Grey's Anatomy: Wrecking Ball (22x14)

I don't actually enjoy being a hater about this show as much as it might seem that way! Sigh.

Cons:

I watched this episode with a friend (hi) so she heard my commentary about certain things and we were both in agreement that Lucas in this episode was... it was too much. Up until this point I had really praised the story-line with Katie, I thought it was sweet, and Lucas was still being annoying like he always is but it felt like his annoying-ness was built into the narrative, with Bailey trying to temper his behavior and them working through this situation together as Katie went from getting better to dying. I liked that nothing explicit had been mentioned about there being a romantic vibe between the two of them, but it was plain to see if you were paying any attention. It was all working for me.

But this episode... man. His over the top grief acting was just not it. Too much. He was giving soap opera acting, he was not keeping pace with his costars. I honestly think it's not entirely his fault, part of it is a scripting issue. I would have been so much more moved by this if the outburst moment hadn't happened, where Katie is trying to get him to talk about their connection and he yells out about how he's trying to hold it together to take care of her. Imagine if they'd skipped that, and they're just talking and then segue directly into the conversation about what if they'd met some other way? Let's imagine a different path for us. Then you could see Lucas sit on the edge of the bed, maybe cut away, and when we cut back, they're lying in the bed together like we saw in the episode. It's just an unspoken thing, nobody has to say "I have feelings for you" or whatever. I think that would have worked much better.

Also Simone did nothing wrong, Lucas was the one who couldn't accept reality, I don't blame him for missing Katie's death entirely but I certainly don't blame Simone for that and I am already exhausted thinking about all the angst to follow. It's a bummer, because I enjoyed the Katie story-line right up until its end; I just don't think they stuck the landing.

Not a ton to say about Teddy and Owen, other than I find them annoying and Owen making sad eyes at Teddy as he learns that she has a date planned is tedious. Also Link and Jo taking a break from the kids and being at the hospital, I don't care it doesn't interest me, I didn't like Link being a comedy side kick for Richard, I didn't care about Jo squabbling with Bailey about getting to operate... they just bore me. Sorry. And, three for three on being against these romance plot lines, I knew it was coming with Winston and Jules, they've been building towards it for such a long time, and... I hate it, I really do! The scene right before that kiss at the end, when Blue and Jules are sniping at each other about Mario Kart, has a thousand times more natural spark and chemistry than anything with Jules and Winston. Winston spends the whole episode talking about how it's unethical and he should stay away from her, and this is supposed to make it... sexy? Endearing? When he turns around and says never mind? I'm just not into it. I don't believe in the power of this mutual attraction, I just don't see it on the screen.

Pros:

I do still believe in love though and I thought Amelia and Toni's little plot this episode was extremely adorable. Very "new relationship" vibes where Amelia is getting weird and insecure about something but not in a shitty over the top way, and Toni comes up with this cheesy and probably too-much gesture to cheer her up, and it totally works, and they're the sweetest. Ben and Miranda also have a sweet moment where he comforts her for all the ways she can't win the fight against all this systemic injustice. Those two are the best married couple this show has ever depicted fight me.

Despite being so done with Link whenever he's on screen, I did kind of like Richard's little comedy subplot about a prostate screening clinic. It doesn't go well, he's kind of made to be a joke in the context of the episode, but at the end he does at least get one guy from security who asks him a question and wants to talk about his health. I feel like Grey's is always charmingly sincere when they try and sneak little PSAs into their story-lines. Get your prostate checked, fellas, it could save your life!

I liked the patient who was writing audio smut, I liked that little baby intern Dani knew about her and was a fan lol. She is such a little baby deer walking around the hospital right now. I'm getting the vibe that maybe she's crushing on Lucas a little bit in which case RUN, girl, RUN the other way. I liked the way that when Bailey faced a moment of despair in the OR, Jo was the one to calmly talk through the surgery and just focus on what could be fixed.

Not a ton of Kwan in this episode but he remains my fave, I love the way he navigates Jules being mad at him, which is not to just let her rail against him, but also he doesn't over-react and push back and get defensive. He just says it like it is; he confronted Mohanty, they broke up over it, she's gone in Boston, Jules's reputation is salvaged. He took his friend's side over his girlfriend's side, and Jules needs to get over her anger towards him for his brief moment of doubt. And, by the end of the episode, they're back to their vaguely sibling-like sniping at each other. I feel like the show would like me to forget that the two of them used to hook up but I shall not be forgetting it, thank you. Please, please, I just want Kwan and Jules and Simone to be in a throuple and Lucas can move away and Winston can fall in a well and then I'll be happy again.

So... yeah. Not the finest outing for Grey's, but what can you do. I just hope Owen, Teddy, Lucas, and Simone can keep their angst to the barest of minimums moving forward. But who are we kidding.

6/10