Grey's Anatomy: Stronger Than Hate (18x18)

Ah, a classic dinner party episode of Grey's Anatomy. I love the gentle chaos.

Cons:

A full episode built around the premise of "everyone getting to know Nick" is bound to be irritating to me, because Nick is still the boringest boring to me. Like he's helping out with the cooking and cleaning, which is meant to be charming, but just seems bland. He talks to Maggie about his own difficulties with a sibling who is troubled and takes advantage, and that's meant to teach Maggie something about Winston's struggles with his brother. But instead I'm just thinking I'd rather spend that time with Winston, exploring how he's feeling about all this. When Amelia is talking to Nick about Kai, and about Meredith possibly leaving, I was struck by the contrast between all of Meredith's interesting friends and family in Seattle, and the boring guy she might be leaving them all behind for. I don't want to feel this way. This show has gotten me to appreciate and admire so many new characters over the years, but Nick is still not clicking with me at all.

There were some tonal problems with this episode that stopped it from being one of the more iconic Grey's episodes... I like the big group scenes where we see the characters hanging out socially, but we kept cutting from that, over to the hospital where we were dealing with a) Richard learning to accept that Catherine might be dying, and b) a hate crime against an Asian woman, and the Asian staff at the hospital responding to it. So the tonal stuff there was a bit odd to me.

And okay, here's the thing about the hate crime plot thread. I think a lot about it worked really well, but at the same time there was this awkwardness to having a bunch of AAPI characters at the hospital who we don't really know suddenly having speaking lines just to react to this travesty. Nico is the only actual character we could connect to on this, so it kind of put into sharp relief that the show could use more actual representation in that area.

Pros:

I can't believe I have to keep putting Owen Hunt, one of my least favorite characters on any show ever, into the "pros" sections of these reviews! But I loved his conversation with Kai. I liked watching him be happy with Teddy, have a drama-free evening, talk about his kids and Amelia and her role in his life. It's almost like he's not 100% insufferable when he's not being an angst-machine. Who knew?

But speaking of angst, we see that Amelia and Kai are doing really well, but when Kai sees Amelia in her element as a mother to Scout, and an aunt to Meredith's kids as well, they realize that they might need to reconsider the relationship. Kai doesn't want to have kids, and they're never going to change their mind on that. We leave things lingering, uncertain what that means for Kai and Amelia's future, but let's just say it doesn't look good. I'm a little bummed about this, but it's also very understandable, and I like that it's being explored realistically.

Back at the hospital, I will say I found the stuff with Nico very moving. He's such an emotionally repressed character, we know that about him, it's been such a point of conflict in his romantic life. And he quietly and calmly treats the patient without showing outward signs of distress, even as some of his colleagues talk about the horror of their lived experience. Then, we see Schmitt going to check on him, and he's punched a hole in the wall. His knuckles are bruised and bloody. I loved Levi coming back into the room with an ice pack for the injury. He doesn't say anything, doesn't push Nico to talk about it, just does the practical thing that can help in the moment. That was such a strong scene, as brief and simple as it was. I really do like Levi as a character, and I want to know Nico better. I want them to find a way to be happy, whether that's together or apart!

I'm always impatient with Catherine story-lines, because I find her irritating, but I will admit I liked the stuff with her and Richard here. Very tender and sad. Richard has outlived two women in his life who he loved dearly, Adele and Ellis, and the thought that he might have to do it again is such a tragedy. But Catherine needs to be able to relax and live and laugh a bit, even as she continues to fight for her life, and I like that our patient from last week helped to teach Richard that. Just cute vibes all around, even considering the inherent tragedy of the situation.

And then you've got Wendell, Winston's brother, conning Maggie and Winston out of $20,000. Wow. Yikes. I truly didn't see that coming. I appreciate getting to explore Maggie's marriage a bit, seeing how they deal with this situation. They seem to really love each other, but one consequence of them getting serious and getting married so quickly is that there are so many things they don't know about each other. This is a trial for their marriage that I think they've been handling admirably so far. I'm definitely invested in seeing where it goes.

Next week is the finale! Looks like we get to see Jackson and April, which I'm really excited about. Also looks like we might get answers about the residency program at last. Dun dun dun...

8/10