Grey's Anatomy: With a Little Help From My Friends (18x04)

This episode felt a bit like treading water to me.

Cons:

So... is Megan like... sticking around? I find it odd that she and Owen have spent so little time together, and that we're adding this contrived thing where Farouk is sick. Give the poor kid a break, after everything else he's been through! Maybe they're setting up a Hayes/Megan thing since apparently Riggs and Megan broke up offscreen, and they're pairing Meredith with this new boring Minnesota guy? I don't know. I'm not saying I'm completely uninterested in all that, but I will admit I'm kind of confused how it fits in with everything else.

In this episode, we get Amelia explaining herself to Addison, the reason why she and Link aren't together anymore. "I hated the life that he loved." Basically, she was overwhelmed and miserable and close to relapse during the pandemic, while Link was handling it better and falling in love with domesticity. I guess I can understand this, and it does feel a bit more grounded than a lot of the earlier stuff with this dumb drama. But it still just feels super contrived. This show needs to learn how to make established couples interesting. Breaking them up at all felt like such a cheap and unnecessary move, and so all the time we're devoting to it just makes me frustrated anew every time. We don't have much time to spend with Addison, and she spends it helping Amelia with her relationship drama? What about Jo, having a new mentor? What about Meredith and the kids? So many more interesting things could have been happening here.

Pros:

Richard has a new method for teaching at the hospital, which puts the residents in the driver's seat for a surgery. The attendings are around to assist, but the residents run the show. It mostly goes okay, with Schmitt being the stand-out and doing two surgeries back to back with perfect success, while Helm has a scare but Bailey is able to come in and save the patient, and no lasting harm done. Levi is riding high on all this confidence, celebrating with Nico in a supply closet afterwards, while Helm is freaking out over her near miss, but does seem calmer after talking to Bailey. I really do like Helm and Levi quite a bit, so it was nice to spend some time with them. It kind of feels like the other shoe might drop at some point, since Levi has been crushing it and has been the stand-out resident, and it almost seems like they're setting him up for a fall. But we'll see!

I also liked how Richard worked this new teaching idea. He had to do some convincing, especially of Bailey who was anxious about putting patient's lives into less experienced hands. After Helm has her scare, Bailey is still anxious about it, but Richard points out that they are facing a shortage in the world of medicine. In another couple decades, there is going to be a real problem with finding enough experienced doctors to do the work that needs to be done. They need to innovate, find creative solutions for the problems ahead of them. I love this for Richard, I love that Meredith was supportive, and I love that Bailey got on board! Even Catherine didn't have a chance to annoy me in this episode.

Jo got to shine when helping a pregnant woman give birth, all while dealing with the heartbreak of her new boyfriend leaving her, as he had not been aware she was pregnant. I love Jo exploring the terrifying wonderful world of new motherhood, it looks good on her. Given the raw deal Jo was dealt on this show simply because of an actor's decision to leave, I'm glad that they've given her a second wind in this way. It was also fun to see Carina briefly. I miss her, and I refuse to start watching Station 19... just too many shows on my list!

While I'm frustrated about Amelia as always, I do like Addison and seeing her has been a real treat. Her patient had a backslide but is ultimately going to be okay and continue in the trial to have a baby with her transplanted uterus. I hope we get to see Addison some more!

Owen had a surprising standout plot for me this week, and I don't say that very often. It was a tragic plot, but an important one, where he tried to help veterans who were sick from various combat-related injuries. Unfortunately, an old man greatly beloved by his community of veterans, who was trying to be an activist for the cause of all those the government has forgotten, dies after collapsing and being brought to the hospital. He has cancer that would normally be curable, but because of his comorbidities, he's doomed to die soon. He wants a risky surgery that might buy him some more time to plead his case to the government, but it doesn't go his way, and he dies on the table. I really felt Owen's desperation and grief during this whole ordeal. He genuinely does come from a place of wanting to help, but sometimes one man's desire to do good can't make much of a dent in the face of a system that isn't built well enough to succeed.

Well, there you have it. Not a bad episode by any means, but not one with any events that are really going to stick in my head, either. Because of how little I like Owen and Teddy, and how frustrated I am about Amelia, I'm feeling like I have fewer and fewer characters to connect with and really root for on this show. I hope we can go a little deeper with some of the younger doctors so I can have a bigger investment in them!

7.5/10