Deanie87

This episode felt really crowded to me. I loved all of the stuff with Alex and his mom, but as always I'm left with wanting more. I can't believe that his siblings' current whereabouts/situations weren't mentioned. (Yes I can.) I really liked Jo in this episode too. She was supportive but put Alex's anger to better use and didn't coddle any of his self-pity. She was honest in telling him that he may never get what he wants from his mom but that a relationship can be salvaged now that he doesn't have to be a constant caregiver. As cliche as it will be, I really hope that the show delves into Jo's birth parents in some way. I also appreciated that Alex's mom didn't come off as a fragile saint. I also understand his mom feeling that her stability was the most important thing in her life and if that meant that she couldn't deal with Alex then so be it. Similarly, I get Alex just wanting to get out of such a toxic environment to work on himself and be there for his family materially but not being able to deal with the day to day dysfunction. This is such an interesting topic to me, I wish that it wasn't shoehorned into 6 other storylines and I wish that this wasn't going to be the last we see of his mother, but I have no doubt that it is. Fun fact - Justin Chambers had a huge crush on Linday Wagner when he was younger and I was very excited for him when she told him that he was her one true love. I know it was as mother and son, but still. Didn't Meredith used to be kind of fun and goofy? I realize that she has 3 kids and more tragedies than the Perils of Pauline, but drinking coffee in a bar and discussing medical politics while wearing a very smart button down shirt (no matter how flattering) with a clean cut, mature gentleman is boring as shit. Can she please go back to banging guys in cars and downing the occasional tequila shot? How about that nice Scott Speedman? She had great chemistry with him. She is just so clipped and matter of fact these days. She never doubts herself and, of course, is always successful and in the right. Its boring. I get that Sofia is acting out because she's unhappy and I understand Arizona feeling the need to put her first while simultaneously doubting her parenting abilities. All parents have been there. But Sofia didn't just talk back to the teacher or push a classmate, she stole a LOT of money. That's more than just acting out to me.

Alex and Jo go on a road trip to Iowa to find Alex's mom, whom he hasn't heard from in a very long time. Meanwhile, Meredith gives a presentation on her mini-livers project, which attracts a ton of attention; and Jackson works to rebuild the foundation after its reputation is threatened, on "Grey's Anatomy," THURSDAY, MAY 3 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT) on The ABC. ETA - oops I didn’t realize there was already an episode thread.

I don’t think she’s dead either. The promo people do this every time. I do think there will be a time jump though.

My guess is it’s whoever is officiating the wedding. Maybe they fainted and it looks like they can’t get married. I could see Alex being grimly amused by his bad luck. Other than that I’m just thrilled that he shaved and I’m going to blame that boutonnière on April lol!

This kind of reminds me of how I felt when the baby was announced. I mean, of course I didn’t want Bow to have a miscarriage but...I also didn’t want Cousin Oliver showing up and messing with the family dynamic. Now, I don’t necessarily want them to get divorced, but...I kind of want to see Bow getting some attention from a hot young thing. And Ruby’s reaction. Also drink when Diane doesn’t care at all that her parents are in pain and separating and only cares about the fact that she’ll get two Christmases. (Seriously, I had a friend whose kids said that very thing. Yikes)

Yeah I’m with you guys. The actors did a great job. Such a great job that I’m probably out for the rest of the season. As usual the best part of the episode was Junior, his angry critique of the kitchen was hilarious. And if it’s true that he won’t be back next season then I doubt I will be either. And yes, that kitchen was hideous and I thought it looked cheap. Not to mention as someone who is dying to redo my 90s era country kitchen, watching them turn a dream kitchen into a bad IKEA nightmare because of one stuck drawer made me hope the do get divorced ?. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that this was a deliberate ploy to tank the show because everything they’re trying seems to be backfiring.

I was happy enough with this season that I'm looking forward to what next season brings. My biggest gripe over the last few seasons was the imbalance in screentime and storylines and the complete inconsistency in the writing. I think that this season was much better in that regard. I want to see what's next for Alex and Jo, I want to see more of the Jackson/Meredith/Richard/Catherine combination, I want to see Meredith connect with a love interest. I also hope that they bring Koracik back and I am even vaguely interested in Owen/Amelia/Leo and the teen mother. So there is definitely stuff that I'm looking forward to and I will be interested in seeing what stories Krista wants to tell for the characters now that she has gotten them where she wants them. I could do without the Very Special Issue episodes that get wrapped up in 42 minutes, and I'm not invested in any of the couples outside of Alex/Jo, but I hope that with less characters to write for, they can start to concentrate on wrapping up everyone's stories in a meaningful way and give each actor some decent material.

