The following contains spoilers from Grey's Anatomy, Season 20, Episode 3, "Walk on the Ocean," which aired Thursday, March 28 on ABC.
Amelia Shepherd and Meredith Grey are working hard to get funding for their Alzheimer's research when "Walk on the Ocean" begins. In a conference room in Seattle, Amelia is presenting new research that suggests that Alzheimer's, like Parkinson's, may be connected to changes in the gut's microbiome. The group seemed interested and even wanted to make sure they met Meredith before suggesting supporting the research to their board, but things fell apart as soon as they asked if they should set a meeting with Dr. Catherine Fox to discuss the next steps. Catherine can't know Meredith is doing this research, or she'll lose her job with the Fox Foundation.
At Grey-Sloan Memorial, Mika Yasuda comes barreling into the parking lot in her van, and Lucas Adams comes running up behind her, complaining that she'd nearly hit him on her way in. Their banter is cut off when Simone Griffith comes around the side of the van -- she and Adams are still in an awkward place after she tried to break up with him, and he accused her of being selfish at the end of Season 20, Episode 2, "Keep the Family Close." After Griffith heads inside, Yasuda calls a momentary truce. She's still mad at Adams for the interns being banned from the OR, but she knows he just got dumped and wants to know if he's okay. Adams tells her that he didn't get dumped and heads into the hospital as Yasuda yells, "You're making it very hard to be Team Skywalker!"
Meredith and Amelia are also pulling into the parking lot, and Meredith says she's going to wait in the car during future funding meetings. "Everyone knows my affiliation with Catherine and somebody will talk," she says, before telling Amelia she'll be making more calls from the lab before her flight leaves. Amelia sees a parking spot and pulls around a car with its turn single on and into the spot. Meredith thinks that the person in the car is waiting, but Amelia sees her on the phone. Seconds later, the woman driving the car honks at Amelia and tells her she has been waiting for the spot. "You were on your phone," Amelia says, not at all sorry.
Inside, Richard Webber, Winston Ndugu, and Miranda Bailey are updating the surgical board. Bailey gives Ndugu the opportunity to say whatever he wants about the way she's handling the interns. "Maybe get all that negativity out now instead of sprinkling it throughout my day like you've been doing," she says. Ndugu promises her there is no negativity today as he is headed to Chicago for a vacation with Maggie Pierce, his wife, who no longer lives in Seattle. He does have an idea about the interns he'll discuss with her when he gets back, though.
Levi Schmitt, the co-Chief Resident, is sending the interns off to their assignments for the day. Jules Millin and Griffith head down to the pit while Benson Kwan is with Monica Beltran, the new Peds attending. Yasuda gives Kwan a hard time about "babysitting," but Kwan doesn't care. Beltran was on the team that pioneered single port surgery, so he's excited. Yasuda and Adams are headed to the ICU together. Yasuda offers to trade Millin so that each of them can potentially get the procedures done, but they still need to fill out their procedure logs, but Schmitt stops them. "No trading, negotiating, or complaining," Schmitt says. "Unless one of you picked up a vanilla latte on the way?" Sorry, Schmitt, they did not.
As the interns head to their respective departments, Schmitt spots a ghost from the past. Nico Kim, Schmitt's ex, who used to be an orthopedic surgeon at Grey-Sloan and took a job as the team doctor for the Seattle Mariners, is being greeted by Jo Wilson. Schmitt is shocked to see him.
Up in Peds, Kwan is with a young girl and her mother when Shepherd walks in, followed immediately by Beltran -- who happens to be the woman Shepherd stole a parking spot from. The tension is there immediately, though they do their best to hide it from the patient and her mother. Malan, eight years old, has congenital hydrocephalus and has had multiple shunts in her brain to control the build-up of fluid. Her mother, Maria-Flor, brought her in because "Malan's not acting like herself." Kwan clearly doesn't take the mother's concern very seriously, and Beltran assumes that Shepherd won't either, immediately cutting her off when she says she doesn't see anything wrong with Malan. "But that doesn't mean anything," Beltran says, and Shepherd shakes her head. "Well, it means I wasn't finished with my sentence. Maria-Flor, I'd like to take her for some scans." Maria-Flor is worried because the four previous shunts malfunctioned, and she doesn't want Malan to have another surgery. Shepherd assures her that they're going to take it one step at a time and asks Kwan to get Malan set up in radiology.
