Grey’s Anatomy season 16, episode 7, “Papa Don’t Preach” dealt with much heavier topics this week!
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 16, episode 7, ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ review:
Grey’s Anatomy tackled some difficult topics in this episode which made it a little hard to sit through, although that doesn’t mean that it was a bad episode. In fact, I think that they handled the topics of family issues and unwanted pregnancies well.
At the start of the episode Amelia made the decision to tell Owen about her pregnancy but she was nervous about the whole situation even though she thought it should be fine. Despite her nerves, Amelia went to Pac North to see him with the ruse of having to drop off Leo’s stuffed animal.
As soon as she tells him the news though they’re interrupted by an incoming patient so there isn’t really any time for them to truly talk about it. Amelia ends up sticking around to watch the patient’s son who comes in with her while Owen takes care of her. They discover that the patient is pregnant too and they believe that she fell down the stairs in an attempt to end the pregnancy.
Things get weird when Amelia agrees to talk to the patient to try and help out. They learn that she fell because she took some herbs that were supposed to end the pregnancy but only made her dizzy. Without insurance it was difficult for her to get to an abortion center that had financial help. Amelia handles the patient well and even offers to have an OBGYN help her with the abortion when Owen takes her in for surgery on her spleen.
Related: Grey’s Anatomy season 16, episode 6 review: Pac North is definitely haunted
Owen is very against the idea for some reason. He even gets upset at Amelia for offering the patient help. To Amelia it’s clear that the patient is making a decision she’s thought through but Owen doesn’t want to listen. He walks away after telling her that the patient can take care of it later.
Naturally, Amelia is left confused. It seems like Owen is upset about her pregnancy and is taking it out on the patient. So she talks to the OBGYN anyways and gets it set up so she can take an abortion pill while she’s in the hospital. Owen is not happy when he finds out, he tells Amelia that she overstepped the line.
Thankfully Amelia calls Owen out for pushing his own issues onto the patient. He admits that he thinks the patient could change her mind even though it’s clear she has her mind set on it. His real issue, which they finally get to, is that Amelia is having a baby with someone else after telling him she never wanted a baby.
On the one hand, I can understand why Owen is feeling emotional about the news. On the other hand, it’s weird for him to act this way when he’s supposed to be happy with Teddy and their own daughter. Plus, his emotions shouldn’t come in the way of how he takes care of his patients. The way he acted towards his patient and Amelia was pretty out of line.
I was actually surprised to see that Amelia apologizes to Owen for surprising him with the news. She thanks him for helping her get ready for kids with Leo. It almost looks like they’re about to get into a weird love triangle thing again but then they joke about their weird situation. I really hope that they’re not going to lean into Owen’s feelings for Amelia after everything.
In line with family trouble on Grey’s Anatomy, Maggie is shocked at the start of the episode to learn about Weber’s family when they go to the hospital looking for him. She meets his niece and brother for the first time and Maggie is shocked to see how much she has in common with Sabie. They even look a lot alike, Kelly McCreary’s sister Crystal actually plays Sabrina for the episode.
Maggie drives Sabie and her father to Pac North to see Weber and once they’re there they learn that Sabie comes with news of a tumor. She’d learned about it weeks prior but waited before going to see Weber about it. Even though her doctor had been fine with it, Maggie is worried because those type of tumors grow fast. Scans confirmed that it had only grown larger and Maggie wants to perform surgery on Sabie that day.
There’s a back and forth with Sabie and her father though, they would like a different surgeon since Maggie is family. But Maggie doesn’t think the ethics really apply since they just met and says she’s the best surgeon for the job. Weber is worries about the strain with his family already so he initially sides with them and says he’ll call in another surgeon.
But as they wait for the other surgeon to arrive Sabie starts to crash and Maggie jumps in to help. Sabie’s father tries to say they should wait for the other surgeon but Weber backs Maggie up and so they let her take over. Initially it seems like everything is going fine but then they discover that Sabie is resistant to the blood clotting medicine and everything starts to go wrong.
Despite Maggie’s best efforts she can’t Sabie and even though she’s told them earlier it would be fine, she’s clearly deeply affected by the situation. Alex has to force her to stop trying to save Sabie when too much time has past and gets her to leave the room with him. He’s there for Maggie as she breaks down and cries but it’s still hard for her to break the news to the family. I’m not sure what this will mean for Maggie next but it’s not going to be easy for her to get over.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 16, episode 7, ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ extra thoughts:
🚑Aside from all the sad parts, It was cool seeing most of the episode take place at Pac North. It’s a change of pace with everything they’re still dealing with trying to get the hospital up to speed. And it was funny to see Alex hopeful that Maggie might want to come work for him.
🚑We didn’t get to see much of Maggie but with the interesting storyline I didn’t really feel like it was a bad thing she was mostly away. Plus the next episode will focus on her a lot!
🚑It’s a little scary to see how Catherine wants to convince Gemma to move away. She’s feeling threatened but she’s also giving Weber a cold shoulder still. It looks like things will just keep getting worse for them.