“ | I love puzzles. Since I was a kid. My record for the Friday New York Times crosswords is 11 minutes, when I was 13. I'm still trying to beat that. Okay, that sounds braggy. I just mean, once I pick a puzzle up, I can't put it down until it's solved. I think puzzles are why I went into medicine. That's what most of medicine is. Gather all available information, assess the problem, you focus your attention, and you solve the puzzle. People are a harder puzzle. There's never one right answer and you never have all of the information. Most puzzles come down to one last piece of information missing. Whether it's the answer to a medical mystery or to the question of who you are, where you fit, it all comes down to that last piece. That's why the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle is so satisfying to place. Unless of course, the piece doesn't quite fit. That can make you wish you never opened the puzzle in the first place. | ” |
Puzzle With a Piece Missing is the second episode of the eleventh season and the 222nd overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.
Short Summary[]
In this Maggie centric episode, she continues to try to make a positive impression at the hospital but finds herself in extremely unfortunate situations. Meanwhile, Richard continues to hold onto his secret and the doctors work with a dying woman who is being kept alive by her daughter.
Full Summary[]
While Maggie's voice over talks about how she likes puzzles, Maggie is running through Seattle while talking to her parents on her phone about a present they got her.
Late at night, Maggie is in a conference room working, again on the phone with her parents. She assures her mother that she's made friends, although she questions if she should make friends. She's here to run a department.
While solving a puzzle in the on-call room, Maggie tells her parents that she probably won't talk to her sister as she doesn't need one now. At least not this one. She got to see what her sister's like. She doesn't need answers about her birth mother, as she's got them. They're great for her. Maggie gets a page. She tells her parents that she loves them and runs off.
In the ICU, a nurse informs her on a coding patient, an elderly woman. Like it is with solving a puzzle, Maggie looks around to gather all the information, and then assess the problem. She steps in to perform CPR and eventually shocks Marjorie, successfully reviving her. Jeannie, Marjorie's daughter, thanks her.
The elevator doors open, revealing Meredith and Richard are on the elevator. Maggie passes, as she needs to go down. So does Meredith. Maggie meant down the stairs, for heart health and all. Richard, carrying a journal with a crossword puzzle, follows her.
In the stairwell, he tells Maggie that she can't avoid Meredith, as they both work here. Maggie says she'll work with Meredith when she has to. Richard thinks she's here for more than that, but Maggie would like to go back to before she opened her mouth about her personal life. She gives him an answer from the crossword puzzle that took her forever and walks off.
Jo and Alex are talking about Alex waiting for the right time to tell Lebackes about the board position. Meanwhile, Maggie keeps calling out Dr. Willis. Alex figures out she's talking to Jo, who informs her it's Wilson. She's with Maggie today. Their first patient is a consult with Dr. Bailey.
Jo and Maggie enter the room where Robbie, Bailey's patient, is in enormous pain as he's passing an impressive kidney stone. Robbie is trying to pass it on his own. Robbie also has pains in his chest. Maggie orders some drugs and tells Jo that he's at risk for sudden cardiac death. They administer the drugs, which stabilizes his heart, and Maggie informs Bailey that he's at risk for even minor surgery, so she has to do a full cardiac work-up.
The next patient is Rita, a pregnant woman. She suffers from Ebstein's malformation, which is why she has to be on bed rest until the baby comes. Arizona and Stephanie come in. The baby girl has a double inlet left ventricle, requiring fetal monitoring and immediate heart surgery after birth. She's also in the hospital because the strain of childbirth might cause her aorta to dissect. Rita's done hearing that. She knows the risks and refuses to believe it. Her husband doesn't seem to be enthusiastic about that.
Outside the room, Maggie tells Jo there's a good chance Rita will die having this baby. However, she took on the case because she decided to have the baby anyway, and because Maggie likes her own chances better than hers. Sounds badass, Jo says.
Jo presents Marjorie Reed's case. Jeannie thinks that even though her mother complains of stomach pain, she's doing better. She loudly says she's gonna get some tea and leaves. Marjorie pulls Maggie closer and begs her to let her die.
