Maggie Returns, Reveals Pregnancy; Doctor Leaves

SPOILER ALERT: The story includes details about Episode 2202 (450 overall) of ABC‘s Grey’s Anatomy.

In Grey’s Anatomy‘s milestone 450th episode, the venerable ABC medical drama paid homage to its past, kicking off the episode with a popular recurring metaphor — the carousel from Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) childhood and her mom’s famous line “The carousel never stops turning, you can’t get off.” The line was delivered by Kate Burton, reprising her role as the late Ellis Grey who appeared to Meredith in an unsettling dream.

Ellis was one of two Grey women to visit Meredith in the episode. Meredith’s sister Maggie (former series regular Kelly McCreary) flew in from Chicago as the two teamed up to help Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) in her struggle to cope with the grief and guilt over the explosion at Grey Sloan caused by the mother of one of her patients. The blast left several people dead, including Amelia’s friend, Dr. Monica Beltran (Natalie Morales), and almost killed the father of Amelia’s child, Link (Chris Carmack), with the patient in the case locked in her body with a dire prognosis.

Amelia seemed to improve a bit as the episode progressed as she finally got out of bed and opened up to Meredith and Maggie but in the end, she took a sabbatical from Grey Sloan to go “wherever my people are.”

It will lead to a lengthy break for series regular Scorsone from the show. Read our story to find out how long Amelia will be absent and when fans can expect her back.

Maggie had big news — she is pregnant with her first child conceived with donor sperm. She hadn’t shared the news yet with Winston whose love life has been a mess since the two split.

After close encounters with Jules (Adelaide Kane) last season and their closet embrace in the Season 22 premiere, Winston (Anthony Hill), somewhat inexplicably, found himself paired with her again. Both vowed to forget what happened in the closet while treating a patient as Jules also has been dealing with the emotional impact of Monica’s death. From struggling to open her locker to lashing out on the new interns to freezing in the OR while assisting Winston, she clearly is not OK despite repeatedly claiming to be. To help her process her grief, Jules led the second-year interns in a candle-lighting ceremony at the end of the episode.

Lucas (Niko Terho), reeling from Simone’s (Alexis Floyd) confession in the premiere that she had slept with someone, kept arguing with her as she used the famous Friends “we were on a break” defense. His hostility toward her ultimately led to him being kicked out of the OR by Bailey (Chandra Wilson). Lucas and Simone had been tasked with holding and then removing a protruding piece of a forklift metal prong impaled in a construction worker’s abdomen. Stepping in for Lucas was none other than Wes (Trevor Jackson), the guy Simone had slept with.

True to his overconfidence-bordering-on-arrogance nature, new intern Wes earlier in the episode did not follow instructions and attended to patients without permission. Things got dicey but he managed to save a man, impressing Bailey enough to get an OR invite over Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.).

Link (Chris Carmack) spent the episode trying to come to grips with the prospect of a long and arduous recovery following his dire injury, even snapping at Jo (Camilla Luddington). Owen (Kevin McKidd) came to the rescue, letting Link vent and get his anger out on him.

Teddy (Kim Raver) and Owen are not closer to reconciliation, with Owen moving into what looked like the old Derek trailer he once lived in. Teddy realized she was missing the OR too much and asked Richard (James Pickens Jr.) to step back into the Chief of Surgery role so she can focus on being a doctor, not administrator. He happily obliged.

Ben (Jason George) is adjusting well to his reinstatement in the residency program. He took lead in the rescue of the worker impaled by the forklift, even going against his wife and boss Bailey on treatment options. Teddy sided with him, the patient lived, and Bailey made him Chief Resident.

The filming of the episode, written by Grey’s veteran Zoanne Clack and directed by Kevin McKidd, featured an on-set celebration of the Episode 450 milestone.