On Thursday night, a new episode of Grey’s Anatomy aired, featuring the return of Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh). The last time I reviewed a Grey’s episode was Addison’s second appearance from season 18, so it’s been a while. Addison comes back to help Dr. Bailey recruit the new surgical interns to teach sex ed to teenagers. Meanwhile, Nick discovers Zola is incredibly gifted. Since I have a lot of thoughts (as per usual), I’m going straight into my thoughts. So, if you missed the episode, go watch it on Hulu, ABC, or wherever else you can find it before reading this because it contains major spoilers.
Zola and Nick
After her panic attack from last week’s episode, we learn that Zola’s actually incredibly gifted. When Nick finds her wandering the halls, he takes her to the skills lab where she eventually plays with some of Kai’s cognitive puzzles. It wasn’t that surprising that Zola’s a genius. They definitely hinted before that she was a smart kid. She’s not biologically a Shepherd or Grey, but they made it clear early on that she was already interested in medicine and surgery.
However, the way everyone discovered all of this came about the wrong way. After Nick found Zola in the hallway, he should’ve immediately called Meredith. He knew Zola was supposed to stay in her office and do her schoolwork, but instead, he let her play around in the skills lab. And even after that, everyone found out about Zola before her own mother did. And Meredith never gave her consent for Kai and Amelia to test her. Zola may have accidentally aced the first puzzle, but they should’ve stopped it there before moving forward.
Sex Ed Class
Now that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, this episode addressed a lot of the concerns around this decision. Dr. Bailey decides sex ed classes and “viral” videos are the way to go. And she gets Addison and Jo’s help to do so. Side note: as someone that works in marketing, hearing someone say their plan is to create a viral video makes me cringe. Bailey brings in some kids from her son’s high school class and gets Nick to lend her the surgical interns for the day.
Unfortunately, the interns bore the kids. That is, until they’re left to their own devices when Bailey and Jo discover a large ovarian cyst and ovarian contortion. While Bailey, Addison, and Jo are in surgery, the interns teach the students what they really want to know about sex. To fit with this theme, Addison, and later Levi, talk to a pregnant teenage girl through a medical abortion. After she expressed that she wanted one, of course. And I have never been more proud of my state, by the way. More than that, I loved that they explained the entire process because I think most people don’t know how it actually works.
Lucas and Simone
Right before the sex ed lessons start, Addison spots Lucas from across the room and immediately recognizes him. She goes up to him and almost calls him, “Shepherd” (because he is one), but he interrupts her before she finishes. He clearly doesn’t want anyone to know he’s a Shepherd. So he pretends he’s never met her, even though she’s his Aunt Addie. But Simone’s around and catches the weird interaction. By the end of the episode, she figures it out. And all she had to do was look him up. But she promises to keep his secret if he keeps hers, which is that her grandma is sick.
They don’t outright say what condition she has, but it’s assumed she has Alzheimer’s as she doesn’t remember that her daughter (Simone’s mother) died years ago. When Meredith finds them later, she helps Simone, and it just shows how much Meredith’s grown. I saw online somewhere that Jules and Blue (two of the new interns) are like Alex and Izzie. And while I’m not sure if that’s true, I will say that Lucas and Simone are definitely supposed to be like the new Derek and Meredith, in a way. Lucas is literally a Shepherd, even though he’s more like Amelia. And Simone’s dealing with her sick grandmother is reminiscent of when Meredith took care of Ellis. But I don’t know, maybe that’s a stretch.
Final Thoughts
First off, E.R. Fightmaster (Kai) and Kate Walsh were in the same episode together but they never interacted. On that note, Addison and Amelia weren’t together in this episode, either. All I want is for Amelia to introduce Kai as her partner. And for Addison to love them the way I know she will. Speaking of Amelia, why has Addison not met Scout yet? I assume at this point she has, but I’d like to see her with the baby on screen. Especially after the traumatic birth experience Amelia had in Private Practice. And I still want an update on everyone in LA. There was a scene where Addison was on the phone with whom we (i.e. us fans on Twitter) assume is Jake. We don’t hear much of the conversation other than Addison apologizing for forgetting something.
Regardless, it doesn’t paint a pleasant picture of their marriage. And the fact that the other person seemingly hung up before she said “I love you” didn’t help either. Lastly, I need there to be another scene of Addison and Lucas. Addison clearly still thinks fondly of him, so I can only imagine she and his mom (odds are it’s Nancy) are still friendly. I have to admit that this episode was a pretty good episode. And I’m glad it was because I was disappointed in the last two episodes Addison was in. But there are still things I want to see before Addison leaves the show again. And since Kate Walsh is a recurring character this season, I’m hoping we’ll get more than three episodes this time.