Tonight on ABC their hit drama Grey’s Anatomy returns with an all-new Thursday, October 14, 2021, season 18 episode 3 and we have your Grey’s Anatomy recap below. On tonight’s Grey’s Anatomy season 18 episode 3 called “Hotter Than Hell,” as per the ABC synopsis, “Seattle’s favorite redhead returns and graces the Grey Sloan halls with her experience and expertise as she attempts to help Richard teach the newest crop of residents. Meanwhile, Meredith has a decision to make, and Link confides in Teddy.”
We are so excited for another season of Grey’s Anatomy so make sure to bookmark this spot and come back from 9 PM – 10 PM ET for our Grey’s Anatomy recap. While you wait for the recap make sure to check out all our Grey’s Anatomy recaps, spoilers, news & more, right here!
Tonight’s Grey’s Anatomy recap begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
Grey’s Anatomy begins tonight with Dr Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) getting the kids ready for school, who are complaining about the heat. Dr Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) reminds her of the temperature in Minnesota as Meredith says she cannot be Chief of the residency program, Chief of surgery and do Minnesota; Dr Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr) will have to understand. Amelia thinks it will be weird because of Dr Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary). Their conversation is interrupted when Dr Atticus Lincoln (Chris Carmack) walks in, Amelia says she isn’t moving to Minnesota but might be making a few more trips there; something he is not pleased about. Amelia is going to have a hard time not telling anyone.
Dr Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) finds her husband, Dr Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) in one of the offices, informing him that she found an air conditioning unit and installed it herself. He is still looking for treatment for Noah Young (Johnny Rey Diaz), something their patient refused but Owen feels what Noah is going through could have easily been him or Teddy. Teddy, in the meantime, puts on a silly hat and encourages Owen to join as she promised Dr Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) that she would help her boost morale around the hospital. She is to be the ambassador of fun, putting a silly captain’s hat on Owen.
The residents are trying to figure out who they will be doing grand rounds with, even asking Dr Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington). She says she cannot give out privileged information, chastising Dr Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli) when he taunts her about not knowing; but they all receive an email confirming who it is; shocking Jo.
Dr Cormac Hayes (Richard Flood) welcomes Meredith back, who is not a fan of the heat. He admits that everything with his son, Austin is a secret and she should enjoy that her children are talking to her; but Dr Grey reveals her children are angry she will be spending half her weeks in Minnesota. Bailey rushes past everyone as Meredith confesses she hasn’t told anyone, thanks him for the coffee and excuses herself.
Dr Webber and Dr Bailey welcome the residents to grand rounds as Dr Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) arrives. She calls them on being the “group that screwed up the program!” but is only kidding. They catch their breathe and Bailey orders them to follow her; Richard gives bailey a high-five.
Bailey fans herself as she tells someone to get out of the way and let the automatic doors close. Link is not impressed that he had to wear a silly hat and Bailey admits that maybe she shouldn’t let the heat cloud her judgment. She finds Owen dealing with a patient who works for a web channel “Naked Bro Stuff” and his friend dared him how hot the concrete was that he could fry an egg on it and now has 2nd degree burns on his butt.
Levi is thrilled to see Addison is there but Dr Taryn Helm (Jaicy Elliott) says she is Team Grey when it comes to the feud between Addison and Meredith; none of them really knowing the story discussing Dr Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). Addison calls out Levi and tells him when he is right that he is presenting the case, as Dr Montgomery reveals she is going to perform Grey Sloan’s first uterian transplant. Dr Schmitt explains the case to the group, when their patient, Tova has a hysterectomy when she was very young, pregnant and married. Her husband died and now she wants to try to have a baby with Jonathan and thanks to being the last patient in Addison’s trial she is now going to have the procedure; Dr Schmitt is going to assist Addison. Jo introduces herself to Addison, who asks her to get her a coffee.
Dr Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) meets with his patient, Rashida Flowers (Chantel Maurice), revealing her kidney has arrived for transplant. She shows all her followers, but cannot believe it is happening, wanting to thank the donor. He says the best way to thank them is to live her best life. He leaves her room with a concerned look on his face.
