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Bailey's Fate Hangs In The Balance On 'Grey's Anatomy'

by Zakiya Jamal

Following last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy the promo for this week left many fans shook. In the preview, Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) is seen at a hospital telling the nurse she believes she's having a heart attack. As the preview continues, a flatlining EKG monitor can be heard in the background, and that's never a good sign on Grey's. So is Chandra Wilson leaving Grey's Anatomy or is this all a red herring just to freak fans out?

My guess is it's the latter. There's been no rumors or news about Wilson exiting Grey's this season, and since she's one of only four characters still remaining from the first season this would definitely be big news. Sure, you could argue that if show creator Shonda Rhimes was going to kill off Bailey she'd want to keep it under wraps so it would be a surprise to fans, but Bailey has been such a beloved character that I don't think Rhimes would handle it that way.

When Sandra Oh, who played Cristina Yang, was exiting the show there was plenty of build up to her exit. There was even a whole episode dedicated to what her life could've of been if she'd made different decisions. Similarly, even before Derek was killed off the show, fans got to see him and Meredith reconcile after having a tumultuous relationship for the past season. Fans were even kind off prepared for Derek's passing when Meredith was worried about him for an entire episode, knowing that something was wrong. The same could be said for Callie who ended up getting Sofia in the end after losing her custody battle with Arizona. Even Mark and Lexie, who confessed their love to each other before they both died together, was something you could kinda see coming.

I say this because although Rhimes has never shied away from killing off our favorite characters, she's always done so in a way that paid respect to them and each actor's time on the show. It just seems cruel to build up Bailey over the course of 14 seasons, have her become Chief of Surgery, only for her to be killed off in one episode with no preamble. It just doesn't add up.

That being said, this is Grey's so there's always the possibility that the show will pull the rug out from under us and kill off Bailey anyway. Perhaps with Ben leaving to star on the new spin-off, Station 19, Bailey's death will be part of his exit. Why visit the hospital when his wife no longer works there, right? Or maybe this whole episode will just be a health scare for Bailey and it'll actually lead to her taking some time off from the hospital. If she was staying at home, or trying to find something else to occupy her time, it would make sense if she ended up being a recurring character on Station 19.

There are a ton of possibilities for what this new episode of Grey's has in store for fans, but hopefully whatever it is Bailey survives it. Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital has gone through so many changes over the year (including its name) and Bailey has been there through all of it. No one knows how to run the hospital better than she does and, truth be told, they need her. She's really the only person in authority with her head on straight at this point; everyone else is too wrapped up in their personal drama.

Bailey has the most stable relationship on the show and she's worked hard to get where she is. This shouldn't be the end of the line for her, it should only be the beginning.

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