Greys Anatomys Season 20 premiere ended with Nick Marsh stepping away from Grey Sloan Memorials residency program, assuring the interns that hed found them quite the capable replacement: Dr. Miranda Bailey.

I have five rules, she said upon walking into the room, like a hero in an Avengers post-credits scene. Except better because Chandra Wilsons Bailey has been the steadfast, no-nonsense, beloved heart of the hospital for two decades now. As she steps in to guide the young doctors once again, shes bringing a major dose of Greys nostalgia with her.

As the shows newly appointed showrunner (and longtime writer) Meg Marinis recently told Bustle, theres a reason Season 20 is giving throwback MAGIC vibes. I love telling stories with interns, she explained. Attendings shouldnt be messing up all the time, but interns can, and thats really fun to write.

And where there are interns messing up, you can be sure Bailey wont be far away to supervise them, inspire them, and maybe talk some tough love into them as needed.

In honor of Baileys return to her intern boss era, here are her best Greys moments from helming the original class of Meredith, Alex, George, Izzie, and Cristina.

Baileys I have five rules in Season 20 was a callback to her first day with the interns in the Greys Anatomy series premiere. As a refresher, 1) Dont suck up; 2) Answer every page at a run; 3) Dont wake up Bailey unless your patient is dying; 4) Dont let your patient die before Bailey gets there; 5) When she moves, you move.

Looking back, its amazing that Bailey already had such a fully formed, commanding presence early on. She was still a resident herself, light blue scrubs and all!

Bailey was decidedly not a Meredith-Derek shipper, at least not during the early days of their relationship, when they sneaked around and blocked her in during a clandestine car hookup. The shot of her walking up to interrupt them? Cinema.

Soon, Bailey took Derek to task about his talented, neurotic, overly moussed charm, and the way his affair with an intern was problematic. On another show, a higher-up might have used this as an opportunity to shame her intern. But after countless rewatches, it becomes clear that Bailey was looking out for Merediths career the entire time, and its fun to watch her stand up to Derek to do it.

When Cristina had to undergo emergency surgery following her ectopic pregnancy in Season 2, Bailey stood by her the entire time. Im fine right here, she assured Addison, who didnt really need her during the procedure. It was moving to see Bailey be there for her intern in such a vulnerable situation, revealing a new layer of her character in the process.

Another quiet moment of compassion can be seen a few episodes later, when Derek and Bailey found themselves in the elevator together following the devastating train crash ordeal. Bailey saw Dereks typically cool exterior beginning to crack, and as he tried to stifle his cries, she silently pressed the elevators emergency stop button, giving him the chance to come undone.

The Greys Anatomy bomb episode had everything: dreamy bomb-squad boss Kyle Chandler, an all-time great soundtrack moment with Breathe, and, most importantly, Bailey telling George to stop looking at her va-jay-jay while she gave birth adding a new word the pop culture lexicon in the process.

As Shonda Rhimes told Oprah Winfrey in 2006, she overheard an assistant use the term and committed it to screen, adding that broadcast standards guidelines previously bristled at vagina.

We fought that and won but va-jay-jay is our favorite alternate term, she explained.

You fools better have a good explanation for this, Bailey told her interns after Izzie cut Dennys LVAD wire. Her arrival on the messy scene raised the stakes of Season 2s chaotic finale, and she quickly went into action mode, letting the interns tell her just enough so she could help Denny, but not so much that shed have to testify against them in a court.

Shes exactly the type of person youd want by your side in an emergency, and this scene proves it.

As a paragon of professionalism in the workplace, Bailey was understandably horrified to find one of her interns underwear pinned under a lost and found sign on the hospital bulletin board and her line delivery remains an all-time great Greys Anatomy moment.

Bailey was never more scared than when she was trying to revive Meredith after her drowning in Season 3. Not only was it touching to see Bailey persevere against the odds, but it also marked a shift in how she understood Meredith. She realized that the intern, sometimes a thorn in her superiors side, was just as vulnerable as any other patient in the hospital.

Bailey had a soft spot for George. She even honored him with her sons middle name! So it was heartening to see that she could be there for him when he stumbled, too, like when he didnt pass his intern exam at the end of Season 3. Asking him in tears, Did I fail you?, and grabbing Georges hand when he insisted he failed her, Baileys cool exterior shed a little more hinting at the kind of surgeon shed grow to be in the seasons to come.

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Originally posted here:
'Grey's Anatomy': Dr. Bailey's Best Moments From Her Intern Era - Bustle