Grey's Anatomy Season 16 Episode 14 Review: A Diagnosis
Jasmine Blu
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Love is dead.
It seems happy, stable, and healthy couples are an impossibility on this series, and oh, look, Grey's Anatomy Season 16 Episode 14 killed all of the love.
They also exposed all of the hypocrites, showed that there are a plethora of shockingly selfish characters, and they may dabble with some interesting mental health storylines too.
But let's start with the godawful situation with the patients who carried over from Station 19 Season 3 Episode 5. Screw Rachel and Brian too. It's lovely that Brian thinks with his whole heart that he learned a lesson about judging other people, but discernment is a God-given gift many of us should have.
I'm so in love that I don't care who gets hurt. I just don't want it to be me.... I'm not a terrible person, I'm just a person terribly in love.
Brian
So, I can say with confidence, that no one cares how many homeless people he feeds and puppies he rescues. Brian is a crappy person for sitting by Rachel's hospital bed, knowing her husband was in the next room after being brutally mauled by a gosh damn bear, and saying "f**k Scott's feelings."
Brian thought he was saying something meaningful about love and how you can't help how it happens, and all of this utter poppycock. Brian thought that if he fed the homeless, it made up for his belief that the objective is to not care about anyone else's feelings, as long as his feelings don't get hurt.
Well, life came at you fast, Brian. You still got hurt in the end. But the fact that anyone in this hour of malaise thought the drivel Brian was spouting was somehow meaningful is a headscratcher.
Is anyone else as turned off by people selling infidelity like it's the bee's knees? No, just me? Whatever.
Nico: Still haven't found the perfect apartment?
Levi: I have given up on perfect. Now I'm just hoping for four walls and a floor.
And then there's Rachel. Her husband jumped in front of a mother-f**king bear to save her, and she couldn't even tell him that she was in love with someone else.
She wouldn't even see him when he asked for her; the cowardice was astounding. Scott died without laying eyes on his wife for one last time when she was all he talked about, and the only thing he wanted.
Rachel had all the doctors making excuses on her behalf, and she'll live the rest of her life feeling momentous guilt for cheating on and refusing to see her husband before he died.
But, this craptastic case still served as an inspiration for Jackson to apologize to Maggie and Jo to call her husband again.
Whatever it is, I want to know. I need to know because I would jump in front of a bear for you, Alex. Please call me.
Jo
It's painful, you guys. We know there was no way they could write Alex out last-minute that would be satisfactory for the viewers, but this is infuriating.
It's no way this doesn't end in some form of tragedy. Alex worked his ass off to get away from his home life, where he had to take care of his family.
He left home and never looked back for this reason. It undoes years of development if Alex ends up where he was before the series.
If Alex is having a mental issue, then it's another tragic end to his character. One of his biggest fears was ending up like his mother.
Link: Alex is going through something with his family that he will tell you about when he's ready because he's a good guy and he loves you. And you just got married.
Jo: Yeah, and Amelia just does this sometimes.
If Alex abandons Jo after everything that they have gone through and endured together, then it's tragic and undoes his growth. Alex stuck by Ava and Izzie. He didn't run away from mentally-ill women after leaving home.
He stopped abandoning people, too, especially when he learned what it felt like to be left behind. It's looking like something of this caliber is happening, and it's a frustrating, tragic end to one of the best characters of our time.
Jo has spent so much time spiraling out and trying to understand what's going on. Everyone is trying to reassure her, but she's right to be concerned.
Somehow, Owen Hunt is the relationship expert, who gives sage advice to his colleagues. When did this happen? How did this happen?
Bailey: Perez, aren't you supposed to be with Dr. Webber.
Perez: Oh, he said we could leave early. Good night, Dr. Bailey. You're an icon.
Did the one-hour session of therapy he took that one time provide him with insight?
He spoke about his relationship with Teddy as though it was aspirational like they were setting some example -- a beacon of hope. As if their path to get to where they are wasn't a dumpster fire, largely due to him, and they aren't still kind of in a weird love triangle.
It was also awkward as hell to hear him give Link advice about dealing with a pregnant woman. Wasn't Teddy a thousand weeks pregnant when he spent time with her again? Didn't Tom do most of the work before Teddy had Alison?
Remember? He was literally putting together a crib when they failed to tell him Teddy was in labor.
Jo: What if you found out Amelia's baby is yours?
Owen: What?
Jo: It's a hypothetical.
