Thursday, April 2, 2020

Grey’s Anatomy 16x20 Recap: “Sing It Again” (Seeing Ghosts) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Sing It Again”
Original Airdate: April 2, 2020

Contrary to the promos, Grey’s Anatomy’s penultimate episode of the season turned out to be a much bigger episode for Tom Koracick than Richard. This episode would have been more impactful on the Richard front if a vast majority of the hour was dedicated to the doctors trying to solve his condition. While Richard’s medical mystery is a part of the episode, too much time was spent on other stories that either didn’t matter. Here’s to hoping that next week’s impromptu season finale will be satisfying, since the season has been cut short by several episodes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


The best thing about this episode is that it makes it clear how much Richard means to all of the characters. The episode begins with Richard, Catherine, and Maggie on Catherine’s private plane heading to Seattle. Catherine went to Los Angeles to pick up her husband, which is a very nice gesture. Maggie isn’t happy that the internet is trolling Richard and has turned him into a meme. In Seattle, Jackson spent a few hours on a shift in Ben’s PRT rig during a call to a five-alarm fire that began on Station 19, furthering the suspicions that Jackson might be spending more time on the spin-off than the main show in the future. Ben encourages Jackson to leave the site of the fire so he can be back at Grey Sloan Memorial when Richard and Catherine arrive. Jackson decides to go, wanting to be there for his mother and Richard.

At Grey Sloan Memorial, a war room has been set up for the doctors to work in to solve Richard’s condition. Meredith, Bailey, and Amelia are currently in the room working on a differential diagnosis. Bailey is on the phone trying to get Richard’s test results from the hospital he was brought to in L.A. that way they have all the necessary information to work off of. Elsewhere in the hospital, Teddy and Owen meet up at the surgical board. Teddy has decided to take over all of Maggie’s cases to allow her colleague to focus on Richard. Teddy is incredibly on edge while talking to Owen, clearly still not 100% sure what her heart wants.

Link and Amelia are then seen talking while walking through the halls. Amelia has also cleared her day to work exclusively on Richard’s case. She is also complaining about being super pregnant, her due date only being a few weeks away. Amelia walks off to return to the war room, and Link hangs around the lobby when he sees Jo and Schmitt walking into the hospital together. Link tries to butt into their conversation and tells Jo that she has replaced him with Schmitt. He then starts telling his best friend about how he is starting to freak out over becoming a father, and it’s not too surprising that it’s finally hitting him.

Back in the war room a team consisting of Amelia, Bailey, Koracick, Teddy, Maggie, Catherine, Meredith, Schmitt, and Helm convene. Bailey goes through Richard’s medical history with everyone and discusses some potential diagnoses. Maggie chimes in and wants everyone to be prepared that Richard isn’t himself before they go and see him. Koracick wants to know if dementia and Alzheimer’s are ruled out, as he thinks the problem must be neurological. The group says no, but Meredith flat out denies that Richard could have Alzheimer’s. She says that she had a front row seat to Alzheimer’s and that Richard doesn’t have it one too many times throughout the episode.

We then get introduced to a completely irrelevant storyline: Link and Owen check in on a patient who has been admitted with a foot fracture. Her husband explains that a book that he was trying to get fell off a shelf and landed on her foot. The surgeons plan her surgery for the same day. Richard is being admitted and put into a hospital room as Jackson, Catherine, Meredith, Amelia, Maggie, and Bailey watch. Richard seems to think that he’s completely fine and has no idea that Catherine wasn’t at the conference with him. He doesn’t know that anything happened, which is scary. Catherine plays along and tells him that she was at the conference with him to keep him sane. Richard agrees to medical tests for Catherine’s sake, and everyone in the room is quite freaked out at Richard’s mental state. Bailey wants Meredith to add auditory and visual hallucinations to the list of symptoms after their encounter with Richard.