Down in the pit, a big trauma is arriving. Owen Hunt says that he needs everyone, including Ndugu, even if he can only stay for a couple of hours. The trauma arriving is serious, but it's also physically big. Nate Ardilla, 34, is pinned inside his watercraft, which was hit by a container ship. The jaws of life are on their way to get Nate out of the "self-propelled floating bubble," which he made himself, but Hunt and Ndugu have to keep him stable until then.
In the ICU, Yasuda and Adams are being given their assignment from Bailey. She wants them to spend the day monitoring Dorian Cardenas, the gunshot victim from "Keep the Family Close," as she'll be spending the day in the OR. She tells them what to watch for and to only page her if certain things are happening. Adams seems annoyed that they'll be spending the day monitoring one guy and pushes back, reminding her that they're also supposed to be doing procedures for their procedure log. Yasuda, who always seems to be one step ahead of the other interns, cuts him off and tells Bailey they are good, hitting Adams in the upper arm as Bailey leaves. "Don't be a smartass to the person who holds all the cards!" she says.
Back outside, Nate tells everyone that he had hoped to make it this time, as it was his fourth try. Ndugu asks if he was trying to get to Bainbridge Island, but no, he was headed for Hong Kong. He's trying to outdo a man named Rich Doyle, the tech billionaire who set a solo record rowing from San Francisco to Hawai'i -- and is also the ex-boyfriend of Nate's wife. He tells the doctors that his wife would say it's a non-issue, but he knows she thinks about Rich. As Atticus "Link" Lincoln, Hunt, and Ndugu share thoughts about what he might have injured and what will need to happen first, Nate starts to panic and tries to get out. Hunt is able to keep him from moving, but he's still scared. He asks if someone can call his wife.
On the other side of the hospital, Wilson is walking through the ambulance bay when Schmitt comes up behind her, asking if she hates him. She wonders why he would ask and he says that she should alert him when certain people are coming in to the hospital. She thinks he's upset because he hasn't gotten to see the guy in his watercraft, but then realizes he might not be and asks him what he's talking about. "Nico," he says, to which she replies, "Who?" He tells her again, though she was likely trying to get out of answering. She says she can't tell him, and he asks if it's about him, but she can't tell him anything because of HIPAA. That's when Schmitt realizes that Wilson is wearing black scrubs. "Why does Nico need an OB-GYN, Jo?!" Wilson tells him goodbye and walks onto the elevator. Schmitt is panicking.
Just beyond the coffee cart outside, Meredith runs into Teddy as they're both walking into the hospital. Teddy is there for physical therapy after her heart surgery and is frustrated that no one will tell her anything while she's recovering. Ndugu has locked her out of her charts, Hunt is keeping things about their kids from her, and Webber won't let her do any admin. She invites Meredith to come to physical therapy with her so that they can catch up, and Meredith isn't going to go until she sees Catherine Fox standing on the stairs. Not wanting to run into her boss, Meredith joins Teddy on the elevator.
While Malan is being scanned, Kwan is asking Beltran and Shepherd about where they were before Grey Sloan and shares some of his own educational background, which he doesn't get a great response to. Then Malan's scans are back, and Shepherd says they'll have to replace the shunt. Beltran reminds her that it's not working because Malan is an active kid who is still growing, but Shepherd says it's the standard of care and that they'll just have to talk to the mom about Malan's physical activity. Beltran suggests an endoscopic ventriculostomy, which Shepherd also turns down for being near impossible in Malan's brain. Beltran tells her to take a minute to think about it, and when Shepherd counters with the list of things on her plate, Beltran throws back her own list, which is all on kids. Beltran is sure Shepherd can look into another option, and she'll pass that information on to Malan's mom. Shepherd is annoyed, but she'll do it. She's not going to leave the kid hanging.
