Grey's Anatomy: If Walls Could Talk (21x01)

Wow, I hate Catherine Fox so much! Kind of an uneven premiere in terms of the things I care about.

Cons:

Honestly there's kind of a cognitive dissonance to how much Catherine sucks as a character, and her marriage to Richard. How exactly is he managing to thread the line with all of his friends who his wife just fired? It's bizarre and it's irritating. She's so entitled and such a bully and she's so unambiguously wrong in this situation that it's hard to see the complexity of the situation. And I hate Jackson being on his mom's side here, against Meredith! No no no! I didn't hate the Meredith and Catherine scene about her health, but I just keep coming back to Catherine literally being the Big Business Baddie who is restricting access to life-saving knowledge. Yuck!

Lucas Adams is still the most uninteresting intern by a large measure, and I hate that so much of our time is wasted on his angst. When he shows up at the end to Simone's door and declares that he's not going to Chicago, I'm thinking... boooo. I wish you'd go, and I wish Yasuda would stay instead. She's a better character in every way.

I am not a fan of the setup for Richard's arc this season. Him lacking confidence about surgery, and Winston trying to encourage him? Honestly, it's just like... let this dude retire! It sounds like he really shouldn't be working anymore in any case! I liked that moment of him mentoring Winston at the end, but please just get him out of the OR post haste.

I did a full-body cringe when Link used a Harry Potter reference to try and cheer Levi up. Like first of all, let's not invoke Rowling for any reason ever at this point? But also it was just very patronizing and it felt like Levi shouldn't be so moved by such basic advice.

Jo and Link having a baby is still a big yuck for me, I will never support this pairing. And what with me not liking Lucas and Simone, and my utter lack of interest in Kwan's amnesia ex-fiancé, I'm kind of 0 for 3 on the main romances going on here.

Pros:

Except! Jules and Yasuda coming in with the steel chair! I was so happy that they actually went there with those two characters. They were tiptoeing around each other, and then they shared a lovely kiss against the lockers! I'm especially bummed that Mika isn't long for this show, but I hope we get some fun romance vibes here in the meantime. I honestly don't mind Jules/Kwan as a pairing, I think it's that Harry Shum Jr. has good chemistry with most scene partners I've seen him with. (Except on Shadowhunters where him and the guy he was in the romance with had like... negative one million chemistry lol sorry). But back to the girls - I hope we get some fun stuff with them for a while, even if it's ultimately doomed not to last for long. That cute little smile after the kiss was so precious.

Sydney Heron coming back onto the show is kind of a hoot. She's so fucking annoying, but like... in a way that makes me smile? I don't know. I love her as a common adversary for all these dark and troubled souls, and as a contrast to Bailey as a leader. I'd love to see the interns prove their loyalties to Bailey in the end!

Probably my highlight this week was with Bailey and Ben, honestly! It was so nice to see him back and playing supportive hubby, I'm thrilled that Bailey is going to fight for her job, and I love that the episode opens with her dreaming about slapping Catherine in the face. I mean, honestly. I get why you'd have the urge. I loved seeing her trying to make the best of things in the clinic, but really snapping into focus to help save the woman stuck in the wall. The moment when Sydney burst in and stole the interns back away from Bailey was hard to watch!

I continue to not give a shit about Jo and Link as a romantic pair, but Jo and Levi's friendship is still the cutest! Why is it that the relationships that are the most interesting and compelling on my screen in this premiere are also the ones I know will go away soon, due to actors leaving the show? Levi's joke about Jo needing to tell Link about the baby because he didn't want to raise this kid with her was so funny! Also, I do love that he got some confidence back, even if I hated Link's pep talk. Our last glimpse of him in the episode is going to talk to a random dude at the bar who was giving him a look. Get it, Schmitt!

I actually really liked Meredith in this episode. Probably in part because Nick was nowhere to be seen, and we all know he's the boringest character ever to exist. Her stubbornness is such a defining character trait, but I do think that overall she comes across as the reasonable one, here! Yes, she broke rules, but her cause is good and it turns out that she's right about what she's been saying this whole time. I love that she showed up to talk to Catherine out of respect for Jackson. That was a nice little moment, I love it when the veterans of this show stick with one another.

So, yeah. Lots of stuff that intrigues me, and lots of stuff that already bores me. Simone is too good of a character to be dragged down by Lucas's nonsense! And Link, c'mon buddy, you used to be a favorite of mine. Please stop being annoying.

7/10