Grey’s Recap: Mika’s Fate Revealed — Plus, Not One But Two More Exits?
Charlie Mason
Editor
After falling asleep at the wheel in the November 7 episode of Grey’s Anatomy (recapped here), Mika along with sister Chloe was wheeled into Grey Sloan Thursday. And, given that we knew Midori Francis was leaving the show, we couldn’t be too optimistic that Yasuda would ever be wheeled back out. In other developments, Levi, having accepted a peds research position in Texas, had a big ask of new boo James. Would the chaplain be exiting stage left along with his significant other? Read on…
‘IS YOUR HAND BROKEN?’ | As “If You Leave” began, Simone and Blue noticed that nobody had slept in Mika’s bed. At that very moment, she and Chloe were being extricated from Mika’s van by EMTs. Levi and James were bracing for Schmitt’s last day and trying to accept the fact that time together was about to become extremely scarce. At Grey Sloan, Teddy tried to make peace with Owen, but she might as well have been talking to a brick wall. Lucas attempted to generate support for a resurrection of the hospital softball team. And then came the exclamation points: Mika and Chloe arrived via ambulance.
Though Yasuda had suffered blunt trauma to the abdomen, she still found the strength to tell Skywalker to go take care of Chloe, whose legs were hurting a lot. (No wonder — they looked like meat that had been tenderized.) When Simone, Blue and Jules arrived, Bailey was saying that Mika was bleeding in the abdomen. “She’s coding,” Winston hollered, at which point poor Millin totally lost it and had to be pulled away. (How, how, how are Jules and Mika not Grey’s next supercouple?!?) Yasuda’s liver had herniated into her chest, Hunt said. Not sure what that meant, but that couldn’t be good. Chloe’s situation was dire, too; she’d just gone through her first round of chemo, and now this?!?
‘YOU’RE A TERRIBLE ROOMMATE’ | Alone with Simone and Blue, Jules recalled that she’d switched with Mika to let her scrub in with Winston the night before. If she hadn’t, maybe Yasuda wouldn’t have fallen asleep at the wheel. “Maybe that doesn’t matter to your stone heart,” Millin told Blue, “but it does to me.” Before operating on Mika, Teddy had the shakes, remembering as she did how she’d once barked at her. “I’m sorry about Cass,” Altman said. “Don’t think about that right now,” Hunt replied. “We can do this.” But could they? The way everybody was sharing their memories of Yasuda, it felt almost like we were watching a pre-eulogy. When Simone tracked down Jules, she confessed that she and Mika were more than friends. In that case, “you’re gonna need something stronger than Gummy Bears,” Griffith suddenly understood. Her solution? Making Jules look at babies and sit in a comfy chair.
In the O.R., Bailey, Winston, Owen and Teddy argued over whether or not to remove Mika’s liver. “You got a better plan?” Hunt asked. “Let her stabilize for a few hours” while the docs plotted out a miracle, Miranda said, adding that anyone who disagreed could scrub all the way out, thanks. Sitting with an unconscious Mika, Blue joked that she’d messed up the laundry again. “But I tell ya what, you pull through this, and I’ll do your laundry for as long as we live together.” On the treadmill, Bailey came up with an idea: something super complicated having to do with using Mika’s spleen to help save her liver. With Simone, Jules shared that she’d never had a relationship that felt as easy and electric as the one she has with Mika. “She’s not going down without a fight,” Griffith reassured her, “especially if she has you to fight for.”
‘I DIDN’T LIKE HER WHEN I FIRST MET HER’ | While in one O.R., it was starting to look like Chloe might lose a leg, in another, Bailey & Co. got back to work trying to save Mika. Seeing Yasuda on the table when he called for Teddy to assist Link, Ben and Richard next door, Lucas was so wrecked that he upchucked in the hall. When all was said and done, it appeared that not only had Chloe’s leg been saved, but Mika had pulled through. Somehow, while Jules was reminiscing about her first meeting with Yasuda, it came out that Millin had slept with Link. “She’s stable,” Bailey told the residents. “Now we wait and see.”
‘SHUT UP, I AM NOT CRYING BEFORE LUNCH’ | While Levi tried to psych himself to move to Texas, leaving behind James, Jo and his whole life, he also admitted to Wilson that long-distance was already feeling harder than he expected. Soon, he was distracted by baby Ruby, who was turning blue. The tot was fine, but would Levi be? He got all sentimental with Jo, who, hormonal or not, refused to get misty-eyed that early in the day. While performing a procedure on Ruby, Levi sang “You Are My Sunshine” to her. “You’ve come a long way” from dropping your glasses in a patient, Jo noted. She then offered advice: If he was committed to making long-distance work, despite how awful it is, it would work.
Later, Levi stopped by James’ office to ask… if he’d move to Texas with him. “You’ve lived all over the world, why not San Antonio?” Schmitt said, adding that he was falling in love with the chaplain. At the end of the day, James was a no-show meeting Levi in the lobby. Schmitt figured he’d scared him off. “Getting drunk and sleeping with you was the best mistake I ever made,” Jo said by way of cheering him up. “Will you be my babies’ godfather?” He would love to, he replied. Let the Star Wars tutorials begin!
