Grey's Anatomy: I'm Still Standing (17x16)

Going to rapid-fire this review!

Cons:

I don't want more Amelia and Link drama! I hope the kid thing is resolved quickly and without too much angst. Maybe the compromise is Amelia and Link continuing to be involved with Meredith's kids, so Link can be a father-like presence in the lives of a whole gaggle of children. The thing is, I've so enjoyed this lighter, more fun story for Amelia, during her relationship with Link. They bring out this really lovely, happy side in one another and I don't want to abandon that for more angst.

I hesitate to say what I'm about to say because I think people are going to yell at me!!! I've been so wobbly on Nico and Levi because I think Levi is a really fun character, and we just haven't spent as much time with Nico, and he was honestly pretty horrible to Levi, and narratively, yes, he's made amends and I'm not like... mad at the thought of them being together or whatever, but I have to admit a potentially sacrilegious truth that is becoming harder and harder to deny! The actors just don't have that much chemistry with one another! Don't get me wrong, they're perfectly fine and their scenes do the job and aren't like... painful to watch or anything, but I don't have the warm fuzzies about them the way I should when a relationship reaches a milestone like this. So that whole scene with Nico and the candles and the "I think about you all day" should have been a really squee-worthy moment and instead I kind of vaguely thought... "oh, I guess that's nice."

The Handmaid's Tale: Home (4x07)

Dang, that was an intense episode.

Cons:

I think the one portion of the episode that felt too on-the-nose for me was the grocery store moments where June is being triggered by things that remind her of Gilead. The concept is sound, but I think we could have gotten the idea just from June's behavior, instead of the actual flashes of memory from Gilead. A little too blunt, maybe. This is a nitpick!

Also, Moira's girlfriend apparently isn't out of the picture? I'm happy about this, but also we haven't gotten a real chance to get to know this character, and her status as she relates to Moira keeps shifting so I'm just not sure what to make of her yet.

Pros:

This episode doesn't make you wait for anything! June reunites with everyone we want her to reunite with. She gets to see Moira, Luke, and baby Nichole, obviously. And then also Emily, and her son, and Rita. And then in the very same episode, we also get that long-awaited first confrontation with Serena. I appreciated that this episode was full, because there was definitely some slowness in the earlier parts of the season, and now I feel like we're getting the show on the road.

Grey's Anatomy: Tradition (17x15)

Sometimes Grey's Anatomy has something really true and good to say, but they say it in a hokey sort of way. This episode had a lot going on that kinda... jumped the shark in terms of the cheese factor for me. Let's dive in.

Cons:

First of all, Jackson's last episode was kind of a letdown. It was only in seeing it that I realized how disconnected he felt from most of the remaining leads on the show. He had a personal goodbye with Jo, which I liked, and was probably the moment I felt the most connected to Jackson leaving. But when he was talking to Meredith, it occurred to me that these two haven't had any intersecting story-lines that really mattered in years. They kept showing flashbacks to Jackson in his earlier days on the show, surrounded by people who are all no longer there. He doesn't feel woven in with any of the core cast. Then, he drives away at the end, his last conversation as a regular cast member happening with Koracick of all people? I don't know. It just felt like an anticlimax to me.

And speaking of Koracick, was this his exit from the show as well? He's moving to Boston? What a bummer. I've genuinely enjoyed his character so much, and I feel like there was so much left to explore with him. Putting him in a room with any other character really enlivened a conversation. He brought such different energy from any of the other characters. What an unceremonious end, if so. If not, I hope he's a character that pops back in here and there, maybe updates us on Jackson, April, and Harriet. That could be a nice compromise.

The Handmaid's Tale: Vows (4x06)

Huh, I don't know, honestly! This was probably my least favorite episode of the season, which was a bummer because I was looking forward to it so much!

Cons:

So, first of all, the writing seemed a little bit... hokey in the flashback scenes with Luke? It was all too on the nose, and didn't ultimately tell us anything new about Luke and June's relationship, other than the fact that June was insecure about giving him a baby. I get why they did this, and how it parallels that heartbreaking scene at the end, but... something about the actual scenes themselves didn't click with me.

