Grey's Anatomy: Baby Can I Hold You (20x04)

It was lovely to see Arizona, but I kind of feel like her guest starring here was a bit of a waste, in some ways!

Cons:

This show is usually so good at fanservice, to the point where I find myself rolling my eyes sometimes at it... but damn it all to hell, I can't believe we got Arizona on our screens and nobody mentioned Callie or Sofia?? What the heck is that about! Not even a passing mention to give people hope that they ended up back together, even if they didn't want to confirm it?

This show has been playing chicken with the idea of Richard retiring for such a long time now that it really does get tiresome. We see that he gets frazzled in the OR and has to step out, but Teddy promises to have his back and tell him if he doesn't belong there anymore. I don't know, man, let the dude retire! I don't want to watch him dealing with his sobriety and his age and his career for the bajillionth time, actually.

Lucas feeling bummed out and being a slop and annoying Amelia is just... dude, you are all the thinnest of thin ice with me right now. I was totally with you about Simone being a jerk, but that doesn't give you the license to be a permanent jackass forever.

Pros:

I do like a feel-good success story, and the big fetal brain surgery thing was pretty cool. It's always nice when a show like this lets everybody get a clean win, to offset all the tragedy inherent in the show's DNA. It was nice to see Bailey drink in the magic of the surgical miracle, even if she is still exasperated with the interns for failing to appreciate it and stay in the moment.

But speaking of the interns, I really enjoyed everything with Kwan, Jules, and Yasuda this week.

To start with, I just want to say: Yasuda didn't do anything wrong, and she doesn't deserve to be lumped in with the other four fuck-ups! I'm glad at least Jules acknowledged that this week, and I hope Bailey will ease up a little. She even manages to finish her procedure logs, just in time to be told that she can't get back in the OR until all of them complete theirs. Tough break! I do like that we have this character who comes off a little scatter-brained and intense, and yet we see that she's actually pretty kick-ass at what she's doing.

Meanwhile, Blue freaks out when trying to place a chest tube and Schmitt has to step in and do it. This leads to a great conversation where Schmitt tells him he'll probably always see Maxine in his head when he's stressed or uncertain at work, but that maybe this isn't the worst thing. I love seeing Levi get to be a mentor in this moment, and I continue to love the development of Kwan as he deals with his insecurities and aspirations for his career.

And then Jules: she's the intern character I feel like I understand the least so far, but this was a good episode for her. We meet her brother, who calls himself a doctor but who is actually just a "wellness influencer." I love that she has to spend the episode dealing with his bullshit and then is rewarded with Owen coming in and tearing him down while giving Jules a compliment. She really needed that! And a rare W from Owen Hunt, too, I love it when he does stuff that doesn't annoy the hell out of me.

I hope that Arizona is in another episode this season, because I feel like I didn't get nearly enough time with her! In some ways this episode was a bit of a disappointment, but I still enjoyed several of the pieces and how things are coming together.

7/10