This episode was all about the romances, and for the most part I really enjoyed it. I have one big complaint and one nitpick-y complaint, but in all, I think we're getting a really nice solid establishing episode that's going to help us ramp up to the end of the season and catapult us to a successful Season Thirteen (man, Shonda is unstoppable).
Cons:
Catherine Avery is suddenly super evil or something. I don't like it. Basically, Catherine comes into town and, despite Jackson telling her to stay out of it, she immediately goes to talk to April. The two have a lovely conversation and it makes April feel better about everything. She even goes to Jackson and asks him if they can find a time to talk just the two of them. Everything is good so far. But then... Catherine reveals to Jackson that she was just faking being nice to April so she could get solid evidence that April knew about the pregnancy before the divorce. Since she's admitted to what amounts to fraud, now Catherine and Jackson can go after her. Okay, hold the phone! The only good thing about this twist is that it was such a twist. I didn't see it coming at all, so there was that heart-rate accelerating excitement of being thrown for a loop. But other than that, this is stupid.
I've always admired the fact that this show could sustain so many different characters who just don't get along or like each other at all, and yet still make them all believable and relatable. Catherine Avery has always been a hard pill to swallow, but then some people are, and her relationship with Richard was understandable and even kind of sweet. Her overbearing nature is infuriating, but when she sat down with April and actually showed sympathy for her in that moment, I thought it was a great moment of bonding between this mother and this mother-to-be. It didn't have to be about Jackson or about the divorce or anything else. April really needed that. And then? Ugh. In what universe does Catherine think that Jackson is going to jump on board and sue April? And how on earth is Richard going to react to this when he finds out? I just can't see how I'm ever going to sympathize with another word out of Catherine Avery's mouth. This show is usually better than introducing straight-up villains, but I'm sorry... Catherine's behavior here is just crossing the line.
Then there's Major Thorpe, Meredith's love interest. I liked a lot of elements of Meredith's story this week, but I've got to say: Thorpe is not only boring, he's also kind of creepy. At one point he actually says the words "I'm pretty sure you're worth waiting for," which just... gag. And his answer to hearing that Meredith isn't ready for a relationship? He agrees to back off, but he promises to call again and then to show up and badger Meredith if she doesn't reply to his calls. Dude. I get that you like her. And you didn't do anything wrong here. But she's saying she's not ready, and you're already making plans for future stalking? Yikes. Step back. It's not charming, and if you weren't so handsome nobody would be fooled into thinking that it was.
Pros:
Pretty much everybody in this episode is making mature situations to get themselves out of unnecessary drama. I loved the fact that the medical case of the week used humor to underlay that very same message. Basically, a tiny woman and her huge boyfriend come into the hospital because the girl, Ashley, is severely injured while the two are having sex. There are a lot of funny comments about the size differential. In the end, Ashley is badly hurt but will make a full recovery. Chris, her gentlemanly behemoth of a boyfriend, rushes in to see her once she's awake, and she pragmatically breaks up with him: "no one needs to climb Everest twice." I liked Chris and Ashley as characters, and the relative light-heartedness of this plot thread.
Then we get to the emotional center of this episode: the three sisters. It's been a while since we've had any Maggie/Amelia/Meredith time, but here we got it back in full force, as all three sisters start the episode with a man in their lives, and end it single and in a better place for it.
This episode starts with Meredith inviting Thorpe inside after their third date. The next morning, Maggie and Amelia (who was crashing there after what happened with Owen) hear Meredith screaming at Thorpe to get out, and they throw him out, anxiously asking Meredith if she's alright. She won't tell them what happened, instead deciding to go on a cleaning spree. The two sisters help her out. Alex shows up, worried for Meredith as well, and Meredith confides in Alex that being with Thorpe was good, but it was a step she just wasn't ready for. Thorpe shows up and Meredith tells him that everything was great the night before, but she's not ready.
I mentioned the fact that Thorpe annoys me, but for Meredith's personal journey I'm thrilled that all of this is happening. She thought she should just get on with it and be with someone new, and so she gave it a try. And it wasn't a giant traumatic disaster or anything. It was nice, actually. And now that it's happened, she's realized that she's not ready for that yet, so she makes a mature decision to step away. I loved how Maggie and Amelia just started cleaning right along with Meredith, no qualms about it, because they knew that was the only way to be there for her. Maggie calls Alex for backup when they still don't know what happened with Thorpe, and Alex shows up, manly heroicness in full force: "where is he? I'll kill him. Did he hurt you? Are you hurt?" Gah. I love Alex to pieces. Later, Alex and Meredith end up sitting in front of the fireplace, Meredith wrapped in one of Derek's old blankets that she always hated. She opens up to him, and that's what makes her realize what she needs to do. I really admire the fact that even as the two of them are sitting close together in front of a blazing fire, there's not even a hint of romance going on. All the same, they love each other deeply. This show is so great at showing different types of relationships! I know I talk about that a lot, but I can't help it.
