Critic’s Rating: 3.6 / 5.0
3.6
All the girlies were fighting during Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 10.
Meredith was back, and with her return, there was some simmering tension between her and her faux dad, Webber.
But, of course, some of the biggest news to come from this hour is that proposal!
We’ve already discussed in detail how Meredith’s Visits to the series don’t necessarily allow Grey’s Anatomy to fully embrace its new era.
And this time around, she brought Nick with her. Ironically, besides delivering some amusing looks while Mer and Webber were snipping at each other, poor Scott Speedman didn’t have much to do.
It’s not like he got to put that liver into Tasha. He may have something more to do when this storyline continues since it’s not close to being over yet.
From the second Evan came onscreen, something felt off. She spoke too much for Tasha and tended to sail past that line of earnest, focused caretaker right into trying to control the situation too much.
The more time we spent with Evan, the easier it was to see something was amiss.
If anything significant came out of this situation, Mer and Webber could set aside their ridiculous differences to surmise that Tasha didn’t have Sinus issues and whatever else Evan was saying to dismiss the fact that the woman was forgetful.
She had Alzheimer’s, something that both Webber and Mer are deeply familiar with and would react strongly to upon that realization.
Given Tasha’s state of decline, the transplant board likely would not have approved her live transplant, which is why Evan was losing her mind over the delay in transport and was dying to be in the gallery to ensure it went into her.
She knew she was on borrowed time before everyone figured out the truth, and once that liver went into Tasha, she could deal with the consequences after the fact.
But it’s bold of her to come to Catherine, take full advantage of her mentor, and place Catherine, her foundation, and the entire hospital at risk because of her actions.
Every time Mer walks through the doors of Grey Sloan, there’s always some drama that may or may not involve unethical behavior, whether it’s her or someone else’s.
Ironically, that’s why Webber behaved like a high school girl over the fact that Mer never told him about Catherine’s cancer. In his mind, she breaks the rules whenever she pleases, all the time. Hell, he even stood by her through her insurance fraud fiasco, but she wouldn’t break them to tell him about Catherine.
You can’t have it both ways, though. On the one hand, it’s annoying when someone is selectively ethical and moral when they have a dicey history. But on the other hand, if the whole point was for Mer to learn from her previous actions and employ all the things HE taught her, who is he to get mad at her?
It was silly, and I’m just happy they’ve moved past this to tackle the bigger ethical dilemma they’re facing. It was amusing that both genuinely felt like Catherine was in on this.
That definitely speaks to how they view Catherine, doesn’t it?
Ben and Winston’s adventures feel like they are trying to insert the essence of Station 19 into the episode using one of its prominent characters.
Everything we’re getting from Ben fixates on the fact that he constantly has his foot in two different worlds, playing firefighter as much as a doctor at any given moment.
They should’ve had a backup plan to get those organs to the hospital as they were cutting it close with having to save someone out in the field.
At least during that time, Winston got an adrenaline rush and spark of life and stopped being miserable. He worked up the nerve to ask out his patient’s mother, who doesn’t look like Maggie Pierce at all. NOPE!
But I’d be lying if I said I cared about that arc, so let’s move on from it, shall we?
Bailey’s efforts to play mom and host the interns were amusing and warmed the cockles of my jaded heart.
It’s always the best when Bailey leans into her maternal instincts with the interns. She knew they were struggling after so many things happening at once, and she wanted to provide a safe space and a chance for them to bond.
She didn’t anticipate some reactions to it, but it worked out for the best in true Bailey fashion.
The most hilarious part of the retreat was that they tossed in all of these other random interns we’d never seen or heard of before and had them sit around in the back like glorified extras, not even saying anything.
Aside from that, the Adventures of Blucas were a hoot. Shum and Terho have great, fun chemistry, and I appreciate it more when the show explores it.
From the knot activity to their onion fiasco, they were just genuinely fun, like two teen boys trying to stay out of all the drama and goofing off. The lighthearted energy is welcome.
But Jules was having a difficult time, and her one-on-one scene with Bailey stood out. She’s been struggling with Mika’s absence.
The woman she loved, who also happened to be one of her best friends there, left the program. She hasn’t wanted to stay in contact with her because she’s grieving and needs space.
And from her perspective, everyone else moved on as if nothing had happened, so their brood felt broken.
It’s tough because once she opened up and got teary-eyed about it (Adelaide Kane was truly great in those moments of vulnerability), you could deeply sympathize with Jules and where she was stuck in all of this.
She was hurting and seemed to lash out a bit at those around her for not hurting as much or showcasing the hurt as she did.
But it also sucked that she made so many assumptions about people too. Her energy at Bailey and assuming that this woman was trying to cover her ass was spoken like someone who has no idea of who Bailey is, what she’s endured, and how much loss she’s faced caring so much about the interns, residents, and mentees she’s looked after.
Naturally, Bailey took that all in stride, though, like a true mom, and I loved her for it.
And Jules never apologized to Simone and kept treating her terribly, harsher than she was to the boys. It wasn’t fair to Simone at all. There were elements of tension between them that felt too reminiscent of Jo and Stephanie in earlier seasons, and it didn’t settle well with me as a result.
However, I’m glad the two could clear the air and move past things. Jules made an effort to spend time with everyone and cook a meal together, and once she did, they were able to as well.
In the end, Jules won’t be able to get through this alone or by pushing away the people she has that are remaining. Jules will be okay, but she needs some time.
I’m so glad she went to the house with Simone and the others. She needs the energy there.
The setup for this installment was interesting because it felt lackluster in parts, so a proposal didn’t seem like something that would tie up the hour.
Link’s case and working it with Amelia, his ex, pushed him in a direction we all knew he would go, but getting there was entertaining enough.
Helm mostly stole those moments with her unsolicited commentary and observations based on tea Levi spilled and other things.
Link seemed to still need to make peace with Amelia and the multiple proposals, but he was in a good place when it was all over.
It also meant he reached his conclusion about the proposal naturally and in a manner that worked better than it did with Amelia.
While I have zero investment in Jolink as a pairing, the proposal was endearing and sweet. I am a sucker for friends-to-lovers romances, and hearing Link express that their love story is a special one for him because he’s marrying his best friend was touching.
I love that for them! He even learned a valuable lesson, allowing Jo to pick out her engagement ring.
They’re messy, and she’s expecting twins. They already have a big family and lots going on all the time, but somehow, all this works for them.
Over to you, Grey’s Anatomy Fanatics.
Are you happy about the Jolink proposal?!
What did you think of Mer’s return to Grey’s? Hit the comments!
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