This episode is so strange to me, because by all rights I should hate it, based on the things that actually happen in it. Several plot threads seemed to skip straight past a lot of buildup to a conclusion that needed a lot more time to develop. Some things that have been dragged out too long suddenly fizzled into awkward conclusion. Yet somehow, the pacing and the character work pulled through, and this ended up being a very solid installment.
Cons:
...With some exceptions, of course. In this episode, Meredith is undergoing what you might call a grief relapse, as she watches Owen sell Derek's old trailer, and then watches as Amelia and Owen start talking about a future where they get married and have babies. She gets more and more agitated at the fact that Amelia is living this normal and happy life. She gives Amelia this super hurtful speech wherein she says that Amelia has basically stolen Derek's life and happiness, and needs to get her own. I don't hate the idea of Meredith being upset and bothered over Amelia and Owen moving so fast. That's fine. It makes sense, even. But honestly, Meredith's words to Amelia were completely uncalled for in every way. How can Meredith say such things to Amelia about Derek, when she knows how hard Amelia took the death of her brother? They should be sharing in this grief, not coming to blows over it. Meredith and Amelia have been at odds in a sort of ill-defined manner all season, and they've only just gotten back on track. For Meredith to be so cruel to her now seems like a departure from the character arc we've seen for her all season.
And then on Amelia's side of things... her and Owen feel happy and good about their relationship, and as a consequence, they start moving way too fast. By the end of the episode, Amelia is proposing to Owen, and he's accepting. I get the idea that Amelia is moving too fast and we're supposed to see that... but the problem for me is that Owen and Amelia are so clearly not even close to ready for something like this that it stretches my suspension of disbelief to think that Owen would go along with it. He is, by necessity, a pretty level-headed guy. He's serious about his relationships and commitments. I'm not saying he doesn't love Amelia, but this is a lot too much, a lot too fast. It doesn't help that I personally don't care much for their romance in the first place. It just hasn't grabbed me.
Ben and Bailey's subplot basically focused on their continued feud. They are barely speaking to one another, but both maintain that they will be okay. The idea is supposed to be that they're both really stubborn, but that their love will prevail once one of them backs down. I just don't think this seems like the couple I've grown to love. Ben and Bailey are both stubborn, but I thought the point of their relationship was that it taught them both how to be gentle and make compromises. This plot thread has been played for laughs for a while now, and I've got to say - it doesn't work as comedy any more than it worked as drama.
Pros:
But... okay... I did actually think that the Amelia/Owen/Meredith mess had a lot of merit to it. Even if Meredith's speech to Amelia was out of nowhere, Meredith's anger and sadness felt justified. I don't think she actually believes that Amelia has stolen Derek's life. What she's really upset about is that she used to be the one, of the two of them, who had her life together. She was the Alpha. Now that Amelia is getting Owen to sell the trailer and is talking about this stable bright future, Meredith can feel her Alpha position slipping. This dynamic could be really interesting to explore. I guess my problem with it is more a problem with the overall pacing of the season, since I feel like I'm getting whiplash with how often Amelia and Meredith's relationship rocks from stable to messy to stable to messy again.
Then there's the weird shocker of the episode... Meredith and Riggs. We see that Riggs and Maggie have something of a flirtation going on throughout the episode, but Meredith and Riggs end up making out in the parking lot as the episode concludes. Now, this seems to me to come completely from nowhere. But while out of the blue make-out sessions might normally be a "con," in this situation I think it's a total "pro." Meredith is doing okay in a lot of ways, having moved past the initial stages of grief and into a place of acceptance. But one hurdle she hasn't been able to overcome is the thought of herself with somebody else. Things with Thorpe obviously didn't work out so well. In this situation, she and Riggs are both attacking each other's deepest emotional pain - Meredith brings up Owen, and Riggs brings up Derek. They're both angry, and they've both lost so much, and they've both been through such a stressful time. And then suddenly they're kissing. Even though they know it's complicated, it's a moment of release, and it felt oddly inevitable, even though I didn't see it coming at all before it happened.
Arizona and Callie's plot thread continues on from the custody battle of last week. Callie has decided not to go to New York, because she can't leave Sofia behind. Penny is leaving for the fellowship, and Callie decides to break up with her to avoid the prolonged pain of long distance, which she feels will inevitably lead to a breakup anyway. Penny is devastated, as is Callie. She tries to go to Arizona to ask if she can take Sofia that night, because she needs to be near her daughter. Arizona, who had earlier already accommodated a shift switch, is at the end of her rope. She tells Callie no, that this whole mess was her fault, and that she's not going to bend over backwards to be gracious to Callie.
Honestly, Callie has really fallen in my eyes. Arizona is right. This is her fault. Callie's decision to stay behind for Sofia makes perfect sense, as she can't leave her daughter for a year. But you know what that proves to me? When she first decided to move with Penny to New York, she had every intention of taking Sofia with her, from the very beginning. All that bullshit about talking it out with Arizona was just that: bullshit. Even if from an audience perspective, the custody battle seemed to come a little too quickly, this episode proved to me that Callie actually was going to try and take her daughter away from her other mother. I don't have a lot of sympathy for her right now. I'm really happy that Arizona won.
