Grey's Anatomy: Legacy (18x11)

Koracick, my love!

Cons:

Why are they giving Nick his own story-line? You can't trick me into caring about this man, Grey's. You can't do it. This episode brought back Tom Koracick, one of the weirdly greatest characters ever written for this show, and you expect me to pay attention to Nick's boring shit? And it doesn't help that the story seems kind of... basic ground for Grey's Anatomy? It's a simple story about an organ transplant, where we have to grieve for the young man who died and celebrate the young man who gets another chance at life. I was waiting for some twist that would make it stand out from other similar plot elements over the years, but there really wasn't anything. It honestly feels like that plot thread was just there to try and make Nick more sympathetic, give the audience something to connect to. The trouble is, Nick being a nice guy is literally the only thing I know about him, and now I've learned nothing new.

And then the end of the episode is Meredith going to celebrate her success with him, which is honestly the last thing I care about seeing. It kills me, because seeing Meredith in a stable, simple relationship with a good guy is something I really want for her, but Nick just gives me nothing to connect to!

When Teddy told Jo she might be done with her marriage my eyes rolled so far back into my head I nearly toppled over. So now we've got Teddy talking to Owen about PTSD and being triggered and why he did what he did, and Owen insisting he stands by his decision... I just can't believe I've got to sit through more drama with these two. At least if they're just happily married there's not too much focus on them.

Link and Jo continue to be a big ol' nope from me. Again, if different people were involved, the whole mutual pining while living together, best friends raising children together thing... it would be right up my alley, but this just doesn't click for me with these two. It's such a bummer!

Pros:

So let's start in subplot news. I really loved all the stuff with Levi and Webber. Schmitt playing his video game, Richard trying to talk to him about his own experiences... I loved that this story doesn't just show Levi as continuously catatonic or anything, it's a little more complicated than that. He's defeated, and that's obvious, and he says he's never coming back, and I believe that he believes that. But there's life left in him yet, and I love how Richard tries to be there for him. I also weirdly loved how video games weren't being used as just a short-hand for "a person with nothing else going on in life." Richard is confused at the appeal of the game, and Levi explains it, talks about the lessons it can teach.

I wasn't sure whether to put this in pros or cons, but ultimately I think I was amused in a somewhat uncomfortable way by Bailey's plot thread with the new resident. They spend the whole episode laughing and being nerds together about various sci-fi properties, as he tries to convince Miranda that taking on a job with NASA would be the right thing for her career. Then, at the end of the episode, he mistakes a moment of intimacy and leans in to kiss her. Bailey reacts with shock and he awkwardly runs off. It's so hard for me to deal with secondhand embarrassment, I was literally cringing during this whole story. The guy's crush on her is so obvious, and Bailey's obliviousness was just as clear. I'm kind of excited to see what happens from here with this, but the awkwardness is going to be difficult to stomach!

We get the groundbreaking surgery this episode, everyone crowds around to watch, and it goes off without a hitch! For the most part. I love that the drama with Meredith's big medical moment was actually relatively small and more concerned with worry for Owen, and not some big crazy thing going wrong in the middle of the surgery. The drama is that someone has to leave to take care of Owen. It can't be Meredith or Amelia, because that's against the funding for their special trial, but of course Amelia is worried about Owen. In the end, it's Tom who goes, because, as I keep saying, he's actually a super good guy and he's my favorite and I miss him.

Kai and Amelia have a cute moment about it afterwards, where Kai is astonished that Amelia was willing to walk out of there, but they realize that it's because Amelia will drop everything to be there for the people she loves. They seem to have a strong connection built on something simple and quiet and true, and this vibe is something I want for Amelia, even if I'm frustrated that we had to jump through so many drama hoops with Link to get there.

I just love the fact that Tom and Owen now have this like... grudging respect, where Tom is razzing Owen on the way to the OR: "Hunt, don't make me cry before I open you up." I love this man so much. Honestly, everything he says and does is my favorite part of any episode he's in. I want him back as a series regular. Make him fall in love with Kai and Amelia, maybe the three of them can give it a go. I'd be about it.

Also, despite how much I dislike Owen, and how much I really dislike Link and Jo's whole thing, I found myself reluctantly amused by the scenes of Owen and Link doing physical therapy, where they're talking at cross-purposes about their girl drama. I just love that Owen and Link share an ex partner in Amelia, and they're angsting about Teddy and Jo respectively, and neither of them have any idea what the heck the other one is talking about. Just made me chuckle. Oh, soap operas...

All in all, the things I didn't like about this episode were the same things I've been complaining about for a while now. Hilariously and predictably, even a brief glimpse of Tom Koracick is enough to up this episode's score quite a bit!

8/10