ABC
‘We are Americans. Your face is an American.’ BOHKEE!!!
ALL THE FEELS.
Before we can even get into the rest of the nonsense that happened on tonight’s episode — the title says it all. The end of the episode gives resources to report and help stop Asian American Pacific Islander hate. Because this week’s main patient focus was the incoming trauma that derailed Meredith from making it home in time for Nick’s dinner party. At her house.
An older Asian woman, Alice, was brought in — attacked by someone at the bus stop in a blatant hate-crime — with multiple fractures, facial lacerations, and what turns out to be internal bleeding. This builds a profound scene in the OR with Nico and Michelle Lin (the head of plastics who replaced Jackson Avery after he left to run the foundation back in Boston). They speak about all of the Asian hate crimes, the long lineage of being viewed as outsiders — Nico wonders if they’ll ever stop being viewed as foreign and Michelle points out that being wrongly blamed for COVID didn’t help. She even talks about how she used to wonder if her mother’s makeup would make her face look more American. And the whole time, BohKee — who has probably said 15 lines in ~400 episodes — speaks up with the most profound line of all season: ‘We are Americans. Your face is an American.’ And all the while, Alice’s family is in the waiting room desperate to let her know she is not alone that they are all there for her. (She pulls through, though the result of which is Nico punching a hole into the wall of an on-call room, and Schmidt lets him be — for like a hot second — before bringing him ice and a wrap.)
Meanwhile — upstairs? Downstairs? In a different part of the hospital — Catherine is undergoing one of her chemo treatments and they make the very important discovery (through last week’s pregnancy-cancer couple) that Richard has become so obsessed with finding research and clinical trials that he has unintentionally isolated his wife in her on-going battle with cancer. He very profoundly says that if she’s just undergoing treatment for him he doesn’t want that. And she very candidly confesses that she wants her treatments, she wants to live, but sometimes she just wants to figure out how to live in the moment, not think about ‘what’s next’ in her line of ‘how do I live with cancer’ and just live, laugh, and love.
ABC
Back at House of Grey — all sorts of things are happening, not the least of which is Nick being a superstar and basically cooking the dinner that Maggie failed to have prepared by the time he and everyone else arrived. It’s not nearly as awkward as it could have been with Nick and all the vetting but that’s largely because there’s a whole bunch of other awkward going on. Like Owen telling Kai that when they say they don’t want kids that they sound like Amelia did before she had Scout. Or Nick singing Kai’s praises to Link, who then asks if his ex traded up. Or the whole Winston drama — which plays out loudly in front of everyone.
Wendell, Winston’s brother, manages to flimflam both Maggie AND Winston out of $10,000. Maggie gives him the money to be rid of the problem (avoid another heartache for Winston) after a quick heart-to-heart with Nick. Only to learn that he’s already given Wendell $10,000.
Link gets semi-drunk advice from Teddy about his maybe-sorta-sometimes-small-feelings for Jo. (Which turns out to be ‘no, don’t tell her that.’ Good call, Teddy. And Jo has a cameo back at the hospital — last week’s cancer-pregnancy couple has a close call while the husband is getting a chemo treatment, right beside Richard and Catherine.)
Kai breaks it off with Amelia because they do not wish to lead Amelia on — vehemently stating that they will never have kids, they do not want kids and cannot carry on in good faith with someone who has a kid and is so much more than just an Aunt to both Meredith and Owen’s kids. That leaves Amelia alone in the backyard on the swing giving Nick the most important piece of advice; to make sure that Meredith’s life is filled with joy (which will ultimately lead to him understanding that he has to help her choose to STAY in Seattle because that’s where her joy is — most of it — he’s just a small part of her joy and like his attending-path — he’s transplantable!).
The funniest thing to happen all episode? Teddy and Owen making out parked out in front of the house (too bad it wasn’t in the House of Grey driveway!!!) and proceeding to start having car sex — ONLY TO HAVE BAILEY BANG ON THE WINDOW!!! Flashing back to when she busted up Meredith and Derek in the car, anyone? And of course when she fist bumps Bailey in the house and they say ‘Bailey’ at one another because BAILEY!
Meredith finally comes home after assisting and overseeing the trauma patient and finds Nick waiting up for her, with food. And she hugs him and says — I LOVE YOU. And he says it back. And it was okay.
Amelia is so right about her; most people would have broken entirely at a fraction of the stuff she’s been through. In lost love’s alone? Derek was killed in a horrific car accident where he could have survived had it not been for an incomptent doctor on watch that night. Nate was ripped out of her arms because the fiance he thought he’d lost — just like she’d lost Derek — CAME BACK TO LIFE. And DeLuca — he died saving a sex-trafficking victim — while she was in a coma with COVID. Not to mention all the other stuff — like the bomb in the body cavity, surviving the hospital shooting, having a miscarriage, almost losing her daughter, almost dying giving birth to her son, losing her mother, losing George, losing Lexi, donating her liver to her father — being the daughter of Ellis Grey — she deserves a world of joy and happiness. And all of that is right there in Seattle. Now with 100% more Nick Marsh.
The 400th episode, two-hour Season 18 finale comes next week — and we see the return of Jackson and April, as well as a final decision about the program. (We’re all fingers crossed that it’s a good one … especially since ABC has picked up and renewed Grey’s Anatomy for a 19th season.)
What did you think of this episode? Start a conversation in the comments section below.
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9:00 PM on ABC.
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