Various ABC reviews for May 10, 2018:Grey's Anatomy - Episode 14.23 "Cold as Ice"
Station 19 - Episode 1.09 "Hot Box"
In 2018, it's impossible to watch every scripted show out there. There are over 450 of them. It's even more impossible to even provide adequate coverage of some of them. Great shows slip through the cracks. Some shows take awhile to figure themselves out. So as a way for me to provide more coverage, I'll just be writing some paragraph reviews of the various shows that aired new episodes on ABC from May 10, 2018. Enjoy!
Grey's Anatomy - "Cold as Ice"
Written by William Harper and directed by Bill D'Elia
Is Grey's Anatomy still able to surprise the audience with the shocking death of a long-running character? The show has killed off so many doctors over the years. So much tragedy has happened in this hospital. Meredith has lost so much and has been put in danger countless times. Here, the show at least has some of that memory to know that the current danger that April is in mirrors events that have previously happened to Meredith. April is in peril because she is involved in a car accident with Matthew where she falls down into a stream. The hypothermia means her body and organs are being preserved and she can't be dead until she is warm. It's a situation Meredith has been in before. But again, does an event like this still hold narrative weight and surprise? The audience has known for months already that Sarah Drew and Jessica Capshaw were leaving the show at the end of the current season. Arizona's exit is already mapped out with her moving to New York to be supportive of what Sofia needs. Here, she is given an even more promising job offer by partnering with Nicole Hermann for a women's health clinic. That's very exciting and Geena Davis is a fantastic returning face to see here that brings nice and comedic things out of both Arizona and Amelia. All of that has basically been confirmed already. The show has explained how and why Arizona is leaving. As such, that created the uncertainty surrounding this event for April. She could die and it would be a powerful moment for her to go out on. It forces all of the other characters to pray in the hopes that she makes a full recovery. That's a way that this story fully embodies the spirit of April Kepner. The audience knows that religion created such a huge divide between her and Jackson. And now, it's significant that he is praying to save her the moment she wakes up. It's ultimately a beautiful moment seeing April and Matthew in hospital beds together. It's sweet because it paints a picture of April still being allowed to have a happy and healthy life despite all of the trauma she has endured. She deserves that and it's also understandable why she would return to Matthew after dumping him at the alter to get eloped with Jackson. Of course, it still provides no clarity for how she'll exit from the series. That will be left up in the air for the finale. But it's also just so uplifting that the hospital isn't hit with this massive tragedy right before Alex and Jo's wedding too. A-
Station 19 - "Hot Box"
Written by Phillip Iscove and directed by Nicole Rubio
This season has featured some of the most extreme scenarios that any firefighter could face on the job. The firehouse has fought against invisible fire from a chemical spill and had to mount several daring and improbable rescues. They've had to save their captain after he collapsed during a sweep. And now, the show is depicting how the increasing reliance on technology to arm our homes can actually be pretty dangerous. Sure, the show pushes things to such an extreme here where this woman essentially builds her home up to be a fortress. She has the smarts and resources to do it herself because she refuses to allow anyone in to corrupt her safety and security. But now, it puts so many of the characters into this perilous situation where they have to rely on their smarts in order to escape. It never feels like any of them are actually going to die. The show just wants to have that tension while making everyone weak and delirious enough to do and say stupid things. Of course, some of those are more earned than others. There's an awkward moment where Maya is somehow saying that she wouldn't have gone into the garage in the first place. That's weird. Plus, there's ultimately no reason to care about Jack whining about Andy moving on to Ryan so quickly after they ended their own relationship. Their relationship had significant problems long before then and he now wants to blame her for cheating on him and betraying that bond. That doesn't make much sense. It continues to showcase why Ryan is better for Andy - even though he has the foolish idea to try to ram through the garage door by using the car. That's such a dangerous action that will more than likely get everyone inside killed. But it's ultimately the craziest idea that sets all of them free. It's absolutely ridiculous. And yet, it's so thrilling to watch. Yes, Maya makes a foolish mistake right as the water heater is igniting. She doesn't really suffer any consequences from that though. Meanwhile, it's important that Andy deals with the fallout of learning that her father didn't recommend her or Jack for the captain position. This entire season has been built around that competition. And now, he is encouraging an outside candidate to take the job in order to unify the crew. He thinks things would change too much if either Andy or Jack took the job. And yet, the station is going to change regardless. He can't be around forever to make sure things are always managed the way he wants. As such, it's easy to understand why Andy is so frustrated with him because his logic simply doesn't make sense to her. B+