Maggie checks if Marjorie's not out of her mind. She's not. She tells them about her life and how she's now hurting constantly. The drugs they gave her make her forget the beautiful life she's had. She's earned a better end than this. Jo brings up that there are forms she can sign, but Jeannie won't let her because she's scared, always has been. Nevertheless, Marjorie wants to die while still remembering her life.
Outside the room, Jo questions if they can't override the daughter, but until there's a DNR, they are legally obligated to resuscitate her, even though Maggie almost killed her this morning while doing so. Jo suggest they talk to the daughter as Jeannie comes back. She's convinced her mother's doing better, but Maggie tells her that the cancer her mother is suffering from has progressed beyond what they can treat. Jo quite tactlessly tells Jeannie that the process of resuscitation is enormously hard on Marjorie's body, and that it's only a matter of time before she dies anyway. Jeannie refuses to let her die and says they're her mother's doctors, so they have to do anything they can to keep her alive.
Maggie calls out Jo for having talked to Jeannie like that, because now Jeannie thinks they're pushing for her mother to die. Jo apologizes. Maggie smiles and says she just had to "bring the thunder". When you're young, or pretty, or really nice, sometimes people don't take you seriously. You have to make them see who they're dealing with: bringing your thunder. If she doesn't do that already, she advises Jo to do it, as she's really pretty. Next up is Robbie's cardiac echo.
Maggie informs Bailey that Robbie has dilated cardiomyopathy, so they should get cardiac anesthesia involved when operating. Bailey says they should before the boy tries to push a pencil eraser through his "pin hole". Maggie would like to send out for Robbie's full exome panel. Bailey says she can run it for her in her genome lab, for which she still has the keys. Jo informs Maggie that the board shut it down, but Bailey says that if the board has a problem with it, they can come talk to her so she can tell them which hole to push that through.
As Jo and Maggie walk off, Maggie asks if Bailey was bringing her thunder or if they just pissed her off. Bailey doesn't need to bring anything, Jo says, as she is the thunder. Jo informs her that Bailey was offered a board seat, but now is probably gonna lose it to another surgeon. Jo reads on her tablet that Rita is complaining off back pains while Maggie gets a page from Dr. Karev for a consult. Jo tells her that he's the surgeon who Bailey's gonna lose her board seat to.
Rita tells Maggie that while she's had a lot of lower back pain, this is different because it's high in the middle and it burns. Maggie says Dr. Wilson will take her to have a CT taken. She says it could just be a sign of pregnancy, but she gives Jo a worried look.
Maggie is doing her consult in Alex and Lebackes' OR, where everyone is dancing to loud music. She introduces herself to Oliver, who tells her the people here are great. Alex can confirm that, he says, as he worked here. Maggie says she heard congratulations are in order regarding Alex's board seat. Oliver calls to stop the music. Alex says he was gonna talk to him, at the right time. He admits he might be quitting Oliver's practice. Oliver then fires him from his practice and starts yelling at him while Maggie leaves in silence.
Maggie throws Jo of her service for being stupid and indiscrete. Maggie could tell Alex was her boyfriend, but she didn't know that what Jo told her about him was confidential, so she used it to make small talk. Jo asks if this is her bringing more thunder, but it's not. It's Maggie being pissed because she can't trust Jo, so she needs Jo to swap with a resident she can trust. "And you just got your boyfriend fired," Maggie says as she walks off.
Owen finds Maggie and asks her why she requested access to the McNeils's files. It bugged Maggie no one found the cause of the cardiomyopathy. Owen says Yang ran every imaginable test, so he asks if she thinks she can find something that Yang couldn't. He seems to doubt she can, and says that the McNeils have been through hell, so unless she has something new to tell them, they're gonna build up their hopes for nothing. He thinks they should be left alone. She then agrees.
In the cafeteria, Maggie's just gotten lunch when Zola appears in front of her and starts greeting her. Derek calls her back to his and Meredith's table. He introduces himself to Maggie and tells her about Zola. Maggie compliments him on the fact that he's going to run the NIH's brain mapping initiative, but he says he's not going to because of his family. She excuses herself for being misinformed, but she understands as her family's away from her too, which is hard. Meredith asks if Maggie's food isn't gonna get cold. Derek proposes she sit down with them, but she chooses to go sit down with Richard, who's discussing his secret with Amelia.
