BWW Recap: GREY'S ANATOMY Goes to Jail

GREY'S ANATOMY is back after a long winter break. The winter premiere, entitled "You Can Look (But You'd Better Not Touch)" is a 'bottle episode' meaning that it is more or less self-contained, and that we will have to wait another week to get answers to the cliffhangers we were left with in the midseason finale.

The episode is set in a maximum-security women's prison where Bailey, Arizona and Jo are tasked with performing a pregnant inmate. This episode picks up right where the midseason finale left off, and so Bailey has just spoken with Karev and is aware that he is en route to make a plea deal and apparently head to prison himself. This might explain why the episode opens with her bitter about being at a prison and not having any sympathy for the inmates for finding themselves in the situation that they are in. She is trying to rationalize that Alex put himself in his current situation and in doing so, she comes off as cold and uncaring-something that surprises Arizona and Jo who have no idea what information she is holding onto.

Unlike Bailey, Jo seems to be getting a kick out of the whole experience, and Arizona is somewhere in the middle. They have been tasked with the case of Kristen Rochester, a young, dangerous and pregnant offender. Her baby has an Acardiac twin-which is essentially a non-viable growth that is attached to her baby and risking it's life. Soon enough, the doctors are split up as they end up needing to treat more inmates than just Kristen. Bailey discovers that the resources and supplies at the hospital are minimal, and this allows for some brief but pointed commentary on the treatment of inmates in the criminal justice system.

While Jo is alone with Kristen (with the exception of the ever-present guard), she tries to bond with her by sharing some of the mistakes she made and hardships she faced in her own youth. One thing she mentions is that she once helped a guy she liked rob a convenience store. Perhaps this is what led to Jo once being in jail herself? (Something she referenced several seasons ago). Regardless, it's probably a story that she will never want to share with Amelia Shepherd, given that Amelia witnessed the murder of her father in a convenience store robbery. I doubt this will come up any time soon though, given that those two characters are each currently dealing with a different past trauma at the moment. It turns out, that unlike Jo, Kristen actually had a nice, privileged childhood, and despite her tough exterior, the one silver lining she sees is that her daughter now has the chance to have that too. Kristen's mother will be adopting her.

Arizona meets with Kristen's mother, who informs her that she has no interest in seeing Kristen at all. Even when Kristen ends up going into labour, her mother is just not having it. She tells the doctors that she does not plan to ever visit Kristen with the baby either. It seems cruel, but who knows what Kristen did to end up in prison...something tells me that there is more to this story, and it is interesting that we as an audience, along with the doctors, never do hear that story. The doctors decide to not tell Kristen that she may never see her baby again, but Kristen knows that they are hiding something from her, and finally Jo decides to tell her the bad news because she believes Kristen would rather know this truth than be blindsided with it later. Kristen is devastated and does not think she can have her baby without her mother there, but Bailey, Jo and Arizona rally around her in a showing of sisterhood. Kristen meets her daughter before the baby is taken away. The doctors choose not to find out what Kristen is in jail for.

On the drive back home, Bailey tries to tell Jo what Alex had told her right before this trip. Jo, possibly thinking that Alex had told Bailey her secret about her abusive ex-husband, does not want to continue this conversation. Arizona, knowing that Jo had preached the importance of telling the whole truth, even if it is devastating, urges Bailey to say her news out loud. Bailey tells the others that Alex planned to take a plea deal and would be going to prison. Arizona is shocked and Jo vomits...but at least these three now have a new bond with one another.

Well that was a super fun episode! In all seriousness, it was a good hour of television, despite the fact that fans were likely disappointed that they had to wait another week in order to get any real answers from the midseason finale. The performances were very moving, particularly that of Anna Jacoby-Heron who played Kristen. It will be interesting to see where the show goes from here. By the look of next week's promo, we are in for a strong second half to the season.

GREY'S ANATOMY airs at 7pm on CTV and 8pm on ABC .

Photo Credit: ABC/Byron Cohen

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