Grey's Anatomy Season Finale Review: Romance Thrives and Lives Hang In the Balance!
Jasmine Blu
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What. A. Finale!
Keeping with the theme of Grey's Anatomy Season 19 serving as both a soft reboot of the series and the desperate shot of adrenaline it needed to recapture the essence of what the series used to be, the supersized finale felt like something gifted from us from the early seasons.
With Grey's Anatomy Season 19 Episode 19, we had runaway brides and sexy hookups, and nerve-wracking travels. And Grey's Anatomy Season 19 Episode 20 had Mer and Maggie's returns, multiple cliffhangers, love confessions, and so much drama and action it's insane that they jammed so much in.
They used up every bit of the two hours to provide laughs, build plots and storylines, introduce new things, resolve some issues, and push forward the story.
Romance
They sprinkled in so much romance that it was enough to give a person whiplash; almost every relationship that people have been following or rooting for had some significant moments in the finale or made some form of progress.
On the new and exciting front, the sweet romance they've started building with Mika and Helm was made official, and they are adorable together.
Mika: You took a stand for me, Taryn; it was you. You took the kryptonite out. Can I kiss you at this next light?
Helm: Totally.
Mika, who truly excelled at her putting Sam in his place and demanding respect for her, talking about how unburdened and well-rested she is, was so entertaining.
She and Helm are so quirky and cute together, and it's such a refreshing relationship that doesn't feel like anything we've seen from the series before, which speaks volumes on a series that has been on for two decades.
The two of them being so enraptured with each other and stealing kisses was endearing, and as much as they claimed that date to the wedding was the last of them romantically, it doesn't appear to be the case.
We haven't needed to see what things look like for them professionally just yet, so there will be challenges, but for now, they're one of the most refreshing, endearing ships worth rooting for in a finale that delivered so many of them.
Maggie and Winston's change in location helped them come back to each other and reminded us how cute they can be when they're on the same page.
The hotel was a callback to their origins as a couple, so it was fitting that they hooked up almost the second they saw each other and went back to playing their cute games in bed with each other.
In those scenes, it was hard not to get sucked back into the relationship after spending the better part of the season rooting for their demise, if only to release both of them from the hell they were in with one another.
Maggie looked absolutely gorgeous. Kelly McCreary can rock the hell out of a bob, and though she hasn't been gone long and left on a sour note, it felt like we had the likable Maggie back again.
Winston: It's kind of perfect.
Amelia: What?
Winston: All three sisters being single at the same time.
And now, Winston's stability and a new focus on serving as Head of Cardio (good for him, but also, was there anyone else to take the gig? No!) means that his entire world isn't Maggie anymore.
It's like the mere thought that Winston brought up divorce because he wanted to focus on his career only turned Maggie on more, and now they're in a place where they both get to do their own thing. Still, they'll work through their relationship instead of dissolving it.
And with that resolved and the turbulent plane ride adding some perspective, Winston and Amelia could be in a better place too.
It's almost too bad, as petty Winston was hilarious. His comments about all the sisters being single were worth a good chuckle, and he'll always get brownie points for not being someone who lets Amelia off the hook.
I appreciated that he went off on her again. Amelia was incredibly judgemental about a man she barely spent real time with, and she sounds Karen-like, failing to see the microaggressions in telling an accomplished man of color that was inferior and small because she was mad that her sister wouldn't be there to coddle and take care of her.
Jules and Blue's romantic moments weren't the way one would've envisioned, but there was something quietly satisfying about Jules admitting that they can't hate Blue but instead loves him for saving Maxine.
She knows, deep down, that he defied the DNR and took all of these risks, ones he really shouldn't have, no matter how much we wanted him to, because he loves her.
Blue knows that Jules needs Maxine, and she's the family that Jules didn't have. And he loves Maxine, too. He saved Maxine for Jules.
If you think the police have it wrong, then you have to fight. You have to fight like hell to help her, or it'll wake you up in the middle of the night when you're 80.
Max
And because despite his arrogance, he's quietly become one of the most compelling of the interns, and he wonderfully got to showcase that during this finale between his storyline with Maxine and that one with Enzo and Carmen.
I loved that Blue seemed like the most unlikely of the interns to emerge as one who tirelessly advocates for his patients, but he is. If he didn't call them out on the way, they didn't even interrogate the woman in her own language, or more, Enzo would be in the system somewhere, and Carmen would have been jailed or maybe deported for all we know.
Blue's work on that case was a great nod to a systemic issue regarding language disparity and other things that reveal how people slip through the cracks in the system or get screwed by the system altogether.
