Grey’s Anatomy Review: ‘There’s a Fine, Fine Line’ & ‘It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’

Grey’s Anatomy aired a two-part special event this week that addressed a really important question: Could you be your spouse’s boss?

What starts off as a kid missing from the peds floor quickly develops into a plot that makes viewers question Ben Warren’s judgement. After Alex locates the missing child and they lift the “Code Pink,” Bailey answers a page to find that her husband performed a crash c-section in the middle of a hallway.

This isn’t the first time that Ben has made a risky call. In “All Eyez on Me,” he cut into a patient in the psych ward. Of course, in that instance, he saved the patient’s life. In this case, his actions result in the death of both mother and child.

These two hours are get-your-tissues-ready sad. That’s to be expected when it comes to Shondaland, but this episode is bad on multiple levels. Not only are we rooting for a patient and her baby to survive, but we are also rooting for Miranda and Ben.

Bailey is in a really tough position here. She’s the Chief of Surgery, a member of the Board of Directors, and Ben’s wife. Her husband wants to explain what happened but she can’t step out of her role as Chief of Surgery.

In one exchange Ben suggests that they define their relationship as Church and State. State is for the Chief and the Resident. Church is for Ben and Miranda. The warring sides of their relationship are the focus of the episode, dominating the immediate aftermath of the incident and the inquiry that follows. While Ben really wants to talk to Miranda in “Church” she remains firmly rooted in “State.”

In the first hour Bailey tries to be a wife and Chief at the same time. She deals with her husband’s actions by tracing the attending physicians that handled the case. She talks to Meredith and Arizona, trying to find a way to place the blame somewhere other than her husband. In the end, though, she turns to security camera footage. Since these events happened during a lock-down, the elevators didn’t work and the doors wouldn’t open. Ben claims he had no other choice, but footage shows that the doors opened right before Ben started to cut.

With this undeniable evidence in front of her, Bailey is wedged into a corner. That’s when the advisory panel comes in to make a recommendation. Ben argues that while he saw the door open he wasn’t aware of it because his only concern was the patient.

It’s a story where we are inexplicably torn between the two sides. On one hand, Ben is focused on his patient. That’s what a doctor should do, right? On the other hand, he clearly sees the door open, but was he negligent in not getting on the elevator? Could it have saved his patient and her baby?

Is there an answer? We can’t be sure, but the Advisory Board finds that Ben didn’t register the door opening because he was focused on the task at hand. He made a judgment call in the moment.

That leaves Bailey to decide his punishment. Her decision is to fire him, but they talk her down to giving him six months suspension, which is a crippling blow to his surgical residency. Arguably, firing him would have had the same effect, so at least he has the chance to come back.

Miranda may have been acting harsh, but this is a legitimate concern. She is in a position of power and it isn’t the first time that Ben has made a cavalier call. She has to look out for future patients of Grey-Sloan Memorial as well. The three children left behind and their father’s critical condition may have influenced her a little, but she is the Chief and she is responsible for her surgeons. She’s relying on the facts and remains fixated on the notion that there was an alternative option present that Ben didn’t take.

Where does this leave Miranda and Ben? Their relationship may be on the rocks at the moment but maybe they can pull through once his suspension ends. It’s not ideal, but with Miranda as the Chief they have to reconcile their relationship with work and that may be an ongoing struggle for a while.

Stray Thoughts:

• Alex was born to be a peds surgeon. His reaction to finding the missing kid was perfect. He didn’t get mad. He didn’t yell. He just brought him back to his parents and told him not to do that again. Gold star for Karev!
• The Japril baby is okay! Shonda, you scared us there for a moment, but we are glad that their baby was just moving. Hopefully, the feud between Jackson and April starts to soften and they make their way back to each other.
• Can we please reflect on Callie wanting to go with Penny to New York? We are getting a bit of déjà vu here! Remember when Arizona got the chance to go to Malawi and help sick kids and Callie groaned the whole time? Aside from the destination, how are these two situations different? Plus, now Callie will also be uprooting Sophia from her other mother! How is that okay?
• Aside from getting Jackson and April in the same room, is there a reason the guy with a hernia had to have such a giant one? It seems like that was just for shock value. April was talking about how she was the general surgery consult? Isn’t she a trauma surgeon?
• Asia Monet Ray killed it as Jasmine! She had such a maturity to a character that she made us cry in almost every scene she was in.

What did you think of this episode of Grey’s Anatomy? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8/7 on ABC.

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