Owen went back to annoying so quickly!! Okay, this is the finale, so a lot happens, but I'm going to do my best (ha) to be brief about it all...
Cons:
It just feels like they haven't properly examined the logistics of Owen's whole scandal with helping veterans to death with dignity. Washington allows physician assisted suicide. I get that some of the patients are from other states, okay, fine. But this just feels so contrived and it reintroduces the angst into Owen and Teddy's relationship that I find so truly insufferable to witness. Owen wants to help a man with his dying wife who's in pain, and Teddy says no, and then the man turns Owen in and Bailey finds out and the whole time I just felt like... "ughhh we don't have time for this, there are so many other stories and characters I care about more!" I'm not nervous about Owen's fate, send him to jail for all I care. I'm sorry, but it's just Owen. He's annoying anyway. And what exactly is the plan now? Owen and Teddy, two young kids in tow... what are they supposed to do? Are they going off the grid? Fleeing the country? Jeez.
Meredith spends a lot of time with Nick in this episode, which annoyed me mostly because he's boring, but also because I want to see her interact with the other characters on the show. She's felt so isolated this season, which would make sense if she's leaving Washington, but it's just not satisfying to see as a viewer. The big surgery felt like drama for drama's sake. We've never met this patient and her elderly aunt with dementia before. I don't feel connected to them, to be honest! So when things go wrong with the blood, my heart wasn't in my throat the way it might have been with other patients and other stories, like Simon and his pregnant wife. I did find the ending moving, but more because of Meredith's personal baggage. The idea of Nick being this thing she's afraid to lose just does not sit right with me.
Then there's the Winston and Maggie drama... see, I kind of liked that they were a couple who got together and got married quickly, but it was working for them. So to have Maggie say they got married too quickly was annoying to me. It seemed to get resolved right away, with them saying they're going to work and learn more about each other. Fine. All good. But I'm sorry, Maggie, the whole "sisters" thing isn't the same as growing up with siblings. It's cute and very sweet, I'm a big proponent of the found family, but Amelia is Meredith's sister-in-law, how exactly are Maggie and Amelia "sisters"? It's kind of silly and it always has been.
Catherine's funeral fake-out thing was kind of dumb. The scene itself was okay, but it felt pointless to be manipulated like that, especially given that by the end of the episode, turns out Catherine isn't dying, so everything's back to status quo...
I was a little bummed out that Jo's love interest ended up being played entirely for laughs. It's like they introduced this character to date Jo and then changed their minds and backed out of it really quickly? Sort of odd. I wish they'd gone a little more subtle, instead of giving him so many "cringy" traits all piled up on each other.
I was also bummed that we don't get any Nico/Levi resolution. They seem to be in a better place, but I want to see them either let each other go entirely, or get back together. It sucks to go into a hiatus lingering in such an in-between place!
Pros:
I know I listed a lot of "cons" but honestly I was still pretty riveted by this whole episode. The central conflict is that of the blood shortage, and when an accident in transport leaves the hospital critically short of blood, several dramatic decisions need to be made. As I said, the stuff with Meredith's patient didn't really move me. But the story about the married couple? Holy shit. When she goes into labor, things are going wrong and she needs blood, so they're literally taking the husband's blood supply to save the wife, even as he's trying to hold on long enough to meet his baby son... it was so over the top dramatic that I didn't think it would get to me, but when they brought him his baby and he said "hello forever," I immediately started tearing up.
And while Jo's boyfriend troubles made me roll my eyes, I did like Link in this episode more than I have in a while. He and Jo are on the mend, being friends, making jokes, and getting together with their kids to watch Encanto. I had a moment of real fear that there was going to be another love confession or kiss or something between these two, but instead it was a reaffirmation of their friendship, which I greatly enjoyed. I also loved Link thanking Amelia for making him a father, and telling her he loved her but not in the painful way anymore. That was a lovely moment with the two of them.
Kai and Amelia... I have mixed feelings! I was happy to see them get back together and share a kiss, and I was moved by Amelia's grief throughout the episode. But the actual underlying issue is still there. I wonder if we'll see it resolved and how. But it's kind of good to wonder, and I'm glad that Kai's time on the show isn't over!
I loved Schmitt's subplot about the injustice of not being able to give blood as a recently sexually active gay man. It was cool to see the queer staff members organize the blood drive and find people who could show up to give, rallying around a crisis like that, and I hope that next season Schmitt takes the world by storm and ends this discriminatory and unnecessary rule!
I've got to say, even though Nick is boring and I didn't care about Meredith's patient who died, I did really like Meredith's stuff in this finale. We see a lot of flashbacks and snippets of the whole history of the show, stretching back over the decades. We get to see Ellis, and Derek, and Cristina, and Izzie, and Alex, and George... we get to see how it all started and where we are now. And it's an interesting theme, a really fascinating setup for our main character. They've basically set it up so Meredith's journey on this show is about escaping old patterns, getting out of this place where she feels trapped. And as the episode ends, Bailey quits and walks away, leaving Meredith the job of chief. And Nick is there, wants to be there for Meredith, help her escape, but she sends him off. It's a rather grim end of the season for Meredith. You get the sense that she really would like to get away, and as much as I'd miss her if she left the show, I find myself rooting for her to leave. Just not with Nick, because, again, he's boring as hell.
I do appreciate a good non-lethal dramatic conflict, and the residency program shutting down sure is that. Watching Schmitt and Helm and all the others pack up their stuff and leave was really tough, and I find myself really compelled wondering if they're going to be able to turn things around. I thought the woman who came to evaluate the program had a good point, about people working together for too long, and the chain of command starting to break down! I also love that Bailey unceremoniously quits. Good for her, honestly! She's got a lot of shit going on in her personal life that she needs to be focused on.
And then there's Jackson and April! I thought it was fun to see them, and I love that they're just casually together again. It was the implied result of Jackson leaving the show a while back, but to get to see them share a sweet kiss in the elevator honestly made me feel very happy and nostalgic.
I'm absolutely sure I've forgotten some things; there are just so many characters, and this was a two parter! But that's where I'll stop for now. I can't believe we're going to be heading into the nineteenth season of this show... at this point I'm kind of hoping they go for an even twenty and then call it quits!
8/10
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