On this episode of Grey’s Anatomy, titled “Judgement Day,” Jackson learns about his grandfather’s past and how it threatens the Avery legacy, Arizona accidentally distributes marijuana cookies to some of the doctors and Amelia helps Owen welcome his foster child.
It’s Grey Sloan Memorial Surgical Innovation Prototypes Day! (Try saying that five times fast.) It’s do or die time for the docs who have proposals regarding their projects. Five will be chosen to continue on the the contest’s final phase (I could have sworn this was a more dragged out process.) At this rate, it does look like we could know the big winner by the end of the season.
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Cookie Monsters
Jackson’s irritated with Catherine who took off to Boston instead of sticking around to put the final touches on their presentation. She informs Jackson she had to go clean up the mess he made by waiving Dr. Froy’s NDA. The big secret is there was a settlement paid to Dr. Froy because Harper Avery sexually harassed her. Jackson is understandably shocked, but Catherine, who as a woman should be indignant on behalf of Froy, is more concerned about the foundation’s board of directors and their reaction to the possible fallout of this going public.
What promises to be a dry episode takes an unexpected turn when Arizona learns the cookies she received as a thank you from a patient contain cannabis peanut butter. Yes, AZ distributed “weed cookies” to a large number of the staff.
It’s up to Meredith to announce that the presentations have to be put on hold. She comes up with a cover story about the sweet treats being tainted with rat poison, meaning everyone who partook needs to be treated. You don’t want to go around and advertise that many of the doctors at your world-class hospital are high. Of course, the people who ate the cookies are momentarily freaked out by this news, until Meredith explains the real problem with the baked goods. Everyone’s going to be feeling the effects for a while because when ingested, the high is more intense and lasts longer. The doctors are on lockdown –no driving, no surgeries and no patient interaction. Meredith takes their phones and leaves it up to Jo to deal with with patients, post-ops and charts.
It doesn’t take long for the affected doctors to wander off. Among them are Maggie, Jackson, Catherine, Arizona, April, Alex and Andrew. Maggie has never been high before, and because she’s made some poor choices in the past when she’s been drinking, she’s really freaked out what she may do now. Maggie is eager to crawl off somewhere and be alone, but Arizona thinks she needs to stick around people who can keep her safe. That wouldn’t include Andrew who stares intently at a pic on the wall during this conversation.
Time’s Up for the Averys
With nothing else to do, Jackson is able to question Catherine about Dr. Froy, wondering why his mother didn’t say something sooner. Catherine replies there’s never a good time to tell your son that his grandfather is a sexual predator. And it wasn’t just Rebecca Froy. Harper did this too a lot of women — 13 total. Apparently, Harper Avery is the Harvey Weinstein of medicine. This is all very hush-hush, but April — also wandering around aimlessly — happens to overhear.
Jackson is having a hard time believing the news about his grandfather. He even accuses Catherine of messing with him because he’s high (BTW, worst joke ever.) Then Jackson wonders how this stayed a secret for so long and why would anyone, including Catherine, protect the man. Catherine doesn’t have a good answer. That’s just the way it was, and there were some who hoped the financial hits would be enough to make Harper change his behavior (’cause that works so well.) Catherine claims that he did eventually stop.
Jackson realizes his mother orchestrated all of the cover ups. She tries to justify her role by saying it was a different time, it was Harper’s foundation and he made all the rules. Jackson wishes his mother’s priority had been to help those women. Jackson’s pissed Catherine encouraged him to step up and take part in what his family built, only she didn’t tell him what it was built on.
Catherine isn’t about to be judged by her son. Thirty years ago, getting groped and harassed wasn’t something a woman could protest. She had to take it. If women made a fuss, they often lost their job and their reputation along with it. Catherine has changed since then. She didn’t have a voice, but she did have choices. She could stand by and let Harper fire those women and drag them through the mud, or she could make sure they got some money and a leg to stand on — a path to move forward on. Catherine isn’t ashamed of herself, but she is ashamed of what Harper did. She’s also sorry Jackson has to carry the burden of that knowledge along with her.
Jo Flies Solo
Jo recruits the interns to help pick up the slack, and as an added incentive, Meredith offers the chance to scrub in to whoever accomplishes the most throughout the day.
Meredith gets a page from Bailey who is scrubbed in and ready to go. Miranda did not get the news about the cookies, but she feels super funky. She initially freaks out, thinking this has to do with her heart, so while she’s relieved to learn she’s just incredibly stoned, she also can’t believe she opened a man up and started to perform surgery.
