With so few episodes in the season, should we have more plot movement?
It’s one of many questions that crossed our round table’s mind after Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Episode 2.
It was an episode in which very little happened to move the plot along, but Lucas and Simone called it quits, and a lonely Amelia bounced around.
Join TV Fanatics Haley Whitmire White, Lucy Peel, and Jasmine Blu as they break down the hour.
Join the discussion below!
How do you feel about this episode and the minimal plot development? Do you enjoy episodes that focus on cases and character-building?
Haley: It’s funny — while I was watching it, I was taking mental notes in preparation for our round table, and I was thinking, “Wow, this episode is BORING.”
Normally, I’m fine with episodes that bring us into the Grey’s universe without any dramatic events, but come on, it’s a short season! Give us the goods!
Lucy: While watching, I tried to focus on the episode but found myself spacing out a bit. This episode did not hold my attention.
Also, it was a downer. The Best Family was meant to be comic relief, but it was too annoying, and I almost applauded Jules when she told them off.
Everyone else seemed so down. I don’t mind when there isn’t a lot of development, but those episodes are usually more engaging, and this one wasn’t.
Jasmine: I didn’t think the episode was as bad as you two did, but I also agree that I had moments of spacing out and feel that with a shortened season, they probably need to focus more on the storylines going somewhere.
Was Bailey being too hard on the interns? Did Winston make a decent point, or did he overstep?
Haley: It’s like Ben said. Miranda Bailey has done this before. Successfully. Extremely successfully. She’s raised Catherine Fox Award-winning surgeons. Surgeons whose work is world-renowned.
Winston should probably back off and let her handle her interns the way she knows how. Meredith didn’t get to where she is because Bailey went easy on her.
Lucy: What is up with Winston? He is so pissed off all of the time.
I agree with what he said; the bingo cards weren’t Bailey’s best idea, but he could have taken a different approach instead of talking to her that way. She needs to take a different tact with these interns, but she’s still the head of the program, and Winston could have been a little nicer about it.
Jasmine: I agree with Lucy. I know there was some validity to what he said, but I didn’t care for how he said it. Winston is rather moody. I loved Ben encouraging Bailey, though. Even at her worst, she’s still a badass woman who mentored the cream of the crop. The newbies are lucky as hell to have her.
Which intern stood out the most while assisting with cases? Do you have a favorite intern in this class yet? How do you feel about their focus?
Haley: I like this class a lot. Yasuda is really funny. Millin reminds me so much of Izzie Stevens.
The two of them are my favorites from this group. Yasuda standing up to Teddy (who is being ridiculous — doctors really do make the worst patients, huh?) was a high point for me.
I touched on this a little last week, but these kids are so unfocused at work that it’s hard to believe they made it through medical school. With a high-stress job, how do they even have time to think about jumping into bed with each other?
Lucy: I like this class a lot, too, and I’m pretty impressed with all of them except Simone. Lucas did not get a chance to show any surgical skills and is again acting like a screw-up, which I didn’t like.
As I said, Millin calling out the Best family was great, and I loved her taking pride in her MVP award. With her screwy family, having her interact with different family types is fascinating, and she often shines.
Yasuda again stood up for herself, and that was excellent. But maybe they need to tone it down a bit. If she keeps doing it, it’s going to be overkill.
Kwan always excels with family members, and while I don’t like when he’s sneaky about stealing cases or things (like the bag of money), asking to massage the heart for practice after the guy was dead was excellent doctoring.
Related: Grey’s Anatomy Review: Keep the Family Close
Jasmine: It’s so funny, Haley, because I was speaking with another fan on Twitter about how similar the new M.A.G.Y.K. is to the OG’s, and Jules does give me Izzie energy. Lucas has George qualities, and I tend to go back and forth with Yasuda and Kwan, rotating with reminding me of Yang or Alex on any given day.
I loved Kwan during this installment; he stood out to me. I always love how well he does with patients’ families; it’s when we see the very best of him, and he was great this time, too. I love them a lot, and they all have so much potential.
Simone finally admitted that she needed to focus on herself instead of pursuing a relationship with Lucas. And Lucas finally called her out on prioritizing herself over his feelings. What are your thoughts on their disagreement, this decision, and the potential for this ship?
Haley: They both have points here. Simone is right; she’s not in the right headspace for a relationship. This whole situation is making her sloppy at work.
But Lucas isn’t wrong that Simone has put him on the back burner several times and left him hanging. He very dramatically told her that their romantic involvement was over for good, but I don’t believe that for a second. I’m sure they’ll end up back in an on-call room before the season ends.
Lucy: Ugh. Simone needs time, duh. But after needing Lucas to feel better and telling him she needs space, come on. You can’t toy with my Lucas like that! He was so right to put her in her place. He needs to focus, too, and he can’t do that with her constant flip-flopping. She needs to get her head on straight.
She messed up, apologized, and the patient seemed okay. Also, he had an inkling (with the missed health department calls) that his blow-up at her was more about him than her. There’s hope for them if they can stay away from each other and regain their focus.
Jasmine: Oh, my sweet summer children. I love these characters individually and together. But they’re bringing all the angst and antics, aren’t they?
They both were right here. Simone isn’t ready to be with anyone yet and should take time to sort some things out and maybe do some self-reflection. She has a lot going on, and seeing more of her coming to grips with some things about herself would be interesting.
