SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers from “Strip That Down” (S22 E10) of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” streaming on Hulu.
Two prominent characters are back on the screen for the January 29th episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
After a three-year break, Kate Walsh was back as Addison, bringing Amelia out of her sabbatical and back into the operating room. Not only did she get her back in the hospital, but shared some tumultuous news about her own life.
Kate Walsh Returns
Kate Walsh is back on Grey’s Anatomy, convincing Amelia to break her sabbatical for a consult on Addison’s pregnant patient. The patient is having unusual headaches, which are revealed to be from a tumor in her brain.
As the expecting mom’s condition rapidly decreases, Addison once again pushes Amelia to restore her privileges and scrub in.
During that time, Addison drops a dramatic bomb, revealing: “Jake’s leaving me. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want you to ask any questions about it. All I want is for Emma to get the best care possible, and that’s you.”
The tension carries over to the OR, prompting Amelia to kick Addison out and finish the surgery on her own.
For those who didn’t watch Private Practice, Jake, also known as Dr. Jacob Reilly, is Addison’s husband, whom she married in the show’s series finale in 2013.
Trouble in Addison’s Marriage
Diving deeper into Addison’s marital troubles, it is revealed that she has been running the mobile clinic for years. This has drawn her away from her marriage to Jake Reilly, who is now threatening to leave her for not being a present partner and parent to their child, Henry.
During the episode, Addison explains, “Jake used to be in it with me. He used to call me every morning when I was on the road, and give me these pep talks — tell me how brave I was for doing work no one else would do. He’d send me these care packages with birth control pills and talk through difficult cases with me. He was on my side. But now he hardly calls. And when he does, he complains about traffic on the 405, or Henry’s school, or me.”
Addison knows she hasn’t been a good partner and is a different woman than the one he married years prior.
It all culminates in a choice between her work and her husband, and Addison says, “All I know is that I can’t stomach sitting on the sidelines and watching people die. So I’m gonna choose work. And if that blows apart my life, then I think it’s OK.”
Walsh’s History with Grey’s
Fans of Grey’s Anatomy will never forget the moment Addison Montgomery walked into the lobby of Seattle Grace Hospital and introduced herself to Meredith as the wife of the man Meredith was “screwing.”
She was a season regular on the series for a few seasons before getting her own spinoff, Private Practice. Once that series ended in 2013, it was eight years later that Walsh returned in a surprise appearance on Grey’s Anatomy in Season 18.
Not only did she perform a groundbreaking transplant, but got to reconnect with old colleagues, including former sister-in-law Amelia, and Meredith, who introduced her to the kids Derek and Meredith had together. After that first step back into Addison’s shoes, Kate Walsh has appeared in six more episodes, many of them centered around the women’s healthcare crisis.
When asked about playing Addison for the first time in a while, Walsh told Variety it feels “like putting on an old dress, but very sparkly still. It’s got a little sparkle, literally and figuratively. But, yeah, there’s a part of my psyche that will always be reserved space for Addison. It’s just in me. It’s more like putting on a worn but comfortable glove that I could just go right into. All the metaphors are just so cheesy, but it’s like going home.”
Private Practice Spinoff
Addison was so impactful on Grey’s and drew so many fans that after two seasons of being a series regular, she left the show to lead her own six-season spinoff, titled Private Practice.
The series aired from 2007 to 2013. After the spin-off ended, Kate Walsh returned to the Grey’s stage a few more times over the years.
Grey’s Anatomy is available to stream on Hulu, Disney+, and Netflix.