RECAP: “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 20, Episode 7
Welcome back, Greyniacs; thanks for your patience with this extra-late recap. Episode 7 brings us potential growth for Winston, a realization for Wilson about her double-duty in General and OB, a reminder that Millin and Kwan are still kind of a thing, and that Yasuda and Adams were once friends, apparently. We see Simone going to a dark place when confronted with her past, and the tension between Hunt and Altman in their old married couple phase is palpable, worrying him.
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“I could have been home watching my stories.”
Meredith opens the episode by talking about how babies develop language skills. Visually, we open into Simone’s grandmother’s new apartment. Have we discussed Joyce Ward, played by the living icon, Marla Gibbs? If this face is familiar to you, you probably watched at least some of her 300+ television episodes in the 70s and 80s on "‘The Jeffersons"’" as maid Florence and then getting her own show in "227" as Mary. Or you caught her as a memorable character actor in 50+ other roles since 1990. Folks, this woman is 92 and still stealing the screen.
They are unpacking her grandmother, who, with her dementia, has no idea why they’re there and continues to think Simone is her dead mother. This is a not-so-subtle effort to remind us of Simone’s past, which she will undoubtedly have to confront in this episode.
“Why can’t you just study with the other interns?”
On the drive to work from Amelia’s apartment to the hospital, we see Amelia testing Lucas for his upcoming exam. As someone who has recently learned of his ADHD, I hope he’s learned that he shouldn’t be multitasking while also driving a vehicle. I don’t love this scene.
Bailey is threatening the interns again. So much for wellness and self-care from last week. Now, it’s threats of losing their jobs for a dose of negative reinforcement they do not need. Griffith joins the walk-and-talk rounds late, coming over from being with her family. It does not go unnoticed.
Adams is happy to report on Dorian’s progress during rounds. We know he’d love to finally give Dorian that burger. The day's big news is that Dorian can finally leave the ICU! As Dorian is brought into his new room, he has two friends/classmates waiting to surprise him with cards, a sign, and balloons. This is an awkward situation as they bring cheer and gossip, but they remind him of what he’s been missing for nearly two months. Adams blows up at the friends, and Yasuda has to pull him off. This is when Yasuda reminds him that they are friends, and they end the episode by laughing together.
“Lauren was not going to be another statistic.”
Today's complicated patient starts as Miles with his fractured wrist, but Griffith quickly observes his 39-week pregnant wife (Lauren) is currently having irregular contractions. She’s calling Braxton-Hicks. One thing to remember about "Grey’s Anatomy": if a person comes in pregnant with contractions and calls it Braxton-Hicks, it’s nearly 100% something else entirely. Now, if the patient comes in thinking it’s contractions, and the doctor assures them it’s Braxton-Hicks, then the odds are at least 60% that the doctor is right. Now, if the patient is black, those odds greatly diminish.
We know Lauren and the baby are in good hands with Jo Wilson on the case. We learn that Lauren is already quite dilated and is ready to be admitted. As they already have a child, these two feel prepared for anything when it comes to baby No. 2. Miles shares that they did their research, are aware of the statistics, and have made plans. But now he’s in the ER, and she’s about to go into labor without her support system in place. Lauren’s BP is rising, and she is advised to take deep breaths. They send for labs and get the daughter to daycare while both parents are indisposed.
Griffith checks in on Lauren on behalf of Miles and leaves with a positive report for him. Moments after she leaves, however, Lauren has a bloody nose and goes into an eclamptic seizure. The OB nurse reports that they don’t have her lab results back, which could identify the issue. They page Dr. DeLuca and get her to an emergency c-section. They expertly deliver the baby, but then Lauren starts bleeding out.
They call for Bailey, who immediately jumps in to control the bleeding. When Griffith walks in looking for an update for the husband, she’s confronted with a dying mother who just gave birth. To say she’s affected would be an understatement. Bailey forces her to help save this mother. Griffith starts having visions of her mother on the table and shuts down mid-surgery. When we next see Griffith, she and Wilson report the good news to Miles, who is with baby Imani. Lauren had pre-eclampsia, and Miles is devastated that their plans couldn’t prevent his wife from all this suffering and nearly dying.
At the end of this awful day, Wilson finally gets the labs for Lauren, and she blames herself for not rushing them. She tells Link it’s time (finally) for her to focus on OB and leave general surgery behind. Meanwhile, over at Joe’s, Simone is working through half a dozen shots when Bailey comes in to pick up dinner and takes Simone home (to Meredith’s house). Bailey learns about Simone’s story, how her mother died, and she reminds her why they are here doing this work.
“Complicated. Her scan’s clear. Her situation’s a mess. Good luck.”
The other new patients this week are two women who arrive in separate ambulances but appear to be together. We quickly discover that they are moms looking for a fun place to hook up in a car and end up in a car accident with the other’s parked car. We then quickly learn that one of the women, Gillian, is married to a man (Aaron), and they close the curtain partition between her and Cassandra so Aaron can’t see the "other" woman. Gillian has a head wound and is whisked off to get a head CT, and Cassandra has a knee injury and is with Link.
During Gillian’s CT, they find nothing to repair and can’t explain her incredible head pain. Gillian keeps talking about her situation the entire time in the machine, and Owen worries that he’s identifying with her marital woes. Cassandra is—apparently—an oversharer while having a medical procedure done. She manages to make both Kwan and Link uncomfortable. We learn that she will wait for the kids to go to college to finally begin their lives together.
However, Gillian-in-pain needs to not wait that long. Her husband is starting to plot holes in the story, and he keeps peppering her with questions about exactly where she had been sitting in her car. Gillian screams at him her entire confession, and that’s when (1) we can stop listening to Aaron complain to her and (2) she gets relief from her head pain. That relief sparks them to bring her back to get another CT, and while she’s screaming, Amelia discovers a whiplash-triggered condition that she can surgically fix. Aaron is waiting in the lobby when she gets out of surgery, letting Owen know he still cares for her as the mother of his children. This entire plotline is the push Owen needs to talk to Teddy about their relationship. If there’s one thing people on TV always need to be reminded of, it’s talking to your partner ASAP and often!
“Maybe we could grab a drink and get to know each other a little better.”
In Winston Ndugu news, a CCU nurse hovers over him, hoping to get his attention. She offers him extra support if he needs help with anything. She is also bold enough to suggest grabbing a meal and getting to know each other. GET IT! She seems significant because nurses rarely get speaking roles in this show. So, let’s remember her name for later: Nurse Connie Feng. Richard Weber has entered the chat. He rolls around in his chair, smiling and offering up friendship (or something) to Winston. A reminder of this relationship: Richard is Winston’s ex-wife’s biological father, whom she met when she became head of cardio at a very young age.
Webber ends the awkwardness by mentioning their surgery together today, and Ndugu awkwardly smiles in return. We are all freed from the pain of whatever that was. When it’s time for the surgery, Altman scrubs in for Ndugu, and Webber takes it personally, worrying that Ndugu might be avoiding him. Webber has to suffer surgery with a VERY chatty Altman, and we are all gifted with an iconic eye-roll from Bokhee. Did someone gif it yet? There is Bokhee merch, so I’ll settle for that. If y’all don’t know how awesome Bokhee is, please read this article all about what a queen this woman is.
This nothingburger of a plotline ends with Webber finding out that Ndugu isn’t avoiding him, and Webber encourages Ndugu to date that nurse. DO IT! DO IT!