Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 Episode 16 Review: Gunpowder and Lead

The threats against Bailey get even worse on Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 Episode 16, “Gunpowder and Lead.” 

It’s a storyline that’s continued since early in the season, if we consider everything from the social media videos Bailey and Addison had the interns help create. That throughline has added a special element to the season.

For one thing, it’s topical, important storytelling. For another, it’s showing progression in some interesting and logical ways.

We’ve seen the clinic re-opening, Addison’s new mobile initiative, and then, the fallout. Addison was already being targeted, and then Bailey came next. Somehow for her, it’s been worse. 

There were the phone calls, then the text message with a picture of Tuck, and now, something far worse. A man has gotten himself into the hospital as a patient — faking kidney pain and insisting on seeing Dr. Bailey. 

The absolute fear that pulses through Bailey as this man starts talking to her about her children and her new residence is palpable. So much of this scene is subtle and yet it’s just viscerally terrifying.

Luckily, the man doesn’t have a gun and just comes Bailey with physical force that Kwan is able to intercept. That moment, in fact, is a standout. Kwan may have just become my new favorite intern — he puts that man down like it’s nothing, and he does it out of instinct to protect Bailey, consequences be damned.  

There are no consequences, though, because Teddy is proving to be an excellent chief of surgery who cares more about keeping Bailey safe than protocol. 

I really like her in this role. In fact, it may be the most fitting position for Teddy we’ve seen over the years.

By the end of the episode, the situation with Bailey feels at least partially resolved thanks to another great idea from Addison Shepherd. The doctors all pull together to start calling Bailey’s most frequent harassers in order to make Bailey seem more human to them.

It’s a beautiful, emotional scene as we see everyone from interns and attendings to the folks over at Station 19 making calls on Bailey’s behalf. You get the sense that this idea may just work. These people may really lay off once they see Bailey as more of a real person.  

Speaking of Addison: it seems time she just return to the show once and for all, doesn’t it? It’s a bit odd that she keeps popping back and forth, though it does make sense for the story being told. Here, it’s perfectly reasonable that she would come to check on Bailey and make it work for picking up supplies as well. 

But Addison brings so much good energy to the show, and especially considering Amelia’s other family all being gone now, the makings are there for her to be able to come back more steadily. 

As much as she is there for Bailey on this episode, she also does what she needs to in order to help Amelia, which in this case, is tough love. 

She’s right that no one actually abandoned Amelia. Everyone left for their own reasons, none of which had anything to do with her. And the way she’s been taking out her anger and sadness on everyone at the hospital is hard to watch, especially with the way she treats Yasuda.

What she says to Winston is pretty out of line too, though.

So Addison steps in and tells Amelia that she has to get herself together and get off of a path that could lead her to use again.

I’d like to see something new happen for Amelia, and hopefully, Addison’s advice will stick. She does have Richard as well, who spots Amelia at just the right time and suggests they go to a meeting together.

They do have so much in common, and they both experienced some serious loss with these recent exits from the hospital. 

Other thoughts:

• The note from Cristina Yang at the end of the episode is such a nice touch! Of course she’d be invested in what Addison is doing. I love that she still has a presence from afar every once in a while.
• Luna’s hearing loss turns out to be just that: hearing loss. No cancer or anything worse, and the relief Jo has and then the realization that she’s been too hard on Link makes for another great moment between the two of them.
• Another key storyline on this episode involves the victim of a mass shooting who has had bullet fragments in his body ever since. And that’s given him lead poisoning. This affects Owen in particular, and while the message is an important one, the dialogue is somehow just a little too heavy-handed. 
• Jules and Lucas going rogue to save a patient is such a classic intern storyline. I wouldn’t have minded more focus on this, actually.
• Perhaps the most underrated moment from the episode is Taryn Helm busting into Teddy’s office to stand up for Yasuda and the other interns after seeing how worn down Yasuda is at the bar.

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 9/8c on ABC.

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