Anyway, Jo is right to be concerned about Alex's absence and him not communicating with her at all. It's disturbing.
It's also disturbing that Meredith hasn't been supportive throughout this. It's insane that Meredith hasn't reached out to Alex much.
She didn't even know he was in Iowa until Jo told her. She hasn't been there for Jo while she's walking around worried about her husband.
Finally, Meredith reaches out to Alex, and it's to tell him that she needs him. Really, Mer? The last time she saw and spoke to him, it was when he was saving her ass at the hearing.
You can't call Meredith anything outside of selfish and self-absorbed. It's like she's been in a world of her own. She hasn't been in tune with any of the people she cares about, but I don't even know what she's been doing to be this out of the loop.
Now, she's overly-invested in DeLuca, but it's not in a satisfying way.
The case with Suzanne has been fascinating all of this time, and DeLuca and Riley work well together. It was a case worthy of obsession, and it kept you invested.
Now, the series may explore the possibility of DeLuca battling a mental illness like his father. It was one of the strongest parts of the hour, and if the show embarks on this journey, they'll have my attention.
Mer: When's the last time you slept, Andrew?
DeLuca: What does that have to do with anything?
Mer: You can't help anyone if you're exhausted.
DeLuca deserves a storyline that doesn't consist of him being Mer's love interest. It's one of many issues with the MerLuca relationship in the first place.
It has the potential to be one of the best storylines to come from this season, but it's too early to know how this will play out. I do wish more signs were leading up to this moment.
Right now, even with the references to his depression after Sam left or his decision to go to jail for Meredith, it feels like it came out of nowhere.
It doesn't help that the series only drags Carina out when it pertains to DeLuca, or they want her to sleep with someone else. If you haven't noticed, they did both.
Meredith, I came to Seattle because Andrew is the same age as out father when the symptoms started.
Carina
She appeared after a hiatus to express concern for her brother, and she told Meredith, who she barely talks to, that she stayed in Seattle for Andrew. She was afraid he was manic since he's at the age where he would start showing signs.
She also had some justifiable annoyance with his relationship with Meredith, but it's not like it's something they bothered to explore before, so it was weird.
And she made eyes at Maya Bishop from Station 19, so you know, another bed to jump in.
DeLuca was obsessing over this case, and you can tell he wasn't getting enough sleep, but they left it ambiguous. His behavior also wasn't anything out of the norm for someone overworked and exhausted.
I don't need this, and I don't need you, so we're done. I'm done.
DeLuca
And he had every right to be pissed off about Bailey taking him off the case and Meredith's intervention. She stepped in and took over as his girlfriend, not as his boss.
She has a clouded judgment. And the Meredith Grey who broke all the rules and proudly said she'd do it again at her medical license hearing is a freaking hypocrite for coming after DeLuca.
Her freaking audacity is too much. Wasn't it a problem when Bailey did this? What's the difference then?
It made no sense that they were going to take over the case and undo all of DeLuca and Riley's progress. They would've put Suzanne through needless, torturous pain for no reason.
It's frustrating that many of them always doubted the diagnostician. Why bring her in for her expertise and question her judgment all of the time? They kept chastising DeLuca and claiming he could've killed her, but their solution was letting her die.
Riley and DeLuca were right in the end. Suzanne's white blood cells were eating her other cells, and that's why she was sick.
And DeLuca's frustrations were still valid when Meredith didn't mention him in the room when Suzanne thanked her, but then Mer blamed it on him being sick.
Also, who the hell picks an argument in the halls in front of everyone? Mer could've left DeLuca alone; instead, she demeaned, undermined, and offended him by shouting that she thinks he's mentally ill in front of his colleagues and the entire hospital.
Suffering is better than dying. We need the diagnosis, DeLuca. Stay the course.
Riley
It's all unfounded, and it was not the way to handle the situation. It also highlighted that she isn't professional, and it came from a personal place. Why not take him home to get some rest and discuss it further in private?
McWidow was there to hear and see the fall of MerLuca. His friendship with Mer is nice, and it's cool that he was trying to stick up for her and calling DeLuca out on being rude before, but at this rate, he and DeLuca deserve better than Meredith, so please don't let this turn into a thing.
And since we're on the topic of hypocrites, what the hell was that with Nico?
Nico is an unlikable character. He's a dick most of the time, and not even his endearing moments with Levi can save his character.
Nico: Still haven't found the perfect apartment?
