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We’re probably not allowed to complain that the Season 16 finale of Grey’s Anatomy was lackluster and not nearly as impressive as any of the other seasons – because it came screeching to a halt several episodes prematurely due to the global pandemic of Covid-19. (Then again – Season 4 ended with the House of Candles and that was during the writer’s strike … so …) But allowed to complain or not, everything basically gets wrapped up into a neat little bundle, mostly.
Amelia FINALLY goes into actual labor this time. And proves Carina’s theory that sexual pleasure (making out with Link) does cut back on the labor pains. She’s toughing it out sans epidural because of the Fentanyl in the epidural. But of course – Link can’t actually be there because he’s needed to save Richard (like Bailey said, ‘We should call someone who isn’t family’, and Mer said, ‘That person doesn’t exist in this hospital.’) So … Bailey gets to be the L&D partner. And it’s a throwback to yesteryore way, way back. She hops into bed behind Amelia and even compares it to how Tucker’s father wasn’t there (she fails to mention it’s because he was in a car crash and being operated on by her brother at the time) and helps get her through the birth of her completely healthy, yet-to-be-named baby boy (also without mentioning George. So does that mean this little boy – like Mer’s Bailey will also be named after Bailey?)
Apparently Nico Kim really is gone, not complaining, though Schmidt is turning into such a whine-bucket, we all need some cheese and crackers to go with him. Hunt’s right – if he can’t suck it up, put on a game face, and do his job? He needs to go. And Hunt … WOW. Don’t even know what to say about that. Because – I mean we all knew he had to find out that Teddy was cheating. But when did Koracick become Mer, Hunt become Addi, and Teddy become McDreamy!? Because Tom in his office ‘I’ll be in my car – 7:00 …’ I swear – the next words I was waiting for to come out of his mouth were ‘Pick me, choose me.’
But a buttdial voicemail of Teddy having sex with Tom and then conveniently telling him at the end that it was ‘goodbye sex’, she’s marrying Owen (and the entirety of that made it onto Owen’s voicemail) … that’s a low-blow soap-opera-grade drama, even for Grey’s. It was pretty hilarious how Schmidt played it on speaker during surgery for baseball-to-the-chest, even if it meant Owen had to make excuses. Half expected him to be back at the grate when he replayed it. But I guess that was an exclusively him and Cristina thing.
That’s really the only true cliffhanger piece we get left with in this ‘finale’. Teddy comes home, gets in her wedding dress, and runs into Owen’s Mom who is taking down all the decor and getting the kids to bed, because Owen called and said he was dragged into surgery (but didn’t get a chance to call Teddy.) Except obviously, we know they are now not getting married. Amelia and Link are happy, so that’ll leave Hunt back in the cold. Alone. Again. (Though has he ever really been alone?) Maybe he and ‘Lost Jo’ can hook up. (Then they can fight to keep their American accents consistent!)
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And ‘scuse me – but – WHEN did Richard Webber have a hip replaced in Boston a few years ago?? Because if it was waaaay back – the cobalt poisoning would have got him a few seasons ago. And if it was more recently – what – when Meredith (who was never in Boston when she had Ellis like many thought) was away having Ellis in her ‘year without Derek?’ – did he fly off to Boston while still courting Catherine on a weekend-booty call and also got a hip replaced!? Where does this phantom hip replacement come into the narrative? I guess we’re going to just swallow that one.
DeLuca to the rescue, again. But the mania is catching up to him. He discovers the cobalt poisoning, and Grey sides with him, which ultimately leads to the saving of Richard’s life – not sending him home with Catherine and a false Alzheimer’s diagnosis. So that’s good. But at the end of the episode he’s a broke-down basket case. Maybe he can spend some time at that facility Jo checked into back at the beginning of the season.
Jackson and Maggie put bickering aside; that’s great. Catherine was a wreck, and her caring and ‘I’ll get Tom to take over so I can be with Richard’ was – as I feared – too little too late. You sort of forget about how messed up Richard was this last week or so, and so you forget how furious he was at her for basically getting him fired and then buying his hospital in the middle of their very expensive divorce. So it shouldn’t – but did – come as a surprise when he woke up and recoiled from her and rebuked her. Even that seems to be wrapped up; Richard isn’t likely to be going back to Catherine Fox.
The hospital isn’t in jeopardy, nobody might be dying; the only ‘will-they-won’t-they’ that we’re left wondering about – except for the big, bleeding obvious ‘now what, Teddy, Hunt, Tom?’ – is if DeLuca’s going off the rails and into care is going to leave her too drained to continue to try and engage with Hayes. He did ask her out for a drink, she did say yes – and with as much enthusiasm as her exhausted self could muster, she just couldn’t actually go. So they’re still up in there, Jo is on a ‘I hate dating’ bender, and Richard is going to be 98% fine.
Guess we’ll get our pandemic episode as the winter finale (if not season finale) of Season 17 when it starts back up *hopefully* in September.
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