Elsewhere, Teddy wants to talk to Koracick, who says there’s nothing to talk about. Their conversation gets halted when Koracick is shocked to see a little boy wheeled into the hospital in a wheelchair and an older woman says hello to him. He is more than surprised to see his ex-wife Dana and practically faints at the sight of her son, who he says looks and sounds exactly like his dead son, David. Dana apologizes for not calling, but didn’t know where else to turn. Her son, Guthrie, has an aggressive brain tumor that has spread to his spine. No other doctor has been able to help him, and Dana wouldn’t have come if she had any other option. Koracick looks like he has seen a ghost, and there’s no way you can’t feel bad for him now.

Koracick and Teddy recruit Helm to help do a workup on Guthrie. Both of the boy’s parents are present now, and Guthrie tells the doctors about his passion for cooking. Koracick can barely speak or be in the same room as Guthrie and wants to get new scans. He tells Teddy that he thinks the boy is David reincarnated. Teddy assures her friend that she is here for him and will stay close to help.

Richard is getting an MRI of his brain, and Amelia, Maggie, and Meredith are watching and waiting for the scans. Richard tries to prove to the group that he doesn’t have a problem by listing the steps of a whipple procedure. Maggie tells her sisters that Catherine is trying to scrub the internet of the bad press, while Meredith confirms that Richard is listing the correct steps. The scans show up on the computer screen and show no signs of dementia, according to Amelia. She also thinks that the scans indicate that he probably doesn’t have Alzheimer’s either, which makes Meredith say the same line about the disease again. Meredith stomps out of the room at the Alzheimer’s mention.

In the OR, Link and Owen are fixing their patient’s foot. Link tells Owen that Amelia stayed up all night watching the conference footage to look for clues to Richard’s condition. This makes Link worried that Amelia will go into pre-term labor. Owen asks Link if he is nervous about the baby, which prompts Link to list all the things he is freaked out about. Owen tells him the truth about parenthood and Link looks like a deer caught in headlights, so the truth clearly didn’t help him.

In another story that doesn’t go anywhere, Jo is running the show in the ER, which is overrun with injured firefighters from the five-alarm fire. Schmitt comes to the ER to help, and Jo is extremely flustered. More on this time-waster later. We then see DeLuca visiting Richard and telling him stories. DeLuca seems much happier and calmer than the last time we saw him. Bailey pops into the room while waiting for Richard’s blood cultures and wants a word with DeLuca. She isn’t happy to see her suspended resident, but he says he is innocently there to visit his friend. Bailey wants DeLuca gone as soon as visiting hours are over. DeLuca’s purpose for visiting turns out to be two-fold, as he also wants to figure out what’s wrong with Richard. He tells Bailey that Richard told him something about having a decreased appetite and urges her to add it to his list of symptoms.

Amelia finds Teddy after being paged and gets filled in on Guthrie and his condition. Amelia knows that this case is going to be incredibly tough for Koracick and reveals that she knew David. Teddy wants Amelia to take over the case and save Guthrie because Koracick is in no condition to do so. Koracick shows up and tells Amelia that Guthrie’s tumor is encroaching his brain stem and getting bigger. Upon seeing Koracick and hearing the update, Amelia tells him that she will take over from here.


Owen and Link go to their patient’s room to tell her and her husband that the surgery went incredibly well. She will make a full recovery if she stays off her foot for twelve weeks. The patient wants to know why everyone is singing, but she happens to be singing everything she says. Everyone is confused as to why she thinks people are singing and why she is singing herself. As the patient asks what is happening, Owen pages neuro.

In the war room, Jackson, Bailey, and Maggie are working on Richard’s case. Catherine walks in and is getting more flustered by the minute. She wants them to work harder and figure out what is wrong with her husband, and apparently expects them to solve it immediately. Another awkward family conversation occurs when Amelia, Teddy, and Koracick talk to Dana, who is afraid of losing another child. Dana isn’t keen on Amelia doing Guthrie’s surgery because they came to Seattle for Koracick. She once again tells her ex that she ran out of ideas and didn’t know what else to do because she can’t handle losing a second child. Amelia assures Dana that she is just as good as Koracick, who also gives Amelia a stamp of approval. Koracick admits to Dana that he can’t operate on Guthrie, but gives the fake reason of not being able to because of the hospital’s policy about family. He gets a page and walks off because he can’t handle even talking about Guthrie.

