Grey's Anatomy: I'm Still Standing (17x16)

Going to rapid-fire this review!

Cons:

I don't want more Amelia and Link drama! I hope the kid thing is resolved quickly and without too much angst. Maybe the compromise is Amelia and Link continuing to be involved with Meredith's kids, so Link can be a father-like presence in the lives of a whole gaggle of children. The thing is, I've so enjoyed this lighter, more fun story for Amelia, during her relationship with Link. They bring out this really lovely, happy side in one another and I don't want to abandon that for more angst.

I hesitate to say what I'm about to say because I think people are going to yell at me!!! I've been so wobbly on Nico and Levi because I think Levi is a really fun character, and we just haven't spent as much time with Nico, and he was honestly pretty horrible to Levi, and narratively, yes, he's made amends and I'm not like... mad at the thought of them being together or whatever, but I have to admit a potentially sacrilegious truth that is becoming harder and harder to deny! The actors just don't have that much chemistry with one another! Don't get me wrong, they're perfectly fine and their scenes do the job and aren't like... painful to watch or anything, but I don't have the warm fuzzies about them the way I should when a relationship reaches a milestone like this. So that whole scene with Nico and the candles and the "I think about you all day" should have been a really squee-worthy moment and instead I kind of vaguely thought... "oh, I guess that's nice."

I also thought Maggie and Winston's little relationship drama was annoying, although I'm glad it was resolved quickly. I guess mostly I just thought Winston was being really childish, because it makes sense that Maggie would be bummed out at the thought of having her wedding during the pandemic. And then Winston was very petulant at the very idea of waiting a bit longer to get married, so they could have the wedding they wanted. Why was it such a rush, for him? It bothered me a bit that in this story, Maggie was represented as the one in the wrong, the one who needed to do a grand gesture to make amends, when all she did was express her true feelings of reluctance to rush the wedding in such a stressful time where they couldn't have the day of their dreams. I was on Maggie's side for this! (But still, the end of the episode was super cute and I do still like them together.)

Pros:

Meredith is nervous and already impatient about her long recovery post-COVID, and Bailey comes by to chat with her and try and cheer her up. She also comes with an offer, for Meredith to be the head of the residency program. I like this for Meredith! I like the idea of her taking on this fun leadership role. It will be a nice way for her career to shift and grow into something new that we haven't seen for her before. I also just like seeing Bailey and Meredith hang out and have such a good friendship. They are two of the only three remaining original cast members left on the show! Crazy.

I'm going to put Jo's story-line under "pros" even though it's really freakin' tragic... I hope somehow she gets custody of Luna anyway? I hope Cormac finds a way to put in a good word for her? Because otherwise what's the point? That moment when Jo is talking to Link and Link says it out loud for the first time, that Jo should adopt Luna, and then you have Jo watching as Luna is on the brink of death, crying in relief when she pulls through, and saying "I'm her mother..." Oh, Jo. I only want good things for her and she hasn't gotten to have many of those recently, has she?

I'm going to ignore the inherent insanity of Levi inviting Helm to move in without clearing it with Jo first, because I actually like the idea of Jo's place just being overrun by these other doctors. It just tickles my fancy. And maybe Levi will move in with Nico now, and it'll be Helm and Jo together? That would be a good chance to give Taryn more of a presence on the show. I really like her, but she's always been kind of on the periphery.

I liked Amelia's cool brain scan thing! I got emotional when the dad was able to communicate with his girl who's basically in a coma! This show will casually present medical breakthroughs in a hilariously simple way, but I'm not even mad about it.

The old woman whose husband had recently died, and whose dog was missing, seriously broke my heart. I teared up when she was caught in a lie about a headache and confessed that she has friends at the hospital and nobody to talk to at home... jeez, that really got to me! And then in the end she gets her dog back... yay for contrived moments of joy in a world otherwise full of desolation!

I also can't believe I'm saying this but... the one moment in the whole "Link wants more babies" plot thread that I liked was Owen and Amelia talking! The actors actually have good natural chemistry when they're not forced into story-lines that play up the passion and angst. They're exes who are friends and who share a long history, and Owen offering to go to a meeting with Amelia was really sweet! See, I can say nice things about Owen... I'm not that biased against him...

I'll stop there for now! As always with this show, I rambled on more than I meant to. A perfectly solid installment, lots of checking in on everyone. And next week is the finale!

7.5/10