Grey's Anatomy: It's All Too Much (17x08)

I don't know... this one kind of just rolled right over me. Not in a bad way, not in a good.

Cons:

DeLuca's death is stupid, and the legacy of it here is still stupid. They had so much they could have done with his character, and now having everyone go through their tepid, repetitive grief routine is just tiresome. They gave most of the grieving material to Teddy, who I hate, and to Bailey, who I love, but I don't really like the response they gave her. She decides to order an autopsy and do an M&M about DeLuca's death to make sure no mistakes were made, but Richard tells her she's causing harm to the living, that no mistakes were made. It was just a tragedy. I don't know... does this seem like something Bailey would do? It felt like a more transparent excuse than usual, to have two characters standing in a room yelling at each other.                                                 

And Teddy, with that whole thing where she keeps glimpsing DeLuca all over the place? It's really annoying and why would I connect with her grief over the loss of Andrew? There are other characters who I wanted to spend more time with. This was emphasized at the end when we had the memorial and we didn't get to hear what people were actually saying about DeLuca, because honestly most of these characters didn't have a personal connection with him... and the ones who did, didn't have a lot of screen time to deal with it. Then we end with Owen carrying Teddy home at the end... and the trailer showing a Teddy-centric episode next week... gah. No THANK you. I don't LIKE you, Teddy. Sorry not sorry.

The pacing was... strange during Link and Amelia's argument scene. I can't tell if I'm supposed to be worried about Link's drinking. Do I want to do a whole alcoholism story-line with him? No, no I don't. Link and Amelia are like a safe haven of more relatable stress on this show for me this season. I'm hopeful that this story is just about the stresses and conflicts that come from their situation, and that they'll weather the storm as always. They seem to show that in their last scene, but I don't know... I just didn't like their fight scene.

Pros:

Schmitt is my favorite. His speech to Bailey about how he feels like a bad Jew but how the ceremonies and traditions are really helpful to him... that was so sweet. I loved his moments with Nico in this episode too, where we got this acknowledgment that the problems in their relationship stemmed a lot from Nico's numbness. Then there's that moment during the memorial where Nico initiates a hand-hold. I'm so back and forth with these two. Ultimately I want Nico to pay a bit for his poor treatment of Levi... but they're showing that he's softened, that he is acknowledging his poor behavior in some small way... I don't know. I just want Levi to be happy.

So, the memorial was kind of a miss for me. Sure, I got misty-eyed whenever the camera focused on Carina, and when Andrew's interview video popped up there were a few tears. But overall the music and the sad panning camera over everyone's faces... it just didn't quite land for me. It's the smaller moments, really, that worked in terms of highlighting the grief, and for that we should turn to Maggie.

Maggie didn't have a ton of screen-time in this episode, but she made me cry twice. The first was at the beginning, when Winston (Maggie's bf, I finally learned his name!) is dancing with the kids to distract them from Maggie and Amelia having a moment. About DeLuca, and about Meredith still being so sick. Maggie is sitting on the chair crying while the kids are goofing off with Winston, and it was so poignant. The second was towards the end, when Helm admits that she had no compassion for DeLuca when he got sick, and now she's feeling so guilty, and she just wants the touch of another person. Maggie tells her to stand up and turn around, and then they just stand there, back to back, touching but not breathing on each other, and Helm allows herself to cry. So good.

I love Jo, I love her giggly, hysterical way of processing grief. I love the scene of her, Link, and Jackson just sitting around and drinking and complaining about their various woes. I'm not really on board the Jackson/Jo train because I think it's kind of lazy to pair them up, but I do think they have a natural, easy chemistry that reminds me of how much I've liked Jackson as a character over the years. Same thing goes for Maggie and Winston. Man, Jackson and Maggie really did just drag the worst out of each other, didn't they? I'm happy they're no longer together!

And then we've got Meredith. She's on the beach, deciding whether to live or die or whatnot. Derek is there again. Hearing Derek talk about Ellis was really heartwarming. I mean, it's always kind of hilarious how little the characters in Grey's are actually around for their children, but they have really tried to step up the importance of the children this season. I love that Zola is becoming more of a character in her own right, and even though we don't see much of Bailey or Ellis, their presence is certainly felt. Apparently Zola writes letters to her dad in her journal! And Ellis is the serious one, so much like her mom. Just... excuse me while I weep! And then you have Hayes coming in to talk to Meredith where she lays in bed, still on the ventilator, and he's encouraging her to wake up for the sake of her children. Meredith is anxious about Derek, but he says not to worry, that he'll be right there when she needs him.

Like, all this afterlife/seeing dead character stuff... it's undeniably incredibly cheesy. It's also... really working for me, not gonna lie. I'm enjoying seeing Meredith get this weird, unconventional peace. She's fought so hard to be content with her life, and I want her to wake up and keep living it.

That's all for now! It's still bullshit that DeLuca is dead. I'm pissed about it. And I'm already preemptively frustrated by the Teddy-centric mess we're getting next week. But all in all, this episode was perfectly alright.

7.5/10