I totally forgot that Maggie and DeLuca were briefly a thing. Ha.
Cons:
I mostly thought this episode was fantastic. Just a few little nitpicks to discuss.
I love that Alex is doing so well as chief, and I adore that Jo is so supportive of him. But switching the pictures back so that Alex is the #1 chief on the wall felt petty, and like a rejection of Bailey in a way that made me a little upset. Can't Jo be proud of her husband while not downplaying the career of her mentor?
Billy Boyd playing the anxious father of a shooting victim was really great. There were all these men in kilts who had just come from a parade who were supporting him, and I wish we could have had more of that dynamic. I liked the community-building stuff, and felt it could have been a little stronger. I felt that way also about the older woman with her husband and best friend in the hospital with her. I wish we could have explored that dynamic in a more immediate way. I wanted it to feel more balanced, but at the end of the day it did feel like the woman was putting her life-long friend over her husband. That's not the conclusion I want Teddy to be drawing about her own priorities in life, even as she's decided that she and Owen are going to stay platonic.
Pros:
I love see Alex's success. One of the highlights of the episode for me was when Bailey tries to take her job back, Alex says no, and Bailey, who is extremely annoyed and jealous, still tells Alex that she's proud of him. That was adorable. There aren't that many original characters left on this show, so it's always a treat to see people with such a long history have a moment like that.
I liked the Maggie-centric plot thread! I feel like it's been a while since I've been able to say that. Maggie is confronted with someone who used to torment her in medical school, but who is now asking for her help in saving her life with a very risky surgery. Maggie has to try and compartmentalize her personal feelings to get the job done. I like seeing stories that focus on the negative aspects of being a prodigy. Maggie is really young to be so successful, and it makes sense that people might have been cruel to her as she went through her schooling. I also liked the moment when the patient confessed that she was awful to lots of people, not just Maggie, and she wants a chance to do better in this lifetime.
Meredith and DeLuca spend the day making eyes at each other, but Meredith insists that she needs to check with Maggie first. I literally did not remember that they were a thing. I loved that Maggie was far too distracted with her patient to even register what Meredith was talking about, and seemed totally bewildered when Meredith finally brought it up again. Of course Maggie doesn't care. Methinks Meredith was maybe looking for excuses a little bit, although it's possible that she's just learning from her mistakes with Riggs. By the end of the episode, it looks like Meredith and Andrew are going out on a date, so there's some actual progress there! I think the two of them are pretty awesome together, so I can't wait to see how this plays out moving forward.
This is twice recently that I've seen Billy Boyd guest star on TV, first on Outlander and again here. It's so fun to see him! He did a great job playing the panicked father, and there was a moment there where I thought they were going to kill off the kid and my heart was seriously in my throat. I did not want to watch that go down. I also liked that the shooting in this case seemed to be a drunken mistake, and not an intentional attack, so that when we get the doctors and Boyd's character talking about gun regulation, it doesn't feel like too much of a soap box moment. There's a line about how in Ireland, there was a school shooting twenty years ago, and so the laws were immediately changed, and people still talk and cry about it. That just gutted me in the worst way. The fact is, there have been so many shootings in the last several years that it's hard to grieve for all of them and carry them with you. They start to blend together, and it becomes a necessity for self-preservation to not care about them too hard. That's messed up.
So... Betty/Britney's parents turn up. Seems that Britney called her mom and dad from rehab, but then ran away before her parents could get there. Amelia and Owen tell them about baby Leo, and of course they immediately want to take him home with them. Owen wants to fight for Leo, though, as his legal guardian. This is such a complicated situation. I liked when Amelia said to him that every single person in the situation was in pain. That was a good way of framing it. Tempers are going to be high, emotions are going to be heightened. I knew when Amelia told Britney's mom (Jennifer Grey!) about being an addict that it was going to end up being used as leverage to keep Leo away from her, but I still loved that moment between Amelia and Britney's mom. Amelia was trying to reassure this woman that she didn't fail as a parent, and that it's possible for her daughter to climb her way out of this and have a fulfilling life. I loved the kind and generous spirit behind that moment.
We're also beginning to see the consequences of Owen's devotion to Leo, as he spends the whole day on edge because he's worried about losing him. Meanwhile, it seems that Owen hasn't been able to forgive Betty/Britney for her deceit. It's pretty clear that Owen's priority is Leo, while it's also pretty clear that Amelia's priority is Britney. As much as I've been iffy on Amelia and Owen's relationship in the past, I must admit that this type of tension is pretty intriguing, and makes for great heartbreak potential.
Teddy Altman and Tom Koracick are... heartwarming? I really like them a lot? I'm surprised, because it was just a few weeks ago that I was complaining about Teddy constantly. The pregnancy twist is dumb, her interference and indecision was dumb. I stand by all of that. But here we see this lovely burgeoning romance, and I'm actually finding myself very invested in it. I love that Koracick genuinely seems okay with staying friends, while still respectfully and adorably expressing his interest. I love that he doesn't seem wary of her impending motherhood, but also doesn't pretend it's not happening. I could really root for these two!
So there you have it. Next week looks like more Betty/Britney drama, and I'm excited and scared to see where it all goes.
