Grey's Anatomy Season 19 Episode 6 Review: Thunderstruck
Jasmine Blu
at
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For a midseason finale, that was anti-climactic.
The big loss teased for Grey's Anatomy Season 19 Episode 6 was potentially the Grey home. And make no mistake, that would mark the end of the era and another way of hitting home that Meredith Grey is leaving this and us behind.
The house holds many memories, served as a home for many characters, and was its own character.
For a midseason finale, there wasn't much that happened throughout the hour. Once again, they teased the idea of a crossover with Station 19 that could barely be considered that, even with the appearance of a handful of characters from the show.
In some ways, the hour felt disjointed.
Meredith never does anything in half-measures. The second she decided she was moving to Boston, she wasted no time informing everyone via email, and it seemed they were moving immediately.
Maggie, Winston, and the kids spent their portion of the hour packing up the Grey home while Meredith through herself in what's meant to be one of her last surgeries.
Surgical excellence is more than one person. This program is more than one person. You are the program.
Nick
By now, her colleagues didn't bat an eye over her impending departure. But given that they were preparing for her absence when she decided to move to Minnesota a few months back, a low-key response isn't that surprising.
Maggie and Amelia are surprisingly okay with the move even though the sisters have been so close over the years and have spent significant time caring for Meredith's children.
The one dynamic with conflict regarding this news was with Nick; you couldn't blame him for his reaction to all of this.
For one, he keeps finding out news along with everyone else despite the two being a couple, which isn't fair to him in the least.
But there's also the fact that he upended his life and agreed to stay in Seattle at Meredith's request to run the residency program, and now Meredith is moving to Boston and didn't even tell him.
It's a pretty crappy thing to do. And he's a good enough person where he knows and can respect her reasoning, so he doesn't feel right asking her to stay, but he also doesn't want to fail to honor his commitment to the residency program by following her there.
Nick got blindsided after proving he would make moves for Meredith, which is not fair to him. Now, they're in this weird limbo because Meredith also won't ask him to come with her, nor does she want to end things.
It's just like Meredith to make a sudden decision like this, blindsiding those close to her, then leaving them to figure things out.
Nick doesn't want to be the bad guy in any of this, but he also doesn't feel entitled to his feelings, which is unfair. And he's also thrust into this weird uncertainty as the hospital undergoes more changes with Meredith's decision.
He's brilliant as a mentor and head of that residency program, so it would be a shame to lose him, but it also would feel weird if he was still there when Meredith wasn't. We all know the main reason he stayed was for her.
It's hard to make heads or tails of what this means for their relationship. Ironically, Mer took a step back with how she handled all this with him after she recently made all this progress in communicating better with him and making her case for why they should be together again.
And the tension between the two during Tessa's Whipple surgery felt like their personal stuff spilling into the OR.
Nick was great at guiding Simone and Lucas while there, and I can respect that he gave Lucas a chance and reassured him even when he lost his confidence in the OR.
Lucas has so much potential, but he gets in his own way. You could tell he was tired or distracted while working on Tessa, and he kicked himself when he got pushed aside during the surgery in favor of Simone.
Lucas has a lot of work to do to get out of his head and free himself from the hangups he has about sharing the Shepherd name but not living up to the legacy.
It's almost like Amelia forcing him to share who he was with the others put him in a bad place, and he couldn't climb out of it. Lucas has some deep-rooted issues with that name, and we need to unpack them to understand why it has such a hold on him.
Nick was right about him standing on his own, making a name for himself outside of that. Lucas needs to believe it.
At least amid all of this, he has Simone. Although all that sexual tension that's been brewing between them culminated in a kiss that I both wanted but resented the execution, Simone pushed him away in the end.
It's a blow to the ego, and Lucas will probably take that personally, too. But both have a lot going on, so understandably, Simone wants to keep her focus.
Jules and Blue's dynamic is still evolving, and there's only a matter of time before they hook up again. They were both competitive as ever, but we got some more background about them amid all of that.
Jules' family sounds entertaining, and it would be nice to have them visit the hospital in some capacity. And Blue has a story he's always trying to keep under wraps.
It was interesting to learn that he went to medical school in Saint Kitts, and the story about his mother is sad. You can sense he hides behind his snarky, arrogant demeanor, but Jules has a way of disarming him.
Meanwhile, Mika spent her time helping the doctors fight to save Joshua, the reporter injured on Station 19.
But her takeaway was that Teddy is a badass, and she managed to shake loose all Mika's doubts about not being good or capable enough as a woman.
It could be cute if Mika becomes Teddy's mentee. Interestingly, with Meredith leaving, the chief position is wide open, and she may be the most likely successor.
Somehow, it could work for her. We have yet to see her in the position, but she's more than qualified and would do well.
It means Bailey can devote her time to the clinic she's opening with Carina and Jo, named after her mother.
Jo, Link, Maggie, and Winston are the other romantic relationships brewing up.
They're heavily leaning into revisiting the idea of Jo and Link, and we got a great deal of those hints during this installment. Link's pining is intense, and it's no wonder Jo hasn't picked up on it.
Although, it felt like they were close to sharing a kiss when they had their hug. It sucks that Link doesn't have anything else to do but pine after Jo, and while he's not the out-of-character dick they had him behaving like before, this shtick is only marginally better.
But Maggie and Winston are a mess.
Did anyone forget that they were apparently still fighting or avoiding each other? It's ridiculous.
Maggie is straight up on the brink of ruining her marriage, and it's for no good reason. It's not even fun to watch.
She's been insufferable when it comes to her treatment of Winston. Maggie's mother once told her to settle down with someone who is more in love with her than she is with them, and Maggie did that, and we see the negative effects.
Winston is willing to sacrifice his specialty and interest to strengthen his marriage because he loves her so much, and Maggie can't respect or appreciate that, but she doesn't see how draining this has been on him.
They're not a fun couple anymore at all.
Maggie, if we keep working together, we're not going to make it. I love cardio, but I love you more.
Winston
Overall, it was an underwhelming hour. Hopefully, things will pick up when the series returns in freaking February.
Over to you, Grey's Fanatics. What did you think of the fall finale? Are you upset about the house? Sound off below.
If you need to catch up on the season during the hiatus, 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.
