Let me start this review off right by saying that Caterina Scorsone is effortlessly one of the greatest performers in the history of this series, and she proves it time and time again with any material.
Unsurprisingly, Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 Episode 1 was an emotional affair, but also not, as the aftermath of that explosion left viewers on pins and needles until the credits rolled.
But where my heart aches the most is for Amelia and Jules, the latter becoming more like the former with each passing season.
We knew that we would be losing someone during this installment. They went big with this explosion, and death haunts the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial, filled with all the ghosts of characters who left an indelible mark on our hearts and the series at large.
And the hour spent most of the time volleying between who would succumb to their injuries: Link or Monica.
Neither option was great, and both were emotional for entirely different reasons.
But, where the predictability of it all came into play was knowing by the midway point that the tragic death that was coming would be Monica.
The series set it up perfectly. She endured a crushed pelvis in the OR, and it was taking entirely way too long for the firefighters (not any of Station 19‘s finest, that’s for damn sure) to save them.
Anyone who graduated from the school of Grey’s Anatomy or any medical dramas could’ve predicted that the woman who spent all that time pinned to the wall with a crushed pelvis, still easily giving out advice and walking Jules through a surgery, would eventually succumb to her injuries.
It was clear that Monica was running on pure adrenaline, and chances are, by the time they removed that equipment from her, she would’ve died anyway.
Monica was on borrowed time, but she made every second of it count, still mentoring like the amazing doctor that she was, encouraging others, and contributing to saving a precious young life.
Monica’s death is painful — because it’s not just the death itself that we have to grieve but the loss of what could have been.
She was a remarkable mentor and someone Jules would have aspired to follow. Of course, the series’ punching bag, Amelia, was in love with this gorgeous woman, so naturally, she had to die, right?
I don’t know if I’m up for unpacking how devastating it is that the series’s queer women must endure the level of trauma, loss, and complications that they do.
And this was a particular whammy. We have Monica dead, Amelia losing yet another person she loves, and Jules, after also experiencing the absence of Mika, now has to watch a woman she admired die as well.
Is this another Bury Your Gays sort of incident? We can debate that back and forth for the rest of the season, but I do know that regardless of where you land on that, it’s still just an unfortunate circumstance all around because of that impact — how it lingers — what it takes from its queer characters.
And it also hurt especially hard that, for the most part, others didn’t have as strong a reaction to Monica’s death. I get that she wasn’t as enmeshed in the lives of most of the characters, but ouch!
That no one even thought about informing Amelia about Monica’s death — that she didn’t hear about it until the next day is like someone stabbing you with a scalpel and twisting it around.
I get it. Caterina Scorsone is exceptional, and she shines best during the heaviest and darkest of material. Still, my goodness, I cannot fathom for anything in the world why the Grey’s Universe bestows so much heartbreak and pain onto this single character.
She’s undoubtedly God’s strongest soldier at this point. That she still functions at all is some miracle.
As someone who loved Monica and Amelia’s love story, however brief it was, the devastation of knowing that Amelia cannot find happiness or love for an extended period is heartbreaking and frustrating.
Because either way, Amelia was going to be in absolute shambles. If she lost Link, she would’ve completely fallen apart as well. He’s the father of her children, her friend — her family, and she keeps losing everyone.
How much can life hurl at this woman before she breaks beyond repair? Every scene she was in was marvelous, however. Her frantic desire to do anything she could to help was gutwrenching, and the way they had to pull her away from Link made me misty-eyed.
Amelia and Winston’s dynamic is one of the most underrated ones of recent years. There were times when I couldn’t figure out if it were more sibling-like or something else entirely, but he was the perfect person for her to use as a sounding board as she gave voice to her pain.
She knows what it’s like to lose a parent young. Her entire life has been shaped by loss and tragedy, and that raw pain is something a mother would never want her children to experience, nor anyone else.
And that’s where Grey’s gets so redundant when it comes to just how much pain they unleash on characters. Of course, it was Amelia, but then, they also put Jo through the ringer, too.
I’ve joked often over the years about Woe is Jo, whose litany of ailments and troubling storylines has ranged from compelling to exhausting.
It wasn’t outlandish that they’d have her thinking that at any moment her best friend of 20 years, whom she married a day and a half ago, and the father of her growing twins, could die at any second.
If not Amelia, then Jo, right? Good grief.
But then, that’s where Jules comes into play, too. Of all the residents, it’s like she’s the one who Grey’s likes to use as a punching bag, sticking her with complicated love stories and loss upon loss.
She had to watch a woman she admired die, and now she’ll have to carry that with her for the rest of the season, and she likely won’t have anyone but Winston to lean on throughout this.
If this becomes more fuel for the situationnship that is their possible love story, then I don’t know what to do with that exactly.
I’m upset about Monica, but I’m also relieved that Link didn’t die. The entire ordeal to save him was stressful, but he had some of Grey’s best there, and it at least provided the series with a chance to put Teddy’s beef with Ben to bed.
Yes, he’s everything she says he is, but it was almost ridiculous that in a time of emergency like that, she was still trying to hamstring him instead of letting him work.
But the revelation by the end made sense for Teddy. Ever since becoming chief at the hospital, she has felt like she’s lost herself. Nothing makes sense to her anymore, whether it’s the administrative aspects of the job, her marriage, or what she truly wants.
The hour teases the potential for Teddy to do some self-discovery, and that may be something interesting for her. Any reprieve from the constant Towen drama is a freaking blessing because, good heavens, they’ve gotten old.
But that also paves the way for more Owen and Nora stuff, and that’s not something I care about in the least.
Kwan and Lucas going a bit rogue to save Nora was entertaining enough because the two of them together can always produce some amusing moments. But it otherwise was just episode filler.
Whereas Meredith had some badass moments that didn’t feel too outlandish, and she got to treat that babyfaced intern along with Simone and Wes.
Wes is cocky but intelligent and capable, especially given the fact that the other interns looked 12 years old and incapable of playing a single round of Operation, let alone performing the most basic of procedures.
I have a love/hate relationship with his constant flirting with Simone, as I’m never sure when to let up. But I’ll never turn my nose up at Trevor Jackson, and since he’s a series regular now, we’ll see a lot of him.
The whole love triangle on the horizon with Wes, Simone, and Lucas is already tired, though. It’s clear that Simone doesn’t need to be with anyone right now.
But it won’t go over well when Lucas inevitably finds out that it’s Wes whom Simone slept with, and while that’s standard Grey’s drama, I can’t say that I care to see this particular round.
The hour was explosive in dealing with the aftermath. But more importantly, it sets up a more interesting aspect of rebuilding.
And something tells me that it’s not just a reference to physically rebuilding that aspect of the hospital — it’s lives, careers, relationships, and maybe the show itself as it seemingly reinvents itself for the umpteenth time in two decades.
We shall see!
Over to you, Grey’s Fanatics.
Please come yell in the comment section with us— thoughts? Feels? Frustrations? Let’s go!
Comments, shares, and good vibes all keep this little ship afloat. Thanks for reading.
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