Maggie introduces mood rooms as an alternative approach to medicine. Alex and DeLuca butt heads over an 11-year-old patient who tries to sabotage her own surgery. Jackson and Richard deal with a gender non-binary patient. Teddy has a pregnancy scare that brings Owen and Koracick at odds.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of ABC's Grey's Anatomy.
"Add It Up" was written by Alex Manugian and directed by Michael Watkins
This episode pretty much presents as a filler hour. Sure, there are some big moments that happen here like the ongoing tension between Owen, Teddy and Koracick as well as Meredith and DeLuca being romantic again. For the most part though, the medical cases of the week take the spotlight. All of them are interesting. And yet, none of them are particularly memorable. They won't be the standout cases of the season. They are all perfectly competent though. It's easy to see how DeLuca's recent confrontation with his father is affecting his ability to do his job. He sees it as a person's responsibility to get the care that they need. It's reckless for anyone to self-sabotage their life especially as it comes to their medical care. He doesn't understand how his young patient could do this. He just unilaterally says that school is tough and everyone gets bullied. That shouldn't make her risk her own health. He is able to course-correct and get the patient to okay the surgery. And yet, Alex is absolutely in the right for disciplining DeLuca for endangering all of this in the first place. He was out of line earlier when telling the patient's mother that she had to force the surgery on her daughter. That's not helpful or progressive. It's DeLuca taking his own feelings out on strangers instead of opening up to the people he actually cares about. Meredith is giving him the space in order to process everything that has happened. She doesn't want to pry too hard and risk compromising the dynamic that continues to develop between them. And yet, Alex had to step up and tell DeLuca all the ways in which he is potentially screwing up his life at the moment. That appears to be the wake-up call he needed. It's a simple solution. The audience should never have been too worried about any of this. The same can't be said when it comes to Teddy's pregnancy. This show has featured a number of stories about pregnancies that have gone wrong. Many of the female doctors have been pregnant and had to deal with some complication or unexpected birth. It's the way the show has informed the audience about the potential dangers of pregnancy and everything that could develop over time. It's scary. However, this scare brings Owen and Teddy closer while making Koracick assert that he does have genuine feelings for Teddy. He doesn't want Owen to get in the way of the relationship he is forming with her. Owen may just love to tease women along with his proclamations that he loves them. He and Teddy are probably better as friends. He may just be destined to be a great single dad. That's perfectly alright too. That's where his focus should be at the moment. He has to be all-in on raising Leo and caring for his new daughter with Teddy. He shouldn't make life any harder for her either. He may not like Koracick but he certainly has to be willing to share this experience with him. And finally, Richard's reaction to dealing with a gender non-binary patient feels like the somewhat typical story. It follows the expected plot beats of him not understanding the grammar involved and why people need to change their names. He understands how furious it is to be misidentified. And yet, this story is much more powerful when it informs Jackson about his relationship with his own mother because he is helping his patient deal with the looming responsibility of caring for their own. It's scary but all of the tools are already there to remain strong and loving. Of course, that fear also leads Amelia and Link to have sex again now that they are back in Seattle. They spend the day working on the same patient only for it to not turn out well. This may just be a coping mechanism for both. But it has yet to turn into an unhealthy dynamic. Plus, it could become something more in the future - especially since Maggie knows the truth.
