You might have thought the doctors of it Grey’s Anatomy had already been stretched so thin that they couldn’t possible be stretched thinner. “Hold my beer,” said Thursday’s episode, in which they treated a patient injured in the George Floyd protests in Seattle, as well as a man who didn’t believe COVID is real (and from Class, have had it). And none of that was as disturbing as what happened to poor Winston. Read on and we’ll discuss how our protagonists made it to the end credits.
‘REVOLUTIONS DO NOT PLAN AN APPOINTMENT’ When ‘Sign o’ the Times’ started, Jackson was jogging when he ran into protesters in the street. At Cormac’s children were painting “I can’t breathe” signs. Maggie lay in bed brooding over whether fiancé Winston would come back from his cross-country ride in one piece; he wanted to worry more about the apartment he had in mind for them. And with Gray Sloan, Bailey prepared as best he could for what was to come. Richard promised her he would come back, but he had to protest himself. “You give them hell!” she called after him. When Jackson arrived at the hospital with Mother Catherine, he asked about his and Alma’s proposal to offer testing to people on low incomes. “Let me come through this week,” she begged him. It was then that Cormac showed up with his kids – and a bloody head. Counter-protesters planned to attack his son if he hadn’t intervened. It was then that Richard showed up with a woman named Nell (Phylicia Rashad, Cosby Show icon and sister of Catherine’s portraitist, Debbie Allen); she had been shot with a tear gas canister at the protest. (When I say shot, I mean the thing was still sticking out of her shoulder.)
‘IT SEEMS LIKE YOU LOST A BAR BATTLE’ Nell, Richard, and Jackson’s treatment explained that they wanted to make sure it didn’t hit any major arteries before removing it. “Can you imagine shooting this woman with poison gas?” Webber asked his stepson. In the beginning, the protest had been “beautiful,” he added. “Good problems light you up.” Then, of course, it had all gone terribly wrong. During an operation with Richard, Jackson complained that Mom wasn’t interested in his ideas, only her own. Richard assured him that Catherine might be more receptive next week. How was he so optimistic? Nell was not surprised at what had happened, Webber noted. She had been energized. Of course, Jackson, who had never protested, didn’t understand; he always had to work or study, so he wrote a check instead. “Do you think that’s a way out?” he asked Richard, who replied that he was trying not to judge. After surgery, Nell snapped that her situation could have been much better – Richard could have been the one hit. She wasn’t worried about another scar, she told Webber, Jackson and Cormac. She was covered with them. She had been going to protests since she was 11. She had even attended MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech and vividly remembered the sense of possibilities with which it had left her. That feeling, she added, was worth a few scars.
‘IT HAS GLASS BRICKS AND ONLY TWO WINDOWS… AND GLASS BRICKS’ On the phone from Owen, Maggie found it difficult to focus on her job while Winston texted her about their future living situation. But they pulled it together when a guy named Guy was brought in after being hit with a rubber-covered bullet. Winston told his fiancé that he took the apartment she didn’t want when he was – yes – stopped by the police. “Music off, hat off, hands on the wheel,” Winston said to himself before the cop approached. But when the officer insisted that Winston turn off the phone and unplug Maggie, he and Pierce understandably panicked. (If that didn’t get you in the moment, I don’t know what it would do.) While Guy went on defib (over and over), Maggie handed her phone to Baby Ortiz to keep calling Winston; she wanted the police to know that someone was constantly monitoring him. Before operating Guy, Maggie begged Richard to find Winston – and he would, if he didn’t hear from her soon, honey. Fortunately, Richard had Winston on the phone as soon as Pierce was finished in the OR. But he was anything but okay. The police had let him get out of the car, take off his mask … they searched everything, unpacked his belongings … “I’m not okay,” he admitted. “I just need to breathe a little bit, you know?”
“IS SHE INTENDED?” While checking up on Meredith with Teddy, Bailey told Altman that she wanted Levi to give her her hyperbaric chamber treatment. And he certainly tried to take the opportunity and told Mer to picture herself on a cloud … but not like the kind in heaven. They were soon joined in the room by intern James and to be patient. Mer is “the most influential teacher I’ve ever had,” said Schmitt, “even when she’s asleep.” James hoped he would operate on her one day. “Me too,” Levi sighed. Later on, James’ patient ran into distress and … WTH? Did his bowels erupt? Luckily Levi heard Mer in his head, and he not only managed to stay calm, he channeled his inner Gray, testiness and all.
COVID TOE? THAT’S THE BEST YOU HAVE? ‘ Meanwhile, Bailey and Mabel dealt with a Mr. Anderson who couldn’t care less about a COVID test because “I know it’s a scam.” (Perfect part for Coby Ryan McLaughlin, who was as scuzzy as Shiloh on General Hospital.) Although he tested positive and threw blood clots, he was not even remotely interested in participating in the “scam.” “What what?!?” Bailey said when she apologized. Soon after, she calmed down, returned to the d-bag’s room and warned him that his condition could kill him. “This will not magically disappear,” she stressed. He had zero f-ks to give. Later Bailey explained Teddy Mr. Anderson explains that COVID made them rich. And here they just had to show it was a dead mother and a nervous breakdown! In the midst of laughter, Miranda was called to the parking lot – Anderson had taken off and promptly collapsed.
‘HOW CAN I TREAT SOMEONE WHO IS OFFERED HELP AND CHOOSE TO WALK AWAY’ As the episode drew to a close, Bailey found herself more than frustrated that Mr. Anderson had passed away before accepting treatment. Maggie, after reporting to Owen that Winston was on the road again, picked up a call from Guy’s mother to reassure her that everything was okay. Jackson challenged his mother: why had they never protested? Why didn’t he have any scars? “If our foundation is so good at fighting the good fight,” he asked, “why doesn’t it get any better?” He might not have scars, she shot back, but she had decades of it, thank you very much. He had no idea how many wars she had fought. In the end, she decided he sounded like his father. Would that be the worst? he wondered. End. From. Argument. When Cormac got home, he apologized to his boys, not because he was trying to protect them, but because he made sure they stayed at home. He should have let them protest – this was their country – as long as it was during the day and with him. When Jackson left the hospital, Richard offered him a ride – curfew and all. But Jackson turned him down; he would march home on foot. Once there, he left for a destination eleven hours away. Maybe to see his father? Finally, Winston pulled up the driveway at Mer’s and held Maggie for his life.
So, what did you think of “Sign o ‘the Times”? Touch the comments with your comments / reviews.