Maggie comes over to their table and asks if she can join them. Richard introduces them. Amelia clarifies she's Derek's sister. "Is everyone in this room somehow related?" Maggie asks, which prompts Amelia to watch Richard and Maggie and laugh. She says she's gonna leave them alone. Maggie sits down. She's frustrated that Meredith has an adopted daughter. Richard tells her the whole story, which makes Maggie frustrated even more. It would be easy to hate her sister if she were a rude, bitchy person, but Zola's adoption makes her even more likeable. She asks Richard if she should talk to Meredith. He thinks she's more than Maggie bargained for, but when the world gives you more than you bargained for, you usually end up glad that you got it. Maggie thinks it's ironic that Meredith's adopted a kid while her mother gave one up. She asks Richard if he knows the story, but he never knew anything about it. He does know that it must've been the most difficult decision of Ellis's life. Just when Maggie asks him how well he knew Ellis, Jo comes over with bad news. She shows Maggie something on her tablet, which makes Maggie walk off.
Maggie walks into the attendings' lounge where Arizona and Callie are discussing the fellowship and a second child. Maggie waits outside until they're finished. Callie points out that if Arizona takes the fellowship, there's no time for a new baby because she has her research. Arizona says she hasn't decided yet. Callie thought they had about having a baby, but that seems to have changed. Callie walks off. Arizona apologizes to Maggie, who claims she wasn't listening. "You're nice. And full of crap," Arizona comments. Maggie informs her their patient is not doing good.
In Rita's room, they inform Rita that her aorta is dissecting, so they need to do an emergency C-section to deliver the baby, after which Maggie will repair the dissection. They don't have a choice. Rita wants them to make sure the baby's safe, but Eric yells at her to stop talking about the baby as he told her not to have it. Maggie urges him to step outside. She instructs Edwards and Wilson to prep Rita and then follows Eric outside.
Maggie explains to Eric that all Rita needs is his support, but he can't support her killing himself. He reveals they already lost a child 5 years ago. Madeleine, 2 years old, wanted to run, so Rita let go of her hand. Maddie tripped, hit her head and passed away, 4 feet away from her mother. Rita will always believe it happened because she let go of her daughter's hand and when Rita got her diagnosis, he never thought they'd have another child, but the pregnancy happened by accident. He begged her not to have the baby, but she refused to let go. Arizona overhears the conversation and seems to be inspired. Maggie understands, but they need to have the same faith as Rita. Meanwhile, Rita is being wheeled out of her room. Maggie promises Eric that they'll do their best and follows Rita.
Arizona and Maggie are scrubbing in while Rita's baby is being delivered. Arizona wishes Rita could have carried her baby a little while longer, while Maggie wishes she could be anywhere else. They wish each other good luck and enter the OR. Arizona takes over the baby and checks the airway. They move the baby to another OR while Jo and Maggie start working on Rita.
During the surgery, Maggie reminds Jo that after this, Jo is off her service. When they're done fixing the heart, she asks for the paddles to see if they can get it started. She asks for an update on the baby, but Arizona can't talk. Maggie shocks the heart, which starts beating again. Maggie leaves to go check on the baby and trusts Jo to close up Rita.
Maggie rushes into Arizona's OR, where the baby flatlines. "I'm losing her," Arizona says.
Maggie, Arizona, and Stephanie are pitching procedures to save the baby. Since the problem is in a ventricle, Arizona and Maggie decide to separate the baby's one good ventricle into two ventricles. Septation has a pretty high mortality rate, but right now, the baby has zero chance of survival.
Maggie finds Jo and asks her about Rita. Rita was an easy closure, and she's now in post-op, where Maggie can check her work. Maggie gets a page for a consult in the ER. Jo wants to come, but Maggie reminds her she's off her service. Just when Jo says she wants to talk about that, Alex comes over to call out Maggie. Jo says she sent Maggie into that OR with only half the story, so it's her he should be pissed at. As they argue, Maggie walks to the ER.
