Grey's Anatomy: I'll Cover You (18x17)

Lots of development!

Cons:

There's this moment when Bailey is grudgingly complimenting Nick and she says "he seems like a good teacher." Literally after she said "he seems..." I thought she was going to say, "like a person who exists, I guess." Like, Nick is still SO uninteresting to me! I don't want to feel this way, but I do. I guess I liked the moment where he helped Levi through a tough spot in surgery, but I liked that moment because of Levi, not because of Nick.

Speaking of characters I don't like and never will, we find out at the end of this episode that Catherine's cancer is getting worse. I've never liked Catherine, she's never felt like a very satisfying, interesting character to me. I'm sorry! Of course I'm sad for Richard that she's sick, but honestly I don't feel all that invested in this journey for the character.

While there were elements of Maggie and Winston's story that I didn't mind, one pet peeve I've always had about this show is when the personal problems parallel the case so much that the doctor starts freaking out and acting wicked unprofessional during work. I could see Winston being grumpy and terse with the patient, but for him to go that extreme? It just didn't feel realistic to me that he'd be provoked in that manner.

Similarly, I actually didn't hate the stuff with Link and Jo this week, up to the exact moment when Jo confesses her love. Because honestly, yeah, I was on Link's side. I understand why he felt used, and I appreciated that he came out and said something about it. I just wish they'd never gone the falling in love/hooking up root with these characters in the first place, honestly...

Pros:

I'm a simple person, and sometimes a simple and predictable comedy bit will work on me. Richard being super high but not knowing that he's super high was pretty funny. The implications were more serious, for his sobriety and for his relationship with Catherine, who, while we understand she was drinking a cannabis product for her pain, still really should not have left that in the house without telling Richard what it was. I liked the comedy, the way Meredith took care of him, the way they worked through some of Richard's angst about Meredith's possible departure. And I'm glad he got a check-in with Amelia too, as they contemplated his sobriety and what this complete accident means for him.

Teddy and Owen's story again surprised me by being super engaging. Teddy is eager to do right by Leo, but she's frustrated that the right thing to do seems to be just letting Leo lead. Following this four-year-old's whims is tricky for her. Owen is a little less stressed about it, willing to wait and see. I love how Amelia spoke about her new relationship with Kai and how it helped her to see that people don't need to be rigidly defined at all times, that this kind of thing is a journey that we have to just wait and find out more about as we go. It's cheesy, it's this kind of "after school special" messaging around trans people, but honestly I like when Grey's does this kind of story, because I think it very gently and kindly leads some people into a better understanding of a topic that might frighten or confuse them. A lot of middle-aged moms watch this show, is all I'm saying.

While Nick still bores me to tears, I did like the fact that he helped Levi through a gauntlet moment, the first time he was in a situation similar to when he'd lost his patient. Levi gets through it, and later thanks Bailey for giving him another chance. She thanks Schmitt for sticking around. Bonus points for Pru being such an adorable little girl... the Bailey moments in this episode were a real treat!

Speaking of, I'm so frustrated with her for the way she spoke to Meredith a few episodes back, but I like that they cleared the air here. That Meredith put her foot down and Bailey admitted she's being unreasonable and the two had a moment of connection. They're always going to have the weight of their past, they're always going to have a lot of pain between them, but they're family.

While I admit to some real frustration with Link and Jo's whole story this season, this was the first episode where I did like a lot of the individual moments. Jo is so exhausted basically working two full time jobs, being a mom, and trying to start a new relationship. She asks Link to babysit after Link asks her if she wants to hang out, which isn't a great moment for her, and I kind of love that she doesn't even notice herself doing it. Link's speech was pretty excellent. I like how he says he was willing to roll with her being kind of a jerk because they've known each other a long time, and people go through stuff and treat you poorly sometimes, and it doesn't mean there's nothing salvageable there. Again, I wish the love confession shit wasn't a part of it, but there was some interesting meat on the bones here.

I'll leave things there. We've got a lot of characters who are in a stressful transitional period right now. With their careers, with their love lives, with their health. I continually hope that Meredith and Nick will break up so I don't have to work so hard to stay awake whenever that man is talking, but hey, you can't always get everything you want in life.

8/10