As the late, great Dr. Mark Sloan once said, “Say it loud and go from there.” Throughout “Ready to Run,” I couldn’t stop thinking about Mark and his philosophy on going for it when it comes to love and figuring out the rest at a later date. That philosophy is all over this episode. Handsome bag of bones Sam Sutton may think he’s cute with the “You don’t get anywhere if you don’t ask” advice he passes on to Mika, and Lucas has a whole “Listen to your gut” situation going on, but I’m sorry, neither of them have anything on “Say it loud and go from there.” Mark Sloan supremacy forever.
Still, Mark would be proud, wouldn’t he? I mean, look at Sam. This man, basically a living mummy, keeps the full-court press of flirtation going with Jo, and lo and behold, Jo starts to reciprocate. What starts out with Sam having Jo paged to come hang out with him and scratch various itches (and I mean that literally!), ends with Jo showing up of her own volition, performing procedures to keep Sam’s leg viable, and forgoing hanging out with Link to chat with Sam. Sam wasn’t afraid to go after what he wanted. Now, Link, on the other hand — he could use a visit from the ghost of Mark Sloan. Would he be confused because he never once met this man? Sure, but also, he’d be grateful when Ghost Mark knocks some sense into him and pushes him to just tell Jo how he feels. Seriously, dude. It is time. Even Mika becomes brave enough to do it.
Mika, who has sworn off making the first move after a promposal gone wrong (please show us the footage), hears Sam out and, eventually, tracks down Helm at Joe’s and tells her that she really likes her and wants her to be her plus one to Simone’s wedding. Helm feels the same way, which is great, but it’s complicated: Helm has just accepted the position of co-chief resident at Grey Sloan and will soon become Mika’s boss. This is where the whole “and go from there” portion of the Sloan Method comes into play: Helm’s new gig doesn’t technically start until after the wedding, so why not? There are actually lots of reasons why not, but who cares? Things will probably get very complicated very quickly, but for now, Mika and Helm have told each other how they feel and they’re going on a date. This is great! Maybe? We’ll see.
Even more complicated is our old friend Dr. Brooding’s situation. Lucas Adams can brood with the best of them, baby! I wouldn’t consider his Uncle Derek a brooder, but he did have his moments. Remember when he went out into the woods to mope and hit engagement rings with baseball bats? I can see the resemblance in those moments. What with his unofficial ADHD diagnosis and the impending nuptials of the woman he so clearly is in love with hurtling toward him, Lucas has a lot of things to angst over these days. Perhaps that’s why he is so keen to get a professional win. I mean, he probably also wants to save lives, but he needs this on a personal level, too! Enter Ray Sanchez. Ray is a 29-year-old with an abdominal aortic aneurysm — or a triple A — and he has repeatedly put off the surgery Teddy thinks is necessary to keep him alive. That aneurysm could burst at any moment and if that happens when he isn’t in an OR, he’s DOA.
Ray literally makes a run for it right before he’s supposed to have surgery. Teddy resigns herself to the fact that there’s nothing they can do if he won’t consent, but Lucas doesn’t want to give up on the guy so fast. Ray’s an illustrator, so Lucas tries to draw the surgery for him to help him feel more comfortable with it. Ray explains that for most of his life, he’s had this gut feeling that he won’t make it past 30. He just knows he’s going to die. Lucas tries to explain that while the surgery might seem scary, it would be much, much worse for something to go wrong when Ray isn’t surrounded by a bunch of doctors. The extra chat works and Ray consents. Unfortunately, while Ray’s getting his pre-op CT scan, the aneurysm bursts. Teddy, Lucas, Simone, and Nick all rush into the room and open him up right on the CT table, but there’s nothing they can do. There is so much blood. I’m sorry, but you’re just not coming back from that. Everyone is upset and angry, but Lucas is especially gutted by the loss.
Later, Nick watches as Lucas makes that horrific call to Ray’s mother to inform her of what happened. Lucas is still reeling. Nick tries to assure him that he did everything he could — he fought for Ray. It’s very moving! So again I have to point out how devastating it would be to lose this mentorship if, in next week’s finale, Nick and Meredith patch things up. I want her to be happy, but I also want me to be happy!
The aspect of Ray’s case that seems to be needling Lucas the most is the idea that Ray had this gut feeling that just wouldn’t go away. Lucas can’t help but think about how, for his entire life, he had a gut feeling that he was different somehow — he wasn’t lazy or full of missed potential or devastatingly disappointing like his family apparently made him feel. He’s angry about it. With a family full of doctors, how could everyone miss all the signs of his ADHD? Nick attempts to comfort him, but what can he really do? Well, for one, Nick could win that Catherine Fox Award he’s up for for his xenotransplantation work — against Maggie and Winston and their partial heart transplant! — although that’s not really up to him. Still, Lucas feels like a failure, and to see someone also with ADHD win a surgical innovation award would be inspiring. Or at least a little healing. Up to this point, Nick was adamant that he wouldn’t be traveling to Boston for the big awards ceremony. He claims it is because he doesn’t believe in ranking surgical innovation and doesn’t want to take time away from work to go to Boston, but we all know his hesitancy is mostly because he doesn’t want to face Meredith “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you, you’re breaking up” Grey. After talking to Lucas, however, he decides to go. I’m sorry to belabor the point, but their relationship is adorable and this show needs some strong mentorship situations at the moment. Who will guide these baby interns if not for Nick Marsh?!
After that moment of introspection with Nick, Lucas decides he needs to listen to his gut more often. And so he heads home to find Simone prepping some favors for her wedding this coming weekend. He knows it’s now or never, baby. He tells her about his ADHD and how sometimes, because of it, he gets a thought stuck in his head and overthinks it, going through every possible consequence of actually saying or doing it. But Lucas isn’t overthinking things anymore: He tells Simone that she shouldn’t get married. Trey doesn’t see her, at least not who she is today. “But I see you,” he tells her, not mincing words, “and I love every single thing I see.” In extremely related news, I’m sweating. Lucas Adams is the romantic hero Grey’s Anatomy has needed! How swoony to say that and just walk away? Simone is left alone in the kitchen and silent tears fall down her face — you know she knows he’s right! Lucas’s family may think he’s lazy, but damn, this man is an overachiever. One season on Grey’s Anatomy and he’s already romantically thwarting a wedding? Now, that’s a “Say it loud and go from there” moment if there ever was one.
The OR Board
• Max has some setbacks in her recovery and it makes clear just how close she and Jules are. Max is basically the mother Jules never had, and she cares for her deeply. Kwan sees all of this and tries to be there for Jules — he tells her he understands the pain, anger, and grief she must be feeling watching this happen to someone she loves — but Jules is still keeping her walls up. Only when Kwan leaves her alone in the on-call room does Jules finally break down.
• That’s right, friends, not only will next week’s Catherine Fox Awards Ceremony bring us a long-awaited reunion between Meredith and Nick, but Winston and Maggie will come face-to-face for the first time since she left for Chicago, since she is obviously also nominated for the partial heart transplant. Who knew surgical innovation awards were so dramatic?
• Winston is still giving Amelia the silent treatment, and it is so fucking delicious, I can barely stand it.
• The bit with Owen and Amelia complaining that they do a ton of great work and never get nominated for anything, until Bailey swoops in to list a ton of her professional greatest hits and prove that if anyone should be complaining about a lack of recognition it’s her, is great. And Bailey isn’t wrong: That kidney transplant domino surgery was back in season five and I still think about it from time to time!
• Eight weeks of vacation?! Good for Helm.
