Critic’s Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
3.5
Is it just me, or has Grey’s Anatomy been a mixed bag these days?
The tone of these installments can be all over the place, resulting in some storylines working better than others in any given hour.
For example, with Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 Episode 8, Webber learning to navigate decisions regarding his prostate cancer and Bailey and Owen finding their own inspiration, resulting in them pulling off the impossible, were compelling. The rest? Not so much.
(Disney/Anne Marie Fox)
Webber’s Journey Is Compelling. As Long As Catherine Takes a Backseat
Catherine has become such a frustratingly one-dimensional character. We can always count on her to overstep boundaries, get bossy and pushy, and then ultimately end up asking for grace or forgiveness from Webber.
It’s rinse, wash, and repeat. But if she keeps doing the same things over and over again, when does she really learn?
Of course, she took control over Webber’s treatment plan as it related to his prostate cancer.
And while, on one hand, it’s great that she’s proactive and that her love results in her doing whatever it takes, including flying the best urologist in the country on a private jet for consultation, she always oversteps and undermines her own intentions.
Maybe if she opted for a normal meet-and-greet rather than overwhelming Webber with this woman whom he didn’t know and conversations he wasn’t ready for just yet, we could’ve cut all the resistance and gotten straight to the part where Webber connected with Laura.
(Disney/Anne Marie Fox)
It was nice to have Jamie-Lynn Sigler guest-starring, and it was better to have a character and actress raising awareness about MS in an organic way. She and Pickens Jr. are using this show as a platform for their characters and their health battles, making these stories more compelling.
Fortunately, Webber hearing about what she’s endured and how she’s still able to practice medicine — her calling, put him at ease, and her confidence and assertion that she can handle complications to surgery if they arise better than whatever will happen if his cancer mestatcizes the push he needed.
Thank goodness, Webber is getting the surgery he needs.
Owen and Bailey Finding Inspiration Works
I know many people loathe Owen, so they always read everything he does a certain way, leading to bad-faith takes that aren’t always warranted. But I love that on Grey’s Anatomy, the characters are still capable of inspiring one another.
He was thrilled for Teddy and Winston. Their podcast about their groundbreaking surgery on Nora reflected well on these esteemed doctors and the hospital. But they also lit a fire under Owen and Bailey, and I loved that for them.
(Disney/Anne Marie Fox)
Some of the best arcs on the series are when they cut back on melodrama and messy relationship drama, and we actually get to see why these are the best doctors in their field, and the passion they still have for the craft.
Bailey and Owen are a great professional team, and it actually made me smile when they successfully removed that massive tumor from Bailey’s patient. It didn’t seem like anything that could really happen, and I’m relieved it didn’t end in some tragedy.
The patient was sweet and needed this win, and seeing Ayesha Harris is always a delight. Now, if only she can pop back up on The Pitt again this season. Fingers crossed.
Simone and Lucas could even set aside whatever they have going on to work well with these two, and Owen can be such a great mentor. Actually seeing him in this mode has me longing for him to take up the mantel and do more mentoring and maybe find a protege out of this brood.
This reminder that these doctors can still be innovative always brings new life to stale, redundant storylines. Owen’s idea of having the residents and interns do emergency call rides is a great one and makes me think of Station 19.
Innovative Medical Arcs are Where Grey’s Still Shines
(Disney/Anne Marie Fox)
It’d be a great way to put Ben back in the fray. But it also fosters the kind of fieldwork that produces great doctors who are quick on their feet. One of my favorite things about Owen as a doctor is what he brings as a combat medic.
It’s nice that more than just Meredith Grey and whoever works alongside here are allowed to be great and innovative.
But that’s where the hour’s strengths end. The rest is varying degrees of boring, repetitive, or ill-placed.
I’m sorry, many who have followed my Grey’s content over the years already know that I’m not a big Jo fan, and sadly, I can’t bring myself to care about most of her arc now. She had her badass moment, calling the shots from her hospital room and helping to save her new Mom Friend.
She’s hormonal and crying. Things with Link are great, and the babies have names now: Hattie and Peyton. Boom.
Jo and Jules Bore
(Disney/Anne Marie Fox)
It feels like Jo is the one they’re putting a lot of their effort into with Meredith and Amelia gone, and it’s a mistake, but what can I do about it? Nothing. So moving on.
The relationship musical chairs with the residents feels redundant, too. How much longer can Jules and Winston pine after each other?
Fine, they’ve fully committed to this pairing even when it doesn’t make sense, and the efforts to actually develop either of these characters would be better than pairing the spares.
Jules spent the entire hour moping and pining. I want better for her.
The hints of her friendship with Blue were nice, though, especially when he let her take the lead in the surgery with Teddy. It speaks to how far Blue has come with caring for these people that he did that when he’s normally so competitive.
Romances and Situationships Are Tired
(Disney/Anne Marie Fox)
He’s another character wasted on this random relationship with Kavita. Similarly, everything interesting about Simone was who she was, not which hot guy she was sleeping with, but she’s since been reduced to that.
When she’s wrapped up in relationship drama, she gets annoying. For example, who is she to give her input on what Lucas is doing with his patient? It’s none of her business.
Clearly, she’s still harboring something for him even though she’s sleeping with Wes. There were sparks of jealousy there.
Lucas had every right to be annoyed.
My biggest concern isn’t even Lucas having a romantic relationship with his patient. At this point, they’re setting him up to lose this woman he’s deeply connected to, and that devastation is something he’s not prepared for, and neither am I. Even though that too would be a redundant storyline.
Over to you, Grey’s Fanatics.
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