ABC
What happened this week at Grey-Sloan Memorial? No idea. What about PacNorth? Not a clue. Because we spent the entire episode in a 65-35 split between the shenanigans and nonsense of Catherine and Richard’s separation dinner and the heart-breaking (read: should have been the focal point of the episode) B-plot with Schmidt, Niko, and Levi’s hospice-ridden uncle.
We’ve done these before; more recently than one cares to remember, but at least with The Shepherds in New York, it was fun because they have history, backstory, and Tyne Daly. You can forgive any off-campus sidetrack story with Tyne Daly. And honestly? The awkward overly dramatic tension between Richard, Catherine, Jackson, Maggie, and the two lost Station 19s who can’t seem to find their way back to their own show? It wasn’t enough to carry half an episode on its own, let alone the majority of this one. DO BETTER NEXT WEEK.
Karev is still ‘in the picture’ in the same way that Cristina never truly left Mer; phantom texts from Idaho (Iowa? Indiana? One of those, wherever he supposedly is handling his mom), only this time it’s about hiring Maggie – who apparently met with Koracick about being rehired to Grey-Sloan (status pending)- and spoiler alert: she takes the PacNorth offer.
Of course we’re all wondering, despite Mer’s return to Grey-Sloan (not that we saw her at all this week, though she did do the voice over) how can we continue to keep that hospital alive if all the doctors keep leaving for PacNorth? Don’t worry, Catherine showed her true colors at the end of the episode and answered that question too. She’s just going to buy PacNorth and shut it down. To spite Richard. Because clearly she’s 12 years old.
I swear, we ditched Edwards and Kepner seasons and seasons ago? And yet here they are … except now they’re Vic and Maggie. Stephanie-Jackson-April? This is them 2.0. The only difference is that nobody’s come along and flash-mob proposed to Maggie yet; give it time, maybe DeLuca will go after her once Mer moves on with McWidow.
Bullet point there is Catherine’s a vindictive control freak who will kill to get what she wants; Richard’s just trying to get by; everyone’s going to stop pretending to be nice to everybody; everyone will be back at Grey-Sloan before all is said and done.
ABC
Niko & Levi had THE STORY of the episode. Dispatched by his ‘looks and acts way too much like Callie Torres’ mother’ mom, Levi finds himself in a hospice home to visit Uncle Saul; and hilariously believes that coming out to him killed him. He even says, ‘I killed him with my gayness.’ But those of us with a good Shonda-dar knew exactly where this was going before he ever got to the hospice home … surprise, Uncle Saul was also gay! And knew all along that Levi is gay.
This arc, where the love of Saul’s life shows up and explains all the things to Levi; the ‘being ashamed of one’s self for loving who they love’ and the ‘your generation takes being open and out for granted and that gives me hope’ was the lifeline of this episode. Love is love is love is love. Acceptance and love; it was all there. And this was the storyline we cared about this week. And Levi really stands up for himself against his mother, ‘telling me you accept me but then hiding it from the family is not accepting me.’ And when she accuses Niko – his response is perfect too. This is every bit the George O’Malley track that TV wasn’t ready for, except I think Louise O’Malley would have struggled way less … would have been harder for the brothers.
Next week appears to be another forced crossover; so I suppose we’re not going to get any real answers there either. What are Amelia and Link going to do? Whose baby is it? What will happen to PacNorth and are we ever going to get a real and proper goodbye for Alex? (I’ve got the ‘McDreamy Finale’ feeling, where we get one last episode … though more along the lines of Disfigured George death.) We forgive you this week, TeamShonda, but please, get it together for next week because Grey’s hasn’t felt like a tawdry daytime soap in a long time? And that dinner with the Seattle Sucky Six? Made it feel like exactly that.
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9:00 PM on ABC.
What did you think of this episode? Start a conversation in the comments section below.
Share this post
