Grey’s Anatomy season 21 episode 8 recap: One doctor leaves and another's life hangs in the balance

The Grey's Anatomy season 21 fall finale saw yet another doctor leaving Grey Sloan, and brought about a tragic twist we didn't see coming.

GREYÕS ANATOMY - ÒDrop It Like ItÕs HotÓ - In the midst of a deadly heat wave, the team at Grey Sloan struggles to keep up with an overwhelming amount of patients. Amelia and Winston face a challenging surgery, while Jo and Lucas run an errand for the hospital that takes an unexpected turn. THURSDAY, NOV. 21 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EST) on ABC. 
CHANDRA WILSON
GREYÕS ANATOMY - ÒDrop It Like ItÕs HotÓ - In the midst of a deadly heat wave, the team at Grey Sloan struggles to keep up with an overwhelming amount of patients. Amelia and Winston face a challenging surgery, while Jo and Lucas run an errand for the hospital that takes an unexpected turn. THURSDAY, NOV. 21 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EST) on ABC. CHANDRA WILSON | Disney/Anne Marie Fox

Heading into the Grey’s Anatomy fall finale, we had a feeling that the episode would bring about the end of Midori Francis’ time on the show after three seasons playing Yasuda. 

In the previous episode, Yasuda and her sister, Chloe, were raced to Grey Sloan after their car accident and both sisters were in dire need of emergency treatment. The two sisters were taken into surgery and it looked as though they were going to each pull through after what seemed like successful surgeries. Sadly, Chloe’s injuries proved fatal and Yasuda’s sister crashed in the ICU, dying in her recovery room. 

Sometime later – this is Grey’s and they love fast-forwarding without telling us exactly how much time has passed – Yasuda finally woke up from her coma and learned the heartbreaking news that her sister had died as a result of the accident. 

As the fall finale opened, a few weeks had passed and Yasuda was ready to return to work… or so she thought. 

Upon returning to the hospital, everything became too real for Yasuda who could see her sister everywhere she turned. She reached a breaking point when a patient crashed in the pit, leaving her breaking down as she yelled at Bailey to save the man. Bailey talked with Altman and got approval to give Yasuda additional time off, but Yasuda came to the realization that she simply couldn’t push through and use work to distract herself. 

No matter how much she tried, this was the place where her sister died and she couldn’t stop seeing Chloe everywhere she looked. During an emotional conversation with Bailey, she let her know that she needed to leave and Bailey let her know to take all the time she needed. 

Jules tried everything she could to prevent Yasuda from leaving, but not even she could change Yasuda’s mind. The pair shared an emotional goodbye as Yasuda walked out the doors of Grey Sloan one final time.

The Grey’s Anatomy fall finale suggests Jo might lose her babies

Elsewhere in the episode, two members of Grey Sloan found themselves in a dangerous predicament when running what should have been a simple errand. 

Due to an unexpected spring heatwave, the hospital ran out of ice needed for the treatment of several patients so Ben sent Jo and Lucas out to get some. The pair ended up at the gas station only to find it had only one bag of ice, but before they could leave an armed gunman entered the store and held up the cashier at gunpoint. 

While Jo and Lucas were able to hide at first, they eventually were caught and brought to the front of the store with the cashier. With not much in the register, he presses the cashier to open the safe and they eventually make their way to the back. As the cashier goes to the safe, Jo realizes something is wrong and that she’s bleeding which is when she reveals to Lucas that she’s pregnant. 

It’s hinted that she might lose the babies, but we’re going to have to wait until the show returns in March to know for certain what the outcome will be and it seems Jo’s twins aren’t the only ones we’re going to have to worry about.

After learning of Jo’s pregnancy, Lucas attempts to reason with the gunman to let her go but he couldn’t care less that she’s pregnant. Things quickly go from bad to worse as the cashier grabs a baseball and swings at the gunman. 

Lucas sees this as an opportunity to leap into action and a struggle ensues before the gun goes off. Was it Lucas who was shot? Was it the gunman? That’s the question we’ll be thinking about throughout the long break ahead.

Grey's Anatomy returns March 6, 2025.