Levi: I have given up on perfect. Now I'm just hoping for four walls and a floor.
He mocked and berated Levi for being "a baby gay" and not coming out to his mother. He made fun of Levi for living at home and encouraged him to move out.
He did all of this, and now they're saying this pendejo isn't even out to his parents? Are you kidding me?
The annoying thing about this is the very little we know about Nico could suggest part of this is cultural. He puts a lot of pressure on himself, and he's trying to live up to his parents' expectations.
It's not uncommon for Asian-American households -- a certain culture, but they've spent so little time developing or showing Nico outside of Levi, that it doesn't matter. It's sad.
But not as sad as taking the most stable, healthiest, best couple the series had in some time and making a mess of it.
We had a tumor to blame for Amelia's last bout of unbearable behavior, but now it's what? Pregnancy hormones?
Amelia and Link's strong suit was their communication. But Amelia regressed three seasons, and she hid away in a room instead of talking to Link.
I appreciated the space because I'm an only child, and I'm better figuring things out on my own, but you grew up in a wolf pack, and wolves only separate from the pack to die alone.
Maggie
Basically, she's mad at Link for daring to consider not staying with her if the baby isn't his. She feels that if he loved her, then he should be able to get past this and stay with her and love the baby anyway.
Yes, that's ideal, but honey, that's a hope, not a requirement. He doesn't owe her that, and it's not a mark of whether or not he's a good man.
He didn't even say he wouldn't stay with her. All Link said was that he was unsure how he would feel when he got those results.
Link is a former sick kid and only child, who probably never thought he would have children of his own. He got excited about this child and seeing a tiny human with their genes.
Amelia: He's not sure if he wants to be with me if the baby isn't his, and that makes me not sure if I want to be with him if the baby is his.
Maggie: You and Owen have a complicated relationship.
Amelia: That's what he said. But I want him to love me enough that that doesn't matter. I love you more than my biological sisters, biology doesn't matter. Love matters.
Link: And still if I were Link I would be terrified. I would be terrified if the baby is Owen's.
He loves Amelia, and he was looking forward to having a family. Their baby is part of the reason they ended up together.
Now, she's saying it might not be his. He's allowed to have feelings about that. And her relationship with Owen is complicated and messy.
Owen is always there and casting a shadow over their relationship anyway. She's made some crazy life choices around Owen.
It's not fair that Link is such a good guy that people take it for granted. Just because he's laidback, understanding, and accommodating all of the time, doesn't mean he has to sacrifice his feelings and stay that way when he's not comfortable.
What is this?
I'm growing a whole human in my body, and I want to raise him with someone who is going to love him no matter what a blood test says, and it turns out they're my sisters.
Amelia
And Link has a right to know if the baby is his or not.
Amelia is taking Link wanting to know the truth and twisting it into him having conditional love. They aren't equivalent.
She's right that family doesn't have to be blood or biological, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't learn the truth, and if he's uncomfortable with the baby being Owen's than he's bad or doesn't care about her or her child.
And she's not telling Owen the baby might be his either. Whoever the father is, he deserves the chance to be in his son's life.
Good grief, this is ludicrous!
For an only child, you are an excellent sister.
Amelia
And Maggie is the best sister of them all, and none of them deserve her. At least they acknowledged that the sisters sucked for not supporting Maggie.
It doesn't matter if she's used to being alone and working through her problems by herself. They didn't make much of an effort.
Maggie also got an overdue apology from Jackson. He would've felt like an asshole if Maggie got attacked by a bear after he told her he didn't like her and left her in the woods by herself.
Additional Notes:
- It's cool that they have face masks so Riley can read lips.
- Why do Meredith and DeLuca speak Italian like it's some obscure language no one will understand? It's a Latin language.
- Bailey's hot flashes were too funny.
- Bailey is totally going to take in Joey, right? She's so attached to him.
- McWidow is the best, and it was so sweet when he brought Joey's siblings to the hospital to visit.
- Dr. Riley is awesome, and I hope we get more of her.
- Helm is back in action, baby!
- If Webber is depressed, then it's another mental health storyline to explore, and I look forward to it.
- Perez is hilarious!
- Teddy has been out with the flu longer than she's been chief. If Maggie took the day off, who was running the department?
Over to you, Grey's Fanatics. It's so much to discuss about this hour, and I'm sure you all have a lot of feelings. Sound off below!
You can watch Grey's Anatomy online here via TV Fanatic
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
