Grey's Anatomy: Keep the Family Close (20x02)

"Discretion is my middle name. Actually, it's Elaine." Yasuda, I love you. Let's dive in!

Cons:

Schmitt and his patient Dante call it "The Great Bake-Off" instead of "The Great British Baking Show" or "The Great British Bake-Off" and I'd just like to lodge a complaint on that. What the hell? Who says that?

Link and Jo's subplot this week is about Link being more romantic and sentimental, and a somewhat joke-y exchange where Link is offended that Jo doesn't remember the details of how they met. In the end, Jo makes a romantic meal and lights candles to reinforce that she appreciates the romance in their relationship. There's nothing offensive about this necessarily, but it just feeds into the worst vibes I have about this pairing. It feels forced, it feels proscribed, it feels like they need to come up with over the top sappy moments to try and convince the audience that they're really in love. And I'm not convinced. I did kind of like the Amelia and Jo scene, though. I think it's sweet that Amelia clocked the relationship issue and took a risk by saying something.

Pros:

I love the concept of the interns having to complete a bingo of basic procedures to earn their spot back in the OR. It adds a level of comedy and competition to them, carrying through a theme we've seen with these five interns since the beginning. But it also gives an opportunity for our characters to grow. Of the five interns, I think Blue is still distinguishing himself as my favorite. It's an easy but effective trick, to have him be seemingly callous and disconnected from the humanity of his patients, but then to learn his lesson and speak to the family of a young man who got shot, with such compassion and care. Bailey clocked that growth in him; it seems like Kwan is one to keep our eye on.

Teddy is, as always, far more tolerable as a character when she's not partnered with Owen for her scenes, and Yasuda is so dang charming that I actually ended up really liking the stuff with the two of them in this episode. Teddy insisting that she's totally okay and then bursting into tears when prompted by Yasuda to really register the reality of her near-death situation, was both funny and touching. I also like Teddy trying to help Yasuda with her check-list of procedures on the sly. It doesn't really work out in Yasuda's favor, but it's cute idea, having the Chief of Surgery trying to give her a leg up.

One last note on Yasuda: her and Helm going at it to open the episode made me smile; happy for these two! I hope we can give Helm more to do as a character this season, she feels perpetually just off to the side of the main action. I also loved the contrast between them going hot and heavy, and Amelia talking to her cat.

Schmitt is still the cutest character to me. I really liked the vibes with Dante, and I hope that can maybe turn into something for him! It was fun to see Schmitt being so cool and professional about the HIV diagnosis while also creating a personal bond. He's grown so much from the baby queer who was kissing a man for the first time just a few years ago. I'm excited to see where this goes.

It was so good to see Ben, I feel like it's been forever, since he's off doing cool stuff over on the spin-off that I refuse to watch. I liked him giving advice to Bailey that these interns might be different and stand up for themselves more than she's used to. And I liked the conclusion, too, that Bailey is the one who has changed, actually. But Ben makes an apt comparison between being a parent and taking over the residents: Bailey has done it before, and she knows when to put her foot down, and when to hold a hand.

I honestly really liked the Lucas and Simone scene at the end. Because I totally get where Simone is coming from, she's been through such a lot of chaos recently and she's genuinely trying to do the right thing by backing off and letting Lucas know that now isn't the right time for them. But... the second Lucas gets mad, you realize that he's... kind of right. Like, extremely right. Simone has been very selfish throughout this rough patch and has not appreciated how much she's been hurting Lucas by jerking him around and then turning to him when she needs some comfort. It's a complicated situation: I agree with Lucas that Simone has behaved poorly, but I don't hate her for her behavior either. They agree on one thing, that she definitely needs to get her shit together. Lucas claims he won't be waiting for her when she does, but I suppose only time will tell.

I got actually emotional about Amelia reaching out to Winston. Like I teared up a little bit. I've realized recently that an easy emotional trigger for me in fiction is when characters are lonely and bravely try and form connections with those around them. (Let's not analyze why this might hit me particularly hard lol). And this was just a prime example of that: Amelia calling Winston her family, acknowledging their rough patch but hoping that they can stay family anyway. Winston agreeing to go eat at Joe's was a lovely little capstone as well. I'm proud of Amelia for realizing she's having a rough time and making concrete moves towards improving that for herself.

Generally speaking I think Jules ranks last for me in terms of my interest level in the new intern characters, but I did like the general plot of this big extended family and their wacky and dangerous baseball game. It's so unrealistic to have a doctor suddenly snap and tell a family to get their shit together, but whatever, it made for a fun moment from Jules, and I liked her grudging acceptance and low-level horror at being named the MVP for speaking the truth.

As always, lots of plot threads going on, plenty to keep me interested. I hope we can see some romances blossoming between Schmitt and Dante, and more with Yasuda and Helm: love to see those queer relationships on this show, and also it means we can focus on love stories less boring and aggravating that Link/Jo or Owen/Teddy.

8/10