After 14 seasons, a true Grey’s Anatomy fan should know to never say never. People get electrocuted, McDreamies die, there are full-on musical episodes — anything can, and often does, happen. Even, for instance, suddenly caring a great deal for a couple that you were previously ambivalent toward.
I’m talking about Bello and DeLuca, you guys. Bello and DeLuca made me feel things. Sure, halfway through their tearful good-bye, I stopped crying and thought, Am I actually upset over Bello and DeLuca?! But cry I did, nonetheless. Their relationship arc may have been rushed and at times ridiculous this season, but man did it pay off in “Beautiful Dreamer.”
Here’s the situation: One Mr. Agent Fields from Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrives at Grey Sloan looking for Sam Bello.
Bello is a Dreamer. She and her family came to the United States from El Salvador when Sam was 1 and she currently has a valid DACA status. The only way she could get deported is if she breaks the law, which she never, ever, ever does. Still, her first instinct is to run. Something similar happened to a friend of hers: ICE showed up just wanting to look at her papers and two days later she was in Mexico. It’s all very sad, made more so by the fact that just minutes ago we saw Bello stroll into the hospital hand in hand with DeLuca, the two in such a good place, figuring out where they were going to live. Bello is new around here, but she should know that at Grey Sloan, the moment things are great and you are hopeful for the future, something will come along and rock you to your core.
Bailey takes Agent Fields to her office, and tells him that Bello is in the middle of a surgery. Agent Fields will wait. But if anyone can handle a stubborn ICE agent, it is our dear Bailey. She does more than stall — she ends up saving the guy’s life.
Bailey notices that Agent Fields is popping Tums for an upset stomach and she can see his pulse is racing. Since her recent heart attack, she is on high alert for symptoms of heart problems. Although Agent Fields suspects Bailey is just toying with him, he eventually gives in and lets her run some tests. It’s a good thing, too, because she finds blockages. Lots and lots of blockages. They need to operate.
Meanwhile, Meredith is handling Bello. Meredith’s first thought: Bello and DeLuca could get married. She immediately regrets that plan as she watches in hilarious horror as DeLuca and Bello have the most awkward semi-proposal moment of all time. It doesn’t matter anyway, getting married doesn’t necessarily change a Dreamer’s status. Mer’s second idea is to ask Alex about the underground drug ring his dad must have been privy to as a drug user. Tonight’s agenda is very, very serious, but Ellen Pompeo’s comedy skills on this show should not be overlooked.
Alex can’t help Meredith with that, but he does offer up someone who has experience with disappearing — Jo Wilson. Jo comes on a little strong, what with the suggestion for Bello to fake her own death and talk to Jo’s corpse guy. Bello draws the line at taking a dead person’s identity. She worked her butt off to be an excellent doctor and an upstanding member of society — she isn’t going to become someone else.
On second thought, Sam may want that corpse guy’s number. Since Bailey is saving his life and all, Agent Fields softens up a bit. Not enough that he will drop Sam’s case, but enough that he finally tells Bailey what brought them to Grey Sloan. They have video of Bello running a red light. They don’t care that she had just worked a 36-hour shift and hit the gas during a yellow light, not knowing it had changed. Dr. Sam Bello will be immediately deported to El Salvador where she will lose her medical accreditation and knows no one.
DeLuca suggests driving up to Canada, but Meredith stops him. Mer tells Bello that she cannot become what ICE wants her to be — a criminal hiding in the trunk of a car. Moreover, if Sam runs like that, she won’t be able to practice medicine. Even though Meredith’s plans up to this point have been, frankly, terrible, this final one is a decent option as Bello perhaps figures things out. She hands Bello a plane ticket to Zurich. You know what that means, you guys: the Twisted Sisters have saved the day. Apparently, Sam Bello had “applied” to work at Cristina Yang’s cardiothoracic institute “last year” — they have an essay to prove it and everything. Sam Bello is voluntarily leaving the country to continue her study elsewhere. Cristina is expecting her.
Though it is short, her good-bye with DeLuca is emotional. There’s lots of crying and kissing and “I love you”s, oh and did I mention, IT IS RAINING. Even the sky is bummed about these star-crossed lovers. We did not know Sam Bello very long, but she is still granted a crying-in-the-back-of-a-cab sendoff. A true prime-time soap opera honor.
Although, she is going to work with Cristina Yang, so it’s not all bad.
More sad news to discuss: Kimmie isn’t sticking around for some miracle surgery that will never come. She wants to see Broadway before she dies. Alex asks her to wait just a little longer while Amelia talks to Rebecca Froy, another neurosurgeon doing a similar study on the acoustic spectrum. Dr. Froy seems eager to help … until she learns that Grey Sloan is affiliated with the Harper Avery Foundation. Then she hangs up. Jackson tries to smooth things over, but she informs him that she signed a binding legal agreement stating that she cannot talk about what’s in that binding legal agreement. Another hang-up.
When Jackson asks his mother if she knows anything about Froy, she tells him it was just some “dust-up” about research with Harper. Jackson, wanting to help Kimmie, tells the foundation lawyers to just release Froy from whatever agreement, it’s no big deal now.
From the dramatic music and Catherine telling Webber that Jackson “just ruined us all,” I think it is going to be a very big deal. But that is a story for later!
While all of this is going down, Kimmie and her grandmother get discharged from the hospital and leave without seeing Alex. When Jo tells her fiancé that Kimmie is gone (she’ll be back, right?), he does not take it well. There is one sweet moment to come out of all of this: Jo tells Alex that after seeing how much he cared for Kimmie, she cannot wait to have kids with him. (Don’t get me started on seeing Alex Karev become a father — there are not enough tissues in the world.)
Even sweeter, Jo tells Alex that she’d like to take his last name when they get married. She’s never had the last name of someone who loves her. And now I’m crying over Alex and Jo. What is this world?
Laughter Is the Best Medicine, Except for Real Medicine
• EMT and flash mob enthusiast Matthew Taylor arrives at the hospital with his sick baby. Baby Ruby ends up being fine thanks to April, who makes some suggestions as to methods of care from afar. Matthew and April end up sharing a quiet moment of prayer in the chapel. I do hope this moment was more of a “closure” thing and not a “let’s get together” thing, because, no thanks.
• Owen is inspired by single father Matthew Taylor, and by the end of the episode, he is filling out paperwork to become a foster parent.
• With Matthew in the hospital, the ghost of his wife haunts Arizona. She goes overboard with one of her patients, preparing for possible postpartum death by building a cart with any and all tools she would need to save a dying mother’s life. It ends up coming in handy and being the answer to AZ and Carina’s mother mortality research project. AZ and Carina celebrate with a hot makeout sesh and a confirmation that they are both all-in with this relationship.
• More DeLuca sibling moments, please! Those two have a great dynamic.
• Oh, Maggie is still mad at Jackson for not telling her about April kissing him, but then when she hears abou Bello and DeLuca, Maggie and Jackson finally sleep together. So that relationship is progressing.
• “You know everyone’s calling it the Tail-blazer, right?”
Sob Scale: 6/10
Watching Richard Webber weep over the body of his dead sponsor will be a tough one to get over. RIP, Ollie. Here’s hoping Richard will be okay without her.