As I'll talk about in a minute, I'm absolutely thrilled that June is out, in Canada. It's the status quo change we desperately need at this point in the story. But this episode itself felt like a lot of stalling. June's not going to leave. Then she's leaving. Then she's willing to be turned in. Then she gets through. Then she's going to escape and go back. Then she's not. I'm not sure anything in this episode was really revelatory enough to justify the buildup. That scene with Luke in the end was "the point" of this episode, and it was a great scene. But there was just a lot of chaff to get through, before we got to that wheat.

The Handmaid's Tale: Chicago (4x05)

Oh, for fuck's sake. If Janine's dead, I'm gonna rage quit watching this show. I mean, not really, but come on. She'd better be okay. 

Cons:

This is a small thing but I thought I'd mention it: they've spent a lot of time in Canada this season, and yet didn't bother to set up why Moira would be in Chicago there at the end - I guess we'll find out later? That just seemed like an odd decision structure-wise.

I wish we understood why Janine changed her mind there at the end. See, this is part of why I'm really worried Janine is dead, because it seems like just the sort of thing this show would do. Make Janine come with June, just to die immediately so that June can feel super guilty for bringing her along. I think she's got the market cornered on survivor's guilt at this point. And it was really sweet when Janine showed up to go with her after all, but I don't get what changed her mind. Janine is her own person with her own motivations, and it would have made sense for her to stay somewhere she felt more or less secure. She made that choice, there was a sweet goodbye, and then an immediate reversal on her decision? I wanted a bit more to flesh that out.

Grey's Anatomy: Look Up Child (17x14)

Well... goodbye, Jackson Avery.

Cons:

Obviously I'm still deep in my feelings about Alex Karev's departure, so I'll probably end up comparing the two a lot... I will say that Jackson is getting a better treatment because of actor availability, and on a personal note I've always shipped Jackson and April, so I'm happy with this sort of open-ended thing of maybe they'll get back together. BUT, at the same time, we have to acknowledge how lazy and repetitive this is, right? Jackson is moving away to do what's best for him personally, and we're given this indication that maybe he can get back together with his ex. Reminds me of Arizona leaving to go be closer to her daughter, and us finding out in an off-hand aside that Callie and Penny had broken up (thus negating the whole reason why Callie had even moved away in the first place). Lazy writing.

We should also talk about Catherine. I've never liked her, as anyone who reads these reviews will know, but is she just... okay with Jackson taking over the foundation? Is there a... larger conversation to be had here? Is he ousting her from her job, or is she just nodding and accepting retirement with grace? As much as I've always felt frustrated by her character, this particular move felt out of character to the point where I feel like I need to point it out. Maybe we'll see her pushing back in the episodes to come? It looks like Jackson isn't quite gone yet...

The Handmaid's Tale: Milk (4x04)

Intense as always!

Cons:

I don't really get why Rita told Fred about Serena's pregnancy. She could have just ghosted them. It felt odd that she'd go to him and, arguably, help him in this roundabout way, all for the sake of getting herself out of the situation. Rita is a character who we haven't gotten to see much of, and I'm excited about the opportunity to explore her more. But while the conversation with Serena was fascinating and horrifying in equal measure, her motivations in going to Fred seemed obscure to me.

Just as like... a general note? This is an extremely white show, and I think it's telling that when they engage with race at all, it's done in this very side-eyeing kind of way. Like... Rita was a slave, owned by white people. And yeah, I get that there are Marthas and Handmaids of every race or whatever, but there's still a choice being made there and the show isn't really stepping up to say anything about that decision they've made. There's also the fact that we meet a new character of color in this episode and then he immediately turns around and demands sex as payment from June or Janine. What kind of message are we painting here? In a show where bad things happen to everyone and most people have committed evil acts, I'm not saying that having characters of color in those positions is automatically a problem. But when you've got a predominantly white cast and a white protagonist... I don't know. It's definitely been a problem this show has carried with it from day one, and I just wanted to name that here.