Stop and smell the roses! Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) reevaluated her life decisions after a near-death experience during the Thursday, February 1, episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Bailey’s experience also conveyed a powerful message about doctors not taking women’s health seriously. Here’s what you may have missed this week on the ABC drama.
Tough Skin
Bailey and Ben Warren (Jason George) were arguing in the car about his new profession as a firefighter. She was so mad, she had him drop her off on the side of the road near Seattle Presbyterian Hospital. She claimed she had a meeting there, but she was really having a heart attack. However, the male doctors did not believe her and kept insinuating it was all in her head.
“Women’s heart attacks do not manifest the same way as men’s,” Bailey said to her doctor. “I need you to understand that every second we waste, I’m losing heart muscle.”
Despite her efforts, the doctors continued to shake it off. Once Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) and Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) arrived at the hospital, they whipped everyone into shape and made Bailey get the treatment she needed. However, Bailey couldn’t resist saying “I told you so” after trying to get the doctors to perform tests on her all day.
“Why is it that men only listen to women after they’ve done something wrong?” Bailey asked.
Pierce ended up performing the life-saving surgery in the other hospital. Unfortunately, she had to work with the doctors who doubted Bailey in the first place. “Wow, you are infuriating. Wow, you are arrogant,” she said. “I am furious. I am grateful Dr. Bailey fought for herself like she does for her patients.”
Don’t Live in Fear
The episode included many flashbacks to Bailey’s sheltered childhood. Her parents lost their first daughter, a two-month-old, which led to them hovering over Bailey and constantly worrying that she was in danger.
“It took me a long time to understand it wasn’t our fault,” Bailey’s dad told her as a child. Once Bailey survived the ordeal, she realized she shouldn’t try to shame Warren for doing what he loves. He even offered to quit being a firefighter, but she told him to keep his job or else she’d be treating him like her parents treated her when she was young.
“Fighting fire terrifies me. Life is terrifying,” Bailey told her husband. “But I get to have a heart attack and you could die crossing the street tomorrow. Life is too precious to waste doing anything less than what makes us happy.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. Jason George will also appear in the spinoff, Station 19, set to premiere on ABC Thursday, March 22, at 9 p.m. ET.