In the ER, Millin and Griffith are gathering supplies to take outside while Griffith is calling Nate's wife and leaving her a message. While they collect things, Millin tries to strike up a conversation with Griffith about Adams, and Griffith counters by asking about Kwan, so they both stop asking questions. And up in the ICU, Yasuda and Adams are sitting with Dorian. Yasuda asks Adams about his family, and he tells her they don't have to talk. She pushes a little more, and Adams stands up to leave. Yasuda reminds him about the explicit instructions Bailey gave them, and he says that they're also supposed to be doing "about a zillion procedures if we ever want to set foot in the OR again," so he's going to go do that. Yasuda tells him that she's not leaving Dorian. "Well, I'm not letting Kwan get back in the OR before I do," Adams says, opening the door to Dorian's room. "So, uh, page me if he codes."
Outside, Hunt asks Ndugu if he needs to head to the airport, but after looking at his phone, Ndugu would rather just get the guy out. Hunt gets ready to move the bar off of Nate, who stops them and asks them to explain what will happen. Hunt tells him he's not totally sure but that their whole team is there to help. Then he asks, "What if I die?" He begins another question, "What if I die without ever getting...," but Ndugu cuts him off. "You're never getting to Hong Kong in a bubble," Ndugu snaps. "All you succeeded in doing is taking away resources from the Coast Guard when they rescued you. Not to mention the paramedics. Not everyone gets to go where they want to go." Something is clearly up with Ndugu, who looks only slightly apologetic when Nate tells him that he was going to say "without ever getting to see my wife again." She's not there, but Hunt says they can wait a few minutes and tells Griffith to try her again.
Kwan is at a computer, working on a chart, when Maria-Flor comes out of Malan's room to ask for headphones because the hospital noises bother Malan. She says that the radiology department sometimes has the ones that block out the noise, but Kwan quickly dismisses her and tells her that they don't loan them out. Beltran is behind him and jumps in immediately, assuring Maria-Flor that they can find them. When Maria-Flor goes back into Malan's room, Kwan tries to reiterate that Radiology doesn't loan them out, and when Beltran tells him to ask nicely, he tells her that won't help. "That woman's daughter is going through something terrifying. If she thinks headphones will help, then get her headphones," Beltran says before asking him to get an update from Shepherd.
Shepherd hasn't yet figured out what they're going to do when she is found by Webber, who asks what is bothering her. Shepherd begins talking about Beltran, and Webber pushes back. "Are you irritated with the suggestion or with the suggester?" he asks, noting that Beltran is known for being a boundary pusherkind of like Shepherd herself.
In the hospital waiting area, Schmitt is stopped by Nico, who wants to talk to him. They are interrupted by Jason, Nico's partner, who has brought back snacks from the vending machine. The snacks aren't for Nico, though; they're for their surrogate, who is giving them a son. Schmitt introduces himself, expecting some kind of recognition to cross Jason's face, but there is none. Nico obviously hasn't talked about him. To make matters worse, as they head back to their surrogate, Jason calls him Levon.
Teddy and Meredith are in the physical therapy room, and Teddy is telling Meredith about how things are going at home. Hunt's mother is helpful, sort of, but not in the way Teddy would like. Meredith reminds her about what Teddy said to Meredith during COVID, that she should get some rest and ask for help when she needs it. Teddy asks about Boston, but before Meredith can answer, something happens to Teddy's foot, and she falls, first onto the treadmill and then the floor.
Everyone outside is getting ready to transport Nate. They likely won't have much time to get him to the OR, so Link and some other members of the team are already scrubbing in. Nate's wife still hasn't arrived, but they need to take care of him, so Griffith offers to be the keeper of whatever he wants to say to his wife. "I love her. That's all that matters," Nate says. "I love her so much. Everything I do is for her. All of this was for her. I know she married me and not Rich, but I want her to be proud of me. Tell her that I know she has doubts, and I don't want her to spend another second of her life questioning her choosing me. Tell her that I'll never give up trying to do right by her."
The moment the metal is pulled away from Nate, he begins bleeding out. Hunt says they'll need to intubate, and they'll need a clear path to the OR, but Ndugu is sure he won't make it to the OR. He wants to slow the bleeding first, buying them time to transport him. Hunt begins to intubate as Ndugu gets gloved up and begins working on the wound.
