I don't even know how to respond to this episode. In a lot of ways there are things I shouldn't have liked about it. So many clichés. So many contrived ways to cram in some drama. But the thing is... that's the show. And this was a remarkably happy episode, for all that it had its sad moments as well. Let's get started on what ended up being a really solid ending to a season riddled with plot threads that I just couldn't get behind.
Cons:
The only plot thread that I just cannot endorse is the Jo and Alex story line. Jo tries to prove that she is all in with Alex by offering to have a kid with him, but Alex says no. He's tired of playing games. He's a grownup now, and wants to move forward seriously with Jo. Later, Jo gets super drunk at the bar, and DeLuca ends up taking care of her. Jo reveals, in her drunken state, that she can't marry Alex because she's already married. She left her husband, who was abusive, and now she can't divorce him because he'll find her. DeLuca helps Jo get home, but Alex walks in at the worst possible moment, seeing DeLuca struggling to put a half-naked and drunk Jo to bed. Alex attacks DeLuca, punching him over and over.
Okay... I'm sorry, but no. Jo is already married? What a cliché! And she had no good reason for not telling Alex. I wasn't expecting this twist, because I thought this show could do better than that. Also, Alex walking in and jumping to the wrong conclusions... that's the kind of lazy writing that I can't respect. In all, this plot thread was the one with the bleakest ending, and also the one with the most nonsense. I also hated the fact that Stephanie was barely present. She tried to comfort Jo in her drunken state at the bar, but of course Stephanie's boyfriend just freakin' died, and other than Jo trying incompetently to offer her comfort, there's no mention made of this. She has no real arc in this finale whatsoever, which feels like a waste.
Also, I have to say this: this finale was what I like to call a really good stop-gap measure. It was an ultimately satisfying installment that wrapped up a lot of plot threads that I didn't like. While I enjoyed the ending to these storylines, I can't forget some of the stuff we had to trudge through this season to get to this conclusion. Those storylines include Arizona and Callie's custody battle, Riggs and Owen and their animosity, Ben and Bailey's big fight, Amelia and Owen's back-and-forth... even Jackson and April's baby drama started out as a plot thread that I thoroughly disliked. It's a miracle that this finale managed to wrap up these plot threads in a way that I felt happy with, given how much I disliked these various stories throughout the season. I just wanted to mention this because a good ending doesn't make up entirely for a shaky beginning and/or middle.
Pros:
The Alex/Jo plot wasn't without its good moments. I did adore Alex and Meredith's conversation at the start of the episode, where they talked through the stuff going on in their lives. They lay out on the grass until the rain starts to pour. I just love their friendship so much. Also, Jo was pretty funny while drunk. I think my favorite part was when she was looking for her phone and then declared: "oh my God! This isn't even my purse!" It seemed to capture the essence of being drunk quite well. And I am intrigued to learn Jo's real name, because apparently Jo Wilson is a name she took on to escape from her abusive husband. Which is still a stupid twist. But whatever.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Owen/Amelia wedding stuff was actually really great. This is one of the examples of a plot thread I wasn't happy about actually turning out really wonderful in the end. Amelia does the predictable freak-out thing, but it's motivated by very real concerns. None of her family is coming for the wedding, which is just tragic. She's sad because Derek was supposed to walk her down the aisle. She knows that Meredith doesn't like her too much, and she overhears Meredith suggesting that Owen call Cristina and tell her about his wedding. All of those things, coupled with Amelia's fear that she's already had the one great love of her life, are enough to send her into a tailspin. She runs off, with Meredith and Maggie in tow. But by the end of the episode, she has come back, and Amelia and Owen tie the knot. (Amelia's dress is gorgeous, by the way. And her hair! Damn. She looked stunning).
I love the fact that the predicted freak-out is substantiated by real pain and real doubt. It's not just pre-wedding jitters, or another round of the will-they-won't-they cycle that's been driving me nuts all season. In this case, it makes sense. I loved the moment with Meredith put aside her own doubts and resentments and decided to be Amelia's "twisted sister" for the day. Maggie, on the other hand, keeps trying to be happy and bubbly, insisting that this should be a happy day. She gets really upset about all the guests and the food when Amelia makes a run for it. Maggie is so me. I love the dynamic of these three sisters. Meredith and Amelia might never like each other very much, but they do love each other. I think the best moment here was when Meredith, Maggie, and Amelia are all in the car, and Meredith says that maybe this time will be different for Amelia. Maybe she's got it right this time. Who says you only have one great love of your life? Maybe you get as many as you need. Maggie provides an example of someone who has had two great loves: Richard Webber. (One could argue, in fact, that he has had three. He really did love Adele, and he seems to have loved Ellis a great deal, and now he's got Catherine).