The singing patient’s husband wants to know what is going on with his wife, who is still singing everything she says. Koracick pops into the room for a consult. Owen tells him what is going on, and Koracick orders a brain MRI to rule out a stroke. Koracick thinks that the patient might have an exceedingly rare condition linked to musical outbursts, which doesn’t sit well with the husband. Back in the ER, Schmitt is talking to Jo about Nico’s Instagram. Jo snaps at him and says that this isn’t the time for him to pine over his ex. She tells Schmitt now is a perfect time for him to shine and help in the ER while everyone else works on Richard. This storyline doesn’t go any further at the hospital, making it the most wasteful of time.

The singing patient is getting an MRI, and Teddy comes into the room to check on Koracick. She announces that Guthrie is on his way to pre-op. Koracick admits to her that he has always thought that if he had gotten to the hospital in time, he could have operated on David and saved him. He also says that when he is in the same room as Guthrie, he feels like he is drowning.  Koracick’s struggle is the most vulnerable we have ever seen him and adds a lot of depth to the otherwise prickly doctor.


Meredith and Maggie are in Richard’s room, having him complete a cognitive impairment written test. It’s clear that Richard is struggling with the test, unbeknownst to him. Maggie wants to take a break from the test since he is struggling, and Meredith agrees that they can take a break after seeing Richard doing poorly. In the singing patient’s room, Owen and Link are happy to see Koracick come in and report that the scan showed no sign of stroke or bleeding. The doctors think that the singing must be a side effect of being under anesthesia and that she can go home tomorrow, much to the dismay of her husband.

Jackson finds Catherine in a conference room, but has no update for her. She doesn’t understand that Jackson is trying to offer his support and feels that he is letting Richard down if he isn’t working on the case. Catherine wonders how no one saw that Richard was deteriorating. She also tells her son that she is dying inside and kicking herself over wondering what she would have noticed if she could have put her pride aside. Catherine wants Jackson to go back to the team and figure out what’s wrong since she can’t.

The singing patient has now gotten on her husband’s nerves. Owen and Link bring him coffee outside of his wife’s room. The husband wants to know if the singing will fade. Owen says it might fade, but maybe he could grow to like it. Link suggests getting her an instrument to help, but the husband doesn’t like that idea. All of a sudden, the singing stops, and they think the patient has gotten better. They go into the room and find her in cardiac arrest.


In the OR, Amelia and Helm are in the middle of Guthrie’s surgery when Amelia starts going into labor. She tells Helm to get Koracick and page Link. Koracick quickly makes it to the OR, and Amelia tells him that he has to scrub in and take over immediately, much to his dismay. Maggie, Meredith, and Bailey make their way back to Richard’s room and talk about how the test shows signs of dementia, but there is no sign of the cause. At this point, it actually seems like the condition might not be neurological, but rather something else that is causing neurological symptoms. The trio is shocked to find Richard missing from his room and nowhere to be seen.

Back in the OR, Amelia is being wheeled away in a wheelchair as Koracick takes over the surgery. Amelia tells him that he can do this on her way out the door. Teddy is watching from the gallery and starts talking to Koracick when Guthrie starts to crash and he freezes. Teddy tells Koracick to breathe and focus on the tools in his hands. She focuses him on the patient and explains that he can save Guthrie. This snaps Koracick out of his daze, and he gets to work. They get an air embolus out of Guthrie’s blood, and he stops crashing. Koracick immediately continues the brain surgery and is back in his element. 