It will be important because Jesse is directing it not because its an Alex episode. I think that they can make things with Matthew vague enough to show that they are working towards some kind of friendship/future without it having to be April Gets Her Happy Ending with Matthew. She can be happy and moving on from Jackson without having to be in love or marrying Matthew. I would also love to see Greg Germann back so I'm glad that he won't be involved in April's ending. My view on the departures is that they are going into the (hopefully) last couple of seasons with the show centered back around Meredith and of all the characters, April and Arizona have the least connection with her. I have enjoyed Amelia more this season than I normally do, but I would gladly trade Maggie and Amelia for Arizona and April. I wish that the writers had integrated the cast more years ago, but it is what it is. I just hope that they continue to give the returning cast equal screentime and storylines.

And he kept talking on the phone the entire time LOL! You know its bad when you're rooting for the assassin to kill him because he's just too stupid to live. Also, I am kind of rooting for the assassin anyway, at least sometimes. I love Eve, but Villanelle is just so fascinating to me, when she mentioned her handler's daughter even he visibly paled. I kind of want more of her backstory, but I also don't because I don't want some sob story that is going to explain away her exquisite sociopathy. I've never seen the actress before but I think that she is doing an incredible job and I can't wait for her to go up against Sandra Oh! I feel bad for Eve's husband.

I thought this season started so strong but other than the President Keane stuff, there wasn't single focus holding the season together. The Alex Jones-like guy was completely forgotten beyond the Russian bots that were on the periphery of his story, Carrie got the never before heard of band back together in the middle of the season and Frannie was in and out of Carrie's thoughts until she, too, was completely tossed aside and forgotten. Between all of that and the time jumps this seemed like two separate seasons rather than one unified whole. So much time and detail was put into things that didn't really matter in the end, and then the last episode so much had to be handwaved by time jumps and inference. I really liked that Keane went to the bunker to thank all of the moles but this finale didn't work for me much. Meh, I still miss Quinn.

My cynical self would say that he highlighted that tweet because it mentions the episode that he directed and he wants people to watch it. But he also cares about his co-star and doesn't think that she should be getting the grief that she is apparently getting. Also, the ratings always confuse me. Aren't ratings only counted through Nielson boxes? If so, does that mean that a boycott only matters if you have are a Nielson viewer? I know how the hashtag thing works, but wasn't sure how the boycott affects anything.

I totally believe that this is how it went down from Olivia’s standpoint, but I’m not sure it has any merit. Alex was just an intern when all of this went down and it seemed that Olivia was an established nurse. Interns are near the bottom of the ladder in the hospital hierarchy so Alex didn’t have any power over her. None of this made sense to me since Jo already knew about Alex’s promiscuous past and the Syph. I will admit to being an Alex defender, but sleeping around and using sex as an emotional crutch are the only things in Alex’s troubled past that haven’t been regressed. He hasn’t slept with anyone but Jo since he met her.

Olivia is a victim in that she got syphillis from Alex. But the sex was consensual and she was apparently ok with not using a condom. Same as when she had sex with George. Alex isn’t the one that called her Syph Nurse, that was Izzie and Alex was certainly ridiculed (and punched) for it at the time. So if they were trying to tie this in to the Harper Avery stuff, it didn’t work, at least for me.

And then she slept with Alex after the syphilis story got out, so I agree, she probably should have kept all of that to herself and be glad Alex didn't mention that part. I didn't mind seeing her because I like when old characters show up, but I really don't get the point of that storyline. Meredith already told Jo about the syphilis (thanks, Mer!) and Alex was sleeping with all the interns when Jo met him, so Jo knows who she's marrying. I am very much over Alex shutting down and just being a dick when he has problem and I'm glad that Jo called him out on it. The writers are regressing him in some weird ways over the last couple of seasons and I'm not sure why. I am going to have this embossed on business cards, stand on a corner and hand them out to random strangers. This has been a bee in my bonnet since season 2. No matter how many times Izzie shrieked "HE CHEATED ON MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" it just isn't true. They had been on 1-2 dates and were not exclusive. It was a total dick move on Alex's part, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't cheating and it was pretty bitchy of Olivia to phrase it that way. She came off as bitter and as though she had some unhealthy fixation with Alex which is too bad since she seemed to be happy with her life. It sucks that they brought her character back just to do this. Grey's is suffering from Law & Order "Ripped from the Headlines" fatigue for me. It's not that these stories aren't important, but there seems to be a new one every episode and the majority of them aren't treated with any depth and get resolved in 42 minutes. I wish that they would go back to the character-oriented patients and plots and delve into a current issue a few times a season with more depth. I continue to like the family unit of Meredith, Richard and the Averys. ETA - Anyone else find it odd that a 15 year old girl was named Betty?

I know!! I’m so relieved I was getting worried that he wouldn’t find his mother or something!

Oh my god. No offense to Kimmie but, blech. Everything that is coming out about this wedding seems so out of character for Jo and Alex already, so why not have a dying child collapse while singing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." Maybe they'll release some doves too. I actually don't think that the church wedding is theirs, so that fills me with a little hope.