Maggie arrives in the ER and asks Amelia if it's her or the other Dr. Shepherd that called her for a consult. Amelia loves that someone finally calls Derek the other Shepherd, and she's the one who paged her. They walk up to Amelia and April's patient. Tracey's had a possible ischemic stroke after sexual activity. Amelia starts examining her. They don't have any more history on Tracey, as the guy next to Tracey's bed only met her at the gym an hour ago. They went to his place and hit it off. He asks if people have strokes after sex. Almost never, Amelia says. Tracey can't say her last name. Maggie comes up with an idea to use Tracey's headphones and its serial number to get a last name from the company. They continue the examination.
Maggie finds Meredith putting in a central line in Marjorie Reed. Maggie wants to go talk to Meredith about this, but she's blocked by Bailey, Owen, and Jackson. Owen and Jackson found out about the genome mapping Bailey was doing. Maggie says she heard that Bailey's genome project was shut down, but she thinks it makes the board look like morons, as it's the key to many medical mysteries. Bailey and Owen then introduce Jackson as a voting member of the board. Of course he is, Maggie sighs. Meredith leaves the room and Maggie calls on her for not having notified her about the central line, but Meredith says she doesn't need Maggie's permission to keep Marjorie alive. Owen confirms, but Maggie can't let go and follows Meredith.
Maggie stops Meredith on the stairs in the hall and starts giving her a speech, but Meredith is too focused on something behind Maggie to listen. Maggie turns around and sees a man dressed as a fish, accompanied by a bunch of balloons. He starts singing an ode to Maggie, which Maggie now realizes is the gift her parents sent her. The crowd that has gathered applauses when he's finished.
In the ambulance bay, Maggie is on the phone with her parents. She claims she loved their surprise and says the timing was perfect, but her face tells otherwise. Her voice breaks. She says she misses them and that it may have been a mistake coming here. She doesn't feel like she can be herself. When her dad starts crying, she hangs up the phone and dries her own tears. She takes a breath and goes back inside.
Amelia and Maggie are sitting in an X-ray viewing room. Tracey has come around and there are no signs of defecits, but they still don't know what caused the minor stroke. Maggie starts thinking about loud, but she notices Amelia isn't paying attention. Amelia was thinking about how she's never had put-you-in-the-hospital sex and she now feels like she's missing out. Maggie resumes pitching possible causes, but Amelia first still has a few jokes to make. Maggie says she found a clot in Tracey's leg. Amelia says she hasn't had sex in a long time. "You're preaching to the choir, sister," Maggie says. They high five and Maggie shows her an ultrasound of Tracey's heart, in which she's found a hole.
While she's plugging the hole in the cath lab, Maggie explains to Amelia in the viewing room that the clot went from the left chamber to the right chamber of Tracey's heart, with help from pressure changes during very good sex. Amelia brings up the ode to Maggie and says her parents sound very sweet. They are, Maggie says, and nothing like her at all. She has no understanding of what she does and why she likes doing it. Amelia understands feeling like the odd man out, as her sisters and brother are very put together, while she's a mess. It wasn't until Meredith that she found a sister she could relate to. This surprises Maggie. At first, Amelia says, she's hard to get to know, but she's really worth knowing. Jo enters the cath lab. She knows she's not on Maggie's service anymore, but Bailey asked to see her when she's finished.
In the genome lab, Bailey shows Maggie that she found that a RAF1 mutation is the gene that caused Robbie's cardiomyopathy. It's a recent discovery, so up until a week ago, they didn't know what caused cardiomyopathy. Now they do. Jo comes in with the McNeils' files per Maggie's request. Maggie takes their genome map and sees the McNeils have the exact same thing.
In a conference room, Maggie tells the McNeil parents that a recent discovery in genome profiling has given them a new cause for cardiomyopathy. She shows them the genome map and points at the mutation that gave their kids cardiomyopathy. Sabine is extremely relieved that the cause isn't anything they did. Maggie says that everything she did made her kids better, which can also be said about Dr. Yang as she couldn't have known about this. Jon asks her why she kept looking. Because when I find a puzzle, Maggie says, it's hard for me to put it down. Owen seems to be impressed by Maggie, who gets another page. She has to go.
