Neither she nor Owen are excited about the dinner party with Ben and Bailey they're hosting, especially after Allison bit Pru again. Teddy hates that Owen is just now telling her.
Bailey and Ben are getting ready to leave the house. Bailey made a pie. Ben thinks the biting is becoming a problem but Bailey excited about a civilized adult dinner.
Levi leaves Jules with instructions for the ICU patients. She compliments his looks and figures he's going to the party. Benson arrives. He's more confident about handling the ICU than Jules is. Benson is excited about scrubbing in with Maggie on her Ivor Lewis esophagectomy on Natalia Asaki in the morning. Richard and Maggie arrive in the ICU, where he congratulates Maggie on her partial heart transplant. Benson goes to thank Maggie for allowing him to scrub in just as Jules cuts in to show off her knowledge on the procedure. Maggie decides she can scrub in as well. They all enter Natalia's room.
Natalia and her husband Elliot drove to Grey Sloan from Coeur d'Alene. Benson presents the case. Natalia has esophageal cancer and was admitted for pre-op. Jules correctly describes the Ivor Lewis procedure. Natalia is notified that one her favorite paintings was sold. After months of chemo and radiation, Natalia is grateful for every win. Natalia inquires if she truly needs all the pre-op exams that Richard lists off. Elliot quietly tells her that they'll find a way to pay for them.
Simone and Trey take a break from fighting as they lie down on the bed. She felt broken. She apologizes for having disappeared on him. He knows he waited too long to chase after her. She wants to have fun at the party. Instead, they start making out again.
Ben and Bailey arrive at Owen and Teddy's house. Owen brings up a string of fires in South Seattle. Ben has been sitting out the dangerous stuff since they got a little girl. Teddy scoffs and comments that never stopped Owen. Owen excuses her behavior due to being exhausted after one day of being Chief. Teddy gets the guests a drink and points them to the cheese and crackers on the coffee table. Ben would love a bite.
As Benson informs Richard and Maggie that all of Natalia's exams look good so far, Elliot calls for help. Natalia is having a seizure. Maggie has neuro paged and orders Keppra and Lorazepam.
Amelia's on the phone with Kai, trying to limit their expectations of her new place, as she's leaving with Scout. She receives a page about a grand mal seizure. Amelia spots Link, who's cleaning up after being egged on his way out by angry Tank fans. Link would be happy to take Scout. Whitney, a woman in labor, enters the OR calling for help. Link helps her into a wheelchair as Jo arrives. Whitney refuses to let go of Link's hand because of her anxiety. Link and Scout tag along to the OB floor.
At the party, Taryn encourages Levi to have fun. He should get laid. Levi has finished a 16-hour shift and thinks he shouldn't be here. Mika is happy to see Taryn there. Living in a house is definitely an upgrade from a van. Mika takes Taryn to the good booze.
Lucas goes out into the yard. Simone spots him and sends Trey to get drinks. Simone apologizes to Lucas for last night and confirms that she hasn't told Trey about their kiss. Trey returns with whiskey-ginger and recalls Simone's disastrous NYE where she got wasted on that drink.
Natalia Asaki is having a head CT taken. Amelia is briefed on the case by Richard. She quizzes Benson on the possible causes for new-onset seizures until the scans reveal a brain metastasis that appears to be bleeding.
Amelia informs Natalia and Elliot Asaki of the diagnosis. They need to excise it immediately, meaning they'll have to postpone the scheduled surgery. Elliot asks for some privacy. Maggie tells Richard he can go home and rest.
As Scout sleeps, Jo tells Whitney that she's at 6 cm while Link holds her hand. Whitney is in pain so Link distracts her by talking about how the people of Seattle hate him.
Trey and Simone sit down in the backyard. He was scared for her when he first heard she was living with other interns in a house with fire damage. The other interns seem cool even though they're not quite her caliber. She tells him not to judge her people. Trey insists she is top-tier and she doesn't belong in a program like Grey Sloan. He proposes she come back to make her case. If she stays calm and collected, they can have their old life back. Simone is angered and walks off, warning him not to come after her.
Ben talks about Tuck hogging the bathroom to do some manscaping for the swim team tryout. Pru has been angling for a dog. Ben uses that to bring up dogs biting. Teddy tries to steer the conversation away from kid stuff. Owen asks about the clinic. Bailey says they can hardly keep up and asks about his license. He claims he's working on it, to which Teddy scoffs. He refuses to help her in the kitchen.
As Elliot worries about taking on more jobs to pay for the surgery, Jules and Benson bring in the consent form. Natalia realizes she might die. Benson asks about their debt. Natalia says they were both made part-time during the pandemic and could only afford cheap health insurance. If she does, she'll leave the love of her life poor and homeless. Just as Maggie walks in, Benson tells them to get a medical divorce so Elliot won't be saddled with her debt and she can qualify for more aid. It'll also protect any assets. Natalia thinks it's brilliant but Elliot disagrees. Maggie asks Benson for a word outside.