Owen and Link are trying to save their crashing patient while her husband watches from the doorway. They figure out that she has air in her chest cavity. After relieving the air, the patient is fine and stops singing, which surprises everyone. Link’s phone then goes off, and he finds out that Amelia is in labor. Owen tells a stunned Link to go. Link arrives in Amelia’s hospital room and finds out that Carina is on vacation with her girlfriend, Maya Bishop from Station 19. Amelia is freaking out about giving birth and babbles on about how giving birth isn’t the finish line. She is worried about all the bad things that could happen to the baby in its lifetime. This causes them to both freak out, and they hilariously both scream every time Amelia has a contraction.

We then see that Richard is in an OR, preparing to operate on a patient. Meredith walks in and wants to know what he is doing. The scene quickly changes, and we see Richard standing in the middle of the OR by himself about to operate on himself and cut his abdomen open with a scalpel. The whole OR scene is in his head, and now his condition has real consequences. Meredith asks Richard what kind of surgery he is attempting, and all Richard says is that he is glad Meredith is there to help him. He thinks he is the only one that can fix what’s wrong, but Meredith tries to make him think that she can fix him because he taught her everything she knows. She pleads with him to not cut himself and tells him that she still needs him and that she’s not ready to let him go yet. She tries to make Richard understand that no one in the hospital is ready to give up on him. Meredith wants Richard to hand over the scalpel and after some thought, he gives it to her. Richard thinks that Meredith is Ellis and tells her that he thinks something is wrong with him. Meredith sadly tells him that something is wrong and that everything will be okay. She asks Richard to take her hand and go with her, and Meredith takes him out of the OR.

It’s now nighttime, and Koracick has completed Guthrie’s surgery. He tells Dana and her husband that he removed the tumor and that Guthrie is on the road to recovery. The husband thanks Koracick and goes to see his son. Koracick tells Dana that he can’t believe he actually did it, and Dana apologizes again and thanks him. As they are both on the verge of tears, Koracick says that Guthrie is a good name and walks away before they both end up sobbing in the hall.

Over in Amelia’s hospital room, things aren’t progressing much. Amelia is having big contractions and is in a lot of pain. The OBGYN comes in and says that Amelia is in false labor, which surprises Amelia and Link. Amelia tells Link that the pain now hurts less. If Amelia couldn’t handle false labor, how’s she going to get through the real thing? Elsewhere in the hospital, Teddy finds Koracick in his office. He thanks her for helping him. Teddy apologizes to him because he’s had more than enough pain. Koracick assures her that she has taken away more pain than she’s caused him. He clearly still wants her, but she leaves without saying another word.

Schmitt arrives at Jo’s apartment and finds his roommate home. He wants to go sleep at the hospital and says he doesn’t want to overstay his welcome. Jo says she won’t change the way she works just to please their friendship and asks him to stay because he keeps her sane. Schmitt agrees to stay, and they settle in to watch TV together.

Owen and Teddy meet up in a hallway, and Owen takes her into a supply closet where they start making out. Teddy wants to marry Owen as soon as possible and suggests they get married this weekend. They then have sex in the closet. After the weeks of deliberation and anguish, Teddy has apparently made her decision out of nowhere, which is an unsatisfying conclusion to that storyline.

Richard gets wheeled back to his room. He wants to know where he is, and Maggie tells him that he is in the hospital. Richard wants to know if he is at Seattle Grace and asks to send the interns in so they can start rounds. Catherine, Bailey, Jackson, and Maggie are upset to hear that Richard doesn’t know where or when he is. Catherine walks out of the room because Richard doesn’t even recognize her. Jackson consoles her as she says she doesn’t think she can do this. Meredith goes into an office and finds DeLuca there. She wants to know what he has thought of that they haven’t. She knows that he is there to figure out what is wrong with Richard, and they agree that his condition doesn’t make sense. Meredith tells him that the two of them aren’t leaving until they figure it out. She wants to know if he’s with her or not. DeLuca says he is in and shows her his notes. It’s good to see that DeLuca is more lucid in the quick scenes we see him, but having him go down the rabbit hole of figuring out another medical mystery might not be the best thing for his mental health.


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