Up in the NICU, Schmitt is sharing his frustration that Jason didn't know him with Wilson. She asks him if he wants to get back together with Nico, and Schmitt tells her that he isn't sure he knows Nico anymore because he had never talked about kids when they were together, and now he's having a baby with this guy. Schmitt tells Wilson that he doesn't want to get back together, and she says that he's just upset because Nico's life has moved further along than his. Schmitt pushes back, but Wilson reminds him that he has talked about dating and talked about applying to Peds but has not actually done either of those things. Wilson tells him that if he wants to win, he has to get in the game.
Shepherd has figured out what to do for Malan, and is glad when Beltran and Kwan finally join her to talk about it, even though they were waiting on her. Beltran asks Kwan a question about why part of Malan's brain is a problem for the procedure they want to do, and when he starts talking about it like a doctor, she makes him start over and answer like he's talking to a parent. Shepherd tells th
em that she hasn't found an alternative route, but she thinks they can combine the computer system they're looking at with "the intraoperative imaging technology that we use for mapping brain tumors" for ultra precision in the OR. She herself can't build the technology, but Grey-Sloan's tech team already has it working and Shepherd is willing to try if the Mom is okay with it. Shepherd asks Beltran what she's thinking, and Beltran says, "I'm thinking you're much more effective when you take your time."
On the OR floor, Millin is clearing the hallways as Hunt, Ndugu, and Griffith rush Nate to the OR. Hunt sends Griffith to find Nate's wife. There's no time for Ndugu to scrub, so he tells one of the nurses to gown and glove him so they can begin surgery. As Millin and Griffith are shut out of the OR, Griffith tries calling his wife again.
In the ICU, Yasuda is reading out loud to Dorian when the machines start beeping. At first, it's just one, so she thinks it's just a twisted chord, but then more of them start, so she calls for help.
Meredith is helping Teddy to a patient room because she sprained her ankle on the treadmill, and, much to Meredith's dismay, Catherine Fox pops into the room. When she asks if Meredith is there for a consult, Meredith chokes and Teddy steps in, saying that she asked Meredith for a second opinion on a patient and then asks Meredith about the "thing with the house." Meredith says something about insurance issues, and Catherine buys it, telling Meredith that it's nice to have her there and that she can't wait for the update on Meredith's research in the next month. Meredith tells Teddy that her ankle needs to be X-rayed and Teddy tells her that she wants to hear why Meredith is actually in Seattle.
While Griffith and Millin are watching Ndugu and Hunt perform surgery on Nate, Adams walks in. The tension is thick, right up until Adams gets a page. Millin tells Griffith, who told her that she and Adams were "just roommates," that she doesn't have that much tension with her roommate, to which Griffith responds, "Your roommate is a hundred."
Nico finds Schmitt, and they talk about Nico's surrogate. Schmitt asks if they've picked a name, and Nico jokes that it's "Levon" before apologizing for Jason calling Schmitt "Levon." They talk about how Nico and Jason met, and Nico reveals that Jason was already interviewing surrogates when they started dating. He tells Schmitt that he freaked out at first but eventually realized that it was scarier to consider life without Jason than life with a kid, and Schmitt tells him that he's happy for him.
While Meredith wraps Teddy's ankle, she and Teddy talk about Meredith's secret research with Amelia. Meredith reveals that it's hard to do secret research because, as soon as research gets funded, people want to talk about it, and she can't. Teddy tells her that it's bold and exciting and that she wouldn't talk about it -- and then offers her money from Grey-Sloan's discretionary fund to help them get started. Meredith asks about Catherine since Grey-Sloan is a Fox Foundation hospital, and Teddy tells her that she and Amelia just have to get far enough that Catherine can't deny the value of the research and that she's willing to take the risk on them.
Shepherd and Beltran get ready to start surgery, and when Kwan asks to observe, Beltran tells him that he needs to sit with Malan's mother. Shepherd says that it's a rare surgery, so maybe they should let him watch, but Beltran doesn't want him to, and he's on her service.
In Dorian's room, Yasuda is trying to figure out what is wrong when Adams races in. Yasuda begins talking through it with him and pretty quickly determines that it's Abdominal Compartment Syndrome and races to get a cut-down tray. Shortly after she leaves, Bailey shows up. Adams repeats what Yasuda said to him, and Bailey says they need to open him up right there instead of getting an OR. Yasuda returns with the cut-down tray and tries to explain where she was, but Bailey doesn't let her and gives Adams the opportunity to gown and glove. He looks like he's unsure about what to do for a moment, but he takes the gown and gloves anyway, and Yasuda is devastated.
