Grey’s Anatomy couple Ben Warren and Miranda Bailey are back working together at Grey Sloan Memorial but not without its challenges, according to star Jason George.
“She spent the last few years losing sleep over whether or not Ben was gonna make it home,” George, 52, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the Thursday, October 10, episode, referring to Ben’s tenure at the Station 19 firehouse. “I don’t think she is gonna be able to stop that that quickly, so I think there will be some friction maybe, [but] definitely there’ll be some bumps in the road of them remembering how to do this thing where they work in the same place.”
Ben (George) and Bailey (Chandra Wilson) met at Grey Sloan Memorial back when he was an anesthesiologist to her general surgeon in 2010’s season 6. After they got together, he switched his specialty to surgery and was in the middle of his residency when he found a newfound passion for fighting fires. After six seasons leading Station 19 spinoff, George’s Ben returned to Grey’s in the season 21 premiere with the intent of completing his residency.
On Thursday’s episode, Ben interviewed with new residency director Sydney Heron (Kali Rocha) about returning to the program. Of course, Ben being back at GSM means he and Bailey will be colleagues once again. (At the end of season 20, Bailey was fired by Debbie Allen’s Catherine Fox for insubordination, but she still runs the reproductive clinic started in her late mother’s honor and is hopeful to be rehired at the hospital.)
“Remember, there are fresh examples at Grey Sloan of doctors whose marriages and relationships ended because they couldn’t figure out how to work together,” George teased to Us. “That’s fresh on everybody’s mind as they come back in and try and remember how to do this thing.”
He added, “They’ve got home down, you know, they got three kids. That part they’ve got down, [but] the working together part, as two professional adults, I think has gotta get reworked a little bit. They’re out of practice on that, and that’s gonna be some fun television.”
Throughout Ben’s time at Station 19, Bailey was constantly worrying about his well-being and whether he’d survive the various fires and tragedies. Now that he’s back in the hospital, it’s a whole new set of issues.
“I do think that that’s probably the biggest thing that they’ve got coming up in the short-term ’cause I mean that she’s used to being the boss at work — has always been,” George said. “He’s been a firefighter and he’s been kicking ass and, you know, he created the PRT [emergency surgical vehicle], which they then took and used with the clinic. So, he’s been off innovating on his own.”
George continued, “They’ve each gotten used to, very much, defining their own space and being the person who defines that space. Now, she’s gotta figure out how to get back in because it’s not her space anymore. Catherine made sure that, and he’s gotta come back in and figure out, if she gets her spot back, ‘I will come back here and this is home, but I’ve gotta figure out how to make it my home.’”
Ben and Bailey relearning how to work together will be their “biggest dance” and “biggest problems” as the season goes on, according to George.
“It’s one of the things he loves about it, and it’s gonna be one of the things that’s gonna drive you crazy,” George quipped to Us. “It’s just a gig [and] lots of comedy and lots of friction in the relationship with that.”
While Ben and Bailey navigate new challenges, George’s Grey’s Anatomy return has been a special homecoming for the actor.
“It’s funny ’cause it’s, like, Ben’s world is mirroring my own ’cause I’m coming back over to Grey’s Anatomy,” George said. “This is home for me. I’ve been here forever and I’ve never gone away, but I haven’t been here every day for the last seven years while I was doing 19. There are a bunch of new faces [and] tons of folks that I’ve known forever that I hang out with outside of work. … I feel like that’s what Ben is going through.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Nicole Massabrook
