Grey's Anatomy: Drawn to the Blood (15x24)

This was such a great penultimate episode. Grey's Anatomy sure knows how to set up its crazy finales!

Cons;

Does anyone want to venture a guess as to what I'm about to complain about? Apparently Teddy has had a revelation that Owen is the great love of her life. She rushes to tell him, but finds Amelia in Owen's apartment with Leo instead. I realized this was coming when Owen was helping the agoraphobic blood donor and Teddy had this look on her face like she was mooning for him. And then later she gives Tom this really fond look that's clearly telling us she's getting ready to say goodbye. And then Kari, the paraplegic woman with her kid Toby, remind Teddy to "seize the day" or whatever. This whole time, I've been getting more and more invested in Teddy/Tom, knowing full well that this was a good possibility. But the thing is, I think Owen and Teddy make each other worse. It's not fun or romantic to watch. Teddy may be right that Owen is the only all-consuming passionate love she'll ever experience, but that kind of love is sort of poisonous, and Teddy is being a jerk to Tom, and Owen is not worth all of this. I'm frustrated.

Pros:

The good news is, the stuff with Teddy's love life was the only part of this episode that I didn't thoroughly enjoy and appreciate. The rest was pretty great.

First of all, you've got Jo. Alex sends in the big guns to try and help figure out what's going on: Meredith. She stays with Jo and finally gets her to talk about how she's feeling. Meredith shares experiences of her own trauma to help Jo come to terms with what she's facing, and they make a plan to get Jo the help she needs. I loved seeing Meredith play this role for Jo. Obviously Alex is desperate to help his wife, but Meredith really is the OG twisted sister. She knows how to pull people out of the darkness, because of how long she's spent there herself. I really appreciate how careful they're being with Jo's story. It's not the kind of melodramatic thing that gets solved immediately. Even now, with this breakthrough, we're just seeing the beginning of a healing journey. Jo is willing to start the work of getting better, but that's not the same thing as everything being magically fixed all at once.

Maggie and Jackson are camping, and Maggie hates it, but she's trying to be enthusiastic for Jackson's sake. While I don't think I'll ever totally love this couple, this was another moment where I grudgingly admit that they're not pissing me off like they used to. It's sweet that Maggie tries to share in Jackson's passion, and I like that Jackson wants her to enjoy it, but also isn't unduly upset that she's not 100% on board. It's a good balance. Maybe camping can be a very occasional thing for them. Maybe they can try glamping. I also like that this plot thread provided some much-needed levity to the episode, although of course things are pretty dire by the time the episode ends.

Bailey and Catherine spend the entire day in the board room, and everyone is freaking out about what's going on. Turns out, it's about the patient that Meredith committed insurance fraud to save. Andrew ends up taking the fall for her, to Meredith's horror. I loved everything about this setup, because we see that Meredith has been avoiding Andrew after the whole "I love you" thing, but that it's not an overly dramatic or painful separation situation. They're in an uncertain period, on the precipice between two people dating and two people in a serious relationship. And now, in true Grey's fashion, a serious obstacle has popped up to prevent their happiness. I loved the moment of Andrew and Meredith talking through the window in the hyperbaric chamber. Andrew makes a point to bring up Meredith's kids, to emphasize that this is for their sake. I am all emotional. I can't wait to see what happens from here.

It looks like another person with "golden blood" has been discovered to help Gus, but this woman, Frances, is severely agoraphobic. Schmitt and Owen have to work to help her get off the plane and come to the hospital. Meanwhile, Gus's father falls on Legos and breaks his butt, to general hilarity. I loved everything about this setup and payoff because it was the right mix of absurd and tragic. Poor Gus is really struggling, and of course we just want to shake Frances and tell her to get her ass to the hospital. But the actress playing Frances did an incredible job imbuing that character with pathos. I felt her pain and her fear, right alongside Gus and his parents. And then there's the broken butt, and the weird catharsis that comes from having something else to worry about for a moment.

Since it looks like Teddy/Owen is ramping up, I guess I'm going to have to get on board with Amelia/Link as a serious thing. Honestly, this episode was a good one for them. We see that Link is starting to take this all a bit more seriously, and he's clear and communicative about how he's feeling. Amelia is similarly level-headed about the whole thing, and it looks like the two of them are going to have a talk about their feelings soon. As I've stated in the past, I don't like Owen much. So I wasn't necessarily looking forward to seeing him with Amelia or Teddy. I guess the best I can hope for in whatever's coming next, is that one of these women can find happiness with someone who deserves them, and I think Link is a good guy.

I should also mention, just as a tidbit: we see that Nico is still in a really bad place, failing to see the humor in the broken butt situation. I hope that he and Levi have some sort of moment in the finale next week, because I really do root for them.

The setup for next week's finale is brilliant. As all of the drama escalates, we end up seeing various characters stuck in awful circumstances, as fog blankets all of Seattle. Jackson and Maggie are in the woods, camping, with no way of getting home. Meredith and Alex have just stepped in to the hyperbaric chamber with Gus, waiting desperately for the magic blood that can save him. And that blood? It's in a woman who is stuck in a car with Owen and Levi, while cars crash all around and into them on a blindingly foggy road. Meanwhile, Teddy has gone into labor, and Amelia is the only one there to help. Andrew is being arrested, Jo is still in crisis, and things are, generally speaking, bad. For everyone involved.

That's the making of an exciting finale next week, and I'm eagerly awaiting it!

9/10