Grey's Anatomy: True Colors (13x23)

Of course this happens. God, these people are cursed, I tell you! This was a good episode of Grey's Anatomy, in that it delivered I think exactly what this show is supposed to deliver. A lot of melodrama with some really compelling characters. Let's dive in.

Cons:

Okay, so the big "twist" here is that Megan, Owen's sister, is alive and his being transported to Grey Sloan Memorial as we speak. I'm not sure how to feel, because DUH. God, I wish there could have been some way to not make it super obvious that this was going to happen. I'm excited to meet Megan, but they did this in the most trite way. Owen's having a panic attack about it, and they try to keep faking you out like maybe they just found Megan's body, and she's been dead all along. But no of course not. And we see all these happy scenes of Meredith and Nathan ready to take bigger steps into their relationship, so of course timing-wise this is the perfect time for Nathan's long-lost love to make a reappearance. C'mon.

We have a few brief scenes with Maggie and Jackson bonding. I do not want this to be a thing. Maggie is annoying when she's in any sort of relationship plot thread. And Jackson and April should really get back together. I can't believe we still haven't seen them explore the consequences of their hookup. Whatever.

Pros:

So, my thoughts about Megan's return being what they are, I do want to say that I still like a lot of the elements going on here. Amelia set aside her bullshit for once in order to help Owen through this stressful time. I love that Owen is basically in denial, refusing to let the good news in, because if Megan is alive it means that Owen gave up on her when he shouldn't have. It's not a rational thought, but it makes sense why Owen would be feeling that way. And Amelia handled the situation really well, calling the hospital to confirm, talking with Teddy - yay Teddy! I forgot about her! - and letting Owen break down and cry. Also, Meredith handled herself perfectly. The second Amelia tells her what's up, Meredith says that she'll go and tell Nathan, because if Derek were alive she'd want to know right away. She doesn't for one second let the drama of the situation wash over her. She doesn't let it get to her or let it be about her. I feel like Maggie would have thrown a fit about her own feelings in this situation, but Meredith behaved properly.

Okay, let's pivot to Alex's strange little subplot. His mysterious phone call from last week's episode has led him to the location of Jo's abusive husband, a respectable doctor. Alex spends the episode at a conference where this guy is speaking, imagining different scenarios wherein he befriends the guy and then beats him to a bloody pulp, landing himself in jail again. Or where he warns him and threatens him to stay way from Jo, but then the guy finds and kills Jo anyway. In the end, Alex lets the guy go off in a cab without ever talking to him or telling him who he is. This was an odd subplot, and it kind of didn't belong in this episode, except for the fact that it could lead to some interesting stuff for next season. Alex has been a little MIA for most of this season, so I like the idea of bringing him back in with concrete goals for next season. Jo might be boring to me, but Alex certainly isn't. I'd love to see where this goes.

Now for the main event: Stephanie's plot thread. Yikes. A couple shows up in the hospital, both severely injured from a car driving off of a cliff while they were having sex. Or so we believe at first. The guy wakes up and is frantic with worry for his girlfriend. And then the girl wakes up and asks "did I kill him?" and we discover that she was actually trying to kill him. This other guy, Keith, is not this girl's boyfriend. He's a rapist who she tried to kill by driving the car off of the cliff. Suddenly, Jackson realizes that Stephanie is with Keith. She was trying to sneak him in to see his "girlfriend." When he hears that the hospital is locking down because of a rapist, he holds a scalpel on her and forces her to help him escape. Of course, things escalate from there. A little girl who keeps wandering off from her family ends up stuck in the stairwell with Stephanie and Keith. The doors go into lock-down, so Keith decides to start a fire to force people to open the doors. Stephanie gets the little girl out of there after forcing Keith to set himself on fire... only for Stephanie to realize that she's locked him in a room with a gas tank, which then of course explodes as she rushes into the room to try and stop that from happening.

Dun dun dun... are they going to kill Stephanie? She deserves a better exit than that, dammit! At the same time, what a bomb-ass way to go out, killing an evil rapist and saving a little girl. I don't know what to think! There's a lot to untangle here. I loved the little girl, she was a really great actress and I hope she has a role to play in the finale. I loved the twist with the rapist. I felt like I knew something strange was going on with the way these two were reacting as they woke up, but I never would have guessed the truth until suddenly we're being told.

Also, just, this is the stuff that good ol' fashioned Grey's Anatomy is made of. Interpersonal drama is going on all over the place, and then suddenly some improbable and potentially deadly accident occurs, and we're worried for the very life of one of our beloved characters. I eat this melodrama crap up. It's why I watch the show. And this episode was a prime example of it.

Next week's finale is sure to be shocking and confusing and upsetting, and I'm soooo there for it!

9/10