Grey's Anatomy: Jump (for My Love) (21x10)

Richard sucks, what the helllll.

Cons:

Okay, we all know my longstanding dislike of Catherine Fox, and she did annoy me this episode by trying to excuse Richard's behavior and make it about "oh, it's hard when your mentor is also family" or whatever. Like, no... stop excusing Richard's behavior. But honestly, I do appreciate that Meredith and Catherine are able to be adults and converse about professional things without being whiny little babies about it, so in that regard, I have to say that Richard Webber wins first prize for unreasonableness this week. His petty little avoidant act with Meredith is infuriating! And why? Because she didn't break HIPAA and tell Richard about Catherine's cancer? Dude, take it up with your wife, not with her doctor! I find the argument for why his anger is excusable so flimsy and nonsensical. He needs to get a grip. Poor Meredith didn't do shit to deserve this!

Nick continues to be boring, but he didn't do anything to piss me off too badly this week. He's just kind of set dressing to me, to be honest.

Here's the thing about Jo and Link. Okay. There's a scene in this episode where Amelia and Link have a moment in the hallway where she's teasing him about the wedding rings fiasco and he's talking about how a good friend told him that things would be okay eventually after mourning a relationship. It was a really sweet moment, and honestly I felt 100% more real emotions and connections between these two exes who have learned to be co-parents and be friends, than I have ever felt about Link and Jo as a couple! It's not even that they're always making me mad, although sometimes it's that, it's that they're never making me believe in their love! I felt like his proposal should have been moving, but it felt so cheesy and insincere to me, because I simply don't believe these two as a romantic pairing and I never have! I remember when Jo was truly one of my favorite characters on the show, and now most of her story-lines just have me checked out or annoyed, and it's a real bummer.

I rather liked the stuff with the interns but I will say I feel like Jules's reaction to Mika leaving is kind of extreme, and it gets treated like this much bigger deal than it is. A co-worker quit her job and moved away, and you had complicated feelings for that co-worker, you're going through a sort of breakup, it's messy and hard. I get it. But the way Jules responds, and the way Bailey and the others treat her pain, it really is more like Mika is dead or something. It's bizarre.

Pros:

I feel like Ben and Winston's little detour to save a man's life on the side of the road was kind of random and out of nowhere, but it was fun to see these two characters get in a bit of bonding. Ben giving Winston some gentle dating advice, and then Winston striking out with his patient's mom, was an interesting dynamic because it's a sign that Winston is maybe ready to move on a bit more from Maggie, and that he also has a community here at this hospital even without her.

So, the intern stuff kind of makes me laugh, with that team building guy getting so freaked out about all their trauma. Compared to what the original slate of interns went through, these kiddos are doing just fine. I mean, yeah, Lucas did get shot, but it was just a graze. And yeah, they did "lose someone" from their intern class, but she didn't die. I don't mind that the show is somewhat gentler with the trauma of its main characters than it once was, but it did make me laugh a little to compare. Apples and oranges.

I really liked Blue and Lucas just kind of being goofy, gently antagonistic friends, I could use more of that dynamic. I feel like pairing the two guys and pairing the two girls for scenes was a lot more rewarding than the romance stuff with Simone and Lucas has ever been, and it gave them more of a friendship/found family vibe that I enjoyed.

I'm someone that will cry at a TV show at the drop of a hat, and it's never in response to big dramatic moments where someone is dying or confessing their love or whatever. It's usually small things, acts of true vulnerability, that get me. So despite what I said about Jules's reaction to Mika's departure being a bit over the top, I really really liked the moment when she says: "I thought we were all going to make a meal together." It was the perfect little olive branch, after Bailey had told her she was allowed to still feel angry and sad, and it was the perfect way for the group to actually bond after the silliness of the "retreat" up to that point. Blue and Lucas crying over onions, Simone offering Jules the use of her frequent flyer miles... it was all very lovely.

I'm also intrigued by the story of Catherine's friend and the patient with Alzheimer's... we'll have to see how that story continues now that Richard and Meredith have discovered the truth. I'm still mad at Richard, and at Catherine too, for being such big babies about everything. But, it's interesting to have them all on the same side, discovering that Catherine's friend lied and wondering what the best thing is to do now... they've already got the transplant lined up, are they really going to deny this woman? We'll have to find out!

I liked this episode better than the last, I think, even though I'm extra annoyed with Richard! Let's do more time with the whole intern team, flesh out those friendships and relationships a bit more.

7.5/10