Lucas finds a distressed Simone in her bedroom. He tells her she always looks perfect to him, even when she's upset. He's seen how she comes up with a solution when she gets mad over a difficult case. So right now, she looks like she's gonna figure it all out. She then kisses him. As they kiss against her bedroom door, they take off their shirts. As his hand slips into her pants, Trey knocks on the door. He apologizes for what he said. He's just trying to get it right. She asks him to give her a minute as Lucas backs off a little. Trey knows he's a snob but he loves her and can't imagine his life without her. He promises to be better. Simone says she'll come find him. Trey leaves as Lucas gets dressed. Simone explains they had a whole life together and her family loves him. Lucas asks if she does, too. If she does, she should go talk to him and fight for him. Simone is surprised that he is pushing her toward Trey and won't answer the question if she loves Trey. He won't let her apologize. Before she lets him out, she checks if the hallway is clear, which offends him.
Maggie scolds Benson for what he did without consulting her. She could have called people who are trained to have that kind of conversation. His actions have caused a fight between Natalia and Elliot so it's not an improvement. Due to his lack of remorse, she throws him off the case. He can cross his fingers that she'll sign the consent form now.
Simone comes downstairs and grabs the first drink she can find. Trey comes up. Mika introduces him to Taryn. Trey talks about meeting Simone in physiology class. As Lucas comes to grab a drink as well, Simone talks about how Trey made her soup and brought her notes when she missed class one day. He complimented her smile and she thanked him for the notes. He fell in love with her in that moment. Trey takes Simone outside and Mika goes to show Taryn the hole in the roof.
Levi is checking his phone on the porch as Carlos Garcia approaches. He asks if the party's that bad. Levi claims he's not good at parties, people, or even alcohol. Carlos is a travelling nurse in town for a few months. He brought his own beer and hands Levi a bottle.
Teddy, Bailey, Owen, and Ben are having dinner. Bailey brings up the candidates for the Chief of Trauma position. Teddy explains to Owen that hiring an interim chief is harder than hiring a permanent one. Owen reminds her she promised him his job back. They bicker about it until she tells him to grow up and accept that this is a business decision.
Jules brings Elliot a cup of coffee in the waiting room. Natalia wants a divorce but he believes in "'til death do us part". Everything has always been so easy with Natalia. Jules says most people can only dream of a love like that. She advises him to trust Natalia enough to un-marry her and to not make the divorce mean something it doesn't. Natalia just wants to protect him.
Elliot enters Natalia's room with fake flowers and Aaron, a hospital lawyer who has agreed to help pro bono. Aaron says the divorce petition is rather easy with them. Once they've signed, he'll file it with the court in Idaho immediately. Natalia comments it feels like a second marriage. She promises Elliot to love him until her dying breath. She is the luckiest girl in the world to be divorcing him. He promises to be there for her in good and bad times. He will love her for every moment of their life together. They share a kiss and sign the divorce papers. Amelia whispers to Maggie that this is a first for her. Natalia tells her surgeons that she is ready.
Whitney starts panicking. She has a brother with mental illness who ruined her parents. When she was scared her child would inherit those genes, her wife simply told her that she didn't have that in her family, and Whitney somehow just accepted that. Link admits the world is a terrifying place but looking at Scout gives Link hope. It's a reason for him to believe everything will be okay.
Carlos is flirting with Levi and says that his mother is very dramatic about his love life. Levi can relate. Carlos wants his number so they can go on a proper date. Levi is quick to accept.
Owen blames Teddy for not being transparent with her employees and she fires back that the hospital went bankrupt during his tenure as Chief. She disagrees. Teddy yells that Allison is biting people because her man-child father can't control his tantrums. Owen snaps that she's too young to take after her drinking mother. Bailey puts an end to the squabble. Their biting each other with sharp words and rage isn't helping to make Allison stop biting. They should get help to fix their issues.
Jules is excited about her first craniotomy while Benson is busy reviewing a week's worth of Maggie's progress notes. Jules think he should apologize but he refuses to do so when he's not in the wrong.
Whitney starts pushing.
With Jules's assistance, Amelia removes the met.
Jo delivers Whitney's baby.
Teddy and Owen do some dishes in silence.
Trey tells Simone he would move to Seattle if that's what it takes, even though his family would disapprove. Simone says their program treated her like human garbage and he suggested tonight that she needed to stay silent and suck it up. Trey knows that was wrong. He just misses her. Simone says it was easier to leave the whole chapter behind when she left but she spent so many nights he would show up. He asks what changed. She glances at Lucas and then claims nothing's changed. Trey then gets down on one knee and proposes to her. She accepts as Lucas and the others watch. Everyone but Lucas claps and cheers.
