Grey's Anatomy: Haunted (19x04)

Happy Halloween!

Cons:

I actually wish they'd done more with the spooky holiday vibes. It was cute to see Bailey in a costume or whatever, but they could have had slightly more fun with the whole concept. What about Meredith's younger two children, did they get to have a fun night trick-or-treating? What about Teddy and Owen's kids? Felt like this episode could have had more checking in with the various families.

Say it with me: Nick is boring. This week he was nothing more than a boring sounding board for Meredith to bounce off of. I miss when she dated interesting and dynamic men with personalities. Sigh.

I thought that Jules's little rant about the cadavers being disrespected was a bit odd. Surely in med school she had to dissect a cadaver? She must know that donating bodies to science includes medical training purposes? I just thought it was odd to make her a mouthpiece for this. Almost like it was just there so that Owen could reassure us, the audience, that stabbing a dead guy's body and pretending there was still a way to save him wasn't actually as ghoulish as it seemed. To be clear, it is kind of ghoulish. But it's also an opportunity to learn, and that felt like an obvious truth that a resident would already know.

Teddy and Owen... I'm getting tired just from typing their names out. This week, we see that the resentments have piled up. We see Teddy advising Link not to go there with Jo, because dating your best friend just ruins everything. We see Owen warning Winston not to let his resentments with Maggie grow until it ruins the love part of things. So... are Owen and Teddy getting a divorce? Good, if so, let's get it the hell over with please. And if they're not, can they please just shut up for a while? Go away somewhere? Leave the show, and give me Jackson back? Sigh.

Pros:

Helm! I like that we've had Schmitt and now Richard each stopping by to chat with Helm as she works her bartender job. I'm surprised by how much I enjoy checking in with her, and how much I hope she gets everything she deserves from the hospital and then chooses to come back. Maybe Meredith will make a late-game realization about herself, leave boring Nick, and fall in love with Helm. Sigh.

While I wish there had been more Halloween vibes all around, I did still like the trauma lab, the way the interns worked together, and how Lucas maintained that team atmosphere by asking if all of them could scrub in on the prize surgery, instead of just him. We're seeing this show reflect some hopeful and real trends in the medical field at large. Our original group of interns never would have agreed to take collective credit for an accomplishment. Can you picture Izzy or Alex or Cristina offering to share their surgery with their friends? No! And yet Lucas offers it, and it's a sign that maybe things can improve. They even all go off to have breakfast together. Blue is clearly the outcast in terms of trying to make everything a big competition, but even he allows himself to be pulled into the camaraderie, which I like.

As a contrast to how much Teddy and Owen annoy me, and Meredith and Nick bore me, I like the more realistic, grounded, conflicts that Maggie and Winston continue to navigate. Maggie has a blind spot when it comes to her work, and she's definitely been steamrolling her husband in the office. Winston respects and admires her authority, but for the good of their marriage, he's considering switching specialties. I could see this conflict playing out in ways that annoy me, but I'm hopeful that we'll see a more realistic and interesting development of this plot thread from here.

One thing I almost put in the "cons" section but I'll reserve judgment for later... I heard that Ellen Pompeo was only going to be in eight episodes this season. For some reason I assumed they'd be spaced out throughout the season so we wouldn't even feel her absence, but instead she's been in these first four, looks like she's going to be in next week's as well, which has me worried she's going to be vanishing, maybe even moving away, for the entire second half of the season or more. However, I think the setup for this works okay: Zola's anxiety is continuing to cause problems for her, and Meredith is determined to get her into the right environment to foster her incredible mind and heart. We're seeing Meredith be the kind of mother she never had, endlessly patient and calm, giving Zola a chance to feel her feelings and process them. It's insane how long this show has been on the air, that I've watched the fictional character of Zola grow up this much.

Speaking of patient parental figures, I love that Richard noted Schmitt acting out, and he stepped in, was firm with him, but also admitted to his failure and said they were working him too hard. That was huge! I'm so happy for Schmitt that he has this opportunity, and also that he has Richard advocating for him and noticing when things are getting to be too much.

I also liked the Simone and Maggie stuff, where we learn that Simone cracked under the pressure in her last program after being subjected to racist and sexist behavior from her colleagues and would-be teachers. There's video of her freaking out and destroying property that's made its way online. This is a rebuilding year for Grey Sloan. I love that they've taken in the misfits, the people who deserve a second chance because life sometimes doesn't line up the way you want it to. And Simone showing the video of her breakdown to her fellow residents, them all being impressed and saying how they would have reacted, was honestly kind of sweet, reinforcing this teamwork thing our new characters have got going.

I don't know, I'm a little wary about Meredith's departure but honestly I'm having a good time with this season thus far, by and large! I'll definitely hang around to see what's next.

7.5/10