Grey's Anatomy - Episode 14.22 "Fight for Your Mind"
Station 19 - Episode 1.08 "Every Second Counts"
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 3, 2018. Enjoy!
Grey's Anatomy - "Fight for Your Mind"
Written by Andy Reaser and directed by Jesse Williams
This is the episode that lays the groundwork for Jessica Capshaw's exit from the show. She is fighting for her patient to get this surgery to save the life of her baby. Her patient forces her to admit that being a parent means doing what's best for the child no matter what. She doesn't want to leave Grey Sloan. But she also feels like it's important for Sofia to be in New York right now with both of her moms. Arizona will be valued as a physician no matter where she goes. She's one of the few neonatal surgeons in the world. This episode reminds the audience of that with this surgery. As such, it needs to be a more personal decision for her. Elsewhere, it's important for Alex to let out these emotions he's been keeping inside about his mother before his wedding to Jo. He can still seem like a character angry at the world a lot of the time. Here, he is so upset about his childhood and needing to care for his mom only for her to get better now that he's gone. But it's a solid story as well that sees the two of them trying to form a new relationship even though it's so important for her not to break her routine right now. Meanwhile, Meredith's story is mostly disposable. There's no real purpose for her spending the day at Joe's talking to the guy she beat with her abdominal transplant surgery - with him somehow not immediately recognizing her. She understands the importance of honoring the work that others have done in the hopes of inspiring a new generation of women. So, she does give Marie Cerone the credit she has always deserved without forgiving her for the cruelty she showed in her handling of the liver patent. That's understandable too. Furthermore, Bailey and Richard's story is mostly just giving them something to do with the intern being able to get his job back despite his recklessness because they too have made mistakes in the past and have been able to keep their jobs at this hospital. And then, Amelia trying to help the mother of Owen's new foster child is short-lived with her then pointing out just how messed up it is for people in her position to be prescribing these medications without fully understanding the horrors of addiction. B
Station 19 - "Every Second Counts"
Written by Tia Napolitano and directed by Marisol Adler
At the beginning of the season, I noted that so many of the character setups and stories of this show were eerily familiar to relationships that previously occurred on Grey's Anatomy. Yes, that familiarity helped foster a connection between the two shows. But it also hindered the originality of this show a little bit too. And now, the show produces an episode that is cutting back and forth in time while explaining some potentially questionable decisions that were made in the field. It's a structure that Grey's Anatomy implanted really well early on in its sixth season. It's a framing device that has served many shows well too. It's not just a reminder of that Grey's Anatomy hour. The comparison is just more pointed because of the spinoff connection. But here, it's a very solid execution that makes things very intense for the characters as well as giving them all a voice to talk about who should be captain. Everyone has always had an opinion on if it should be Andy or Jack as the replacement for Pruitt. Both have impressive qualifications. In this specific instance, it's easy to side with Andy's argument. She is in the middle of responding to a call when she sees a major accident on the highway. She decides to stop and help the victims because it's the right thing to do. It will take too long for another emergency vehicle to get to them. Plus, the one victim they are carrying is stable at the moment. Andy even assigns Jack to look after him to ensure that he is properly cared for throughout all of this as well. This is a rare instance where Jack doesn't always see the big picture. Things quickly become complicated for him and he has the benefit of painting Andy as the bad guy because of the decision she made. That's not true at all. And yet, the show is putting in the work to show how it could be perceived as such an agonizing decision that could ultimately cost her this job. She certainly has more of the respect from her crew. They side with her decision over Jack's. It's particularly surprising for Travis and Miller to do that because they have been very supportive of Jack throughout this race. But they see Andy as the one who is capable of making sure every person on the team is exactly where they should be during a call to do their best work. Jack is more of a singular talent who can look at the big picture. That's still an effective quality in a captain. But it's also just perfect setup for Pruitt talking to the fire chief and saying neither of them deserve a job. That's surprising and sets things up well for the final two episodes of the season. B+
