Grey's Anatomy: Ridin' Solo (21x12)

Tom Koracick... mouse misogynist and Beatles fan... you'll always be famous.

Cons:

Okay, so, I'm going to heroically refrain from harping on about how Nick is boring. He's... there, and he's being supportive of Meredith which is good I guess. Whatever. However, I do have kind of a complaint/question about the Meredith plot here? I really wish there had been a moment where Meredith and Amelia had been like "oh my god, this is so exciting that Tom's research is actually yielding helpful information, we should team up with him and learn more" and then Tom could be even more of a jerk and reject their offer of collaboration, and then Meredith could have her whole "shame on you" moment during the application process, and Tom could win, and Meredith could decide to do it on her own.

Without that essential piece, the question just sort of lingers over this episode. Why can't these people who are all researching the same thing, work together on it? I get the idea, that Tom is just chasing fame and Meredith is truly passionate about the subject matter... but it just feels like a pooling of resources situation would make sense here. Tom even brought up that Meredith published her abstract for anybody to use, and Mer and Amelia were like "yeah, but we weren't thinking of you when we did that." Like... grow up, I know Tom is an immature baby, but you should be above that!

Jo and Link are still boring and bad to watch. I really did not buy Link being like "oh, all I care about is marrying you, we don't have to have a big wedding"... and then Jo being like "no, I do want all that with you." Like these two just have no romantic chemistry to me at all. And even invoking the shadow of Alex Karev when talking about past weddings was like... man, I miss him. I miss Jo being with someone who I actually believed as a romantic partner for her.

I know Grey's Anatomy is a soap opera in a lot of ways, but I feel like Blue and Molly are in their own little world of ridiculousness right now, I'm not into this whole amnesia plot. And now the ex-fiance is back in the picture? Sigh. I wish I cared.

Owen and Teddy are on thin ice, perpetually, with me... I don't know how I feel about this open marriage concept starting out officially in this way. It feels like they're both uncomfortable and weirded out by the whole thing. Opening up your marriage in response to things not being on stable ground in the marriage is not necessarily a recipe for success. I'm excited for Grey's to try this kind of story, but I want to see something exciting and new, and not Owen and Teddy angsting about it. I fear we'll get the latter, so I'm putting this plot thread in sort of a limbo. We'll see where it goes.

Pros:

So the thing is, I get that Tom Koracick sucks, I really do understand that, and I hope that if he sticks around in a guest capacity, we can see some redemption for him over trying to steal Meredith's glory... but at the same time, there's just something so undeniably refreshing and fun and funny about this character that I smile whenever I see him, no matter what a dick he's being to characters I love. With a TV show that's been on the air as long as this one, there's bound to be some degree of homogeneity in the way the characters speak, and Tom comes barrelling in with just a whole different affect and mood, and it always perks me up! Stop being such a mouse sexist, Tom. Get your act together. Go sleep with Teddy again now that she's on the market, that I would pay to see. Owen would probably challenge him to a duel.

It was fun to see Meredith's kids, Zola is so big! What a cool and weird career this child actor has, where she gets to pop up and film a little bit every once in a while and stay attached to this big franchise...

I liked Jules in this episode a lot! She's in such a messy moment of her life and while it's hard and stressful, she's doing her best and that matters. I love the classic Grey's trope of a doctor hooking up with someone only for them to show up at the hospital in an unexpected capacity! Going all the way back to the pilot of the whole dang show with that one. And Monica being weirded out about Jules sleeping with her ex-wife was funny, but I also like that she stayed professional and gave Jules the encouragement and tough love she needed. It was fun to see Winston and Monica out for drinks... not on board with romance for them, really, still holding out hope we'll turn back to Monica/Amelia, but I like them being friends! And I'm curious what a Winston-mentoring-Jules story will look like. Why not!

I was also so happy for Simone, getting her first solo surgery! Blue encouraging her was a really sweet moment. I know it's never going to happen, but Blue/Simone >>>>> Simone/Lucas or Blue/Molly. Please. Crazier things have happened.

I'll stop there. Owen and Amelia are about to be even more messy than they already were, Jo and Link are going to be planning a wedding... pray for me in these trying and annoying times!

7/10