But back to Blue to Jules. Their love story isn't as straightforward or flashy as Simone and Lucas or even Mika and Helm, but that makes it its own kind of special.
And speaking of Simone and Lucas, on the intern front, they did the heavy lifting in the romance department. They gave us all the soapy, delicious, classic Grey's messy, sexy love story and drama, and I love them for it.
The wedding was destined to be a disaster, and Simone faced every bad omen in the book, from the dead bird and ripped, bloody dress to the messed up flower order.
Her grandmother managed to be lucid enough not just to tell her to follow her heart but let her know that she was aware Simone wasn't doing that was golden.
Marla Gibbs used every ounce of her screen time to be a complete icon.
Simone: Lucas, I can't deny what you feel, and I can't deny that we have a connection, but Trey does love me and think what he and I built together deserves this chance. And I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want to lose you from my life, but I'm getting married today, so will you please take care of Toby for me?
Lucas: I'll do anything for you.
Simone learned that her mother was in a similar situation and left the man she was going to marry for Simone's father, and knowing that story and that her grandmother wasn't gung-ho about the wedding where she had to see it, Simone was finally able to free herself from the obligations she toughs she had to follow her heart.
Simone coming into the hospital in her wedding dress, looking for Lucas, was delicious. Toby, their patient, was in such a mood encouraging their reunion and calling Lucas out on his love for Simone.
And I was ecstatic when they silently went into that on-call room and had that steamy hookup. Was it ridiculous that Lucas left in the middle of his shift to make sweet love to Simone, still in his wedding garments? Yes.
Did I love every second of it anyway? Absol-freaking-lutely!
And upping the ante with Trey getting wheeled into the E.R. after an accident and punching Lucas in the face is just good old-fashioned, classic Grey's drama.
Owen and Link couldn't even be bothered to get all professional about how inappropriate all of that was because they've both had their fair share of drama.
Trey proved no good for Simone when he still thought he'd convince her to marry him despite her speaking for herself and his horrible trashing of Lucas when he doesn't even know the guy to make such sweeping statements.
But while this is progress for Simone and Lucas, there's a lot to work out between them, and we saw that with the tense moments, her snapping at him, and her believing that she hurts everyone she cares about.
Stop trying to let me off the hook, Lucas. I hurt people.
Simone
It won't be some perfect relationship. It's the beginning of their messy chapter, and I can't wait for all of it.
And Link and Jo delivered on their messy relationship, too. Link's jealousy of Sam was getting out of control, and it was frustrating that he wouldn't just tell Jo what was going on and how he felt.
They picked way too many fights with each other, and even that grand, long-awaited love confession started as an argument. Link's speech was quintessential Grey's. It was full-blown soap, and it also had me wondering why they're presenting the new narrative that he's loved her since they first met in school.
We're rewriting history to sell Link and Jo as this unrequited love story, which is annoying, especially as it diminishes other relationships. But a grand love confession in the pouring rain is everything the shippers could've hoped for, and they finally remember that Chris Carmack oozes romantic lead too much not to use it to their advantage and have fun.
Link: I love you, and I'm going to love you forever.
Jo: You unbelievable dummy. I love you too.
Link is in his romantic lead era, and the love confession was one for the books. It's been long overdue, and hopefully, this means that he won't be moving out of their condo.
And the finale finally resolved the MerNick relationship too. We've been waiting for this for a while now, and it almost felt like we wouldn't get it when the gorgeous Gilles Marini made a cameo as Zola's tutor, and Mer was too focused on her Alzheimers discovery than anything else.
But, like Mggie and Winston, they used a callback to Nick and Mer's relationship with the hotel antics and the note under the door.
Nick was able to tell Mer that he does love her and wants all of these things and this life with her, and Mer expressed the same, explaining her fear of telling him how she felt and why she hid from his confession.
Nick: I want to live a whole life of pain, and mess, and love, and you.
Mer: Well, okay then.
Nick: Well, okay then.
We got the Mernick reunion we deserved, and they earned it back when Mer left. It's a relief to have some closure with this relationship, even if we don't see much of it again.
And Nick was also in his romantic lead bag with that love confession. Grey's is going to Grey's!
Accomplishments and Advances
It wouldn't be Grey's Anatomy if they didn't remind us that Meredith is the Sun and a genius, and this time, it was in the form of some groundbreaking advancement in Alzheimer's as she figured out how to cure it once and for all.
Initially, it felt like she went down a rabbit hole and could've fallen off the deep in for a bit when they found her buried in work and muttering to herself.
But it appears that she has made some huge discoveries that would be controversial to the masses as it challenges decades' worth of work in the field, including contributions that Derek made, too.
