Episode 14 of Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Brought the Drama — And I Was Hooked

Grey’s Anatomy is in the middle of a solid run of episodes, and its most recent outing continues the trend. In this week’s episode, “Love in the Ice Age,” some of the show’s best cases this season help make it a success.

Arguably, the episode’s most important patient is Gaby, a young woman with pancreatic cancer who Bailey aims to save by bringing in Dr. Joseph Chase, who is known for his cutting-edge but risky surgical technique. Bailey includes Simone in the case, unaware that Chase was behind her firing from her last program. Elsewhere, Teddy, Owen, Ben, and Jules take on a tricky patient who impaled himself with an ice pick, while Blue, Linc, and Winston try to save a traveler’s leg.

Simone & Bailey’s Case Is The Best Of The Episode

It’s A Key Moment Of Growth For Simone & Shows The Power Of Teamwork

The best cases on Grey’s Anatomy get you invested in the patient’s story while also revealing things about the doctors treating them, and Simone and Bailey’s patient Gaby accomplishes both. Not only are Gaby and her mom instantly endearing, but they also provide a nice parallel with Bailey and Simone, who have formed a mother-daughter-like bond of their own, particularly this season. Even more importantly, the case provides some long-overdue payoff on Simone’s departure from her last program, and Grey’s makes a couple of smart pivots in the process.

Initially, I was convinced Simone would either confront Chase immediately or tell Bailey what happened between them. Instead, Simone seeks quiet reassurance from Jules and smartly sits back to let Chase’s true nature reveal itself to Bailey. In that vein, it’s incredibly gratifying to see Bailey catch on pretty quickly, promptly booting Chase from the OR and calling in Richard and Lucas for support. That Bailey sets aside her pride and relies on her team instead is a really lovely contrast to Chase’s ego-driven approach and does a lot for all the characters involved.

Teddy, Owen, Jules & Ben’s Case Has Similarly High Stakes

However, The Storyline Does A Real Disservice To Teddy

Another of the episode’s cases, with the man who’s convinced he has just met the love of his life, also works pretty well. There’s an effective bit of tension as the four doctors try to get him safely to the OR, as well as some humor as Jules tries to track down the bug-loving girl he believes to be the one.

The case also provides an opportunity to check in with Teddy and Owen after Owen decided to follow through on their decision to open up their marriage, while Teddy did not. Almost immediately, Teddy realizes what happened, and it leads to some pretty unprofessional behavior during the case, where she takes her anger at Owen out on Ben, under the pretense of still being mad at him for ignoring her orders during the heat wave.

After last week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, I thought for sure it would be Owen who came out looking worse, thanks to his emotional connection with Nora, whereas Teddy’s was more physical with Cass. While there’s likely another shoe to drop in the future when Teddy finds out who exactly Owen slept with, I was surprised by how much I liked him in this episode, patiently reminding Teddy that they both made the agreement to open things up together and handling her jealousy with a lot of kindness.

While Teddy’s behavior was tough to watch for a lot of the episode, I thought her more emotional response at the end rang pretty true, as it seemed to come from a place of regret rather than the jealousy that fueled her for most of the hour. It seems like this storyline is far from done, and it will be interesting to see how Teddy reacts to the Nora of it all later in the season.

Blue, Linc & Winston’s Case Isn’t Quite As Meaty But Still Has Some Nice Beats

It Proves What A Great Utility Player Linc Has Become

Linc, Blue, and Winston’s case isn’t quite as engrossing as the other two, but it does provide a nice bit of misdirect, as I, along with Blue, was convinced the patient was merely an adrenaline junkie ignoring medical advice for no reason, only for Linc to share the reveal about his brother. For the most part, though, the case just serves as a great reminder of how valuable a character Linc has become.

Here, he takes two people who sometimes feel a bit on the fringes, Blue and Winston, and makes them both feel included. That he does it with a lot of charm and humor doesn’t hurt, and it helps contribute to what makes the Grey’s Anatomy episode a pretty strong success.