Grey's Anatomy: In the Air Tonight (13x20)

Meredith Grey is freakin' cursed. What are the odds of a person getting in not one but two bad plane crash situations in her life? It's ridiculous, as so much of this show is. But honestly, this episode was pretty great.

Cons:

Obviously the scenario is contrived, which I'm actually okay with. I wish a few aspects of this had been a bit more realistic, though. The fact that Meredith and Riggs bother to learn the names of passengers on the plane before the incident seems a bit far fetched to me. Sure, afterwards, when they're administering care... but would they really have taken the time to learn the names Max, Ingrid, Candice... it just seems like everybody on that flight was a little too friendly. When I'm on a plane I generally don't make a lot of small-talk.

I also felt myself getting a little bit frustrated with Nathan Riggs. He knows that Meredith wants him, but is holding back for some reason. He keeps pushing her to find out why she's resisting him, and it starts to toe that line between genuinely trying to get to know her, and nagging her for sex. I'm not unhappy with the way it all shook out, but this was the first time I felt like Riggs was edging to the brink of inappropriateness.

Pros:

This was almost a bottle episode, although I imagine it was an expensive one to make. I usually like it when Grey's Anatomy takes a moment to set aside the ensemble and focus on a few key players. This episode did that really well, giving us time to hang out with Meredith and Nathan, and also introducing us to a bunch of new characters.

The execution of the plot was simple - extreme turbulence causes several injuries on a flight. Meredith and Riggs help out, all while navigating their feelings for each other. In the end, everybody lives. What made this plot successful was not only Meredith and Riggs, but the cast of characters surrounding them. Like I mentioned - perhaps it was a little unrealistic how friendly everybody was, but I liked that everybody felt distinct. There was the gay couple Max and Jay, and Candice the flight attendant, and Ingrid the woman sitting near Meredith and Riggs on the plane. There was the really annoying douch-y guy, the uptight and competent pilot woman, the family with the crying kid, and the pediatric dentist who totally had the hots for Meredith. I felt like each character was given a little bit of time to shine, and it made for a fully fleshed out mini-world.

It looks like maybe Meredith is finally ready to try being with Riggs, and I'm grateful that we've arrived at this moment. There was a very powerful scene where, amidst all of the chaos, Riggs presses Meredith for why she won't give in and be with him, and she says "I am married." That moment right there encapsulates so much of what Meredith has been through. I'm happy she's trying to get out there again, and I'm also happy that the show took the time to explain to us why she's been so hesitant.

There were lots of references and flashbacks to earlier parts of the show. It's so cool that Grey's has been on for such an insanely long time, because it gives us this long, rich, complex history for these characters. We can see all the trauma Meredith went through on her plane crash, but we also see all of the other times she lost or nearly lost a loved one, or was in physical danger herself. It gives a weight to Meredith's character, and makes her exploits in this episode even more bad-ass. She totally rules, saving a guy with a brain bleed by doing a very precarious surgery on a bumpy moving plane. Go Meredith!

I don't have too much else to say here. Good stuff. I'm happy we're learning more about Meredith and Riggs as a potential couple, and I enjoyed the isolated world of the airplane and all of the chaos that came from that.

8.5/10