Meredith finds Richard, who wants to update the teaching program together; he doesn’t give her a word in edge wise. She thinks he has great ideas as her calls the residents after him; everyone saying hi to Dr Grey as they file by.
Winston finds Owen by the supplies and asks him if he can do a kidney transplant surgery and he cannot ask anyone else. He assures Owen that he is not committing any crime performing this and agrees. Meanwhile, a patient arrives to the ER; the one in the video that Miranda just seen of a girl on a jetski. She cannot believe the video was real.
Tova is very anxious as Addison explains that the uterus is being prepared as they speak and encourages her to relax. The residents are sitting in the observation room as they continue to gossip about what happened between Addison and Meredith but they are told to shut up by Taryn who says they are watching a ground breaking surgery right now. Richard tells them to make sure they are asking questions and put their chips away. Dr Montgomery goes very hard on them asking them questions, but saying her child listens better than they do.
Hayes arrives to see Bailey dealing with their new patient, Lily. They need to get a hold of her parents immediately, but she doesn’t want them to know. She refuses to call them even after Hayes says she is only 16.
Back in the OR, the residents continue to watch when suddenly there is a loud noise that is heard all over the hospital, concerning all the doctors. Owen calls Noah, who doesn’t answer as Link reveals that the air conditioning system just cut out. Bailey is not happy about it as Hayes says jetskis are just motorcycles on water and teens are losing their minds. Lily calls out for Mika but Hayes asks her to remain still for her scan. Miranda tells Hayes that after all the trauma everyone has endured in the past year and a half, kids don’t know how to ask for help. Both discover that her rectum must be perforated and she needs surgery.
Schmitt tells Addison the temperature in the OR and she asks for the temperature to be dropped as Richard informs them that the A/C is broken and they need to start transferring surgeries. He calls the residents down as Addison learns she needs to close the surgery as soon as possible to prevent infection but she is adamant that she completes it as Tova has been waiting months. Addison, surprises everyone and asks for Meredith Grey to come in and help her finish the procedure.
Richard starts to bark orders to the students, telling them to get all available staff to put in portable A/C units and fans everywhere they can. All surgeries are canceled but Richard informs Winston that Rashida cannot get this kidney and it needs to go to the next patient on the list. Winston pleads with Owen saying his patient cannot wait and Owen rushes off saying he will save that kidney.
Dr Grey walks in the OR, niceties aside. Dr Helm blurts off many of Dr Grey’s accomplishments as Meredith tells her it is okay. Teddy walks over to Richard, informing him of all the things she has done to help with the heat. He is furious on the phone and tells Teddy that the specialized HVAC company is overwhelmed with calls all over the city. Link is worried about Scout but Richard said he is more concerned with the children in NICU as Link and Teddy think they can check the HVAC themselves.
Owen and Winston bring Rashida outside to Ben Warren’s ambulance, where he is asked not to say anything to anyone, including his wife. Amelia speaks on the computer with Dr Kai Bartley (E.R. Fightmaster), who is complaining about the heatwave. Kai wants to start a new group next week and Amelia readily agrees to be out there to help her. Kai gets Amelia to close her eyes, guiding and meditating into feeling cooler. It doesn’t work but Kai calls Amelia “sugar” when they hang up.
Addison and Meredith talk about their accomplishments; Meredith admitting if she gets her affairs in order there and has some serious talks done but have to rush when they suddenly don’t hear anything on the doppler and have to reopen all the stitching they had just done.
Teddy and Link walk onto the roof where she admits this is nothing like a window unit but they are going to give it a shot. She feels bad about him and Amelia as he apologizes for missing the wedding. The two talk about the heat, dehydration as they both look over the computer system for the HVAC system trying to figure out what to do.
Richard walks in on Miranda and Hayes’ surgery, saying he ordered no operations in the Ors. She orders him to get out so that she can complete this surgery and then there will be no more surgeries in the OR. He backs out, which impresses Hayes as Miranda reminds him that is how she speaks to her kids and gets things done; he laughs.