In the CCU, Meredith is performing CPR on Marjorie. Maggie bumps her aside and takes over, but she performs the CPR extremely slow. Meredith says she's gotta go harder, but Maggie claims she knows how much her patient can take. Meredith wants to shock Marjorie, but Maggie says Marjorie can't take the defibrillation. While Maggie repeatedly tells Marjorie that it's okay and that she's with her, Meredith realizes Maggie is letting her die. Only moments later, Marjorie's passed away. Meredith refuses to call time of death as she's angry about what just happened, so a nurse calls it.
Maggie is walking down a hallway, plunged in thought. Owen gets through to her. He wants to thank her for what she did for the McNeils, as she gave them some peace. She says he and Yang did all the hard work. She just got to carry it over the finish line. Meredith comes over to tell Owen that Maggie slowcoded a patient, right in front of her. Meredith tells him the story and he turns to Maggie, who says Dr. Grey has been doubting her effectiveness and undermining her authority from the minute she got here. She thinks Meredith's feelings may be too personal, but Maggie can only say to her what she'll say to Marjorie's family: she did everything in her power as a physician to help her, but she's sorry to say that Marjorie's gone. Meredith sniffs and walks off angrily. Owen says they're finished for now.
Maggie walks after Meredith and says it's okay if she wants to get Maggie fired by telling Jeannie what she did, but then she should tell her the whole truth. Marjorie begged her in no uncertain terms to end her suffering naturally. She would've signed the DNR, but her daughter wouldn't allow her to. Maggie did what her patient and she decided was the best thing to do. She thinks Meredith would've done the exact same thing. Jeannie comes over and asks about her mother. Maggie says her mother's heart stopped again, but fails to utter more. Meredith jumps in and takes over delivering the news. Jeannie breaks down and as Maggie comforts her, Meredith walks off.
Callie and Arizona are again discussing their second child in the PICU. Arizona informs Maggie about their patient and while Maggie checks up on the baby, Callie refuses to let Arizona pass on the fellowship. She was wrong. It's not a sacrifice Arizona should have to make. They can figure this out. If it makes her happy, it'll benefit both of their kids more than anything. Arizona hugs and thanks her. Maggie passes on her way out and wishes them a good night.
Eric and Maggie watch Rita wake up. She asks about the baby, and Maggie tells her the baby is fine. Eric says it's all thanks to her and kisses her. Maggie will let them know when they can go see their daughter.
In Tracey's room, Amelia tells Maggie that they found Tracey's parents. They're on their way. Brian, the guy who was with her, asks if he should hang out until she wakes up, or if that'll make him look too clingy. As the girl who once went home with the guy she met an hour ago, Amelia says that if it had been her, he'd be the last person she'd wanna see. She and Maggie suggest he run into her again at the gym, learn her last name, and ask her out for dinner. He asks Amelia if he can't just have her number instead. She and Maggie simultaneously tell him to go.
Maggie overhears Jo and Stephanie talk about how she found out what was wrong with the McNeils, thus doing what Yang couldn't do, and how she hates Jo. Maggie greets them and after Stephanie has run off, Jo tells her she's finished her post-ops. Maggie says that Jo is insubordinate on top of everything else as she just couldn't take no for an answer. Jo says no. She's not insubordinate or untrustworthy. She made a mistake as she should've told Maggie the full story, but she came her to learn and she learned a crap ton from Maggie today, so she decided she deserves a second chance. This is her thunder. Maggie takes a look at her watch and then says she'll see Wilson tomorrow. Jo notices she checked her watch and derives from it that Maggie has written her last name on her wrist, as she called her everything but Wilson today. Jo appreciates the effort.