Jo shows up to retrieve Bailey, and Meredith promises she’ll finish the surgery. Miranda declares her love for Meredith, but as they’re trying to get Bailey out of the scrub room, there’s a bit of an accident, and one of Meredith’s hands gets smashed. Her fingers aren’t broken, but they’re too swollen to move, so Jo has to do the operation. The guy is already open, so there’s no other option.
The patient has stomach cancer, and Jo begins to question if she should follow Bailey’s standard of care. Meredith is overseeing the surgery but refuses to offer up advice, considering this a teachable moment. Jo has an epiphany. She can use Richard’s cancer-detecting Path Pen. Richard was one of the few doctors who actually got to complete his presentation, and his gadget left a huge impression on Jo, obvi.
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Two Men, Amelia and a Baby
Owen is getting his foster child — a baby boy. He calls Amelia in a panic because he wasn’t prepared for it to happen so soon. She offers to come help him out. She’s stuck bringing Alex along because she couldn’t think of anywhere else to deposit him after discovering him in their lab full of expensive equipment.
The plan is for Alex to remain in the bedroom as long as the social worker is at Owen’s, but apparently, controlling people who are high is like herding cats because it’s Alex who opens the door when the woman arrives holding Owen’s new baby. Alex shovels chips in his face non-stop, remarking on the cuteness of the baby compared to some others he’s seen.
Owen, Amelia and Karev head out for baby supplies, and Owen is still feaking out about not being ready. Not helping the situation is Karev, who enterains himself by playing on Owen’s fears. For what might be the first time ever, Amelia is the voice of reason.
Owen continues to wonder and whine until Alex finally comes through. He recalls that while most of his foster parents sucked, there was one guy who gave a crap, and it made a difference. He reassures Owen he’ll be fine because he wouldn’t be stressing out about it so much otherwise.
Stoners Don’t Keep Secrets
So, in one classroom there’s Andrew, Arizona and Maggie. Maggie is obsessed with talking about cheese while Arizona worries she may be moving too fast with Arizona. She’s kind of regretting asking Carina to not return to Italy. Andrew lays on the floor and has hallucinations of Bello.
April and Bailey are stuck together in another room, and April is unable to keep her mouth shut about what she heard. Miranda isn’t surprised. She met Harper Avery twice and thought he was a horrible human being. Miranda spills a secret of her own. She doesn’t even need the contest because she’s found a manufacturer for her Trailblazer/Tailblazer, and she’s going to be rich. She’s working with a company called Midnight Pleasures, Inc. Bailey has gone into busines with a sex-toy company.
Another Intern Leaves Grey Sloan
Even though Meredith asked the interns if any of them had any cookies, they all said no. But Dr. Roy did and fails to speak up. He gets called into an emergency, flips out, races into the hallway and runs into a surgical cart. He winds up with a cutting tool embedded in his upper arm. Good thing Richard’s on-hand and not big on cookies. When Richard prepares to give Roy a sedative, he speaks up, asking if it can cause a reaction when combined with other drugs.
Roy’s tox screen reveals what we already know. He tries to defend himself, but he didn’t speak up when he had the chance, so he could have a shot at the surgery. Richard fires Roy.
A Tarnished Legacy
Jackson acknowledges his mother was put into a terrible position, and he apologizes for doubting her. Catherine doesn’t know what comes next, but she knows it isn’t going to be good. Jackson’s only plan to is try and get out ahead of it by contacting the woman and trying to make things right. They start immediately with Meredith who already heard the news from April and Bailey (not all the details but enough to concern her.)
Meredith wants to know if Ellis was harassed, and Catherine assures her that she wasn’t. Meredith questions what these women gave up in exchange for the money. It bought their silence, but they also weren’t allowed to work at a Harper Avery hospital or enter the Harper Avery Awards.
Meredith is blown away. Ellis spent her entire life in pursuit of those awards, and her journals are peppered with his initials. Ellis even lost a best friend over her ambition. Meredith asks if Marie Cerone was one of the women, and Catherine comfirms that she was. This is why Ellis took her name off their study, she had no choice, otherwise she had no shot at the Harper Avery.
The news breaks as presumably Froy has come forward. Too late to get ahead of it now.
Amelia may be having a change of heart about motherhood. She decides to sleep over the first night — much to Owen’s relief — and the three look very cozy.
Should Catherine have done more than pay women off? Could Owen’s baby bring him and Amelia back together? Does Richard have an edge in the competition? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC. Want more news? Visit our Grey’s Anatomy page on Facebook.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
