Grey’s Anatomy Review: Sign O’ the Times (Season 17 Episode 12)

Somehow, Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 Episode 12, “Sign O’ the Times,” feels like it falls a little short.

The episode brings in the Black Lives Matter protests from last year (giving us a pretty clear idea of where we are in the timeline), with patients being brought in with injuries and some of the doctors taking off work to join.

It’s the injuries that really stand out. Hayes is even mildly injured while protesting with his children, we see the very real effects of a rubber bullet when it hits someone up close, and Phylicia Rashad guest stars as a woman hit with a tear gas canister.

It’s brutal, powerful stuff to watch, and I think it’s a reminder of how important it is for fiction and art to tackle current events of this nature.

Yet, particularly by Grey’s Anatomy standards, it doesn’t lean into the issues quite the way you’d expect. Instead, too much time is spent with Schmidt, Meredith, and a new intern with a patient in the hyperbaric chamber.

The purpose of this, it seems, is simply to prop up Meredith as a mentor and to allow Levi to have a moment to shine as a doctor.

That’s all fine and good. It’s actually always really enjoyable to me to think about Meredith’s evolution on the show, and to really see how these younger, newer doctors view her. But it’s all time that takes away from the most impactful parts of the hour. 

It’s also become exhausting to see that Meredith is still unwell. She’s on the mend, but still sleeping most of the time, and it’s dragging on too far.

Though I will say this — it’s obvious that not as much time has passed over the course of this season as it feels like has based on the way the episodes have aired. But still, it’s time for Meredith to be Meredith again and get off the death beach.

But back to what we do get from the protest storyline, it isn’t just about the injuries. We also get a unique chance to see the doctors’ perspectives.

Richard, we learn, has a history of participating in protests, and he has a certain optimism even as everything seems to be crashing down. It’s great to watch him like this, but have we heard him mention anything like this before? 

For Hayes, it’s about his children, who want to be a part of it but who he also wants to protect. It’s a nice opportunity to get to see him operate as a father and get to know him a little more.

Jackson, meanwhile, realizes he’s been avoiding getting involved. This is a bit of an identity crisis that began with the previous episode, where Jackson tries to help by throwing money around but learns it’s not as helpful as he thinks.

Now, he and Ortiz have a plan to do more good with the healthcare crisis, but Catherine isn’t quick to offer financial backing.

Jackson desperately wants to help and get involved, I think more than we’ve ever seen. But money isn’t enough, and that’s the part he’s coming to terms with.

After listening to Richard and Phylicia Rashad’s Nell swap stories about protests and share their scars, Jackson walks away feeling unsettled. He wonders why he’s never been a part of that kind of change. 

He takes off on an eleven-hour drive at the end of the episode, and a few clues lead to the fact that perhaps he’s going to visit his father. Or not. We’ll see where that goes. 

The most emotional part of the episode isn’t centered on the protests so directly, but it does tie in well. Winston is on his way back to Seattle, a long drive, and Maggie is worried enough before hearing Winston get pulled over.

She wants to stay on the line with him, but the officers insist that Winston hang up. Even seeing the little details of Winston reacts, knowing where to put his hands, having his registration already ready to go, is emotional to watch. His life experience is simply different.

We don’t see everything that happens, and we’re left wondering once that phone cuts off. 

I’m not sure what Maggie thinks she’s going to accomplish by trying to call him back repeatedly, but her panic certainly comes through. 

It’s worth noting that everyone around her gets it. She’s not treated as though she’s overreacting or anything of the sort. Everyone understands and tries to be helpful.

That said, Maggie, you do have a patient to take care of! 

When she’s finally able to talk to Winston, we get a look at what’s occurred. He’s not hurt, thankfully, but his belongings are strewn about the side of the road and he’s visibly shaken. It’s almost more emotional to see all of this without having seen it actually occur.

And it’s a really fantastic performance from Anthony Hill, to say the least. We haven’t really had much chance to get to know Winston or become invested in his character, but this moment goes a long way toward changing that.

There is one other key storyline that takes place in the hospital on this episode. It’s with a patient who refuses to believe COVID is real, and it is infuriating to watch. 

This patient is full of conspiracy theories, and poor Bailey is stuck trying to save him when he doesn’t want the proper treatment at all. To add insult to injury, Bailey lost her own mother to COVID — and it’s worth it to think about the timeline here. That loss wasn’t all too long ago. 

It does provide Bailey a chance to bond with Teddy a bit about the horrors of it all. And I appreciate the detail that Bailey is still struggling with OCD on top of everything else — a much-needed callback for her.

Rather than accept the proper treatment, the patient tries to leave the hospital and winds up losing his life. It’s extremely grim, and it leaves me ready to move on from all things COVID in the show’s storytelling. 

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Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.

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