It was interesting to hear Webber's reaction to it because he took a more practical approach of not wanting Mer to come across as crazy to the rest of the world and have her reputation stripped away from her as well as her funding.
It aligns with his experiences and what things were like for him over the years. I could understand his desire to protect Meredith in that regard.
Mer: It's all wrong?
Webber: What?
Mer: Everything. We have to question everything we know about Alzheimer's if we're going to cure it.
But Nick reminded her that she has to take the big swings and not play by the rules, and they inserted that flashback montage of Ellis, presumably to make up for the lack of them during Mer's exit installment.
And Mer took that first step toward sharing her theory with the masses anyway; consequences be damned. It gives us this idea of what Mer can be doing and the rich life she'll lead when she's offscreen.
She also got the privilege of presenting one of her mentors with an award, which was such a well-earned moment for Bailey.
It was adorable how she was still looking around the room, not realizing they were giving her the Catherine Fox Award.
Bailey was long overdue to get her flowers, and I'm thrilled she got some recognition because of her work in women's health. It felt like a way of adding some recognition of that storyline in the finale.
Although, one would imagine that Addison would get some recognition, too. Nevertheless, Bailey deserves some praise, and I'm glad she got it.
Cliffhangers
One surprise of the finale was that they didn't give us much information about how things were going for Catherine.
But she was hilarious, stoned on that freaking plane when they thought they would crash.
It would be great if Grey's Anatomy could stop putting doctors on terrible flights with all that drama. The stakes were low because we knew they would attend the ceremony.
But what it lacked in high stakes, it made up for in humor, from Catherine being a fan of the Amelia/Winston drama and making stoned proclamations to Bailey smacking that drink out of Webber's hand to Nick being unfazed by the whole thing.
Ironically, it's Webber that we have to be more concerned about, as it's clear that he's struggling with sobriety and might have fallen off the wagon.
He didn't want to go to a meeting with Amelia, and he was so quick to risk it all nearly. It's scary to think he could be on the verge of a relapse if he hasn't done that already.
He's had some close calls since he's gotten clean, and it'll be heartbreaking to see this again. He also faces enough stressors in life. Anything could be that breaking point for him.
But the biggest cliffhangers were Teddy and Sam in the OR.
Admittedly, learning that Kim Raver has secured her contract for next season takes a lot of the momentum and uncertainty out of the cliffhanger.
It's possible that all that news means is that she'll be appearing in some capacity without guaranteeing she's alive. But it's more likely that they'll manage to revive her.
Toothaches are scary because, if left untreated, they can lead to all sorts of serious things which may result from that.
I know Teddy was busy and overworked, but it makes no sense that she didn't take enough time to care for herself. She's a doctor, after all.
Teddy's collapse in the O.R. was concerning, but it wasn't terrifying until her heart stopped. And there was in the OR a bunch of interns who barely knew what to do half the time and had a penchant for going rogue.
It suits the situation that her mentee and the one who idolizes her most, Mika, is the one who focused on trying to revive her before Owen took over.
Honey, it's better to disappoint everybody else then it is to disappoint yourself.
Grandma
What could be the cause of Teddy's heart-stopping? Owen was beside himself once he walked into that room, but you could see his fear when he realized his wife was coding in front of his eyes.
We don't know what's wrong with Teddy and what kind of state she'll be in if she wakes up.
We also don't know what type of consequences the interns will face for their actions in that room. It feels similar to some of the controversial intern moments of yesteryear where they went off the path of what they should've been doing and faced severe consequences ranging from getting kicked out of the program to losing their licenses or facing charges.
Lucas made many calls when everything transpired, which could work to his advantage or cost him later.
Simone backed him, and they opted to start working on Sam despite no conscious attending present, and from the looks of all that blood pooling on the floor with Sam's chest cavity exposed and deer-in-headlights-looking interns processing what just happened, the results were not ideal.
Between Simone, Lucas, and Mika's actions in that O.R., making calls without attending and violating protocols, and Blue's disregard of Maxine's DNR, there's no way the series can skate past ramifications on the interns for their actions.
We went into this finale worried about Maxine, and we exited it, possibly losing Sam and Teddy coding on the floor.
Whew, it was a hell of a ride!
I know we've been implying it all season, but Grey's is back and close enough to its glory days with this intern class and the storylines they're balancing.
If Season 20 can build on this season's momentum, it'll be one of the best yet!
Over to you, Grey's Fanatics.
Are you worried about Teddy? Is Sam dead? Which ship moment did you love the most? What do you think about Mer's Alzheimer's breakthrough? Let's discuss everything below!
To catch up on the season or hold you over until whenever the series may return, 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.
