WARNING: This recap contains SPOILERS for Grey's Anatomy season 21, episode 16 "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone."
When one encounters an infamous Grey's Anatomy cliffhanger, it's impossible not to feel both comforted and violated by the medical drama's consistency after two decades of delightful nonsense. Do I like when this show leaves me on the edge of my seat with a week -- or more -- to panic over? No. But I also love it. This is why we keep coming back. Grey's never fails to deliver on its continuous promises of hope followed by pain. This week's episode is no exception.
Jo and Link can't decide where they want to get married. But for once, they're not fighting about it. Which is for the best, since Link ends up sharing Jo's case -- a woman with endometriosis so severe it has spread to her bones. She and her fiancé are getting married soon -- on a Thursday; who gets married on a Thursday? -- and surgery, though it won't necessarily fix the problem, might actually let her walk down the aisle without pain. After the surgery, the patient admits that even though their love story is perfect, she doesn't want to go through with the wedding. Jo is disappointed -- until she realizes there's a venue now available for a wedding. In four days. Link agrees to go through with it. It's just a big party, right? (Grey's Anatomy weddings almost never go smoothly, so this should be interesting.)
Simone and Lucas are on Amelia's service, and even though Simone doesn't believe it's worth the risk, she's afraid to speak up since confronting Amelia in the past almost didn't end well for her. Lucas mentions that Blue told him about needing another roommate, and Simone confesses that she's hesitant to pursue their future together too quickly because of how her last relationship ended. He walks away upset not because she wants to take things slower, but instead because she didn't tell him upfront how she was feeling.
Blue is tasked with introducing Bailey's prospective intern around the hospital. He recognizes how confident and accomplished she is, and promises Bailey he'll do what he can to convince her to consider Grey Sloan for her internship. She convinces him to let her see the ICU, and they happen to be there when two code blues alert simultaneously. They jump in to help, but after he quickly leaves to retrieve something, he comes back to find her about to insert a chest tube on her own -- incorrectly. He does it himself, and then ends up yelling at her for overstepping. Bailey overhears, and sits him down later to tell him that the prospective intern dropped out of the running. She's impressed when he explains what happened, but still won't let him assist on her upcoming surgery.
Winston and Jules receive a trauma case following a car accident, and both are immediately skeptical of the patient's father. Jules wants to intervene when they see him stealing his son's rent money from his belongings, but Winston warns her not to get involved. During the surgery to attempt to repair the patient's lung, Jules admits that she knows what it's like to have a terrible dad. This gets to Winston, who ends up confronting the drunk father later outside the hospital and almost starts a fight with him. Jules intervenes, and he confesses that he also has a complicated relationship with his dad and usually buries his feelings about it. He decides to take an administrative day the next shift and hands Jules off to Richard, but Jules is more concerned about their relationship and whether or not their "moment" on the roof really meant something.
Amelia agrees to perform an extremely risky surgery on a 9-year-old patient, though both her interns (Lucas and Simone) and one of the girl's parents doesn't think it's a good idea. Both parents end up agreeing to go through with it even though she's terrified, and despite some tough spots along the way, the surgery seems successful. Until the next morning, when the patient's father frantically calls for Lucas because the patient is unable to move or speak. The episode ends on a code blue, just a few short scenes after Amelia tells Monica how relieved she is because Derek could never perform this surgery successfully, and if he couldn't do it, she wasn't sure she could have either.
Imagine if this would have been the season finale cliffhanger. I wouldn't have put it past them. Thankfully -- eh, sort of -- we have two episodes left, and possibly an even more devastating cliffhanger to come in a few weeks. Watch Grey's Anatomy, they said! It'll be fun, they said! Liars. All of them.