Over on Owen's side of things, I loved the fact that he didn't lose hope when Amelia disappeared. He's about to make a life-long commitment to this woman, and he figures that means she gets the benefit of the doubt. Amelia will come back. And hey, she does! Owen and Riggs had a moment of reconciliation here, which was long overdue. April was supposed to be Owen's best man, which is all kinds of precious, but instead she has to give birth, so... there's that. Riggs steps in and delivers the rings to Owen, and Owen invites Riggs to stay. I also loved Owen and Meredith checking in with one another. Meredith has her own stuff going on, but she can see that Owen really does love Amelia.
Now that the Riggs and Owen tension has been swept under the rug, I'm starting to like the character more and more. Riggs and Meredith have a flirtatious thing going on. They agree that they're just friends... friends who had sex four times in one night, but whatever. I like their dynamic, as it seems that Meredith might have a little crush going. They bond over their lost loves, discussing how Derek and Megan both would have loved big weddings. At the end of the episode, Maggie tells Meredith that she really likes Riggs, and she thinks the feeling is mutual. Uh oh... the sisters like the same guy! I actually liked this dramatic little twist, because I think it'll put some interesting strain on the Maggie/Meredith relationship without throwing in anything too contrived. I love Maggie and I want her to be happy, but I also love Meredith and I want her to be happy. These two women have had vastly different life experiences. Meredith's difficulties in the romance department are because she's a relatively newly widowed woman with three kids and an intense career. Maggie has the intense career, but her own issues with men stem from an inability to open up and be vulnerable. What's going to happen with Riggs moving forward? I don't think he would want to hurt either one of them!
Then let's switch over to the April stuff. As she's looking for the rings at Meredith's house, she goes into labor. She's stuck in the middle of a rainstorm with just Ben for company, and the baby is breached. Ben is forced to perform an emergency C-section without anesthesia, while Bailey, Jackson, and Arizona are at the hospital on the phone with him. Both April and her baby girl pull through!
This is what I'm talking about when I say this finale is a happy one. Sure, there was a lot of drama and uncertainty, and there is the moment when we get the angsty music and the slow-motion rushing to the ambulance, but Ben did it. He saved April and her child. This successfully brings to an end the Bailey/Ben drama, which was another plot thread I hated this season. As Ben gets ready to perform a C-section, the very procedure that killed a mother and child and got him suspended, Bailey talks to him on the phone. She tells him that she trusts him. We can also put to rest our worries about April and her child, and move forward with Jackson and April's parenting adventures. I actually got a little choked up when April asked Ben to save her baby at all costs, even if she died, and Jackson, on the phone, yells out at Ben to please save April. His worry for her was plain. It's so clear that he still loves her so much. I think that these two will find their way back to each other by the end of the show, and honestly this finale reminded me that they can work as a couple. Also, on a lighter note, April was so funny in this episode. As she realizes that she's going to have the baby in Meredith's house, she takes on a no-nonsense attitude, at one point telling Ben to give her an exam: "you're probably going to see my vagina, which might be weird." Ben responds with: "yeah, but I'm a doctor, so..." the delivery of these lines was precious. I especially like that April says "probably," as if there's a way that Ben could examine her without seeing anything.
Finally, we get to the plot thread that has given me the most headaches this season, but which has miraculously ended on a touching note: Arizona and Callie. Arizona notices that Callie is really down, having just lost her daughter and Penny in one fell swoop. She makes a decision, bringing Sofia over to Callie's place along with plane tickets to New York. She says she wants her daughter back the following weekend, and she wants her every other school year, and the summers, and that they can work out the rest of the details later. Basically, at the end of the day, Arizona acknowledges that they did this wrong. Sofia deserves for both of her moms to be happy.
Apparently, Sara Ramirez (Callie) is leaving the show. This is a serious bummer, because I really love her. Callie and Arizona's relationship was always one of my favorite on this show, and I think it's very fitting that our last glimpse of Callie is with Arizona, as the two share a long hug. Callie is so grateful for Arizona's kindness. The reason this resolution goes in the "pros" section is because Arizona is still the undisputed winner of the whole situation. I still think Callie acted inappropriately throughout this whole plot thread, but Arizona offering to share Sofia is different than being forced to send her daughter away for long stretches of time. It was sweet to see these two women, who will always love and respect each other in a way, come together and find a compromise. As much as I hated the custody battle plot thread, I'm happy that Callie is happy.
So! A wedding successfully underway, a baby successfully delivered, custody arrangements firmed up, a long marital spat resolved... if we could just ignore the whole Jo/Alex mess, this episode would be an unmarred string of happy endings. I think it was a smart move for the show to make at this juncture. That way, we can go into next season with a relatively peaceful landscape of plots and characters. Callie will be missed, but I'm still looking forward to what will happen with Jackson and April, with Owen and Amelia, and I even think the new love triangle between Riggs, Meredith, and Maggie holds promise. This was a pretty nice way to bow out to what I felt was a fairly uneven season.
9/10
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