This season of “Grey’s Anatomy” has been the slowest brewed season ever. The plot is beginning to intensify, which leaves much anticipation for the last five episodes of the season.

This week, things were tense between characters, and there were very few lighthearted moments.

Last week it was learned that the residency program might be shut down, Meredith might be accepting a position in Minnesota full time, and Richard was going to get his skills evaluated to make sure he is still able to operate.

While these three points were dealt with, many story arcs were not addressed like Jo and her developing relationship, along with Teddy and Owen’s situation, which feels like it has not been addressed in weeks.

However, Kai and Dr. Hamilton did make a reappearance, to administer Richard’s skill assessment, and Schmidt also re-entered the scene.

The bulk of the episode surrounded the hospital’s residency program being evaluated, which involved two women walking around the hospital interviewing staff.

Alongside this, Meredith and Nick worked on a special project, where they used a brain-dead person (who donated their body to science) to test transplanting a genetically modified pig organ.

While this surgery and many of the interviews made the hospital look very good, the two women decided to put the residency program on probation. The hospital was granted a few weeks to make some necessary changes to the program or it will be shut down permanently.

Throughout this whole process, Miranda was extremely stressed. The two women were very passive-aggressive during their interviews and asked questions that were irrelevant to the topic at hand.

When they interviewed Winston, they questioned him about his relationship with Maggie because she was his teacher when he was a resident at a different hospital. This felt like a subtle nod to many past bosses and subordinate relationships on the show.

Inappropriate workplace relationships are such a common trope on this show that their relationship did not even phase audiences until now. However, this moment felt like it was only added in to foreshadow a fight between Miranda and Meredith towards the end of the episode.

While Richard was taking his skills assessment, he learned from Dr. Hamilton about Meredith’s job offer and was extremely upset because Grey Sloan Memorial hospital is the hospital where her mother worked and where she learned all her skills.

Later he informs Miranda of this news, and she is ready to lose it. She storms up to Meredith and gives her the same spiel that the audience has heard from her a thousand times.

She explains how ungrateful and selfish Meredith is to leave the place that trained her, especially during a physician shortage. She also had some lines that were below the belt, saying that Meredith will always be the doctor following around her attending boyfriend, this was a call back to her late husband Derik and her now-boyfriend Nick.

Except this time was different than lectures in the past, Meredith fought back and told Miranda she could not speak to her this way. This conversation showed how much Meredith has grown throughout the show because years ago Meredith would have just taken the ridicule. 

I think this argument may have been the final push in Meredith’s decision because by the end of the episode she tells Nick that she is going to take the job in Minnesota. She explains to him you cannot work where you did your residency because people will only ever see you as you were when you were a resident.

This is concerning for fans, making them wonder whether Meredith will continue to be on the show.

The only thing known by fans is that Ellen Pompeo is signed on with ABC to play Meredith Grey in season 19 of the show. However, it is unknown If she will appear full-time or occasionally.

The other drama this week was that Schmidt realized his mother was part of the reason the residency program was being investigated and got into a full-blown argument with her. During this fight, she fell down a flight of stairs injuring herself quite severely.

In true “Grey’s Anatomy” fashion the ambulance was taking much too long to get to the scene, so of course, Schmidt had to do some minor surgery on his mother. Hopefully, this will gain the doctor’s confidence back and bring him back to work.

The episode ended with Richard completing his interview. This was before the decision about the residency program was made.

Richard spoke on how the residency program had changed his life as a teacher and how he had seen it change the lives of many students. This scene was very nostalgic because while he shared, clips from the original intern class were played.

The call back to Meredith’s internship plays into how much she has grown and makes her leaving Grey Sloan Memorial to feel very full circle. While Meredith leaving the hospital will be sad, it will most likely provide the audience with some closure to the 18-season story that still has no end in sight.

In summation, this episode provided intriguing plot development and created real excitement for the rest of the season.

Savannah Swartz is a first-year communications major. To contact her, email sms9072@psu.edu.