I haven't watched Grey's Anatomy and don't know the characters. I watched it for the Amish storyline in this episode.
There were two medical stories in this 45-minute episode. One concerned Jilly and Rachel, two ex-Amish young women who had left their community six years earlier at the age of 16. They have both been working as waitresses. Rachel had been baptized and thus was shunned after she left. Jilly had not been baptized, so she was not shunned. They have retained no "plain" aspects in their appearance; indeed, the doctors are surprised when the Amish parents show up.
Jilly is diagnosed with Stage 4 cervical cancer and called her parents, who flew to Seattle to see her. They are the only two persons in conservative clothing, and the only scenes are in the hospital.
In the end, Jilly decides to return to her community so that she can be surrounded by family and community in her last days and at her funeral. Rachel agrees to and encourages this decision after a heart-to-heart talk with one of the doctors. Rachel is not willing to return, however.
I found it interesting the Amish parents flew to Seattle. Usually, the Amish will not fly; I would have expected them to take the train or bus. I expect their bishop could give a dispensation, however. "Shunning" is a staple in almost all popular treatments of the Amish. At least this episode recognized that being baptized makes a difference. It did imply Amish cannot speak to a shunned person, though that isn't true. The main thing is not to do business with a shunned person or associate with them in a normal way, such as eating at the same table.
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