Out with the old; in with the new. That seems to be where Grey’s Anatomy is heading in the final stretch of Season 21 because Thursday’s (April 17) episode plants the seeds of a new romantic coupling to bloom and starts to stomp another one out at the same time.
In the episode, Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) gets an offer from his former father-in-law Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) to set him up with his divorced neighbor. Winston isn’t interested, but that doesn’t mean he’s not ready to move on from Maggie (Kelly McCreary) at long last.
His intern of the day is Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane), who has been blue for most of the season after her own split, after Mika’s (Midori Francis) exit, but seems in a chipper enough mood this shift — until the window washer loses control of his rig and comes crashing into the hospital, that is.
Ndugu has to perform emergency surgery on the guy’s carotid artery after its impaled with glass, and Minnin assists. She watches in wonder as he repairs a clot that should require a neuro consult in a matter of seconds. She’s less impressed, however, when Ndugu reveals a lifelong fear of heights
When she finds out that he’s avoided some of Seattle’s biggest attractions due to his acrophobia — including the Space Needle, Rainier Square, and the Sky View Observatory at Columbia Center — she’s gobsmacked. She asks him to join her somewhere else, though she promises they won’t leave the building. Instead, it turns out, they’re heading up to the roof.
Though Winston refuses to go anywhere near the edge, she tricks him into looking by claiming to see a purse-snatcher in action. She then convinces him to stay and look out instead of down.
Millin then reveals a charming anecdote from her past: She used to play the carillon in college for an arts requirement and grew to love the view. “The bell tower became my favorite place on campus. I had a great view, where when you looked out, everything that was overwhelming on the ground — the pressures, people, and problems — just seemed smaller,” she says. “I mean, look what you miss when you never take in the view.” At this moment, the view Ndugu is taking in is Millin’s face.
After she reveals she’s cold, he offers her his jacket, and their little moment is only interrupted by a page letting them know the window washer is ready for further treatment. As they exit the elevator, Webber sees them together and seems to know something’s brewing between them.
“It is lovely, but you need to be careful. You never know what could happen up there,” he says of their shared trip to the roof with a smile. Watch this space.
At the same time, fans should also probably brace for another potential breakup because Simone Griffith (Alexis Floyd) seemingly makes a major decision about the future (or lack thereof) of her relationship with Lucas Adams (Niko Terho).
Adams spends the episode trying to ingratiate himself to Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) while on her service and ultimately succeeds when he makes the selfless decision not to perform a groundbreaking surgery on a teen girl who’s embarrassed to have a male doctor operate on her. That’s enough to impress Catherine, so she lets him continue with his class instead of being set back a year.
Meanwhile, Simone decides she wants to ask Adams to move back in with her and Benson Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.) after Blue invites a random friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend to stay a few days, and they argue over how to handle the extra room.
When the two meet after their shift, Adams shares his news first and begins fantasizing about where they’ll move to after finishing residency together and whose family they’ll do holidays with and and and … Instead of sharing her news, that Blue okayed him moving back in, she talks about dinner at Joe’s. Her face as they walk away to grab a bite says it all: Lucas’ pitch for a life together horrifies her in ways she doesn’t quite understand.