Miranda Bailey could be seen slapping Catherine Fox in Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s trailer after a heated debate over the interns. The first minute and a half of Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s premiere had the two facing off, with Catherine accusing Bailey and the interns of wasting the Fox Foundation’s money and Bailey telling Catherine off for operating “on spite and greed,” refusing to see the patients’ faces and only seeing dollars. Bailey’s speech was powerful and it ended with Bailey slapping Catherine, but it was revealed to be fake shortly after. Indeed, Miranda only slapped Catherine in her nightmare.
Bailey slapping Catherine in the trailer added shock value ahead of Grey’s Anatomy’s return. However, Grey’s Anatomy season 21’s premiere revealing how that had never happened felt like a cop-out, as the exchange looked like a powerful moment in both the trailer and the episode, one that vindicated Bailey. Bailey using her voice to defend herself after Catherine first relied on her as chief and then discarded her the moment she wasn’t profitable anymore would have marked a positive change for the general surgeon, and repeatedly having that nightmare proved how Bailey wished she had stood up to Catherine.
