Grey’s Anatomy season 16 episode 4 preview: The wrath of Miranda Bailey

Miranda Bailey has always been tough, but some Grey’s Anatomy fans think she’s taking her power a little too far this time.

So far this season, everyone on Grey’s Anatomy seems to be caught in an ongoing feud with someone else.

You have your Tom and Owen rivalry, the most recent development of which involved an unfortunate (literal) shock and a restraining order.

You have your Richard and Catherine spat, which might lead to an affair, which we’re totally not okay with by the way. Don’t break our hearts like that.

And then there’s your conflict between Meredith Grey and Miranda Bailey. One committed insurance fraud and the other fired her for it, and both have been passive aggressively circling each other ever since.

This week’s episode looks like it’s really going to rev up the drama between Bailey and Meredith — just when you thought these two couldn’t butt heads any harder.

Whether she did so intentionally or not, Meredith wrote an article that’s going to send Bailey on some kind of tirade for sure.

On the surface, it seems like Bailey is completely out of control. She fired three of her long-time colleagues and arguably some of the only people she genuinely enjoyed working with. She fired Qadri for speaking her mind. And at this rate, she’s probably going to fire at least one more Grey Sloan employee before Thursday’s episode ends.

But even though her actions and words seem harsh and perhaps a little extreme — even for Grey’s Anatomy, which is really saying something — it’s possible all her anger and frustration isn’t as mean-spirited as it seems.

We’ve seen Bailey’s character deal with a lot over the years. Most recently, she stepped down from her “position of power” to get a handle on her stress and take care of herself. A great move for her, especially since she hasn’t always been the best at putting her health first.

But just as things were finally getting back to normal, everything exploded (not literally this time). Meredith got caught. Richard, Alex, and DeLuca got caught up in the mess. To uphold her reputation — and the reputation of Grey Sloan as a whole — she had no choice but to fire all three of them. (DeLuca got to stay, and is not acting all too grateful about it.)

Though on the outside it might seem like jealousy or pettiness (hanging up on Meredith after the surgery was a bit much), Bailey is probably genuinely hurt — and she has every right to be.

What is this all leading up to? Probably the reveal that Bailey is furious with Meredith because she “raised” her as a surgeon and Mer let her down.

Historically, Meredith and Bailey have had a solid relationship over the years. Meredith named her son after her. Bailey has been there for her, professionally at least, from Day 1. She watched her grow up, become a skilled surgeon, and even take over general surgery.

She was likely not only proud of Meredith, but also trusted her to know when to do the right thing even if Bailey hasn’t always been the best role model in this regard.

Aside from the fact that Meredith committed a legitimate crime and deserves to face consequences in more ways than one, breaking someone’s trust like that is no joke. Bailey isn’t exactly one to forgive and forget easily even in situations that seem minor compared to this.

Are we preparing for an epic Meredith vs. Bailey showdown like we’ve never seen before? I hope so. Both of these women need to be put in their respective places, and all the better if they do it for each other.

We love Meredith and Bailey. Their “rivalry” is definitely an interesting twist. But they both seriously need to chill out.

Although, Meredith working at Pac North and helping Richard and Alex make that hospital rank higher than Grey Sloan in every category would be hilarious. Give us that story arc. Just to make all this drama worth the stress. Please and thank you.

Do you think Meredith and Bailey are both wrong? Do you want to see them hug and make up or should this feud continue?

Grey’s Anatomy returns Thursday night at 8 PM on ABC.