Meanwhile, Amelia has been holing up at Meredith's place because she doesn't want to talk to Owen. Owen keeps texting and calling, wanting to apologize for getting drunk and screwing up their plans. At the hospital, Ben talks to Owen about his own experiences with Bailey, and how sometimes it takes a lot and a lot of apologizing to make up for mistakes. Stephanie lets Owen know that Amelia is at Meredith's place, so Owen shows up there to apologize in person. Amelia, just like Meredith, decides to make the mature decision for herself. She's a recovering addict. She can't count on Owen right now, even though she knows Owen is a good person. She needs to count on herself. She breaks up with him.
I do feel bad for Owen, but he's got a lot of his own stuff going on at the moment with Riggs and everything, and Amelia can't get caught up in somebody else's drama. I was proud of her for making that decision. I hope that she sticks to it at least for a while, since I'm really tired of the back and forth with the two of them. Also, Amelia's decision to break up with Owen, coupled with Meredith's new mature understanding of her own headspace seems to have finally led to the Meredith/Amelia reunion we've all been waiting for. True to form, there's no apologizing or big hugs or anything. Amelia starts to leave the house, and Meredith says she can stay in her room, now that it's all clean and everything. That was really sweet. Meredith and Amelia are two very interesting people who are sometimes difficult to like, but they love each other, and that's easy to see.
Maggie is getting a little anxious because Andrew seems to be brushing her off. She makes excuses, thinking that they're both just busy and having a hard time synching their schedules. Amelia, Meredith, and Alex, however, inform her that she's been blown off. Maggie goes to the hospital and confronts DeLuca, saying she doesn't have time for games. Does he want to be with her or not? He doesn't give an answer, which seems to make things pretty clear for Maggie. I like the fact that it's Maggie, the one who was being kind of immature about this relationship in the first place, who decides to do the smart and mature thing and break it off. Andrew is being a baby. I hope we can get some nuance and growth out of his character, because I really did like him for a second there, before he started getting weird and resentful of Maggie. In any case, Maggie is breaking things off this time not because she's scared to commit, but because this guy clearly isn't ready to be in a relationship with her. I'm proud of her!
Finally, there was a great subplot with another one of our romantic pairings: Penny and Callie. These two actually make it out of the episode stronger, instead of breaking up like pretty much everybody else. Penny says "I love you" to Callie, who replies "thank you," causing awkwardness between them. When Sophia gets a small injury due to falling and bumping her head, Penny is the one who ends up treating her. Callie says she wishes Penny would have let somebody else cover, since Sophia hasn't met Penny yet and they haven't talked about it. Callie pushes the blame on Arizona, saying that she is the one who isn't comfortable with Penny meeting Sophia. When Penny goes to apologize to Arizona, she learns that Callie was lying to her. Callie gets chastised by Arizona for putting her in the middle, and Bailey gives some good advice, because she knows what it's like to date as a mother. Callie invites Penny to go out for ice cream with her and Sophia as the episode closes, confirming that they're on the same page and they really want this relationship to work.
I loved everything about this plot thread. It was so nice to see one of the kids take a central role in the story, since we haven't seen that in... well, forever. And I love the fact that Callie uses Arizona as a scapegoat, but both Arizona and Penny put her in her place and let her know that it's not cool. The scene with Bailey was really sweet - she made Callie see that introducing a partner to your child isn't really about when the child is ready, but when the parent is ready. Callie had been holding back because she tends to jump in to things without looking, but after thinking it over, she realizes that she's serious about Penny. The scene at the end where Penny gets to go to ice cream with them was absolutely precious. That little girl playing Sophia was too darling for words! Also, this is random, but Jo had the most hilarious little moments in this episode. When Penny goes up to talk to Arizona and apologize for stepping in with Sophia, Jo whispers "what did you do?" and then, when Arizona says she never expressed discomfort with Penny meeting Sophia, Jo gasps and says "she was lying!" It was so random, but honestly these little sassy Jo interjections made me laugh so much. It was probably the most I've enjoyed her character all season.
That's what I've got for this one. Honestly if it weren't for my fury at the whole Catherine Avery situation, I'd be giving this even higher marks. Still, the other plot threads were all mostly winners, and I'm hoping that Jackson will rebuff his mother in the coming weeks, which will be really satisfying to see.
8/10
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