My Girl
Episode 5 of Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 starts with Bailey catching up with her husband while DeLuca and Teddy are happy to see that Meredith is getting better now that she is on the trial. Jo is struggling to get up to head to work while Jackson wants Webber to talk his mother into wearing her face mask more. In the hospital, Bailey starts her day while face-timing her father, who is not happy to be stuck in his assisted living facility. She later finds out from Maggie that a few patients from the same place have been tested positive so she asks Ben to get her parents to her hotel. Jo and Schmitt attend to Val Ashton as her blood pressure has gone up since she had her drain removed. She is desperate to be with her daughter, but unfortunately neither mother or daughter can be moved. After some tests, Jo reveals that she has an abscess that’s eroding into an artery in the liver. She needs surgery again, which frustrates her as she has been waiting for 8 years to be a mum. Koracick is brought into the trauma unit as COVID is causing his heart rate to race; he’s potentially suffering from encephalitis. He is acting very incoherent too, as Teddy and Hunt work on him. They send him for a head CT and Teddy later video calls with Amelia so she can look at the results. When she does, she decides to come in the hospital straight away. Ben arrives in hospital with Bailey’s mum who is very sick and dying from Covid while Jo struggles to save Val’s liver. She barely does it though and thinks she may need transplant eventually. After looking into Koracick, Amelia relays her findings to Teddy and the two catch up about their children. Teddy mentions what happened with Hunt and expects more judgement. Amelia doesn’t pass any considering the things she did in her past. Bailey visits Meredith and tells her how much she misses her. We then cut to both of them standing on the beach and talking. Bailey reveals that her mother has Alzheimer’s but didn’t want to mention that until now as she didn’t want to bring her pain. She tells her how difficult it has been as she has had to watch her mother die twice. Meanwhile, Jo suddenly gets asked to deliver a baby as all the other OBs are busy. The baby is delivered with no problem and gives Jo some joy amidst the difficult times they are facing. Bailey then heads to see her mother, who is doing worse. She is struggling but has a lucid moment as she tells her that she is not ready and asks to go home instead. She walks outside to call Ben as she doesn’t know what to do. Maggie joins on a bench and listens to Bailey’s frustrations about her mother’s situation. Bailey relays what she has been saying and wonders if she should move her mother to the ICU. Maggie gives her some advice as she went through the same with her Mum. She knows she will never be ready to say goodbye but she had an amazing life. Bailey feels guilty as she is the one who told them to get into assisted living and because of that, they got in contact with someone contaminated. Maggie reassures her that she has given her the best care. Teddy visits Hunt in his room and talks to him about their friendship. She wonders if he was ignoring her when she came to his house but thinks he was too ill to answer. She tells him she hopes they can salvage their friendship and promises that she won’t give up. He then wakes up and tells her she is wrong as he jokingly says that he was ignoring her when she came to his house. He then asks her for a sponge bath – but as friends. In the evening, Jo relays her day to Schmitt and tells him about witnessing so much joy when she delivered the baby. Unfortunately, she has to go back to the depressed things now but Schmitt reminds her she saved a patient. She then wonders if she should change careers and start over. Bailey speaks to Webber about her sadness and frustration regarding her mother. He then walks in her mother’s room to say goodbye and she sings her favourite song – “My Girl” – as she gives her last breath.
The Episode Review
On the one hand, Grey’s Anatomy delivers an episode with some very emotional moments that certainly pull at the heartstrings. On the other hand, the series feels so focused on COVID that it loses sight on other topics. As a medical show, I realize that it is necessary and important but I am sure that many people are looking to TV as a way to get a break from the current bleak reality of our world. I am not saying it should stop tackling the subject but I believe the show should spend more times on surgeries and other cases as these are still really important too. I mentioned this in my recaps last year but the drama has really changed in the last couple of years to become a lot more political. These subjects need to be talked about but there is a way to do it without being shoehorned in and overbearing. As expected, it looks like Meredith is going to recover though while Koracick seems to also be on the mend. I am glad he hasn’t lost his dry sense of humour and I do hope we will see more of him. Bailey’s story this week was really heartbreaking and the actress gave a very strong performance. Her scene with Maggie was certainly one of the best this season so far. This is coupled with one best lines of this episode: Schmitt reminding Jo that she saved someone and that doctors can still make a difference. Grey’s Anatomy is still not back to its old standard and its doubtful whether it’ll ever hit those heights again. It still has its moments and has certainly grown an avid following over the years. Given the big emphasis on COVID this year, it’ll be interesting to see if this is the season that divides fans the most.
