Spoiler alert! This story discusses the Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 midseason premiere that aired March 6. It is available with a Hulu subscription if you’re not caught up.
Grey’s Anatomy returned to the 2025 TV schedule with a literal bang Thursday night as we learned who got shot in the winter finale cliffhanger. Jo and Lucas both made it out relatively unscathed — at least for now — but the truth is, “Hit the Floor” laid the groundwork for them and several other Grey Sloan doctors to hit some serious bumps in the road for the remainder of Season 21. However, of everyone who faces trouble ahead, it’s Jules Millin I’m most worried about.
What Disasters Await Grey’s Anatomy’s Surgeons?
Things were feeling extra shaky around the hospital on the March 6 midseason premiere, and while Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) escaped the convenience store shooting with (physically) just a flesh wound, the psychological aspects will likely haunt him for way longer. After refusing to get cleared by psych before returning to work, McDreamy’s nephew suffered a full-on panic attack after hearing a loud noise reminiscent of a gunshot.
Longtime Grey’s fans know that Lucas’ grandfather — Derek and Amelia Shepherd’s dad — was fatally shot in a convenience store robbery, so I doubt this is the last we’ll see of this situation, especially with Lucas still not seeking professional help. Will this be the impetus for us to finally learn who Lucas’s mother is?
As for Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington), the hostage situation did put some stress on her pregnancy, and she’s definitely going to have to take it easy. However, I’m not too worried about her since she and Link (Chris Carmack) re-established some healthy communication by the end of “Hit the Floor.”
Grey’s Anatomy name-dropped Carina DeLuca again, but the Station 19 fan favorite didn't make an appearance (she was conveniently in Italy when Jo came in bleeding from the convenience store in need of her OB/GYN). However, Carina's former colleague Ben Warren (Jason George) was certainly present — and pissing off Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) at every turn.
Ben has flown in the face of authority for years, and he's gotten away with it because his reckless actions tend to save lives. That kind of insubordination isn't going to fly with the military veteran, though. And Teddy made it pretty clear that Ben better remember his rank or he won't make it through his residency. I'm sure he also didn't do himself any favors by lying to his wife about what happened, because when has anything good ever come from lying to Miranda Bailey?
As for what’s going down between Teddy and Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), Owen may have passed up the opportunity to cheat with Nora (Floriana Lima), but I’d imagine it would take little more than eye contact between Teddy and Cass Beckman to make him fly into a jealous rage, aka Nora’s bed. Stay tuned.
Speaking of ill-fated romance, we’ve also got Blue Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.) going full Mark Sloan “If you love someone, you tell them” with his ex-fiancée (the one who has amnesia and a boyfriend). It was cute, but I don’t feel good about it, guys.
However, of all this brewing tragedy, none of these are the story I’m most worried about for the remainder of Season 21.
Jules Millin Is Not OK Following Mika Yasuda’s Exit
Before Grey’s Anatomy’s long hiatus, we saw Mika Yasuda say her goodbyes to Grey Sloan, unable to return to the hospital where her sister, Chloe, died. However, left in the wake of her big decision was Jules, who had been putting her romantic feelings for Mika on the back burner while Mika dealt with Chloe’s sickness and then her death.
In the winter finale, Jules and Mika finally slept together, with the former promising they’d figure things out together. However, that intimate moment gave Mika clarity that she needed to leave to move forward, and she immediately quit.
In “Hit the Floor,” the effects of that decision are still weighing heavy on Jules (after all, it is still, somehow, the same day she went off on Bailey for letting Mika leave), and Adelaide Kane told The Wrap that her character is shutting down her feelings rather than working through them. She said:
This episode is a really beautiful exploration of what happens when you don [sic] not give yourself the time or the space to process your feelings. We all do it to some extent when things are difficult … fake it till you make it a little bit, pretend everything is fine. But Jules is fooling nobody, except for herself, and in a hospital that sort of dissociation or distractedness can be incredibly dangerous.
We’ve already seen this start to play out, as Jules failed to secure a patient to the gurney, causing him to fall to the floor in the middle of surgery. What worries me the most is that Jules feels so alone and seems to be distancing herself from the other residents. She came clean to Webber that the O.R. mishap was her fault, but she didn't apologize to Simone, who had to shoulder the blame.
In the other situations above, at least those doctors aren’t alone in their tribulations and bad decision-making. I'm honestly afraid of what will happen if Jules continues to withdraw without Mika; she's got no one to lean on there. The preview for the March 13 episode, “Jump (For My Love),” shows Jules crying over not having a team. Check it out for yourself:
Team-building exercises are always fun to witness, and I can't wait to see what else comes from next week's episode other than Jules continuing to spiral. It also looks like we'll be getting Ellen Pompeo back, with Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) still upset that Meredith Grey didn't tell him about his wife's cancer.
Grey’s Anatomy has pretty much guaranteed an eventual second half to its 21st season, so keep your eye on these characters who have the highest potential for disaster when the medical drama returns at 10 p.m. ET Thursday, March 13, on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.
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