Note: This story contains spoilers from “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 22, Episode 10.
“Grey’s Anatomy” saw the return of two fan-favorite doctors in Thursday’s new episode, and one of them is here to stay.
Episode 10, titled “Strip That Down,” followed as the anticipated return of Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) also made way for Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) to cut her sabbatical short to consult on a case with her former sister-in-law and Los Angeles colleague. Behind the scenes, the episode marked Scorsone’s comeback after taking an eight-episode break from the series due to budget trims on the long-running ABC medical drama.
Luckily, Addison’s visit to Seattle brought a new patient Amelia couldn’t refuse, despite her initial desire to blow her off for a cookie recipe she was trying out at home. But it wasn’t all about happy reunions, as Addison had her own shocking reveal to share before the end of the eventful episode.
“I am a dumpster fire”
“Grey’s Anatomy” fans will recall that since her last visit to Grey Sloan Memorial, Addison has been working as a mobile doctor helping women across the country get access to proper healthcare amid growing restrictions around abortion, birth control and other essential treatments. In this Season 22 appearance, Addison enlisted Amelia’s help with treating a pregnant woman who needed a neurosurgery consult.
A quick exam from Amelia had her rushing Jules (Adelaide Kane) to get scans of her brain, which revealed a dangerous tumor that was growing due to her pregnancy hormones. Amelia first tried to pass off the surgery to another doctor given her sabbatical, but Addison told her she had to help herself, and revealed that her husband Jake (played by Benjamin Bratt in the “Grey’s” spinoff “Private Practice”) was threatening to leave her.
Addison avoided the topic after that, leading to raised tensions in the OR. After a complication rose during Amelia’s procedure, Addison lost her composure — leading to Amelia kicking her out of the room. She was enraged when she first left the room, seeking solace from her old boss Richard (James Pickens Jr.), who was home still recovering from a successful surgery for prostate cancer. He encouraged her to apologize and let the rest resolve itself from there.
After saving the patient, Addison found Amelia and shared that she felt Jake’s support wholeheartedly when her mobile health practice first kicked off. But as time passed he grew more frustrated at her absences, and the toll of a regressing healthcare field was taking a toll on both of their careers and their marriage. Amelia told her that the fact her marriage descended into an ultimatum meant they were already “fundamentally broken,” which doesn’t bode well for their relationship’s future.
Addison admitted she felt like “a dumpster fire,” and Amelia joked she was glad it wasn’t her this time — for once. By the end of the episode, after Addison tried Amelia’s bad cookies, Amelia decided to make her official return to work. No more sabbatical for her!
Meanwhile …
Outside of the Amelia/Addison saga, Jo (Camilla Luddington) was discharged from the hospital just in time for her twins to get the all-clear as well. And Link (Chris Carmack) finally returned to the OR to treat an injured male stripper, after months of recovery after injuries he sustained in the hospital’s latest explosion.
As for the residents, Blue (Harry Shum Jr.) was the test subject of Owen’s (Kevin McKidd) new ridealong training program, and decided to go exclusive with Dr. Kavita Mohanty (Anita Kalathara). Simone (Alexis Floyd) helped treat the male stripper with her new intern beau Wes (Trevor Jackson) and got a dance of her own by episode’s end. And Lucas (Niko Terho) faced delivering the difficult news that a clinical trial for one of Bailey’s (Chandra Wilson) cancer patients was ending due to government funding cuts, leaving her fate unclear.
“Grey’s Anatomy” returns with new episodes Feb. 26 on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
