Grey's Anatomy: Good as Hell (17x13)

Lots of stuff happening, as always!

Cons:

I want to loop back in on the whole idea of Jo starting a new discipline. I didn't mind the stuff in this episode, about Bailey not wanting to let her go because they need her during the pandemic. But seeing it made me realize how poorly they set up the stakes earlier on. I didn't understand that that was the issue, or what was making Jo so nervous. I wish this had been paced better throughout the last several episodes.

I will repeat myself: I don't care about Teddy. Teddy's freak-out, Owen's compassionate response... I know I should care, but I do not. Please stop wasting my time with this.

Pros:

Meredith and Derek on the beach is giving me ALL the feelings. Seriously, their connection shines through so purely. I wouldn't even necessarily say I was all that into Meredith and Derek on the show back when he was still alive. It wasn't like they were the main reason I watched or anything. But their chemistry and the deep history they share really warms my heart.

And yes, it's incredibly cheesy that Zola coming and talking to Meredith pulls her back from the brink and gets her to open her eyes, but I don't care, I love it. So many of Meredith's loved ones all gathered around, there to witness this beautiful moment of a little girl speaking to her mom, being so strong and brave, and then Meredith waking up?! Yes yes yes. Also just a shoutout to the moment when Maggie and Zola screamed together to vent some frustration. That's an effective method, to be quite honest.

Levi and Nico's scene at the end was honestly the exact thing I said I wanted between them. See, Nico was really dismissive and cold to Levi during their relationship, and couldn't give him what he clearly needed. So, they broke up. Then, they started sleeping together again, and were kind of back in a relationship without really discussing it. Which, to be honest, I think suited Nico just fine. Clearly he was afraid to talk about his feelings. And Levi, because he had been disappointed in the past, pulled back on his expectations. He's not pining for Nico right now. He's put that wall up. And then for Nico to say "I love you" and "move in with me"? It's no wonder Levi ran away to hang out with Jo. I just think this is an amazing setup. I want both of the characters to be happy, and if that's together, then... well, it seems like it's probably a good thing for Nico to clear the air and state his real truth. And it's also a good thing for Levi to take some time to process that.

While Teddy is just exhausting and boring, I did like the idea of Winston being nervous to operate on Meredith, and then Teddy saying that the whole team of doctors are family to Meredith. She means so much to them all, so it's not possible to find someone who's both an extremely skilled surgeon in the hospital, and also an impartial doctor for Meredith Grey. Winston is so sweet, being nervous he'll never get to meet Meredith, especially since he's marrying her sister.

Amelia poaching Link's patient was pretty funny. I like that we've found this balance with Amelia where she's always big and dramatic and escalating things, but it doesn't have to be self-destructive to the extreme. And Link was irritated but not irate. And the patient is going to be okay, too, which is great!

Bailey learning a lesson about taking a break from her patient was also excellent. What I like about a show like Grey's Anatomy is that they can fold in a long history of the characters when they need to. Bailey working too hard, in fact working herself into physical distress, is something that we've seen over the years. It comes back here, and it's not a retread of the same exact story. In fact, Bailey references her heart attack several seasons back. It's showing that the idea of a work/life balance is a challenging one for Bailey, and has been for a long time. I also like that Bailey was able to give the lesson right back to the patient, telling her that they're conditioned to think that rest is laziness, but that it's not. I'm proud of Bailey for learning this, and for passing it on!

As always, I'm sure I'm missing something. Super excited to see April next episode, even though I'll probably be annoyed by whatever they do with her... we'll find out!

8/10