Miranda Bailey’s New Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Role Makes A Season 1 Story Even Better

Bailey’s new role and the surgical bingo the interns were put through throw back to an original Grey’s Anatomy story, improving it & honoring Bailey.

Grey’s Anatomy season 20 premiere’s twist introduced a surprise new residency director with Miranda Bailey being appointed for the role, but the events of Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 2 also hinted at changes in her approach. Bailey famously was the resident in charge of Meredith, Cristina, George and Izzie in Grey’s Anatomy season 1, and her speech instilled such fear that interns commonly called her “the Nazi.” Grey’s Anatomy season 20 revealed her in charge of the interns with her notorious speech incipit, but her change of heart in season 20, episode 2 hinted at a possibly different approach.

Fresh off her Catherine Fox Award win, Bailey was the perfect choice for residency director, and not just because of her teaching abilities. Not only did Bailey’s ideas throughout Grey’s Anatomy often motivate the residents, but she also knows how to improve the program, having been chief while Grey Sloan Memorial worked to save it. Not wanting to be chief anymore might seem counterintuitive with Bailey’s new role, but being responsible for the interns’ education could give her more than just obligations, and Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 2’s changes proved it in the way Bailey questioned her uncompromising approach.

Miranda Bailey Listening To Ndugu In Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Shows How Far She’s Come

Adapting her teaching approach takes the best of old Grey’s Anatomy & improves it

Bailey gave her five rules speech to the interns, even delivering them procedure logs to fill up before they could even be considered to get close to an OR in Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 2. Her plan to set the interns straight so that they would only see an OR when they were worthy of it hinted she would have used her iron fist even with the new class, and her refusal to let Kwan jump in the OR after doing a cardiac massage on John Doe confirmed it. However, Dr. Ndugu questioning her methods offered a different perspective.

Bailey running a tight ship would have been a heartwarming throwback to the origins of Grey’s Anatomy, but it wouldn’t have respected Bailey’s journey as a character. Her path from resident, to attending, to chief taught her to be tough, but also understanding of residents and interns, especially considering all the interns she saw fumble things only to become great doctors. Trusting Ndugu’s suggestion and rethinking her approach improved the throwback to the medical drama’s origins, as it mirrored them, but also built up on them, showing a different Miranda Bailey, one willing to adapt to the interns’ different necessities.

Bailey Already Motivated Residents With A Contest In Grey’s Anatomy Season 4

The point-based contest made them better though, not less humane like the surgical bingo

Bailey already knew a competition between residents or interns would have motivated them more, as Grey’s Anatomy season 4 proved that with the point-based contest that convinced all members of MAGIC to temporarily move into the hospital so that they could accumulate as many procedures as possible. However, the “surgical bingo,” as dubbed by Lucas, wasn’t making them better doctors. Bailey’s objective with the contest was to make teaching more interesting for the residents, so that they could learn and become better. Similarly, the procedure logs were meant to teach the interns the importance of what they did as doctors.

By focusing on finding ways to access the OR, Adams and Kwan weren’t closer to view patients as people, as their punishment’s reason wasn’t really explained. When Bailey told them the surgical bingo’s goal, Kwan finally treated the patient’s family with due care, understanding and doing so because it was the right thing to do. The unexplained punishment followed the educational modus operandi of the past, but employing it with the new interns only shows that Grey’s Anatomy season 20 hasn’t handled the doctors’ problem with unsupervised interns yet, putting the onus on them when it should be on attendings.