The Aftermath
After an extended break, Grey’s Anatomy returns and as I started watching the episode, it quickly became apparent that I’d missed a good chunk of the story. Alas, unfortunately ABC decided to do a crossover with Station 19, showing the aftermath of the car crash and consequently making for a disjointed and frustrating watch if you haven’t been watching that sister show. It’s something the CW shows are notorious for too but here, it feels much more forced and not something everyone will approve of, especially for those like me who haven’t been following Station 19. We start the episode with all the injured residents arriving at the ER following the car crash, while Link confronts Jo about her actions. Jo defends herself and explains she’s planning to keep the baby for one day and will say she did a wellness check with her husband. Meredith also arrives to talk about her surprise from Cristina Yang but is soon called to the hospital due to the multiple traumas. All three head to hospital and as they meet with Bailey, Meredith tells her she called in for reinforcements in the form of Webber and Hunt, despite being fired from the hospital. Bailey splits the doctors to the different residents in need of medical care, while Ben relays his concerns about his wife to Webber, revealing that she is working through a miscarriage and hasn’t had time to process yet. Teddy and Amelia give a head CT to Parker who’s suffering PTSD from being in the army. Unfortunately, he does a disappearing act while Helm is being looked at by Grey, Link and Webber, deciding that she needs surgery for her serious leg fracture. At the same time. Koracick clashes with Jackson as he analyses the injuries of his protegee, Blake Smith, and wants to make sure he gets the reconstruction right. We then find out that he will need his face peeled off and put back on. During the surgery, Jackson speaks to Owen about his relationship and wonders why he is not engaged yet. Owen tells him he’s afraid that it won’t be big enough to make up for the fact that he waited so long to ask her. During surgery, a drugged up Helm declares her love for Grey and blames Schmitt for her past dismissal. While listening, the latter faints which prompts Meredith to run some tests and learn that his cardiac enzymes are high. She calls Teddy to investigate and they find out that he has the symptoms of a broken heart caused by high level of stress. Back in surgery, Helm crashes and Bailey rushes to help with Webber who insists on scrubbing in. They then realize that they need to crack her chest open but as Bailey is unable to do it, Webber takes over and saves Helm. After the surgery, Webber updates Bailey on all the other residents who are making a full recovery. Bailey emotionally breaks down as she feels helpless and struggles over the loss of her baby. Webber then rushes over and holds her in his arms while she sobs. Owen and Jackson speak to Blake’s mum about her son’s status, where they learn that Koracick was so determined to have Blake in Grey Sloan that he paid for her to move to Seattle which shows the doctors another side to the neurosurgeon. As Jackson leads the mother into the room, Koracick thanks Owen and shakes his hand. Deluca is having a better day as his patient’s heart restarts while Hunt proposes to Teddy. Meanwhile, Amelia is about to tell Link the truth about the baby but is interrupted by Owen and Teddy announcing their engagement. She then changes what she is going to say and tells him that they’re having a boy while a recovering Schmitt visits Helm who finally forgives him and jokes about her love declaration to Meredith. DeLuca visits a depressed Maggie to tell her that Elliot’s heart has started beating again. He also reveals he blew it with Grey before she receives a letter revealing she is being sue for wrongful death of her cousin. The episode ends with Meredith and Webber coming to comfort Bailey, telling her she relates as she felt lonely when she had a miscarriage. While crossovers and spin-offs are a common occurrence in the TV world, especially on the back of the successful Marvel Cinematic universe, Grey’s Anatomy does little to really justify its cross-over with Station 19, forcing the audience to watch this sister show to see the resolution to this dramatic cliffhanger. While I appreciate there were advertisements for this, when the show ships internationally, it’ll be interesting to see how channels deal with this. The lack of a recap at the start of this episode would have certainly helped but unfortunately that’s not the case here. Justin Chambers’ exit from the show also feels quite underwhelming as his character isn’t really given a proper send off. Despite all this, this latest chapter did have some decent scenes as the doctors struggle to operate on the different patients. The highlight of the episode has to be Bailey’s performance, giving an emotional speech to Webber and showing her helplessness over the loss of her baby. There were some fun moments too with Helm spilling the beans over her feelings for Meredith and later finally clearing the air with Schmitt. Grey’s Anatomy has changed in some aspects over the years. During the episode, I never felt like any of the residents were in any danger over their injuries as the show hasn’t really killed off any of its cast in quite a while now. Still, there’s sure to be more dramatic moments arriving in the weeks to come as we follow our favourite surgeons.
