Lots to talk about, in these two episodes!
Cons:
So, I'm going to keep a close eye on how this story goes with Jo and Link and Luna. The thing is, so far technically speaking nothing about it makes me angry. It is totally fair and reasonable that a mother would have a hard time processing a big and scary change for her young daughter. And Grey's is usually good about this kind of thing, so... I just hope they have an actual Deaf consultant come on to coach about this story-line? I hope they go into the controversies and dangers around a CI if that becomes something Jo considers for her kid? I hope we get an awesome story of Jo and Luna and Link and Scout learning ASL so they can all communicate better. I just... don't want this to turn into an abject tragedy where Luna losing her hearing is the same as if she'd gotten cancer or something. There's a lot to celebrate from becoming Deaf, and it would be cool if the show could explore that aspect of things! We'll see how it goes. (Also, repeating my constant critique that Jo and Link bore and annoy me as a potential couple, I just really wish we'd never gone that route at all.)
Amelia and Kai... I don't know. Does this just feel a little lazy, a little proscribed, to anybody else? Amelia correctly identifies that she tends to lash out and behave poorly when she feels she's being abandoned, then she learns Kai is leaving to go to London, and she immediately starts behaving poorly. I was on Kai's side in the sense that they pointed out that Amelia hadn't even stopped to congratulate them on this big job opportunity. That's some bullshit. But also, this episode reminded us why this relationship was always going to be doomed... Amelia has a kid. Amelia is a mother. Kai wants nothing to do with that. What sort of future were they supposed to have if Amelia is literally supposed to be splitting her time between her partner and her child? It's ridiculous.
And to round out the relationship trouble segment, there's Maggie and Winston. So here's where we leave them: Maggie going to Chicago, Winston staying in Seattle. Both of them acknowledging their love for one another, but that they need to stay where they are for the benefit of their career. It's just... ugh. Last week I was rolling my eyes at the forced metaphor between Maggie and the bull-riding girl. Here we get it with a high-powered lawyer just starting off on her career, who learns that she has breast cancer. Maggie is all "you being passionate about your job is a good and beautiful thing, don't let anybody tell you different" and it's just like... yeah, okay, we get it. But the whole message here that Maggie isn't like Ellis, because on top of her ambition she also has kindness and love... it just felt very told to me, instead of shown to me. Maggie acts like leaving to go to Chicago is the only way to pursue her ambitious career, and that to do anything different would be to stifle her own sense of self. That dichotomy feels super forced to me. It's not like she couldn't find career advancement in Seattle if she wanted to.
Oh, and a couple other relationship things to throw into the mix: Teddy and Owen did a weird flirty routine this week and while it's more palatable than watching them fight, I'm still not on board with their nonsense in general. And then there's Simone, who is trying to convince herself (and Jules) that getting married is the right choice, while she and Lucas are still obviously smitten with each other. It's kind of tedious at this point, and I think part of it is that Trey, Simone's fiancé, isn't even around so we can understand how that dynamic is supposed to go.
Pros:
Bailey this week is having to deal with increasing harassment from pro-life assholes who not only keep calling her phone, but also send a picture of Tuck at his school. It's this specific threat that has Bailey changing her phone number and moving the family into a rental for a while, hoping that things will cool down. I wonder where this story is going to lead! It's super tense.
It also gives us a chance to hang out with Pru, who Bailey keeps with her at the hospital out of precaution, and then pawns off on Lucas when she has a surgery. That's one adorable kid, all the stuff with Pru really made me smile. And while Lucas and Simone's romance stuff is tedious, seeing him care for that little girl really did a lot to endear me to his character!
Simone, too, got a moment that made me emotional. When she breaks the news to a patient that she has breast cancer, the patient freaks out and says: "I don't know what to do" and Simone simply says "I do." That was really touching to me, it felt very much in line with my own personality. If something bad happened to me and a kind stranger could tell me they'd handle it... what a gift!
Yasuda and Kwan got into the beginnings of a feud when Kwan swooped in on a surgery, taking advantage of the fact that Mika overslept. I like this, because it feels like the kind of ruthless behavior we would have gotten from our original cast of intern characters. Yasuda is going to need to figure out a work/life balance that allows her to make money and also stay on her feet at work. And Kwan may realize at some point that he needs allies and he hasn't done such a good job of making them.
Schmitt had another lovely plot thread this week where he's wondering what he should specialize in, is chastised by Richard for being behind, but then ends up spending the episode connecting with a Jewish patient and helping to give him and his great-grandfather a bar mitzvah in the hospital. Richard, who was in a bad mood earlier because of Maggie leaving, encourages Schmitt to maybe consider working with kids. I loved this little moment, and seeing the double bar mitzvah really warmed my heart.
Speaking of Richard: while I am ultimately still frustrated and underwhelmed with Maggie's exit from the show, the moment at the end with Richard was really, really sweet. He gives her a mini bench that works as a business card holder, but that's also a miniature of the bench where he first found out he had a daughter. He says his life forever changed at that moment. I legitimately cried. And then Maggie gets into the elevator, and we see her two moms: biological and adoptive, both there with her, ready to see her into her future. As frustrating as the build to this moment was, I thought the actual execution moment was done so beautifully. Why is it that Maggie's exit from the show was more grand and sentimental than Meredith's? Sigh.
I think it's encouraging that most of the "pros" section is newer characters, like Schmitt and our five new interns. And now that Maggie is gone, which I am ultimately sad about, maybe Winston will have interesting story-lines too. There are still a lot of enjoyable elements to this show, and reasons to keep checking back in.
7/10
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