On her way out, Meredith is stopped by Maggie. There's something she should tell her. Meredith is only willing to talk tomorrow, as she's heading home now. She assures Maggie that she's fine and that they're fine. "My mother was Ellis Grey!" Maggie blurts out. Meredith stops and turns around. Maggie knows it's not fair to Meredith and that they got off on a bad start, but she's here to work and she can only do that if she can be herself. So she needs Meredith to know the whole story. She was put up for adoption in Boston. An amazing couple adopted her and they are her parents, but her mother was Meredith's mother, Ellis Grey. Meredith stares at her and then asks what she wants or what she's after here. She doesn't believe Maggie, as she's 5 years older than Maggie, so she would have known if her mother were pregnant. Maggie must be wrong, or lying. As Maggie wants her to listen, Meredith tells her to stay away from her and walks off into the night.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey
- Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev
- Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
- James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
- Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres
- Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt
- Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins
- Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner
- Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery
- Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd
- Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson
- Jerrika Hinton as Dr. Stephanie Edwards
- Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd
Guest Stars[]
- Eileen Ryan as Marjorie Reed
- Patrick Fabian as Dr. Oliver Lebackes
- Rebecca Field as Sabine McNeil
- Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce
- Mary Passeri as Jeannie Reed
- Manu Narayan as Eric Choudry
- Anisha Nagarajan as Rita Choudry
- Billy Malone as Jon McNeil
- Chad Buchanan as Brian
Co-Starring[]
- Kiralee Hayashi as Tracey Mitchell
- Brian Michael Jones as Fish Man
- Patrick Censoplano as Robbie McCutcheon
- Casey Corn as OR Nurse
- Moni Akiwowo as CCU Nurse 1
- Vishal Patel as CCU Nurse 2
Medical Notes[]
Marjorie Reed[]
- Diagnosis:
- Small-cell lung cancer
- Liver mets
- Asystole
- Doctors:
- Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Jo Wilson (surgical resident)
- Treatment:
- Resuscitation
Marjorie, 88, who was suffering from cancer in her lungs with mets on her liver, coded and Maggie successfully resuscitated her. However, Marjorie informed her that if she coded again, she did not want to be resuscitated again, but could not sign DNR papers because her daughter wouldn't let her. Despite this, when she coded again, Maggie did a slow code and allowed her to die.
Robbie McCutcheon[]
- Diagnosis:
- Kidney stone
- Bundle branch block re-entrant ventricular tachycardia
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- RAF 1 Mutation
- Doctors:
- Miranda Bailey (general surgeon)
- Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Jo Wilson (surgical resident)
- Treatment:
- Percutaneous nephrolithotomy
- Sotalol
- Morphine
- Genetic mapping
Robbie, 22, was in the hospital trying to pass a kidney stone. He was scheduled for a procedure to remove the stone from his skin, but was having runs of VTach. He told Maggie that his chest hurt as well, so she diagnosed bundle branch block re-entrant ventricular tachycardia, which left him at risk for sudden cardiac death. She gave him sotalol and morphine, which resolved the cardiac issue. Maggie said his surgery would need to be postponed until she could do a cardiac workup. The workup revealed dilated cardiomyopathy, so he needed cardiac anesthesia for his surgery. Maggie also wanted to see if there was a genetic cause for his cardiomyopathy, so she had Bailey map his genome. He was diagnosed with RAF 1 mutation, which was the cause of his cardiomyopathy.
Rita Choudry[]
- Diagnosis:
- Ebstein's malformation
- Aortic dissection
- Doctors:
- Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Jo Wilson (surgical resident)
- Treatment:
- Surgery
Rita, 35, was 33 weeks pregnant and on bed rest because she had Ebstein's malformation. While on bed rest, she complained about back pain. She had an aortic dissection, so she was rushed into surgery, where the baby was delivered and the dissection was repaired. Rita woke up after surgery and was doing well.
Baby Girl Choudry[]
- Diagnosis:
- Double inlet left ventricle
- Doctors:
- Arizona Robbins (pediatric surgeon)
- Stephanie Edwards (surgical resident)
- Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Surgery
- Septation
Before birth, the Choudrys' baby was diagnosed with double inlet left ventricle, which would require surgery immediately after birth. When her mother suffered a dissection, she was delivered seven weeks early and was rushed into surgery. When she was delivered, she was cyanotic and apneic. They got her breathing and then moved her to another OR for her surgery. Her surgery wasn't going well, but Arizona found a solution which had a high mortality rate, but was their best option. She divided the baby's ventricle into two ventricles. After surgery, she was doing well.
Lebackes' Patient[]
- Diagnosis:
- Hypoxia
- Premature ventricular contractions
- Imperforate anus
- Doctors:
- Oliver Lebackes (pediatric surgeon)
- Alex Karev (pediatric surgeon)
- Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Treatment:
- Anoplasty
Lebackes and Alex were operating together on a patient when Maggie came in to do a consult. Maggie didn't detect any cardiac abnormalities, so she left.