Both Meredith and Addison are incredible to watch together in the OR, Schmitt who is enjoying sweating to death and helping. Owen and Winston perform surgery right in the ambulance. Warren says this is not just a very expensive machine that sits in the back of the firehouse. Winston says he is a rule follower except when it has to do with his patient getting a kidney. It concerns Ben at first thinking it is an illegal kidney but Winston assures him it is legit and it was actually Miranda that told him to fight the system.
Link is furiously smashing the switch on the HVAC, apologizing that he is hot as he only wanted to fix something. Teddy thinks some things are harder to fix than others. Link loves Amelia but he doesn’t get that she is planning trips without him and calls him old fashioned. He doesn’t want this for his child, Scout as Teddy says she has been right where he is. She confesses she is making people put hats on for fun on the hottest day of the year as he tells her in order to have fun, you have to stay cool.
Meredith and Addison walk past the residents who say they didn’t have it out in the OR, but they can hear them and walk into the elevator. Residents chase the elevator with the stairs as Meredith and Addison burst out laughing. In the elevator, Addison starts crying and Meredith hits the STOP button. Addison reveals she came here, thinking that she would come back to Seattle and the hospital and she would be able to feel him, but he isn’t there. She is sorry because Meredith actually went through it as Meredith says he is there and he is in his children who are very real and she wants her to come meet them. Addison tells Meredith if she believes in this next big thing she needs to fight for it and Richard will understand; Meredith hugs her and the two walk out the elevator separately, leaving the students feel that Grey made her cry and Helm says she was there for it.
Richard congratulates Addison, who feels the true success will be when Tova gets pregnant and she delivers a healthy baby. She informs him that his residents are almost there as he describes them as her and Derek when they were students in New York. She feels doctors are overworked and there is a reason for that, but there is always room for improvement. She jokes that the students are a bit whiny as the two exchange pleasantries about how sweet it is to see each other.
Hayes informs Mika that he needs to call Lily’s parents because she needs surgery. He explains that her parents need to know what is going on with her, regardless of what is going on and expresses his frustration at how when kids become teenagers, parents can’t just stop being parents but he knows how hard it is to be a parent. He understands that her parents could be controlling but it is clear they had reason to be scared and grabs the bag of her belongings saying she will crap into a bag for the rest of her life if he doesn’t unlock her phone and he does.
Meredith finds Richard in his office, as the HVAC is slowly being repaired. She informs him that she is going to take the job in Minnesota, but it is an opportunity she cannot turn down and plans on splitting her time between Seattle and there. She thinks that the only person who should be guiding the residents is him. He is honored to remain in the role, hoping she will reveal eventually what she is doing.
Rashida wakes up as Winston tells her that it appears her surgery worked. She is talking about traveling and he says she deserves it but he has a place to go too and takes Dr Sara Ortiz (Melissa DuPrey) with him. She is shocked to see it is the morgue, but finds that Teddy is offering everyone a sno-cone as residents discuss what they have accomplished today, including Jo and Levi who are bragging about what they did. Jo wants him to plead with Dr Montgomery for her to be on her next surgery. Bailey comes down as Teddy jokes about people dying to get into this party.
Amelia welcomes Addison with a massive hug; both happy that the air is back on, but just as they are leaving. Amelia is surprised that Meredith invited her to the house for dinner; both gossiping about rumors they have heard. Owen shows up at Noah’s house, knowing he is scared and in pain. Owen wants him to know there are several others who are in the same position and they need to fight for what is right for as long as they can and he will help him, every step of the way. He keeps the door closed but just before Owen walks away, Noah finds out what Owen needs from him and he agrees, inviting him in.
Meredith is putting ice cream in bowls as Addison meets each of the children. She introduces herself as their dad’s friend, Addy with Zola offering her some ice cream, both kids taking her hand and welcoming her to the family table. Amelia giggles as she watches Addy with the children, Meredith smiles with her as Addison enjoys her time with the children.
THE END!