Encounter

[Warning: The following post contains spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 Episode 4, “Goodbye Horses.”]

The apologies were a-flowing on Thursday’s (October 30) new edition of Grey’s Anatomy.

First, Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) had to apologize to Cass Beckman (Sophia Bush) for being short with her at work, and Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) said his sorries to Atticus “Link” Lincoln (Chris Carmack) for snapping at him repeatedly throughout the day as well. Both of these slights stemmed from mixed feelings about the breakup that were exacerbated by some very awkward encounters. Owen was bummed to see Teddy carpooling to work with her new pseudo-girlfriend, and Teddy had to treat Nora (Floriana Lima) for chest pains, which turned out to be mere indigestion. All’s well that ends well, though, because neither Owen nor Teddy went home alone (or with each other).

Elsewhere in the episode, Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) returned to the hospital from Boston to perform reconstructive surgery on a breast cancer survivor, and he went toe-to-toe with Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) after the patient turned out to have an inguinal hernia that Meredith said could be fixed alongside the plastics procedure. Avery didn’t like that call — or the slight complication the double operation caused on the table — but in the end, he had to go with his own hat in hand and admit to Mer that she was right to make it.

Meredith wasn’t the only one who looked good after that operation; Ben Warren (Jason George) also shone, both figuratively and literally, during the procedure, leading Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) to conclude that maybe plastics was the specialty he should pursue — with her blessing to add three more years of residency to do so, too.

Jackson also offered Meredith a ride home on his private jet after they both realized that her summering in Seattle was interrupting her research flow … and allowing Tom Koracick, of all people, to outpace her in publishing research similar to hers that didn’t include female test subjects. After delivering her regrets to Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), who’d already predicted she’d depart back to Boston as soon as he heard about Tom’s paper and took it like a champ, she left the hospital once again.

The episode also saw Benson Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.) falling short of membership into the Plastics Posse, while newcomer Kavita Mohanty (Anita Kalathara) was granted entry after her quick thinking during Jackson’s procedure. Meanwhile, Jules Millin’s (Adelaide Kane) elderly roommate decided to get married, and Simone Griffiths (Alexis Floyd) took it personally that Millin didn’t want to move in with her … until she learned that the reason Millin lives in a retirement community is that no one there can hear well enough to get upset by her array of alarm clocks due to being a deep sleeper.

Plus, a horse hobbyist kid’s injury allowed Link to get back to work sooner than anyone expected, and Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) took a special interest in the case of Katie Rogers (Samantha Marie Ware), Miranda’s gastric cancer patient who now desperately needs a clinical trial after being diagnosed at stage four. His interest in oncological surgery might be sincere, but it sure looks like he might be catching feelings for her, too. Watch this space.

Grey’s Anatomy, Thursdays, 10/9c, ABC