Thursday, September 27, 2018

REVIEW: 'Grey's Anatomy' - Meredith Desires for More From Her Life in 'With a Wonder and a Wild Desire' & 'Broken Together'

ABC's Grey's Anatomy - Episodes 15.01 "With a Wonder and a Wild Desire" and 15.02 "Broken Together"

The doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial vie for a new position. Maggie finds herself the keeper of a big secret. Amelia and Owen try to figure out their relationship. Jo and Alex's honeymoon doesn't go exactly as planned. New doctors continue to shake up the hospital. Meredith bonds with a patient. Jackson struggles with the meaning behind recent experiences. After making a life-changing decision, Jo forms an unexpected alliance.


In 2018, it has become very difficult to keep up with every television show out there. It's even more difficult to provide adequate coverage on this site about the episodes that air every week. Not every show can get full coverage because of my busy and hectic viewing schedule. As such, some reviews will now be condensed to give only some summary thoughts. But it also affords a space for me to jot down my thoughts on the various episodes. And so, here are my thoughts on this week's episodes of ABC's Grey's Anatomy.

"With a Wonder and a Wild Desire" was written by Krista Vernoff and directed by Debbie Allen
"Broken Together" was written by Meg Marinis and directed by Kevin McKidd

Following Derek's death, Meredith's love life has been incredibly erratic. The show brought in Riggs right away but it took a long time before that connection really developed into anything. It fizzed out quickly thereafter too. And then, she's flirted with a couple of guys that never went anywhere. She also had such fantastic chemistry with the transplant surgeon played by Scott Speedman. And now, she is having sex dreams about a number of her male co-workers. She doesn't even know who Chris Carmack's newcomer to the hospital is and she's still fantasizing about him. This premiere is definitely pushing that angle with Link hard. So, it's unlikely that it will go anywhere. And yet, it's so empowering and freeing for Meredith to admit that she is ready to be looking for love again. She has accomplished so many great things as a surgeon. She has created some groundbreaking surgeries. The show has done such a marvelous job in presenting her as a titan of her industry. She doesn't want to be married to her work though. She wants to be happy in her personal life too. That's what makes it so infectious when she tells Cece to hold on and fight because she needs her matchmaking services. The story of Cece and Neesha really is the predominate medical story of these opening two episodes. It's the only one with any real consistency to it. Most of that comes from Cece. Neesha is in and out of consciousness and mostly just talking about the hot doctors. It's tragic when she dies. And yet, that's more of a story for Jackson's reaction than anything else. In fact, it's fascinating to see him having an existential crisis after being the rock for April last season. Now, he is the one questioning if there is some higher power reaching out and influencing life. He places so much significance on DeLuca saving his and Maggie's lives. However, that led to Neesha's death which makes no sense whatsoever to Jackson. This mostly just serves as a way to get Jackson and Maggie to confess their love for one another. The same is also true for Owen and Amelia. They are still in the dark about Teddy's pregnancy bombshell. In fact, the amount of Teddy in these episodes is weird especially considering Kim Raver is back as a series regular this season. She just bolts as soon as she gets the sense that she no longer really has a place in Seattle. That's not going to last. In fact, she may present as a medical emergency because of the clot that has developed. But again, it's mostly just tragic that Amelia and Owen are trying to make things work once more. This premiere is really forcing those big moments with Amelia-Owen and Maggie-Jackson. They are still some divisive pairings. And yes, it is much more engaging and compelling when Jo is coming up with her brilliant medical idea on her honeymoon, a body ignites on fire because of a can of hairspray in a rectum, Bailey choosing Alex to be the interim chief so she can team with Jo for this research and even the fear of what Richard may do now that he's without a sponsor. Those storylines are honestly more exciting and fun than the sexual overtures happening in this premiere. The season of love is great and compelling for Meredith. But it's going to be fascinating to see how it changes the other characters especially those in happy relationships like Bailey and Alex and those in tumultuous ones.