Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 9 Review: Hit the Floor

Mostly, Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 9, “Hit the Floor,” is a strong return after a lengthy mid-season break. Even though it quickly resolves nearly everything from the winter finale’s cliffhanger, the episode is fast-paced and has a nice balance between the patients and the doctors’ personal lives.

The episode picks up where we left off, revealing that a bullet has grazed Lucas while the real victim at the convenience store is the armed robber, who was shot by his own gun in their struggle. Jo calls 911, and they all arrive at the hospital by ambulance.

It’s unfortunate that the cliffhanger is resolved so quickly, even though it sets everything else in motion. After such a dramatic ending to the winter finale — and a long break in between — the resolution feels too abrupt to be satisfying.

While Jo hasn’t been shot, there’s a problem with her pregnancy, and her being a patient in OB brings up a whole host of complex dynamics. 

Perhaps the most important thing is how she and Link interact with each other. Jo has been cold to Link ever since she found out she was pregnant with twins, and it’s not much better now. It’s a defense mechanism, which she’s revealed to Link already, but that’s obviously hurtful in its own way. 

Ultimately, this is all a good way to remind the audience of Jo’s backstory, not only with her abusive husband Paul and all she went through there, but how much she lived on her own and was forced to take care of herself when no one else would.

Add to that the more recent abandonment by Alex, and it makes perfect sense that she wants to make decisions for herself without input from anyone else. 

At the same time, it’s not a great look for Link to react the way he does when Jo says she wants the circlage. (Have you ever heard this word used so many times in one hour, by the way? It feels like the word of the week now!)

Thanks in part to the advice Bailey gives to Link, the two seem to resolve their issues by the end of the episode. Hopefully, that’s true at least. Since they officially became a couple, their relationship hasn’t been fun to watch.

I was one who was very invested in the two of them getting together, but ever since it happened, they’ve been hard to watch together — mostly because of conflicts that feel forced. 

Jo being a patient also introduces us to a new character, Dr. Marcus, who adds a lighthearted energy to the cast and makes Jo feel incredibly awkward. He’s extremely young and has a knack for saying all the wrong things:

Dr. Marcus: Oh, hospital babies. Are you going to name them Grey and Sloan?

Mostly, Jo’s uncomfortable because of their working relationship and their age difference, which all adds some humor. The fact is, he knows what he’s doing, though, and that’s all that matters.

There is an unfortunate missed opportunity here to bring back Carina DeLuca. It’s explained away briefly that she’s in Italy, which seems too easy in some ways. Of course, we wouldn’t necessarily get the humor from this new doctor if she was there, but it still feels like a miss. 

Bailey’s part in all of this is great, too. There’s a little humor from her, plus some seriousness when she needs to kick Link out of the room. The best part of it, though, is when she describes her own experience with childbirth to Link — something we all saw that Link wasn’t around for yet.

She tells him how her husband at the time had been in an accident, while her own doctor (Addison) did her best to keep Bailey from finding out so that it wouldn’t affect her stress.

It’s too bad there isn’t a mention of George’s role in this, but it’s a nice callback to the early seasons that viewers who have been watching it from the beginning can all visualize. Her experience then allows her to give advice to Link, and it also informs how she helps Jo.

Meanwhile, Winston and Amelia continue to work together on a patient that was brought in on Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 8. It’s the daughter of a woman Winston dated, and they’ve been struggling to agree on the best steps for helping her. That included Amelia pushing herself to do a risky surgery, which nearly has some bad results.

There’s already an underlying conflict between Winston and Amelia because of everything with Maggie, and their professional conflict adds another layer. They approach things differently, but their lack of proper communication feels like it’s at the heart of how they deal with this case.

Speaking of communication issues, Owen and Teddy’s relationship is still strained, and it’s incredibly hard to watch. They’re difficulties this season have felt entirely inorganic — just conflict for the sake of having a conflict, and having come out of absolutely nowhere. 

Now, Owen nearly kisses a woman who had a crush on him years ago? Come on.

It’s at least better than what they were headed toward at first. Owen was initially giving her a ride to her hotel, but then turned around to take her to the hospital. He also takes a respectable approach to put some distance between them and remove himself from her care team.

Still, I don’t think any of this is over — not by a long shot. 

As for the interns, we’re down to four following Mika Yasuda’s exit, and Jules is obviously taking it hard. Her approach is to throw herself into work, but also to shut herself down emotionally. In the midst of that, she makes a mistake that ends with a patient rolling off of the table during surgery and landing on the floor. 

This isn’t any patient, either. It’s the robber from the convenience store, and there’s a suggestion that some subconscious bias has led to the mistake as well. Really, though, it’s about Jules being distracted, and in the moment, she allows Griffin to take the fall for it. 

There’s potential for some heavily complex dynamics between the interns now. Jules could apologize, which she clearly has the intention to do, and that could resolve things quickly, or not. Either way, Jules is reeling in a way that could — should affect her character deeply moving forward. 

At least Griffith has Lucas, and they seem happy for now. Lucas does have hints of trauma, including a panic attack on this episode that Ben helps him through. That scene is one of the most endearing parts of the episode.

With the robber still in the hospital, this could mean more for him to work through as well, and hopefully, that will be the case. Let’s not forget how close to home this should hit for Lucas, considering the parallel of how his grandfather was killed.

That’s another great callback that’s keeping everything about the story of Grey’s Anatomy connected. 

I love the moment when Amelia asks Lucas if she can call his mom, too. Now, if only we could find out which sister that is… 

Other thoughts:

• Blue’s reconnection with his former fiance is sweet to watch and, hopefully, will be a positive storyline overall. We truly are seeing a side of him in this we haven’t seen before. 
• Ben does seem to be struggling with his place at the hospital, overstepping in ways he shouldn’t. At the same time, I can’t help but think Teddy is way too hard on him. 

 

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Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC. 

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