‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: Season 19, Episode 12: Addison Lives… or Dies?

For seven long days, Grey’s Anatomy kept us in suspense, fearful that the long-running ABC drama might actually kill off Kate Walsh‘s beloved Addison Montgomery. Finally, Thursday, we got our answer. Read on, and we’ll discuss everything that went down in “Pick Yourself Up.”

‘REMEMBER WHEN BEING A DOCTOR WAS CONSIDERED HEROIC?’ | As the second half of the two-parter began — read the recap of Part 1 here — chaos reigned. Addison and Tia (the pregnant OB) were ambulanced from the clinic to Grey Sloan, and Teddy put the hospital in lockdown. “I was only clipped on the shoulder,” Addison immediately informed Bailey. Montgomery, badass that she is, didn’t even want sedation before having Link pop her shoulder back into place. She wanted to pitch in and help save Tia’s baby, whom she’d already named Connor. (Odds weren’t great, though, since the mom-to-be was only 28 weeks along.) Before the first commercial break, Carina was beginning a C-section. Once the newborn had made his debut, Tia was rushed to the O.R., and Bailey called the patient’s husband. In the NICU, poor Connor had to undergo teeny tiny chest compressions. Just watching Addison save the boy’s life almost gave Simone a heart attack. Though Addison was hurting — Amelia could tell — she kept right on working. But that’s Montgomery for ya, Amelia told Link, adding that she thought Addison was the fates’ make-good for her own terrible sisters.

Meanwhile, in the O.R., Tia started the traditional 30-minutes-into-an-episode coding. Owen wanted to keep operating, but Tia had so very much wrong with her that Bailey wanted to send her to the ICU to give her a break. She felt especially responsible for Tia since the young woman’s program hadn’t required her to come to Grey Sloan, she’d wanted to. She’d been the first to sign up, in fact. In the NICU, before lil’ Connor underwent yet another procedure to ensure that he could breathe, Simone marveled at Addison. Having been in that very NICU when she was born, Griffith noted that someone like Montgomery had worked to save her life. After Link insisted on seeing Addison, Lucas joined Simone in the NICU. (Googly eyes commenced.) Alone with Amelia, Addison marveled that she was being targeted for performing abortions when that was what she saw patients the least for.

‘WE’RE AWFUL PEOPLE’ | At the entrance, Ben and Maya were barred entry by a security guard — only essential personnel were allowed in during the lockdown — until Teddy happened by and let them come check on Bailey and Carina, respectively. Ben got a lovely “I’m OK” from Bailey when he glimpsed her in the O.R. Maya had a brief, awkward interaction with Carina. As Ben got Pru out of daycare, he pointed out to Maya that the terror that they’d felt that day as they worried about their spouses was how Carina and Bailey felt every day (what with their being married to firefighters and all).

‘WHY DO YOU LIVE WITH A 90-YEAR OLD?’ | Since Amelia feared that Blue could be concussed and he couldn’t go home because he lived alone — nobody to monitor him if he lost consciousness — Jules was tasked with watching him. Soon, the secret lovers were busy treating Jules’ roommate Maxine (Juliet Mills) and her friend Norma. The former might have a UTI, the latter was having knee issues. As Maxine and Norma leered at Link, he taught Jules and Blue how to aspirate a knee. When the ladies’ test results came back, Jules and Levi informed them that they both had gonorrhea. Hilariously, their calls to their recent partner… both went to the same guy, Hal. Turned out, Max and Norma were far from loverboy’s only partners! (How amazing was Max’s end-of-episode monologue!)

‘IF I KEEP TELLING MYSELF THAT EVERYTHING IS FINE, EVENTUALLY IT WILL BE TRUE’ | When Winston sought out Maggie to check on her, they shared what had to be their warmest moment in ages. Things were still fraught, however. And they were going to get worse — somehow the article on the partial lung transplant quoted Maggie as saying that she’d put together a team of “assistants” for the procedure. No way would Winston take that well! Ah — and he didn’t. By the time Maggie got to Winston, he’d read the article and seen that he hadn’t gotten so much as a mention, even though they’d come up with the procedure together. “I want to fix this,” Maggie said. “There’s no fix,” Winston said. “Say you’re sorry. Say you respect me and mean it.” She did so, but alas, he didn’t believe her.

‘SURGEONS CAN’T FREEZE’ | Midway through the episode, Richard happened upon Mika, who was totally (and understandably) freaked out. He kindly reassured her that reacting to trauma was what made her human. No sooner had Mika emerged from hiding than she was thrust into helping Miranda perform an emergency procedure on Tia. Yasuda was still hella tense, but she managed to keep it together and assist in saving the new mom’s life. As the hour neared its conclusion, Teddy reported to Bailey that the anti-abortion driver who’d hit Tia had been caught. When Tia’s husband Brandon arrived, Bailey told him that there were no guarantees that she’d pull through, but they were hopeful. From there, we seemed to flash-forward a bit. Levi and Carlos’ romance had clearly developed — they were at the Carlos-bringing-Levi-coffee stage. As Addison left, Bailey urged her to please be safe out there. When Tia awakened, she feared that she’d lost the baby. But Brandon was there to reassure her that Connor was fine. Alone in an elevator with Jo, Link told her that she didn’t have to hold it in anymore, and at last, she broke down crying. And our last shot? Addison getting into the PRT and setting out again.

So, were you relieved that Addison was OK? Surprised? And what did you think of the episode overall? Comment away below.