‘GUESS THIS IS ONE WAY TO GET OUT OF CHARTING’ | As the hour drew to a close, Owen admitted to Teddy that he had overreacted to her and Cass’ kiss. A code blue was called in Chloe’s room. The residents leapt into action, but despite their best efforts, she died. Somehow Link and Ben didn’t show up until the interns had been performing CPR for 40 minutes in the surgical ICU. Horrified, Jules didn’t want to give up performing CPR even after Chloe was pronounced dead. “Crush injuries on top of chemo was too much for her to handle,” Ben told Bailey, who was going to sleep at the hospital to watch over Yasuda. “You make something good happen,” Miranda told her husband. “I need something good to happen.” Meanwhile, Lucas was beating himself up because Mika had told him to take care of her sister. “She’ll understand,” Simone insisted. But he wasn’t too sure.
Before bicycling away from the hospital, Levi (and we) saw his life there flash before his eyes. We’ll miss you, Schmitt. Just then, James came running up — he’d missed their rendezvous because he’d been in admin resigning from his job. “You still want me to go to Texas with you, right?” Aww, a happy ending… sorta. If Mika ever awakened, devastating news still awaited her. Days passed, then at last, Yasuda opened her eyes. “Welcome back,” said Bailey. “You’re gonna be OK.” Mika’s first word: “Chloe?” Miranda shook her head no and held Yasuda’s hand as she wept. OK, so not a happy-happy ending. But at least Mika survived!
Your reaction to “If You Leave”? Levi’s exit? Chloe’s death? Mika’s tragic awakening? Questions? Comments? Let loose below.
Can’t believe that’s been 8 years since Glasses first showed up and dropped his glasses on a patient. I’ll definitely miss Levi, he’s been one of my favorite characters ever since he showed up (and then returned for his interview). So glad that he’s one of the interns from that class that stayed.
Chandra Wilson. Chandra Wilson. Chandra Wilson. This so beautifully exemplified why Miranda Bailey is one of the best characters written for TV in the last 20 years. How she deftly navigated each scene. Then the ending moment, the way she looked at Yasuda. She said nothing and everything at the same time.
Chandra Wilson is a great actress, but the character of Miranda Marley has been inconsistent throughout the run of Grey’s Anatomy.
Well her name is Miranda BAILEY
It’s nice that James is going to Texas with Levy, but all I thought about was what about his loft,? and he doesn’t even have a new job.
Mika is going to have a hard road ahead of her, physical recovery, mental recovery, guilt. I’m sure that’s how they will write her off.
Who says they will stay in Texas? If he can’t sell it they can live there after Levi is done with his training.
Where was Helm? There was no reason she couldn’t get one scene in Yasuda’s story. They can’t blame budget because she gets paid for the episode regardless due to her appearances in Schmidt’s flashbacks.
She was Levi’s best friend and Mika’s ex. They should have found a way to include her.
Thank god she survived. It would be a shame to close the door on her return completely. Mika is a fantastic character and Midori an incredible actress. That last scene was haunting.
And yes, you are right completely right TVLine, Jules and Mika should be the next Greys supercouple.
She died
Did you watch the episode? Did you read the recap?
Hey may that person kept getting Mika & here sister confused like I did. Much easier to tell them apart when they weren’t injured & intubated.
Have to say won’t miss James much, as they hadn’t even bothered to give him a last name! Just a vehicle for Schmitt to leave. Sad that Chloe died, but glad Yasuda lived!
So the writers thought it was a good idea to write Yasuda out by causing her to kill her sister? It’s hard to imagine who thought this was a good idea in the writers’ room. I mean if they were going to have Yasuda cause this accident from driving while not sleeping enough, they could have at least killed Yasuda and her organs saved her sister in some way. But instead she will suffer from the guilt of causing her sister’s death for the rest of her life. Lovely. Good writing. 2 thumbs down. Not what I want to watch.
Yasuda and Dr. Bailey’s acting at the end of the episode was so good and moving…
Very sad to see Dr. Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli) leaving the show.
The retrospective montage reminded us of the progress of the character. Gosh, he was so young when he started at Grey’s (7 seasons ago).
While there has been several gay male patients, in 2018, Levi was part of the first gay male kiss and romantic couple on Grey’s Anatomy (which started in 2005).
Nice to see the representation on a tv series.
Heppy for his career progress but disappointed we won’t see Levi’s relationship grow.
Look forward to seeing more from Jake.
Yeah that was my thought too during that montage; gosh he looks so young!
I forgot how absolutely adorkable he was when he started the show and was “Glasses”🤓
Yasuda had like 6 sisters and parents and not one of them bothered to show up even after her sister died. Just didn’t ring realistic at all!
This is what I kept wondering. Did anyone even call them to tell them Chloe died?!?!
I agree 1000% percent about Jules and Mika. It really blows that Midori Francis is leaving. She’s so good and now she has a major storyline to dig into. Mika and Jules have so much chemistry. I didn’t think Chloe would die; Mika is never going to forgive herself. I am happy they didn’t kill her but i wish she wasn’t leaving the show.
Great episode ! Grey’s Anatomy still knows how to be great !
2 minus points :
1/ Levi going away while Yasuda is on her deathbed felt a bit meh.
2/ even with the whole Yasuda plot, the other newbies are mostly still not interesting, and I do want to love them but it’s a no. The only amazing one is leaving so…
I like the female interns MUCH more than the guys. Harry Shum Jr. is not the best actor so his scenes are hard for me to get through, his character is also not particularly likable and while I don’t dislike Lucas he is pretty boring. Simone without getting dragged down by Lucas is okay. I liked her scenes with Jules in this episode. Jules is okay but underdeveloped. But even all of them combined don’t have the charisma, charm and wit that Mika Yasuda has. She was kinda like a mini Cristina. What a huge loss for this show.