Do you mean interesting because she re-tweeted it? I imagine that she thought it was a nice tribute to her character. Or do you mean that she is somehow shading Krista, Greys, Shonda, etc.? I hope that isn't the case. If either of these actresses were truly treated that horribly, I really wish that they would come right out and say so instead of being passive aggressive on social media. I'm hoping that it she is just sharing the article because she is happy that her character (who was written by the very people she could be shading) meant so much to people. Otherwise, it really isn't a great look for her, IMO.

I guess the point is we see Alex come full circle from trying to get out of the old Russian ways of his father and uncle and into "legitimate business," complete with an English girlfriend, to killing an enemy and rejecting (?) that same girlfriend. I'm sure he tells himself its for her own good, but I think that really he just wants her off his back. As far as Antonio, I got the impression that Alex somehow suspected Antonio of being a little too interested in Rebecca, but I'm not sure if that's because of how the show played out or if it is just my imagination. James Norton as Alex was such a cipher, and that tampered my enjoyment to a degree because I never quite bought his motivation for things. Was his relative composure supposed to be the civilized British contrast to the more emotional Russians or was Norton just not sure where to go with it? If you've ever seen Happy Valley (and if you haven't you really should!), then you know that Norton can be a very good and emotive actor, but I just wasn't feeling it here as much as I enjoyed the show. Also, I was struck by how much sexual chemistry there was between him and the new bearded contact who showed up at the end. Just me? Yeah, it works as a stand alone series, but I really would like to see more. But given the way AMC pushed its airing past prime time, I doubt it will get renewed.

Yes, I especially hope that Alex and Jo will rush home from Iowa because I think that we will have seen enough of that story, given that it will be one of 5 going on in the episode before and I'm sure that we will be sick of all the in-depth conversations that Jolex have had about their relationship. After that flashback episode they shared with Maggie, I will be soooo tired of seeing Alex's family and will want to focus more on Jaggie. I am very much hoping that Jo and Alex's wedding will also center around Maggie./Also sarcasm

My new theory (which I admit I read in part elsewhere) is that the person who is injured is going to be Maggie. April will see how devastated Jackson, Richard and Meredith are and give her blessing to the Jaggie pairing and decide that family is what matters and take Harriet back to the farm to be with her family. If there is any squabbling about the Harper Avery situation, a near death will put that into perspective, Jo and Alex can decide to get married immediately and, of course, it will be one more way to show how beloved Maggie is and to perhaps garner sympathy for her as we move into the new season. Unfortunately, April getting hurt isn't going to affect all that many people in comparison and she has already had the near death thing with the shooting and having a baby on a kitchen table. Maggie is one of the only people left who hasn't had a serious injury.

Any idea what the cast contract statuses are?

It wouldn't make sense, but Owen's sister is now her ex-sister in law and she did adopt a kid. But clearly she meant Meredith. One other funny part was when Amelia asked Owen if he wanted a Diaper Genie and Owen asked if it would come to his house. Like a real genie - HA! If only.

This was my favorite part of the episode, but yes it made me sad that it almost never happens. For example, it occurred to me how very little we see Meredith and Catherine together and how interesting a relationship between these two would be, for many reasons. I hope that whatever comes up the Harper Avery mess, it will give us more scenes with this two, and Richard and Jackson too, I really like that foursome. My unpopular opinion is that I really like Catherine and what she brings to the show. She isn't an outright villain, but she isn't someone that the show seems concerned about making likable and I really appreciate that. I loved her speech to Jackson about the realities of how things used to be. The Me Too movement is all well and good, and very overdue, but, things really, really were different then. I loved all of his facial expressions throughout the episode! His dopey face when he told Jo that she looked happy, his talking shit about Owen with his mouth full and his utter glee when he thought he was going to hold the baby. I have never been one who clamored for Alex to have a baby, but MY GOD GIVE THIS MAN A BABY! Better yet, just give him Baby Leo and Owen can get an older kid that he would be more comfortable with!

It seems to me that the majority of Arizona's storyline is going to get wrapped up in 14x23. I think that she will still appear in the finale, but as part of whatever big event the ensemble is together for. Otherwise, there is just too much going on in the finale for any of it to be done well. It may be April that gets hurt and I could see the ranch/farm being her parents home, but its way too early for a wedding between her and anyone unless there is a very long time jump, and honestly, I don't see many characters heading to a different state to visit April, and definitely not Meredith or Amelia who were the ones in the photo. So I think that there will be a Jolex wedding and maybe some other event like the Harper Avery gala or even the launch of Bailey's sex toy(!) venture, and that could explain the different locations.

Is this 14x22 or 14x23? Isn't 14x22 the one where Alex goes to Iowa? Please don't tell me that they have tacked on 2 more story lines? Also, I wonder who the injured party is? Richard? ETA - It is definitely 14.23 and maybe the injured party is April?