Grey's Anatomy: Momma Knows Best (15x04)

Aw man, I was rooting for Meredith and Ted. I mean... John. Whatever.

Cons:

I'm not going to watch Station 19, Shonda. Sorry. I've got too much going on. Luckily this crossover still mostly focused on our core group of characters, but I found myself profoundly not caring whenever the Station 19 characters were having scenes together. I'll have to read about what happened in the Station 19 half of this story, because... eh. I don't care.

For years I've laughed at how little the kids in this show seem to matter. Meredith being a mom is so not even a going concern, so it was a little funny to have that be this big problem in her random date. Also, as much as I've snickered at how the kids seem to disappear from this show most of the time, the one story that's actually about kids has ended up being pretty insufferable. I just don't care about Amelia and Owen's new family and all the drama therein. It feels like everything we're seeing is a total waste of time. At some point, Teddy will show up, Amelia and Owen will learn about the baby, there will be drama, and then we'll get some sort of result on the other side. I don't know what the result is going to be, but I'm guessing I won't care about it any more then, than I care about it now.

Also. Just. Jackson taking off like that is stupid. And the fact that we're going to have to deal with crap between him and Maggie when he gets back... I'm just already exhausted by the whole thing.

Pros:

Alex and Jo made me laugh this week with their good-natured yet slightly serious squabble about using sex for favors. Also, I'm really excited to see this connection between Jo and Link. I want to trust that the show isn't going to go down a stupid jealousy route. I want to see something from Jo's old life that isn't poisonous and terrible. I want Link and Jo to be totally platonic pals.

Alex crossed a serious line to protect a patient, and while Richard does not approve, I think in the end it all came out for the best. The patient is thrilled, his mother is going to be so happy, and Alex was able to take his experiences growing up poor and use his power as the chief to save a life, in more ways than one. I laughed so hard when Alex talked about the "wise words" his mother used to say - "Bats. There are bats everywhere, Alex, and they know everyone's phone number." That was hilarious, as well as tragic. Alex probably isn't going to make a very good chief, but he is a good surgeon and a good person, and it was nice to see that.

What's up with Andrew and Carina's dad? We learn a little DeLuca backstory this week, and I continue to marvel about the fact that I actually care now. Apparently, Carina deceived DeLuca about their mother's death years ago, but she did it for the best of reasons. These two have an unconventional sibling relationship, undeniably, given that they were raised on different continents. But they seem to really care about each other, and I actually find myself caring about them caring, if that makes sense.

Meredith gets set up on a date by her matchmaker patient, and she has a lovely time with John, played by Josh Radnor. Part way through the date, they realize that they are with the wrong blind date, but they're having so much fun they decide not to correct the mistake. However, John says the "one thing" that ruins the date when he says that kids always get in the way and that single moms are desperate. I could complain about this story for various reasons - I mean, for one, does this mean they went through the whole date without Meredith ever saying her name? Wouldn't John have realized it was the wrong woman a lot sooner? Setting that aside, why bring in an actually well-known sitcom actor to play this character for just one episode? What was the point of this little detour if they're never going to see each other again? But, this is in the "pros" section. Why? Because it was genuinely sweet and made me feel good to see Meredith getting out there and doing her best. And because she learned that she can do this, that she can put herself out there and that there are people in the world she can click with and see herself with. Here's hoping the next date with the next guy is even better.

The main medical story of the week involves a fire, thus the tie-in with Station 19. I felt genuinely bad for every person involved in this mess. The poor mother, the poor kid, the poor dad... it was such a tragedy, and watching Maggie navigate the ins and outs of this situation was actually really interesting. I like Maggie so much more when we're not focusing on her love life, to be honest. I like that sometimes risks pay off, like what Alex did with his patient, and sometimes the most competent and brilliant medical care in the world isn't enough to help with a straight-forward problem, as we saw with the other patient. There's a little boy who doesn't even know he's about to lose his mom, and as the episode ends, he runs off and goes missing. The conclusion to that story played out in Station 19, which, again, I won't be watching.

So there you have it. There are some cool stories being told this season, but there are also quite a number that are just a snore-fest for me so far. Let's get the contrived Teddy drama out of the way quickly, please!

8/10