While Bailey and Adams are working on Dorian, Nate starts to bleed out in the OR, and Shepherd and Beltran begin their procedure. Kwan is in the chapel with Malan's mother, who is praying for her daughter.
Ndugu, Hunt, and Link are unable to save Nate. Shepherd and Beltran go to the chapel to tell Malan's mother that the procedure went well. Kwan escorts her to Malan, but not before she tells Shepherd and Beltran that they make a great team. After the mother leaves, Shepherd says, "That was pretty great," and turns to talk to Beltran, only to find that she has already left the chapel.
Nate's wife has arrived in the waiting room, and Hunt, Ndugu, and Griffith have to tell her that Nate didn't make it out of surgery. She tells them they must be wrong because "he always comes home." She believes that it's her fault because she didn't convince him that all that mattered was them, that Rich Doyle didn't matter. Griffith kneels down next to her. "He knew," Griffith says. "He knew that you loved him. He told me. He said the floating to Hong Kong and the bubble -- none of that was about you. He wanted to prove to himself he could do it. And he told me, if he didn't make it, to tell you that he loved you so much. It's no one's fault. He loved you. You loved him. That's what matters." Ndugu looks on as Griffith speaks to the wife, his eyes beginning to tear up.
In Peds, Kwan brings progress notes back to Beltran, who tells him that she needs another post-op check on a specific patient. He says okay, and then he tells her that he went to Yale for almost a full year before his mom got sick. He moved home to take care of her and then ended up at different schools. He knows he doesn't have a fancy pedigree, but he's a quick study and capable of more than hand-holding a patient's mom. Beltran tells him that being assigned to sit with Malan's mother wasn't punitive because of where he was educated but because of how he interacted with Malan's mother throughout the day. In Peds, patients and their families matter.
Outside the hospital, as the city hauls Nate's watercraft away, Hunt stops to talk to Ndugu. Ndugu finally admits that Maggie canceled on him for Chicago, and he took it out on a patient. It isn't the first time she has canceled on him recently, and he's unsure when to stop trying. Hunt asks him to think about why he's trying, which might tell him what he needs to know. Before the end of the episode, Ndugu takes off his ring.
In the intern locker room, Yasuda finally yells at Adams for taking the ex-lap. It was her diagnosis. Adams asks if there is a rule that the person who finds the diagnosis does the procedure, and Kwan tells him no, but Yasuda tells him to shut up. She reminds him that she was trying to be a good friend to him, and he lied to Bailey, to which he replies that he didn't say anything. She tells him that was the point. He could have told Bailey where she was or that she had stayed with Dorian all day while he had been looking for procedures. Griffith comes to his defense and tells Yasuda to give him a chance to explain, but Yasuda isn't having it. She's done. It's his fault they can't be in the OR, and Yasuda is shocked Griffith is defending him.
"Stop. Just stop," Griffith says, standing up. "I'm tired of the blame and the finger pointing. It is all our faults. I was there, too. So were you. Kwan didn't do us any favors. We all screwed up. There's nothing we can do except put i
t behind us and move on. We are all trying. Why can't you?" Griffith leaves, and Yasuda tells Adams that she doesn't want to be his friend anymore and that he can find another way home. Adams storms out of the locker room, and Kwan, Millin, and Yasuda agree to go for a drink.
Elsewhere, Schmitt stops Beltran to introduce himself and talk to her about Peds. Yasuda is at the bar, and Millin finds herself watching Kwan flirt with another woman. Meredith finds Amelia in the lab, and Amelia wants to keep going on research. Meredith tells her about the money from Teddy.
At the intern house, Griffith tries to talk to Adams. When she knocks on his door, there is no response, even though the light is on, so she opens the door. The room has been cleared out. Adams is gone.
Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.
A drama centered on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors.
Read more:
Grey's Anatomy: Season 20, Episode 3, "Walk on the Ocean," Recap & Spoilers - CBR - Comic Book Resources