Ben and Bailey walk to their car. She brings up the resentment she has been sensing on him for a while now. Before they end up like Teddy and Owen, he better spill what it's about. He admits resenting her for going back to work because he's afraid that he's doing the parenting wrong, and they were doing so well when she didn't work. Bailey lists the ways how she is prioritizing their family. She can't believe all that is not enough for him.
Most of the guests have left the party. Mika puts on a song and starts dancing with Taryn. She forces Lucas to participate in the dancing it out. Meanwhile, Carlos and Levi are kissing on the porch outside.
Benson brings Elliot a cup of yogurt and water. Elliot thanks him. Maggie catches him leaving the room and gets angry. Benson refuses to ignore debt and the fact that the system forces people to choose between bankruptcy and death. If his mother could have divorced him, she would have done so in a heartbeat. But he had to open up credit card after credit card and every time he gets a bill, it feels like a noose around his neck. He does not want to put someone else through that. Benson leaves before Maggie can say anything. Richard arrives and asks what happened. Maggie says everyone is in pain. She asks Richard how he and Catherine knew that their rough patch was just that. Richard says they always still had the love underneath it all. When that dries up, it's time to reevaluate. He knows that her and Winston have so much love between them, so he knows they'll work through it. She thanks him for that.
Jo is filling out documents outside of Whitney's room. Whitney has reunited with her wife and there doesn't seem to be a lot of anger between them, Link notes. Jo says babies don't leave much room for a grudge. Jo then notices he got a haircut. Amelia walks by, surprised to see Link and Scout. Link informs her they delivered a baby. Link says he's going to sneak out the back in an attempt to actually get home this time. Jo tells Amelia that Link held a laboring mom's hand for hours all while in the midst of a personal crisis. She comments he is perfect and wonders how Amelia let someone like that go. Amelia suggests he wasn't perfect for her but might be for Jo.
Amelia FaceTimes Kai to see their face after the sad night she's had. She walks by the intern locker room as Jules trails Benson. She says she's sorry. She didn't know about his situation. He tells her to forget it and leaves. Mika, Lucas, and Simone come in for their shift. Simone shows Jules her engagement ring. Levi appears in the doorway and tells them they are late for rounds. He walks off as the interns get ready for the day.
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
- 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 (credit only)
- 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
Guest Stars[]
- Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren
- Jaicy Elliot as Dr. Taryn Helm
- E.R. Fightmaster as Dr. Kai Bartley
- William Martinez as Dr. Trey Delgado
- Sarah Grace White as Whitney Klosk
- Johanna Curé as Natalia Asaki
- Rick Kumazawa as Elliot Asaki
- Calvin Seabrooks as Carlos Garcia
Co-Starring[]
- Norm Nixon Jr. as Nurse James (credit only)
- Steve Hasley as Aaron Marshall
- Ryden Murphy & Ryker Murphy as Scout
Medical Notes[]
Mr. Simms[]
- Diagnosis:
- Doctors:
- Levi Schmitt (surgical resident)
- Jules Millin (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
Levi told Jules that Mr. Simms needed neuro checks every two hours.
Natalia Asaki[]
- Diagnosis:
- Stage II adenosarcoma of the esophagus
- Temporal lobe metastasis
- Seizure
- Doctors:
- Amelia Shepherd (neurosurgeon)
- Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Richard Webber (general surgeon)
- Benson Kwan (surgical intern)
- Jules Millin (surgical intern)
- Treatment:
- Tumor resection
Natalia was in the hospital with stage II esophageal cancer. She was scheduled for an Ivor Lewis procedure following chemotherapy and radiation treatments. While completing pre-op scans and labs, Natalia had a seizure. They paged Amelia, who did a CT, which showed a bleeding mass in her right temporal lobe. They had to delay her scheduled surgery in order to remove the mass. The mass was successfully removed and Natalia was stable in the ICU afterward.
Whitney Klosk[]
- Diagnosis:
- Pregnancy
- Doctors:
- Jo Wilson (OB/GYN resident)
- Treatment:
- Vaginal delivery
Whitney came into the emergency room in labor. Jo met her at the door and took her up to OB, where she labored and gave birth.
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Yahoo" | Beadie |
|
| "Everything I Love Is Going to Die" | The Wombats |
|
| "Colors (The Knocks Remix)" | Thunder Jackson |
|
| "To Be Enchanted (Voice Memo)" | Sleeping at Last |
|
| "Killing Time" | Sarah Wolfe |
|
| "Cannonball" | Michigander |
|
| "Recovery" | Rose Betts |
|
| "The Feels" | Cash Cash (feat. Alex Newell) |
|
| "Broken Puzzle Pieces" | Sweet Talk Radio |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song Love Don't Cost a Thing, originally sung by Jennifer Lopez.
- This episode scored 3.18 million viewers.[1]
- Norm Nixon, Jr. is credited as Nurse James but does not appear in the episode. Most likely, his scene was cut from the final version of the episode.
- As of this episode, Chandra Wilson is credited as co-executive producer.
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 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 >> | |||||