Critic’s Rating: 3 / 5.0
3
Many things happened during that Fall Finale.
But did anything blow us away during Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 Episode 6? Nah, not really.
In true fashion, Grey’s Anatomy shoots for shocking revelations, new hookups, and sexual tension, as well as the usual putting one of their own in danger. However, everything is so predictable that none of it really lands.
Who Are These People Again?
And no, I’m not just cracking a joke about Helm randomly popping up in the episode after I don’t even know how long, to be a background fixture.
The fall finale does something that I wish they’d do more of, which is attempt to give us more time with the collection of residents and interns that the series has acquired, most of whom they don’t know what to do with.
It sometimes requires notes to remember the names of some of these new characters because most of them lack presence, or the series doesn’t spend nearly enough time with them for them to really matter.
So, did I spend half the episode trying to remember Spencer’s name? Yes.
I only recall that she was quirky and nice enough while helping Meredith on her first day. And given that she was teamed up with Meredith and Simone (who is essentially our Next Gen Mer — Gen-Z Great Value Mer, if you will), it’s safe to say that she may be of importance at some point.
They may actually attempt to keep Spencer around as she’s earnest, passionate about the job and patients, and likable in her own way. Is she Gen-Z April? Perhaps, a little wholesome, well-intentioned, it can work.
Do I remember the name of that one gangly male intern? No. But he hasn’t done anything yet for me to bother looking it up, so for now, that’s fine.
Grey’s Needs to Let the Younger Generation Shine & Develop More
Wes is the standout of the intern class. Of course, he would be, since Trevor Jackson plays him, and he also has the fortune of being romantically linked to Simone, so it bodes well.
To the hour’s credit, I loved Wes in this installment. He handled Aaron incredibly well, and when he opened up a bit about his experiences with a sick brother, it was enough to pique a girl’s interest. Wes is brimming with potential.
The problem is that Grey’s Anatomy has fallen into a horrible habit of benching and sidelining the characters with potential.
Ideally, they’d allow the next generations of residents and interns at Grey Sloan Memorial to have a more central focus in the narrative, rather than pushing them to the fringes of storylines for the sake of prioritizing the veterans and their tiresome, redundant arcs.
I love Bailey and Webber with all my heart, so it’s not a call for them to be put to pasture on this series. In fact, if any of the veterans should monopolize more time rather than less, it’s THEM.
But when we delve into how much Grey’s Anatomy clings to Teddy and Owen with their circular relationship drama, which is as stimulating as watching paint dry, we lose sparkle.
And it’s been damn near a decade now of Woe is Jo. The series loves to throw terrible situations at her. I can no longer feel anything about them beyond apathy.
Balancing Veterans and Newbies Remains an Issue
Jo had her time to shine on the series during her internship and residency days, so it’s frustrating when they toss her into the mix with Link as often as they do, instead of allowing these newer characters to have more cohesive storylines that are at the forefront.
Grey’s Anatomy has a balance issue in that regard. And now, they’ve introduced new characters, names, and faces, but they’re not making progress with them.
Half of the time, they feel like warm bodies for Simone, Lucas, and Blue to share screen time with, even though they’re still scraping for more in-depth storytelling themselves.
Simone, Lucas, Jules, and Blue are the closest batch we’ve had to a legitimate Next Gen of Grey’s Anatomy’s original interns.
They have all the promise in the world, but the show keeps fumbling them. Their storylines are rushed through or underbaked, and it’s frustrating.
So, yeah.
Spencer was nice, and I was glad to see Lucas have his moment of acknowledging that he was being a crappy mentor to her — not because he meant to be rude and obnoxious but because he was overworked and tired.
But it’s not a storyline that has much substance for either character. It’ll slip away from memory by the time the show returns.
