Grey's Anatomy: It's Raining Men (16x04)

Jeez what a dark episode title, given what happens in this hour of TV!

Cons:

What the heck is this show trying to do with the character of Tom Koracick? It makes no sense. I have been so staunch in defending him over Owen, but it's like they made a decision that Owen is going to be the good guy now, so they have to make Tom a ridiculous jerk in order to compensate for that. It's not funny, it's not clever, it's frustrating in the extreme! Setting aside the love triangle of it all, Tom was a multi-faceted character whose love for Teddy was actually quite sweet and charming. And now he's pretty much a villain and everyone hates him. He antagonizes Owen, and tries to prey on a scared family in order to drum up good publicity for the hospital. There's a moment of nuance when Schmitt calls Jackson to task, but for the most part Tom is just an unimaginable asshole here. I don't like the direction they are taking this character at all.

Also, Bailey's pregnant now too? I feel like they've run out of ways to add drama to the lives of these characters, so they're just giving everyone a baby story-line. Please don't let Maggie or Meredith or Jo get pregnant, I seriously couldn't take it right now.

With this whole Bailey being pregnant thing, we get a somewhat satisfying explanation for why she's been so emotional recently. But even so, I feel like the confrontation between Meredith and Bailey was lacking something. Meredith is apologetic about the publication, and that makes sense. But Bailey fired her, and Meredith still believes that she did the right thing. I feel like it would make sense for Meredith to be the tiniest bit resentful of Bailey's role in all of this. But that's one aspect of this situation that nobody seems to be focused on at all! I find that frustrating.

Pros:

I continue to be delighted by Alex and Richard working at this disadvantaged, chaotic hospital. Owen, who is taking time off because of Koracick, and so that Teddy can work and Owen can stay home with the kids, ends up getting roped in to working with Alex for the day, and then accepts a job to work at the hospital with them. As I said, I hate that we're just supposed to accept Owen as the good guy and Tom as the jerk, but I do like the idea of Grey Sloan continuing to lose doctors to this new hospital. As chaotic as it is, you can tell that Richard and Alex are having a good time trying to make a difference, getting their hands dirty and doing what needs to be done.

As I said, the title of this episode is brutal. Basically, a stowaway on an airplane falls out of the sky and crushes a woman. She and her new boyfriend are both rushed to the hospital. The guy is mostly unhurt, although covered in blood, but his girlfriend dies on the table. The story is about the futility of life, about how everything is so unfair, and random, and sometimes men literally fall out of the sky and crush you to death. How do you protect against that? You can't. Stuff just happens. And yet, out of that, we get the moment of Link confessing his love to Amelia. I love that there's a goofiness to it, as Amelia is laying on top of Link like a compression blanket, something he used to do for her but doesn't anymore because of the baby. We see that Amelia is a little freaked out, but she doesn't bolt. I know that there will be drama, because there always is, but it seems like maybe Amelia is going to stick this one out and try for some real happiness. I'll admit I'd be happy to see that.

So it's annoying that Tom has turned into a cartoon bad guy, but there was one moment with this plot thread that I thoroughly enjoyed. Jackson is playing the smug hero here, as he gets a kid a pro bono surgery and doesn't let Tom get his publicity out of it. On the surface, even if Jackson is being a bit of a tool, you agree with his perspective. The family was clearly uncomfortable with the media attention, but were willing to go through it for the free surgery. Jackson makes them feel more comfortable. The surgery goes great. But then Schmitt points something out - the publicity could really have helped out a lot of people's careers. Jackson is financially secure and his career is already made. But what about the reputation of the hospital as a whole? What about other people's careers? Jackson can afford to be magnanimous, but things aren't always so simple.

The big plot thread of the week is obviously Meredith's incendiary article. She wrote a list of problems with the health care industry as ideas for an article she could write, but the publisher just takes the whole list and publishes it with a headline that makes it seem like Meredith is attacking Grey Sloan Memorial in specific. There's so much juicy material to come out of this, and I loved seeing the various reactions to the news.

Obviously, Bailey is crushed and angry. Meredith is upset that her words are being taken so wildly out of context. Alex is amused. Jo is a little miffed because she's just been made an attending at the hospital, but she agrees with Meredith's points. Helm is still hero-worshiping as usual. DeLuca is trying to support his girlfriend while not associating himself directly with what she wrote. Amelia is a little angry but mostly letting it go. I love how many different reactions there are, and how each perspective is more or less understandable. Meredith is being reckless as regards her personal career, but she's not wrong morally about big pharma, etc. DeLuca is trying to play the middle, and while Meredith is a bit out of line to go off on him the way she does, I can also understand her frustration with his waffling. Bailey, as we've discussed, is obviously hormonal, but even without that as an excuse, I do understand why she would be less than jazzed about Meredith's behavior, and why it would feel like such a personal betrayal.

I must give a shout-out to the Cristina cameo - a text from her to Meredith: "Move to Switzerland before Bailey murders you in your sleep." I understand why they don't do that stuff more often, as it would just draw attention to Cristina's absence, but it is nice to hear something from her every once in a while.

And that's that - another busy episode, with mostly enjoyable developments. I'm irritated as all hell with what they're doing to poor Tom Koracick's characterization, but at least there wasn't more Maggie/Jackson nonsense this week. I like Jackson's new girlfriend!

8/10