9/10
Cons:
I mostly thought this episode was fantastic. Just a few little nitpicks to discuss.
I love that Alex is doing so well as chief, and I adore that Jo is so supportive of him. But switching the pictures back so that Alex is the #1 chief on the wall felt petty, and like a rejection of Bailey in a way that made me a little upset. Can't Jo be proud of her husband while not downplaying the career of her mentor?
Billy Boyd playing the anxious father of a shooting victim was really great. There were all these men in kilts who had just come from a parade who were supporting him, and I wish we could have had more of that dynamic. I liked the community-building stuff, and felt it could have been a little stronger. I felt that way also about the older woman with her husband and best friend in the hospital with her. I wish we could have explored that dynamic in a more immediate way. I wanted it to feel more balanced, but at the end of the day it did feel like the woman was putting her life-long friend over her husband. That's not the conclusion I want Teddy to be drawing about her own priorities in life, even as she's decided that she and Owen are going to stay platonic.
Pros:
I love see Alex's success. One of the highlights of the episode for me was when Bailey tries to take her job back, Alex says no, and Bailey, who is extremely annoyed and jealous, still tells Alex that she's proud of him. That was adorable. There aren't that many original characters left on this show, so it's always a treat to see people with such a long history have a moment like that.
I liked the Maggie-centric plot thread! I feel like it's been a while since I've been able to say that. Maggie is confronted with someone who used to torment her in medical school, but who is now asking for her help in saving her life with a very risky surgery. Maggie has to try and compartmentalize her personal feelings to get the job done. I like seeing stories that focus on the negative aspects of being a prodigy. Maggie is really young to be so successful, and it makes sense that people might have been cruel to her as she went through her schooling. I also liked the moment when the patient confessed that she was awful to lots of people, not just Maggie, and she wants a chance to do better in this lifetime.
Meredith and DeLuca spend the day making eyes at each other, but Meredith insists that she needs to check with Maggie first. I literally did not remember that they were a thing. I loved that Maggie was far too distracted with her patient to even register what Meredith was talking about, and seemed totally bewildered when Meredith finally brought it up again. Of course Maggie doesn't care. Methinks Meredith was maybe looking for excuses a little bit, although it's possible that she's just learning from her mistakes with Riggs. By the end of the episode, it looks like Meredith and Andrew are going out on a date, so there's some actual progress there! I think the two of them are pretty awesome together, so I can't wait to see how this plays out moving forward.
This is twice recently that I've seen Billy Boyd guest star on TV, first on Outlander and again here. It's so fun to see him! He did a great job playing the panicked father, and there was a moment there where I thought they were going to kill off the kid and my heart was seriously in my throat. I did not want to watch that go down. I also liked that the shooting in this case seemed to be a drunken mistake, and not an intentional attack, so that when we get the doctors and Boyd's character talking about gun regulation, it doesn't feel like too much of a soap box moment. There's a line about how in Ireland, there was a school shooting twenty years ago, and so the laws were immediately changed, and people still talk and cry about it. That just gutted me in the worst way. The fact is, there have been so many shootings in the last several years that it's hard to grieve for all of them and carry them with you. They start to blend together, and it becomes a necessity for self-preservation to not care about them too hard. That's messed up.
So... Betty/Britney's parents turn up. Seems that Britney called her mom and dad from rehab, but then ran away before her parents could get there. Amelia and Owen tell them about baby Leo, and of course they immediately want to take him home with them. Owen wants to fight for Leo, though, as his legal guardian. This is such a complicated situation. I liked when Amelia said to him that every single person in the situation was in pain. That was a good way of framing it. Tempers are going to be high, emotions are going to be heightened. I knew when Amelia told Britney's mom (Jennifer Grey!) about being an addict that it was going to end up being used as leverage to keep Leo away from her, but I still loved that moment between Amelia and Britney's mom. Amelia was trying to reassure this woman that she didn't fail as a parent, and that it's possible for her daughter to climb her way out of this and have a fulfilling life. I loved the kind and generous spirit behind that moment.
We're also beginning to see the consequences of Owen's devotion to Leo, as he spends the whole day on edge because he's worried about losing him. Meanwhile, it seems that Owen hasn't been able to forgive Betty/Britney for her deceit. It's pretty clear that Owen's priority is Leo, while it's also pretty clear that Amelia's priority is Britney. As much as I've been iffy on Amelia and Owen's relationship in the past, I must admit that this type of tension is pretty intriguing, and makes for great heartbreak potential.
Teddy Altman and Tom Koracick are... heartwarming? I really like them a lot? I'm surprised, because it was just a few weeks ago that I was complaining about Teddy constantly. The pregnancy twist is dumb, her interference and indecision was dumb. I stand by all of that. But here we see this lovely burgeoning romance, and I'm actually finding myself very invested in it. I love that Koracick genuinely seems okay with staying friends, while still respectfully and adorably expressing his interest. I love that he doesn't seem wary of her impending motherhood, but also doesn't pretend it's not happening. I could really root for these two!
So there you have it. Next week looks like more Betty/Britney drama, and I'm excited and scared to see where it all goes.
9/10
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