ABC
Seriously!? This nonsense ranks right up there with the ‘Sorry I had to leave you Jo, but I’m with Izzie now. Peace, Alex’ craptacular storyline write-out they puked-up for Justin Chambers a few seasons back. Whatever Jesse Williams’ reason for bugging out (though wasn’t it rumored/leaked that before the Pandemic broke the world he was being written out at the end of Season 16?), they’re giving Jackson Avery as crappy a send-out as they did poor Alex Karev. But should we really be surprised? And after last week’s beautiful, full-circle closure with McDreamy – how did we crash this low??
Totally called it when I said ‘he’s going to see his dad.’ Called it at the end of the episode two weeks ago. (And what in God’s name is pre-empting it next week!? The stupid sportsball draft is over. Episode 15 isn’t coming until 5/20/21.) And while it was incredibly touching to see Jackson finally let loose all of that pent up resentment, frustration, and overall bottled-up pathos – in that angry-cry moment that we never thought we’d see on him – it was just one half of a milquetoast ‘off-campus’ episode that we didn’t really need.
Yes, the systemic change that Jackson is trying to implement by taking over the foundation (which could just as easily have its headquarters move to Seattle rather than having Jackson move to Boston …) is beyond important. Taking every foundation dollar and providing parity in health care for people of color, LGBTQ individuals, women, and every group that the country has abused is ABSOLUTELY THE RIGHT MESSAGE. But did we have to drag up a whole Japril-driven half of the story to do it?
First reaction to ‘Matthew’s out east with Ruby’ was ‘that’s a load of crap, writing team – you seriously couldn’t think of ANYTHING better – or at least that would make sense? Because who goes ‘traveling out east’ with a baby to see family in the middle of the pandemic??? Especially when you’re a FIRST RESPONDER?”
The *ACTUAL* reason? Was the bombshell of ‘Matthew and I split.’ And that is such an absurd prospect that it was blindsiding. Just like Alex running off and leaving Jo for Izzie. It is so chimerical and so out there – that now that it’s been introduced – all it does is inspire fury and ire and apoplectic levels of rage. I suppose we should just be grateful that there wasn’t a Japril kiss at the end.
ABC
Getting to see Katherine having that unwavering moment of unyielding pride for her son at the end was a beautiful touch, though she (and very, very briefly Richard) were all we got from the hospital this week – and we didn’t even get them at the hospital. (Not sure where we got them because that didn’t look like her palace … but then again her palace is so enormous, it could be some back/side feature we haven’t yet seen.)
From the minute Jackson’s dad introduced the meat-slicer I was just sitting there waiting to see how long it would take Jackson to slice up his hand. A little like that holiday episode where Lexi was chopping veggies and chopped off her finger when Sloan announced she was pregnant. You knew it was coming. (His hand’s fine.) Jackson’s father did a lot of sense-making; his very earnest bit of ‘I buy my granddaughter presents but never send them because I don’t deserve to have a place in her life taking up your/her time’ was really deep and moving.
It was good to see that April’s character hadn’t changed much. And it was good to see Harriet. Quite the cutie! The hashing back and forth of ‘flip your life upside down for me so I can go to Boston and change the world’ was basically a waste. She knew all along she had nothing keeping her in Seattle (since obviously she’s known for however long Matthew and Ruby have been gone in her timeline) and yet argued it out with him anyway. So that bomb-drop-shocker was really just a slap in the audience’s face and half of an episode wasted.
WHO KEEPS GETTING THESE IDEAS!? AND WHY DO THEY KEEP MAKING IT TO THE FINAL DRAFT!?
And yet again we’ve got a two-week pause. For no particular reason. And it looks we’re only just going to square-off even in terms of number of episodes with the shortest (pilot season notwithstanding) season in Grey’s history – outside of Season 4, which battled its way through the writer’s strike. I suppose its hopeful that Season 18 will redeem it (not confirmed officially but with a trainwreck like this, the fans might mutiny and lay siege to ABC if they don’t pick it up). At any rate, goodbye Jackson. And apparently April. Again. Who is now no doubt in off-camera-storyland going to get back together with Jackson. And they can pop down to New York and visit Calzona, who has also no doubt reunited in off-camera-storyland. (Hell, Lexi & Mark did in the afterlife beach, so why not?) Jackson’s ‘big send-off’ will air on Thursday, May 20, 2021.
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