Grey's Anatomy: With a Wonder and a Wild Desire/Broken Together (15x01/02)

This show has so many characters! These reviews are fun to write, but Grey's Anatomy always gets a little out of hand. Let's try to rapid-fire some stuff.

Cons:

I've never been a big Amelia and Owen fan, and the whole Teddy pregnancy complication is not helping matters. For whatever reason, I really noticed the soap-opera-y dialogue in their plot thread this week. I don't feel emotionally invested enough for the show to get away with Owen saying "are we on a motorcycle with one helmet?" or Amelia saying that she has feelings, and then describing those feelings as "heart pounding" and a bunch of other cliches. It's just too much. Their lives are a mess. The baby thing is a complication that just compounds the chaos, and not in a good way.

Jo is curing cancer? Okay, I don't hate it, but I'm keeping a close eye on it. This could get real silly, real fast.

I liked Jackson's journey in this episode quite a bit, but I still don't have that happy feeling about Jackson and Maggie's relationship that I get when I'm fully invested in a fictional relationship. It feels a little run-of-the-mill. Maggie still has the tendency to annoy me sometimes, and while she was totally fine in this episode, I found Maggie the least interesting thing about Jackson's plot thread, which isn't really a good sign for my continued interest.

Oh, and one last minor complaint - I know it's a function of the show and how these things work, but it always bothers me when the patients get super invested in the lives of their doctors. That is not how this works. If patients know that much about the love lives of their doctors, that means the doctors are messing something up. I know it's a TV show, but still. I always notice it, so I thought I'd mention it.

Pros:

I'm not religious. I'm pretty firmly not religious. I can't imagine a scenario in which I would become religious. But watching Jackson struggle with this new idea of himself as someone who could have faith... it's really interesting. I like that he's struggling with it. I loved the moment when he told Maggie he felt embarrassed. That reaction resonated with me so hard. Making yourself emotionally vulnerable, trusting in something so ephemeral and, by its very nature, not provable... that is some heavy stuff, and it's awkward and it's so personal that it's hard to even articulate it. I want to see where this goes. It also serves as an excellent way to keep April alive in the world of the show, and opens it up to have April and/or Matthew pop in to offer Jackson some advice on being newly faithful. I like it when shows manage to find ways to keep the energy of departed characters alive within the narrative. It sucks that the young love-lorn woman had to die, though. I can completely understand why Jackson would be having some PTSD over all of the big life events going on lately. I hope we can explore the darker side of things as well.

I can't believe DeLuca has become interesting to me. He's winning an award for "most improved." He saved a bunch of lives, all in a row, and not in the course of being a doctor. I wonder if DeLuca and Jackson will be bonded because of what happened. Jackson and Maggie could have died! I'm curious as to where they're going to go with his character, but I'm actually looking forward to finding out.

I want Meredith to find love again. I have no idea if it's going to be with "Link," the total bro ortho god, but I actually think that would be super fun and kind of hilarious. Talk about going against type! I like the comedy mixed with genuine emotion that we get from watching Meredith try to decide her next move. Apparently that drunken wedding kiss with DeLuca got into Meredith's head, because now she's having sexy dreams about not only DeLuca, but Jackson, Koracick, and Link. Her patient, a matchmaker, encourages her to go out there and find love. One of my favorite things about this plot thread is the conversation she has with her patient (I know I'm going against what I said above, but whatever. Call me a hypocrite). Meredith insists that she is happy, and her patient says of course she is. She's successful, she loves her job, she has three amazing children and close bonds with family and friends. But that doesn't mean there should be a cap on happiness. She can have all of that stuff and also find happiness with a romantic relationship. This is so important, because it defies the typical and insulting narrative of happiness = romance. Meredith can be happy without love, but love might make her more happy, and isn't that worth trying? Also, Link seems pretty funny. I can't wait to learn more about him.

Jo and Alex's plot thread has me scratching my head just a little bit, because, as I mentioned above, this could get silly real fast. That said, I love how these two passionate, intelligent doctors basically just throw their honeymoon out the window because of a potential scientific breakthrough. Of course they do! I love how focused Jo becomes on the new idea, and I love how supportive Alex is. Some time, they'll go on another vacation together and get away from the stresses of the job. But for now, they're excited to be together, and by the end of the episode it looks like they won't be moving to Boston after all - they're both staying put in Seattle! Alex even got a promotion to interim chief! I'm so happy that we're not gearing up to say goodbye to Alex. That would have broken my heart. I also just love the comedy in the scene with Meredith and Alex. Meredith is pissed that Bailey has stolen Jo's fellowship for herself, and made Alex the interim chief instead of her. Alex insists it's a win-win, because Meredith should just be happy Alex isn't leaving!

I really like the concept of Bailey giving away some of her power in order to get back to doing some medicine. There was a great deal of comedy with everybody vying for the interim chief position. Meredith, Richard, Owen, and Amelia all threw their name in the ring, which makes it all the more hilarious then that Alex is the one to get it in the end!

I ship Schmidt with random ortho resident! It's just occurring to me that Grey's Anatomy has had a number of queer ladies, but we haven't had a lot of MLM representation. I'm all about this and I can't wait to see where it goes. We're seeing some of these interns start to get hints of their own identities. Helm has a crush on Meredith, Schmidt is super flustered by a hot fellow physician, and Qadri has a new dog, apparently! Adorable.

Okay. That's enough. I'm absolutely sure I'm missing some details, but I can't write about every little thing in this show. It's such a big cast, such a big undertaking, and yet every new episode, I'm continually impressed by how not crowded it seems when I'm watching. Serious kudos!

7/10