‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 17 Episode 6 Recap — Where We Left Off
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 17 Episode 6 Recap — Where We Left Off
Andrew DeLuca, played by Giacomo Gianniotti, talks to Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson). Both are wearing PPE in observance of the COVID protocols.
This feature contains major spoilers about Grey’s Anatomy.
Heads up, Grey’s fans! There’s a reason to look forward to Thursdays again as the long-running American medical drama series is back from its 3-month mid-season hiatus! Grey’s Anatomy just premiered its seventh episode from its seventeenth season this March 11 which was another crossover event with Station 19. Honestly, three months was just too long after that cliffhanger ending, and if you are like me who’s in dire need of a recap, this article is for you!
Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey being prepared to be put on a vent.
Meredith Grey
As we all know from the beginning of this season, our beloved general surgeon has been diagnosed with COVID. And as such, her busy schedule was put to a halt as she is being treated in the quarantine ward. She cannot do anything but feel helpless while worrying about her patients. Of course, she’s also longing to be with her children which she opens up to Koracick who is also diagnosed with COVID. But the most “Meredith Grey” thing she did this episode was attending to a Code Blue patient that was just outside her room.
She got up from her bed and did compressions on the patient while being told to get back by the medical staff as the code team will be there in a minute. She responds, “She doesn’t have that kind of time. Get me an ET tube!” She succeeds in putting the tube in when Helm comes into the room and shouts, “Dr. Grey!” Afterwards, right before she gets back to her room, she faints and Helm catches her. The doctors later decide on whether to put her on vent as her lungs are breaking down. Richard gives the go-signal to Teddy which is the last thing we hear of Mer.
Miranda Bailey
After her mother’s passing, Bailey is desperate for distractions. And what better way to distract her from her reality than doing surgery? But the chief is advised by DeLuca to rest as he’ll “take care of it.” Later, they have a heart-to-heart conversation as DeLuca shares his experience when his mother died. Bailey describes her current situation as feeling numb and being outside of her body like a spectator. She then recalls her mother’s wishes for her funeral, especially the part where there should be no crying.
Maggie Pierce
Maggie is still in a relationship with Winston who currently lives in Boston. Due to the pandemic, they cannot meet with each other. Their long-distance relationship became Maggie’s source of strength as she makes every call with Winston an outlet of her emotions. She also expressed her frustrations to Amelia regarding how Black people are seen as "disposable and rarely as victims.” She also says that the pandemic’s effect on people of color is disproportionate. Amelia agrees in silence as Maggie gives her statement that if the virus is killing white people at the rate of it killing Black people, wearing masks would be the law. Later, we hear that she went home after their talk. We then see Maggie—on her bed with a wine bottle beside her—waking up to someone knocking on her door. Winston shows up with a bouquet of flowers, tells her that “the long-distance thing wasn’t working” for him. She greets him with a tight embrace and cries.
Tom Koracick
Still infected with COVID, Koracick is having a hard time dealing with his condition as he sees the people around him die. He visits Meredith to see if she’s doing well as he’s basing his chances of survival on her. They have a moment to confide with each other about what they are feeling, and Koracick says that he went to Mer’s room because he’s sick of being surrounded by death. The two laugh it out later when they joke about how unfortunate their situation is being the “top two surgeons” in Grey-Sloan. After telling Mer of his longingness for a child, a nurse sees him and takes him away.
Meredith Grey and Tom Koracick, portrayed by Greg Germann, have a personal moment as they talk about their difficult situation.
Levi Schmitt
Schmitt is fooled by Opal, the villainous human trafficker from the last season, as she was able to enter the hospital by saying she was mugged. He then checks her for symptoms and later calls a policeman to get her statement.
Amelia Shepherd
We see a more personal Amelia in this episode as she operates on Bob, another human trafficker. She expresses her concern for Scout, her newborn son with Link, in that she feels the world is more horrifying now that she has someone to look after.
Jo Wilson
Jo is at a mental crossroad. She is still undecided on whether or not she will quit surgery as she’s thinking of what her colleagues will say. But when she opened up to Schmitt, she mentioned feeling so happy when thinking of quitting, as if it’s her “dirty little secret.”
Teddy Altman
As the hospital is experiencing an overflow of COVID patients, everyone is stressed out. Teddy is experiencing a burnout which we can see when she expresses her frustration on Helm for making their job less efficient. Richard later confronts her about her situation being a result of her decisions alone. If your memory is a little foggy, Teddy was supposed to marry Owen but she cheated on him by having sex with Koracick. She opens up to Owen about her sexuality and tells him that it’s connected with her choices. Despite what happened, Teddy still said that she loves Owen and their family.
Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) and her ex-fiancé Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) talk about the former’s decision regarding their relationship.
Andrew DeLuca
DeLuca is still recovering from the incident, the one where he broke down in the hospital and kept pointing his finger at Opal as no one is believing him. He is concerned about Meredith and went to visit her. He also has a talk with Bailey that gets cut short because he needs to drink his medicine and take a rest. Bailey commends him for prioritizing his mental health. Before he leaves the hospital with Carina, he catches a glimpse of Opal outside and recognizes her. He proceeds to follow her.
Owen Hunt
As her sister was also taken hostage for 10 years, Owen gets personal when placed in charge of the human trafficker. He still vowed to do his best to help him recover but tells him that the rest of his life would be spent in jail. While operating on Bob, he has a conversation with Amelia about how he misses his children so much and expresses his frustration on people doing such vile acts like kidnapping amidst a pandemic. He then talks to Teddy outside regarding what to do with their relationship. He walks out on her saying that they named their daughter after a lie.
Maggie Pierce, played by Kelly McCreary, wakes up to a surprise visit from Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill).
What’s the prognosis?
There have been talks that there is a possibility of this season being the series finale. I really hope it’s not. I don’t know what the writers have in mind, but I just wish that they go easy on the characters. I think I wouldn’t handle someone dying again. Anyway, here’s some of my predictions for the rest of the season.
There will be more characters returning in Mer’s dreams. I’d really like to see Lexie and Mark together at the beach!
Meredith would be battling for her life. As this episode left us uncertain of Mer’s fate, I’m guessing there would be dramatic scenes ahead where she is struggling with her situation and maybe even have a near-death experience.
Bailey’s gonna step down as chief. Okay, I wasn’t counting, but it has been many seasons of Grey’s and Bailey is still Chief of Surgery. I’m thinking, with her mother’s recent death and the stress of COVID, she’s gonna step down from her position. I don’t have a clue on who’s gonna replace her, though.
Jo’s gonna quit surgery but would still work in Grey-Sloan. I don’t know, maybe she’s gonna teach like Richard? I just want her to be happy after Alex left her. (Yes, I am still bitter about that.)
There’s going to be a dramatic courtroom scene with the human traffickers and DeLuca. Okay, this seems like a stretch, but I’m very interested in how they handle this storyline. I want to see Opal and Bob behind bars all because of DeLuca.
Koracick’s gonna recover first in order to help Meredith. If my theory about Mer having to battle for her life is correct, this is likely going to happen as we’re gonna see them all hands on deck to save our protagonist.
The first few episodes of Grey’s Anatomy’s seventeenth season are now available to stream on ABC and on Hulu.