Link, Frankie, and Ivy McNeil[]
- Diagnosis:
- RAF 1 mutation
- Doctors:
- Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Treatment:
Maggie requested the genetic screenings from the McNeil kids to compare to Robbie's while looking for a genetic cause of their cardiomyopathy. They were found to have the RAF 1 mutation, recently discovered to cause cardiomyopathy. The McNeil parents were called in to receive the news and they were happy to hear that it wasn't their house or anything they did.
Tracey Mitchell[]
- Diagnosis:
- Ischemic stroke
- Hole in the heart
- Doctors:
- April Kepner (trauma surgeon)
- Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon)
- Amelia Shepherd (neurosurgeon)
- Treatment:
- Surgery
Tracey was having sex when she suffered a stroke. They took her in for scans to reveal the cause of her stroke. She quickly started to come back around and didn't show deficits from her stroke. However, the cause was still a mystery. Maggie found a clot in her leg, which led her to find a hole in her heart. She did a procedure to plug the hole. Amelia said that she would make a full recovery.
Music[]
Song | Performer | Scene |
---|---|---|
"Everybody Wants You" | Billy Squier |
|
Notes and Trivia[]
- This episode's title originated from the song Puzzle With a Piece Missing, originally sung by Gotye.
- This episode scored 9.44 million viewers.[1]
- The table read for this episode took place on July 22, 2014, together with the one for I Must Have Lost It on the Wind.[source?]
- This episode was filmed from July 25 to August 6, thus before the previous episode.[source?]
- This is the last episode Dr. Ismael N. Nuño, for whom the previous episode has an In Memoriam, worked on before his death.[source?]
- It's only the second time in the entire series run that the voice over is narrated by a guest star rather than a main character. This has only been done before in season five, when Denny Duquette, Jr. did the voice over for Stairway to Heaven. However, Maggie would become a series regular later on in the season.
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Quotes[]
- Maggie: Dr. Willis.
- Alex: I think she's talking to you.
- Jo: Oh, hi!
- Maggie: I think you're with me today. You ready for rounds?
- Jo: Yes. Sorry, but it's... it's Wilson, not Willis.
- Maggie: Oh, god. I'm so sorry.
- Jo: That's okay.
- Maggie: Wilson. What's first?
- Jo: Jo. Josephine.
- Maggie: Not your name. What patient is first?
- Jo: Right.
- Maggie: You don't speak to a patient unless I tell you to, is that understood?
- Jo: I was just trying to help...
- Maggie: You don't counsel a patient's family on patient care, understood?
- Jo: I got it.
- Maggie: Now you've made that woman think that we are pushing for her mother to die.
- Jo: I got it. I'm sorry.
- Maggie: Okay. I just had to bring the thunder.
- Jo: Bring the thunder?
- Maggie: When you seem really nice or young or pretty, sometimes people don't take you seriously. You have to help them understand who they're dealing with. You have to bring the thunder. If you don't do this, you should. You're really pretty.
- Maggie: You have a genome lab here?
- Jo: We did. The board just voted...
- Miranda: We do, and I still have a set of keys. And if the board has a problem with that, you have them come talk to me, and I'll tell them what hole they can push that through!
- (Bailey walks off.)
- Maggie: Was she bringing the thunder or did we just piss her off?
- Jo: Dr. Bailey doesn't need to bring anything. She is the thunder.
- Richard: Amelia Shepherd, do you know Dr. Maggie Pierce?
- Maggie: Weird, you're the second Dr. Shepherd I've met today.
- Amelia: Derek is my brother.
- Maggie: I'm sorry. Is everyone in this room somehow related?
- (Amelia looks at Maggie and Webber and laughs.)
- Amelia: I'm gonna leave you two alone. Nice meeting you.
- Maggie: Dr. Shepherd, I was called for a cardio consult. Was that you or the other Dr. Shepherd?
- Amelia: I love you.
- Maggie: Thank you.
- Amelia: I'm sorry. No one has ever called my brother "the other Dr. Shepherd." It's beautiful.
- Owen: Dr. Pierce, Dr. Bailey told me you ordered an exome panel for her patient.