I do have sympathy for Penny, though. She's done absolutely nothing wrong, and yet she's in the middle of this really messy situation. I loved the scene when Meredith found out about the breakup and offered her sympathy. Penny hugs Meredith, grateful for the support. Seeing Meredith reach out and comfort somebody else on their heartbreak is rare, as she usually limits her compassion to a few very close friends. But for it to be Penny? Wow. It does a lot for Meredith's character in the episode. Her cruelty to Amelia, while totally uncalled for, is tempered by this proof that she's capable of thinking of more than just herself. If Penny really is leaving the show, I think it's a shame. Not for Callie's sake (I'm pretty furious with her right now), but for Penny's sake, and the sake of the show. There was a lot more I feel like we could have explored with the Penny and Meredith dynamic, or Penny's frenemy sort of relationship with the other residents, Jo and Stephanie. Even so, I really did enjoy what her character brought to the table. And if this is the end, it's a good enough one - she is at least leaving to pursue an amazing career opportunity. It's a goodbye of the Cristina category, not of the Derek, George, Mark, Lexie, etc. category. It's always nice when characters leave the show with their hearts still beating.
Stephanie and Kyle. Yikes. Kyle is in the hospital, and Amelia has plans to do a very risky procedure on him. Stephanie is freaked out by this. At first Kyle wants nothing to do with her, but eventually they have a talk, and it looks like they're going to be together after all. Unfortunately, Kyle dies on the operating table. This plot thread, like many of the others in the episode, should be a reason to dislike it. Pacing-wise, it makes very little sense. Stephanie's character was just starting to grow and blossom in the presence of a strong love interest, and now we're probably going to get a totally closed-off and ultra-professional Stephanie back in the mix. But despite the fact that this was basically a fast-forwarded version of the Izzy/Denny storyline from so many years ago, I still really enjoyed it. Stephanie and Kyle's connection was new, but it was undeniably strong, and really believable. Kyle has a swaggering, cool-guy way about him, but in this episode we really saw his vulnerability, and that vulnerability brought out Stephanie's own. Amelia was the one operating on him when he died, and that makes it even more heartbreaking - will Stephanie ever be able to reconcile things with her mentor after this? It wasn't Amelia's fault - Kyle was doomed no matter what. But still, matters of the heart don't often follow a logical course.
Finally, you've got Alex. Seeing Amelia and Owen rush forward with plans for their future makes him realize that he wants a definitive answer from Jo. He confronts her, basically telling her that he doesn't need her to be ready for marriage right this second, but he does need to know that she will be ready, and that she can see sharing her life with him. Alex puts it all on the table, and Jo responds: "I can't." This plot thread goes under the category of "things that should not have worked but somehow did." This should have been one of the most frustrating developments ever. What a waste of everybody's time, right? But at the same time, I just feel a sense of relief. I mean, I feel devastated for Alex's sake, but if Jo had suddenly said yes to getting married, wouldn't it have felt cheap, somehow? She's made it pretty clear that she's not ready for that kind of commitment, or at least not with Alex. I kind of hope that this is a 500 Days of Summer kind of situation, where maybe Jo meets somebody else really quickly and gets engaged. That feels like something that happens in real life. In any case, Jo and Alex's relationship has been dead weight on this show for a long time, and even if I'm frustrated with the way the relationship as a whole developed, it's an undeniable relief to be rid of it.
I have to briefly mention the Alex and Meredith scene - these two have the best friendship on the whole show. As Meredith is grumbling about Owen and Amelia, Alex tries to encourage her to get back out there, telling her "you're hot, you're smart, you're funny." Again, I enjoy the way that these statements remain in the purely platonic realm. This is further emphasized when Meredith tells Alex not to have a big wedding if he ever gets engaged, and Alex counters that he will have a big wedding, and "you're gonna be there, because you're gonna be my best man. Deal with it!" Adorable.
Richard has this powerful moment towards the very end, where he looks around and sees all the fractured relationships around him. Stephanie's love has just died. Jackson and April are off in the corner talking about ultrasounds. Ben and Bailey are getting ready to leave the hospital in stony-faced silence. Jo and Alex are about to break up. The world slows down as he watches the depressing sight of relationships falling apart left and right. And then the elevator opens, and Catherine is waiting for him. He gratefully goes to her, happy that his own love life is so secure. I'm happy for Richard, even if I still want to slap Catherine really hard in the face for trying to sue April.
I guess that's where I'll end. One more episode and we wrap up twelve seasons of this show. Twelve seasons! That's nuts! And we're still going strong, in my opinion. This episode proved to me that even when I'm not thrilled about the actual plots going on, I can still be drawn in and engaged because of the wonderful acting and intricate character work. Now, are Owen and Amelia actually going to go through with one of the most ill-advised weddings in television history? I guess we'll find out...
8/10
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