Grey’s Doesn’t Know What to Do with Half Its Characters (But Introduces New Ones)
Meanwhile, Lucas has an unfinished ADHD arc, a failed relationship with Simone with no post-breakup exploration, a mystery about his Shepherd mother that we still don’t know, and an aunt he hasn’t spoken to in how long?
And then there’s Blue, who oscillates between being comedic relief and obnoxious.
They don’t know what to do with Harry Shum Jr., which is a crying shame, and now they’ve just resorted to the default of pairing him up with someone new, Kavita, whom we barely know.
He went from Jules to his ex to Kavita now, yet I still feel like we don’t know much about him. And we certainly don’t know Kavita, who just appeared out of nowhere, and now they didn’t even give us a proper build-up to earn that elevator makeout session.
Why should I care?
They’ve also had Jules circling Winston for a while now, since she’s all but forgotten about Mika, and that’s fine. I don’t oppose their slow-burning ship they’re doing there.
However, it’s evident they’re doing it with two characters they seem to have no idea what else to do with or how to explore beyond this.
Romance and Relationship Drama Is Redundant or Underbaked
Wes has so much potential, and he’s actually interesting, ironically, when they’re NOT trying to force him with Simone. Give him literally anything else to do!
However, a solution to integrating things better is to pair these newer characters with the veterans more often, so it doesn’t feel like we’re watching two different shows half the time, and then give them arcs of substance.
We get that sometimes with Bailey and Simone or Lucas.
Webber and Lucas are another. And Jules with Winston now, but that’s about it.
Otherwise, we’re on the same endless cycle of relationship drama with Teddy and Owen or Jo and Link.
The Fall Finale teased stakes with this bus crash, but they never happened when Teddy wiggled from beneath the bus in the blink of an eye. Maisie is seemingly okay.
And they go right back to the bulk of their plot revolving around this divorce and whether or not Teddy and Owen should be together.
ENOUGH of TOWEN!
After that awkward moment when Teddy brought the kids over while Owen was bedding Nora, we spent the whole hour of them bickering and avoiding each other until Owen jumped into the notion that maybe they shouldn’t get divorced.
Teddy said it was the right call.
Meanwhile, after bonding so deeply with the woman who saved her life, Nora went ahead and ended her relationship with Owen because the whole situation had become so uncomfortable. It’s also boring, and I couldn’t care less.
And then there’s Jo and Link. I feel like Jo has been pregnant for 72 years now. We’ve had multiple scares and false alarms.
Now, she has a heart issue, it’s failing her, and the twins are at risk, and I want to feel bad or feel something, but as much as Chris Carmack poured his heart into being the terrified father and husband, I still didn’t feel much of anything for this whole storyline.
We already knew what was coming. And one of our big cliffhangers results in Winston having to perform a C-section he’s ill-prepared for on Jo to save her and the babies.
The Drama is There, But The Stakes Are Not
At this point, we know Jo probably won’t die, so meh.
And Grey’s may even take the dramatic (but predictable) route of having Winston perform this C-section that Jo didn’t want so soon, potentially resulting in the death of one of the babies, and Jo blaming Winston while juggling post-partum, grieving one baby while trying to take care of another, and their other kids.
It seems like a Grey’s thing to do. They could also scare us and then give her and Link their happy family. But either way, it just feels like we’ve been here before.
One of the most upsetting developments of the hour was learning that Webber has prostate cancer.
It’s a devastating development because Webber is the heart of the show, and no one wants to see anything bad happen to Webber.
I can even appreciate the desire to shed light on this disproportionate amount of Black Men who are diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.
Stop Making Webber Suffer!
James Pickens Jr.’s PSA at the end of the hour was powerful, and it’s obvious this touches him.
As a plotline right now, I have mixed feelings, though. I am aware of the importance of the subject matter. But I also feel like it’s just more drama for Webber and Catherine. Doesn’t she still have cancer?
Stressing out over Webber is so inherent in this series that it’s hard to think straight. But this journey could be a strong arc, so there’s that.
Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
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