Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 3 Review: I Can See Clearly Now

Having everyone back at the hospital — and in the same city — really does wonders for Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 3, “I Can See Clearly Now.”

Heck, Meredith Grey is even doing medicine.

Just having everyone in the same general vicinity does wonders for the show’s energy, which always seems to be lacking when it shows Meredith in Boston. Even better, there’s a bigger focus on patients and interesting cases, plus some friendly competition amongst dating interns. 

There’s still something a bit off about this season, but we’re getting there. 

Meredith and Nick are both in Seattle because of Catherine’s secret procedure, which should be a simple biopsy. Nick is tasked with distracting Richard while Catherine and Bailey perform the biopsy in the clinic — a space where such procedures aren’t usually done.

Of course, the procedure doesn’t wind up being so simple, and Catherine’s life is in danger. It’s in that moment that Meredith and Bailey make the decision to bring Richard into the fold. 

It’s a perfect performance from James Pickens Jr. as the understanding comes over him while helping with the awake kidney transplant surgery. It’s subtle and quick the way he drops what he’s doing and shifts gears to get to his wife, processing everything that’s happening along the way. 

Catherine, thankfully, is okay, and she even comes out of it with a shift in attitude that gets Bailey her job back — an endearing, joyful moment that feels really genuine. 

Richard, however, is not in such a forgiving mood. His admonishing of Meredith for keeping the secret and lying to his face is flat-out hard to watch. After all these years, and knowing how he’s been such a father figure to her, to hear him say the words “Shame on you” is gut-wrenching. 

It’s also good writing because it involves so many layers to both of their characters. As exhausting as a lot of this has been, including Catherine’s awful attitude, it’s a way to have Meredith, Richard, and Bailey see new conflict as the only three original characters left on the show. Sort of, anyway.

The awake kidney transplant that Nick is there to perform and distract Richard with is another highlight of the episode.

Jack McBrayer plays a patient who has enough experience as a scrub nurse to feel paranoid about surgery, so he opts to be awake through the procedure and is constantly checking with the surgeons to make sure they’re counting materials and not making mistakes.

It’s a really interesting way to show a surgery on screen and is reminiscent of an early storyline where a patient had a towel left inside her.

The patient is so paranoid that he makes the others second guess themselves as well, secretly panicking that they’ve missed a cloth and then laughing when they find it’s stuck to Nick’s shoe.

All of this even gives Bokhee a chance to speak. 

More than that, it allows for competition between Lucas and Simone, which shows part of the conflict of dating in the workplace.

Ultimately, it’s minor, and they can move past it. Lucas also feels insecure because he has to repeat his internship year, but Nick suggests that perhaps it’s better in the long run — that interns shouldn’t move on as fast as they do, and more time to learn is a good thing. 

Meanwhile, Amelia takes on an impossible case and succeeds. She’s hesitant, but Teddy encourages her to see the patient, and Amelia is ultimately convinced to try. 

It’s a tumor on a pregnant woman who doesn’t want to terminate the pregnancy because she’s a surrogate for her brother, and it’s his last chance to have a child of his own. They’re impossible circumstances, but Amelia proves once again why she’s such a renowned surgeon. 

And somehow, in the midst of this, we also get an emotional nod to Derek. All the talk of big brothers looking out for their sisters is something Amelia can identify with, and she says so with just a hint of sadness in her voice.

That case also has an emotional effect on Yasuda that’s mysterious for most of the episode. She finally confides in Jules that her sister has cancer, adding that she doesn’t think she can handle being in a relationship now. 

Her reaction in that way feels sudden and disappointing. The romance between Jules and Mika is new, but having started as a friendship, it’s a bit of a whirlwind to see that put on pause so quickly.  

Presumably, this is all working toward a way to have Yasuda leave the hospital, but how that will happen still feels pretty unclear.

The show is also setting up a way to have Levi exit, though for now, it just feels like he’s getting a positive storyline. Levi has been wavering on what he wants his specialty to be as a surgeon, and now he’s developing a romance with the hospital’s chaplain, James. 

Their interactions are really fun to watch, and there’s a balance of lighthearted flirting with real, deep, life-changing introspection, given the cases they’ve worked on together.

This time, they work together because Levi decides to see him out for a patient who refuses to sign a DNR. It’s a unique situation for James, but he’s willing to talk to the patient, and what comes of it is something none of them expected — she just wants to make sure she outlives her husband.

And when she finds out that she has, her emotions run from victory to sadness, ending with a willingness to finally sign the document. 

Finally, there’s about to be a change among the interns, and I don’t know how I feel about it. Ben is back at Grey-Sloan, apparently after deciding to give up firefighting which no one who hasn’t seen Station 19 will understand. That itself is a problem — it’s frustrating that the audience is expected to fill in those gaps. 

Some perspective from Sydney Heron, played by Kali Rocha, helps a little. She finds it odd that Ben has changed careers so much, and honestly, she has a point. It’s almost a bit meta, since this is all really just a way to bring Ben back after Station 19’s cancellation.

Sydney is also clearly hurt that she’s no longer needed at Grey-Sloan, and there’s a little moment of connection between her and Bailey before she leaves. She’s also done Bailey a favor by hiring Ben before Bailey takes back over, because it will seem less like nepotism. 

It’s too bad Sydney wasn’t back a little longer, though. She came back in such a smart way, and it feels like a missed opportunity that they didn’t use her more. 

Now, though, it seems we’ll be seeing Ben with the other interns, which should make for some fun interactions to say the least. 

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 10/9c on ABC.

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