- Miranda: They caught me. And I threw you under the bus. Sorry.
- Jackson: Yeah, Dr. Bailey's genome-research program has been discontinued.
- Maggie: You know, I heard that. And I have to say, I think it's stupid. Genome mapping is like getting the answers in the back of the book. It is the key to so many medical solutions. Closing that program makes your board look like a bunch of morons.
- Miranda: Have you met Dr. Avery?
- Maggie: Yeah, plastics, right?
- Owen: Dr. Avery is also a voting member on the board.
- Maggie: Of course you are.
- Maggie: No signs of cardiovascular disease. No signs of carotid disease. So I thought... Are you listening?
- Amelia: Sorry. I was thinking I have had good sex, but I've never had put-you-in-the-hospital sex. I feel like I'm missing out.
- Maggie: So, I was thinking, could the clot be coming from some...
- Amelia: I mean, I don't want a stroke, but I'd like to get close.
- Maggie: The clot could have come from someplace else.
- Amelia: Guess that's what you call one mind-blowing orgasm.
- Maggie: Are you done?
- Amelia: I have one more. He nearly screwed her brains out. I'm done.
- Maggie: And I found one in her leg.
- Amelia: I have not had sex in a long time.
- Maggie: You're preaching to the choir, sister.
- Brian: Can I ask you guys something? We just hooked up the one time, but I wanted to ask her out because she was really cool, you know, before she went all derp. Should I hang out till she wakes up, or does that make me look, like, clingy?
- Maggie: Um, that's... Sweet.
- Amelia: Well... I was once the girl who went home with the guy she met an hour ago. If this had been me, you would be the last person I'd want to see.
- Brian: Oh. Okay.
- Amelia: Yeah, maybe run into her at the gym. Maybe learn her last name. Maybe invite her to dinner.
- Brian: Yeah. Can I have your number?
- Amelia and Maggie: Go.
- Maggie: All right, Wilson. I'll see you in the morning.
- Jo: You called me by my name.
- Maggie: I did.
- Jo: You keep checking your watch. Did you write my name on your wrist?
- Maggie: I did.
- Jo: I appreciate the effort.
- Maggie: Grey, wait. Can I talk to you?
- Meredith: Tomorrow. I'm heading home.
- Maggie: There's something I should tell you.
- Meredith: You know what? I've heard enough. It's fine. We're fine. You're fine.
- Maggie: My mother was Ellis Grey. I know. I'm sorry. This isn't fair to you. And we got off to a bad start, but I'm here to work. And if I'm gonna be here, I got to be who I am. So I need you to know the whole story. I was put up for adoption in Boston.
- Meredith: In Boston?
- Maggie: Yes. And I was adopted by a very nice couple. An amazing couple. They are my parents, but my mother... My mother... I found out a year ago. My mother is your mother, Ellis Grey.
- Meredith: What do you want?
- Maggie: What?
- Meredith: What are you after here?
- Maggie: I know it sounds like...
- Meredith: You're five years younger than me. If my mother were pregnant, I would have known. You're wrong.
- Maggie: Just...
- Meredith: Or you're lying.
- Maggie: What? What? Just listen.
- Meredith: Stay away from me.
See Also[]
A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
Grey's Anatomy Season 11 | ||||||
#01 | "I Must Have Lost It on the Wind" | #09 | "Where Do We Go From Here" | #17 | "With or Without You" | |
#02 | "Puzzle With a Piece Missing" | #10 | "The Bed's Too Big Without You" | #18 | "When I Grow Up" | |
#03 | "Got to Be Real" | #11 | "All I Could Do Was Cry" | #19 | "Crazy Love" | |
#04 | "Only Mama Knows" | #12 | "The Great Pretender" | #20 | "One Flight Down" | |
#05 | "Bend & Break" | #13 | "Staring at the End" | #21 | "How to Save a Life" | |
#06 | "Don't Let's Start" | #14 | "The Distance" | #22 | "She's Leaving Home" | |
#07 | "Could We Start Again, Please?" | #15 | "I Feel the Earth Move" | #23 | "Time Stops" | |
#08 | "Risk" | #16 | "Don't Dream It's Over" | #24 | "You're My Home" | |
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