Grey's Anatomy Season 15, Episode 17 Recap: "And Dream Of Sleep"

Genetics are the name of the game on the latest Grey's Anatomy episode, which starts with a Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) voiceover that cribs a famous Jurassic Park line: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

The major ongoing storyline is DeLuca Sr.'s (Lorenzo Caccialianza) synthetic uterus project. He has two fetal lambs growing nicely until one of them dies. Carina (Stefania Spampinato) thinks her father is rushing the project and they butt heads about it. DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) tells his father to control his temper because people are getting concerned about his stability — and by "people," DeLuca mainly means "Bailey" (Chandra Wilson), who is very concerned about the ethical and legal problems this study could lead to.

In a parallel storyline, a family comes in after a car accident where the wife is five months pregnant. Teddy (Kim Raver) saves the baby at first, but the woman takes a turn and Teddy thinks they may have to do an emergency hysterectomy, which would abort the baby. When DeLuca Sr. gets wind of this, he goes to the couple on his own and tells them about his synthetic uterus. This leads right into Bailey's concern about the many major issues this entails, but of course, the couple wants to try anything they can to save the baby and Teddy is on board. If they're going to lose the baby anyway, why not try everything?

But Alex (Justin Chambers) has to tell the couple "no" because the procedure hasn't been tested and isn’t approved for use on humans. The couple tearfully begs for the hospital to try it, but his hands are kind of tied. Carina tells them they'll deliver the baby and they can hold her and whatnot, but the chances of survival are slim to none. The actual delivery is heartbreaking, so I hope everyone brought tissues. And honestly, I was kind of surprised the show went with this more realistic ending to the story. I thought for sure they were going to save the baby with the synthetic uterus and instead I’m over here sobbing onto my keyboard.

The doctors are all livid at DeLuca Sr. for giving the couple false hope, but he is also furious with them for not letting him try. He calls them cowards and says he's taking his research out of their hospital.

In a disconnected but welcome distraction storyline, Amelia (Caterina Scorsone), sporting a kicky new haircut, goes to a medical conference and runs into Link (Chris Carmack), who is attending the conference but also giving a lecture there. Amelia is embarrassed for losing it in front of him when Britney (Peyton Kennedy) came in with the massive OD, but they quickly bond and the chemistry is palpable. They have a brief disagreement about prescribing opioids to patients, but Amelia sees how Link is trying to change the system's use of such dangerous drugs and then they fall into bed together.

Caterina Scorsone has more chemistry in one scene with Chris Carmack than she has had this entire time with Kevin McKidd. Honestly, Owen needs to be moved away from both Amelia and Teddy because they have both found someone new who is so much better for them. He’s fine with Teddy as friends, but he just isn’t great with either woman as a romantic partner.

Speaking of Teddy and that whole storyline — sometimes Grey’s suffers just a little bit from trying to touch on too many characters in one episode. Case in point: This week, Avery’s (Jesse Williams) case of using fish skin to treat a burn victim and Chief Webber (James Pickens Jr.) using the leftover fish to host a fish fry was certainly amusing, but I kind of wish they had eschewed that in favor of spending a little more time with the couple losing their baby and the effect it had on Teddy. It was so emotional already, but it would have been nice to let that breathe a little.

In a small plot semi-related to genetics, Jo (Camilla Luddington) gets her genetic panel back and in it, they name a probable first cousin she matches with. So now Jo has a big decision to make in regards to pursuing that and it leading to her birth mother, a decision that is kind of made for her because Casey (Alex Blue Davis) takes it upon himself to find her mom. Her name is Vicky, she lives in Pittsburgh and she is played by the terrific Michelle Forbes.

And finally, we were treated to a mini version of one of Bailey's excellent rants when she tells Alex to pull his head out of his nether regions and talk to his mother, who is struggling with anxiety about going back home to Iowa. He ultimately does and Bailey says she'll cover the Chief's job for him while he goes with his mom. Bailey is just the best.