Simone: I avoid hard truths. I avoid them when they’re staring me in the face. I ran from Baltimore. I ran from my wedding, and with everything with Sam, I ran from you. And I think it’s because I’m too scared to admit that right now is not a good time for us. I’m not sleeping; I’m slipping up. I’m hurting people. I’m hurting myself, and I need to put myself first. I need to put my career first.
Lucas: When haven’t you?
She isn’t wrong about needing that time because I know that she and, subsequently, them will only be better because of it.
But I was proud of Lucas for being honest with her, albeit it was driven by something else. She has taken him and his feelings for her for granted from where he stands. None of it has been fair to him.
How did you feel about the series’ approach to destigmatizing HIV and Levi potentially dating a patient?
Haley: Any time Grey’s does HIV, they handle it really well, in my opinion. Back in Grey’s Anatomy Season 4, Izzie helped a pregnant patient with HIV understand her options and ultimately took a huge burden off a heartbroken couple.
In this episode, Griffith messed up in how she let the patient know he was positive, but ultimately, the doctors did an excellent job of helping him grasp how manageable HIV is these days.
The fact that Levi didn’t balk at a date with the patient was great. There was even a mention of PrEP, an HIV prevention drug, and I love seeing Grey’s use its platform to talk about real-life issues that are often swept under the rug.
Lucy: Agreed. Grey’s always handles sensitive subjects with amazing writing and turns what could come off as a PSA or a soapbox into caring stories with helpful messages.
And this one was no different. Schmitt rocked it and didn’t reject the patient at all. I doubt it will go anywhere, but it was cute to watch Levi get to flirt with someone other than Nico.
Jasmine: Ditto, what you all said!
Did Amelia seem like a third wheel to Link and Jo’s relationship? Was it strange for her to give Jo advice about Link?
Haley: That scene was so weird to me.
I get that Amelia and Link were together for a while and have a child together, but hello, Jo has known Link for 20 years.
That said, it seemed like she needed to hear what Amelia said about how sentimental Link could be. I love Amelia — she’s truly one of my favorite Grey’s Universe characters — but she has a habit of sticking her nose into her exes’ relationships.
Lucy: It would have been helpful if Jo had asked Amelia for advice. And maybe Jo needed a reminder about how sentimental Link can be, but Amelia is not the Link oracle.
I hope this was the only time she tried to get in the middle of them; they didn’t need her. It seems like they are trying to figure out where Amelia belongs. She’s at loose ends without her sisters or a significant other.
But with the Alzheimer’s research there, I’d like to see her focus more on the medical and less on the personal. She could get a new complicated tumor to work on; seeing the superhero pose again would be nice.
Jasmine: For the life of me, I didn’t understand the point of having Amelia give Jo advice as if Jo hasn’t been friends with this man since they were damn near teenagers or whatever. It was so bizarre, and I couldn’t take the scene seriously. It rubbed me the wrong way.
It doesn’t feel like they know what to do with Amelia anymore, which is wild.
Which Amelia dynamic would you like to explore more: her with Jolink or her and Winston?
Haley: Definitely Winston! I would hate it if they took Amelia and Winston down a romantic path, so please, please, for the love of Shonda, can we NOT do that? But there’s potential for the two of them to have a great friendship, and it would be nice to see Amelia get that connection.
Lucy: Yes, she needs to butt out of Jolink.
I’m glad she’s trying to make things right with Winston, and I’d love for Amelia and Winston to become each other’s person as long as it stops there. I was happy to see a smile on Wiston’s face, finally. Maybe a solid friendship will get him out of the doldrums.
Jasmine: I was amused by some of the Jomelink action. But I agree that she generally needs to stay out of their relationship (and Towen’s, too).
However, she and Winston don’t have other characters they connect with often anymore, and I find the idea of them becoming begrudging friends or family interesting.
Winston barely puts up with Amelia, which amuses me to no end and is deserved after her foolishly blaming him for Maggie’s departure. Their dynamic could be interesting to explore.
What was your favorite (or least favorite) moment/storyline from the hour? Do you have any additional thoughts you’d love to share?
Haley: I loved the moment where Blue is meeting with the shooting victim’s parents. He spoke gently and clearly to them, and I’m glad Bailey noticed. He’s a mess, just like the other interns, but he will be a fantastic doctor.
Also, when that pregnant patient’s husband said the thing about how his family isn’t perfect but they’re “the best,” I audibly groaned. (In case you missed it, that softball-playing family’s last name was Best.) SO CHEESY.
Lucy: I would like to see something new. An interesting medical case that involves a few attendings. A big trauma.
Something that takes us away from all of the angst. I’d also like to see more of Dr. Helm, not Yasuda’s girlfriend, Helm. I don’t mind it, but she’s the co-chief resident and needs some cool cases to work on.
I did not enjoy Bailey’s pity party.
But she’s Bailey, so she’ll come right back. It was out of character for her to want to quit just because her idea didn’t work. Yes, she might need to do things a little differently now, but she’ll get her bearings, and the interns will be better off having her as their director.
Jasmine: Helm is back and finally has a girlfriend, but she is still underused, and we can see more of her and Mika together.
Over to you, Grey’s Fanatics. Do you agree with our round table? Sound off below!
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC. You can stream on Hulu.
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.