Grey's Anatomy: Drop It Like It's Hot (21x08)

A funny time of year to be watching an episode about a heatwave! This episode had some real old-school Grey's vibes for me, in a way I really liked.

Cons:

If Owen cheats on Teddy with that random lady he was flirting with waiting for car repair, I am going to sue ABC lol. Please, enough already! Honestly I think Dr. Open Marriage should go ahead and seduce Teddy and Owen both, drag her husband into the mix, Maybe Teddy and Owen would calm the fuck down if they were having fun extramarital sex. Or even group sex, let's do this fucking thing. Instead we have this insufferable moment where Owen sees Dr. Beckman giving Teddy a comforting and innocent touch on the arm in the elevator, and he gets all weirded out. Yeesh, I'm so tired of them.

I feel like there's a weird disconnect with Yasuda leaving in this episode. Jules is devastated and acts like it's this big final thing, but like... is she moving away forever? When your co-worker and girlfriend stops being your co-worker, that doesn't mean she's going to vanish from your life in an instant. I wonder what we'll find out about Yasuda after the hiatus. Is she just quietly moving away in the gap between episodes, or will it be a slower phase-out, like maybe we hear about her still being around for a while and then she comes back to guest for one more episode when she does finally move away or something? I don't know. I just felt like the stakes of this being a goodbye episode for the character were a little murky.

I guess it's fine if Blue wants to make out with his amnesiac ex or whatever, but also if I'm being totally honest, I don't care and I'm already bored. If Lucas dies of a gunshot wound I vote for Simone and Kwan to grief bang about it, they have way better chemistry.

Pros:

I love a unifying disaster that the whole hospital is having to deal with: this week it's a heat wave, with the infrastructure here in the Pacific Northwest not equipped to deal with the unseasonably hot spring day. I do kind of wish someone had brought up that this is climate change's fault more directly, just because I think it's funny when the very basic political messaging of a show like this gets people riled up. But I liked how it was this constant struggle with the large number of people coming in and the resources being stretched too tight. There's never enough ice!

Teddy puts Ben in charge of handling the disaster preparedness aspect of things, but then shuts him down when he tries to keep the trauma bays open after Teddy thinks it's time to close them. I like thinking about what Ben's place is here in the hospital - he's diverted from helping with surgeries specifically because of his first responder training, but then overruled by Teddy for trying to do that aspect of the job, too. He's in a frustrating in-between which is his own doing for switching careers more than once, but it's interesting to see him try and navigate that.

While I had my complaints about this as Mika's final episode, I do think this was a great showcase performance from the actor. Her dead, blank face as she keeps telling Bailey "he's dying, it's not working, he's dying," transitioning to her begging and pleading and telling Bailey to take her instead... that was a masterful moment from the actress. And I thought her and Jules's love scene was so tender and beautiful. You know as you're watching it happen that this is a bad idea in the sense that Mika is in such a vulnerable place, but also you know how much these women care for each other, and it's a real comfort and moment of peace for them too. Jules really cares about her and really wants to be there for her no matter what she chooses. I also thought Bailey did such a lovely job of giving Mika the space to choose her own path. It was lovely how she affirmed that Mika knows herself best and didn't try and dig her heels in and convince her to stay. I understand that Jules is hurt by Bailey not fighting for Yasuda, but I think Bailey's in the right, here!

Winston slutting it up and having to deal with a patient whose mom he had a one night stand with is honestly very funny. Continually bitter about Winston and Maggie going up in flames the way they did, but I do kind of like this phase for his character. Like, get it, Winston. Honestly. But also I liked how he was able to be here for the mother whose daughter is in such a dangerous situation.

The classic-Grey's feeling is of course most clearly seen in Jo and Lucas getting caught up in a convenience store robbery. It's such ridiculous drama, with pregnant Jo bleeding and potentially losing the babies, and Lucas reflecting on the infamous story of his grandfather dying in an armed robbery... even Amelia mentions her dead family members in this episode before we get the dramatic irony of Lucas wrestling the robber for the gun in those final moments. A shot goes off, but the fates of the people involved are left unknowable until this show comes back in March! Place your bets now, is it Lucas or Jo? Is Jo going to miscarry those twins? Classic soap opera juiciness, I'm legitimately more invested in Lucas Adams than I've ever been, now that his life might be on the line. If he dies, then Amelia should get to sue ABC, too. Every man Amelia's related to has to be shot at some point, I suppose.

So yeah, this was a good episode! Sad to lose Mika, annoyed as always by Teddy and Owen, but... there was a lot of classic angst-y goodness here to chew on. I'll be glad to see the show come back in the spring, and until then I'll just have to wonder at Jo and Lucas's fates...

7.5/10