S14.E01: Break Down the House; S14.E02: Get Off on the Pain

[taanja]

3 hours ago, mytmo said:

I really hope that they are not trying to make Jo the new Christina.  She is a whiny self centered bitch with a constant look of pain on her face.  Sleeping with the bumbling, myopic nerd who dropped his glasses in the cavity of your patient was just stupid to watch.  And really who's glasses are really that loose?  Jo needs a dramatic demise.  Seeing that the show is taking a more soapy turn the possibilities are endless.  Karev is due for another relationship disaster.

The references in the past are giving me hope for a better season.  Watching past episodes on Lifetime makes it obvious why the past seasons and characters are far superior than the current ones.

Quit trying to make Arizzzona happen.  A dramatic demise for her as well.  Maybe a train accident?  Hell I'd even settle for a piano to fall on her head.

And Amelia. She can dramatically die from the tumor.

Otherwise I was pleasantly surprised that I like the ep. There were many cute/fun moments that made me either smile or laugh out loud.

When did Meredith start breaking things when she's frustrated/angry? I don't remember her having a history of doing that?

Ans Haha! Nathan bombs out! Megan turns down his proposal and he goes running to Mere who simply walks away. Ha!

Did anyone catch that Megan made Own promise to take the kid of anything happens to her? yup. She's a gonner and Owen's empty womb will finally be filled. 

[StaceyNotStacie]

I was surprised that Megan's son didn't show up at the end. I figured that someone would have been able to pull strings to get him to the US. 

[LaughingOne]

This episode was certainly a big improvement over last season (pretty low bar, I know).  Everybody was a damn grown-up and it was such a welcome change.

The introduction of Carina was good. She and Arizona actually have some spark, but more importantly, she at least seems like an interesting character. So many of the insert-love-interest-now characters on recent seasons have been pretty terrible/boring. If they want us to care about the characters' relationships, then first start with characters we can care about. Carina seems like a good step forward.

Megan was also engaging, even if there is zero believability that a person that's been missing for a decade and shows up with a hole in her abdomen would be so damn well-adjusted. Regardless, it was fun to watch her interact with Owen and Nathan - two characters I typically find to be too grim.  This triangle doesn't interest me too much, but it was nice to see Meredith be a grown up about everything.

So, I guess Amelia being insufferable for the last season was because she had a brain tumor? I promise I won't complain about the contrivance so long as they start writing her completely differently.

Loved April in these two episodes and am hoping this is the start of a good development arc for her.  I still think Jackson and April have ten times the chemistry of any current couple on this show, but I'm ready for April to move on (at least for awhile). She needs her own story.  Also, Sarah Drew deserves more praise than she gets - she was incredible in that break-up scene.  

At some point, are they going to have Jackson and Maggie demonstrate an ounce of sexual attraction before they start having sex? Random awkwardness is not making me buy their potential coupling. Hell, Mer and Alex seem hotter for each other than these two.

And finally, I loved Alex's refreshing reaction to Jo's hook-up and his honesty about looking for her husband.  Everything does not have to be a six-months long secret / misunderstanding. Sometimes characters can be adults, and work through minor issues in an episode or two. More of this type of writing, please!

[BaseOps]

I really don't think that Jackson / Maggie is going to be a thing. I think April was hurt, thought she saw something (because Jackson and Maggie were indeed growing closer), and when she said it, it sent this weird spark through Jackson and Maggie that has them both questioning if there was something here (there isn't). I think they're playing it more for laughs than anything. 

[chitowngirl]

Alex looks....fluffy.

[Anela]

I don't buy Alex being fine with Jo hooking up with that guy, but his response was amusing. 

I'm still pissed about the way they treated Amelia. She pulled herself together, and was there with Owen when his sister landed. I don't get along with my sister's husband, but I never pulled that crap with her. 

I wonder if the brain tumor storyline has anything to do with Kate Walsh. She's been talking about the time she found out she had a benign brain tumour, and has been trying to get the word out to people to get check-ups.

Edited September 29, 2017 by Anela

[LaughingOne]

58 minutes ago, BaseOps said:

I really don't think that Jackson / Maggie is going to be a thing. I think April was hurt, thought she saw something (because Jackson and Maggie were indeed growing closer), and when she said it, it sent this weird spark through Jackson and Maggie that has them both questioning if there was something here (there isn't). I think they're playing it more for laughs than anything. 

I hope you're right. Given their pseudo-familial relationship and the lack of sexual chemistry between them, it would be the best way to play it.  Plus, I'm up for anything that puts Jackson in more comedic situations. Jesse's perfect deadpan delivery of funny lines always kill me.

[NUguy514]

4 hours ago, dmc said:

At the point where he was arrested, went to trial, etc...what more do you want to occur?  I guess he could go help for his anger issues/that could be a story line.

What more do I want to occur?  Uh, an actual punishment for his crime would be nice.  He should have gone to jail for aggravated assault, or even attempted murder.  That would be actual, deserved punishment.  I repeat, he beat a man almost to death; being arrested and going to trial (a trial that concluded because Alex's victim decided to drop the charges for completely idiotic, writer-directed reasons – I can't) were not actual punishments for that particular crime.  There have been no lasting consequences whatsoever, so, yeah, I would have wanted a lot more to occur.

[DearEvette]

39 minutes ago, BaseOps said:

I really don't think that Jackson / Maggie is going to be a thing. I think April was hurt, thought she saw something (because Jackson and Maggie were indeed growing closer), and when she said it, it sent this weird spark through Jackson and Maggie that has them both questioning if there was something here (there isn't). I think they're playing it more for laughs than anything. 

One can only hope.

I don't understand why the show would even entertain that.  What is so wrong with allowing them to build and grow this great sibling relationship?

I admit I am not the biggest Japril fan in the world, but I could be on board with a story line that has them acknowledging that maybe the love was there when they first got together but not the commitment or maturity necessary to make a marriage work long term.  And now, the two are wiser, older and understand each other a little better maybe they get a real second chance.  Something like that could win me over to them.

But I could never get on board with Jackson & Maggie.  I like them both separately, but not together.  Not that way.

[thewhiteowl]

Amelia has been an insufferable ass for years. She has had a few flashes of actual human behavior but mostly just an ass. Last season she was pretty WTF but not really OOC.  The tumor is quite large though, it could have been affecting her behavior and judgement for a long time, left frontal lobe, I believe it would.  

I really did enjoy the premiere and for the first in a few seasons, am looking forward to more.

[moonorchid]

So so much to digest

These two episodes were far and beyond better than 95% of last season. There was good pace, a clear direction of tone, mature and common sense writing, and it felt like a breath of fresh air.

One aspect that I loved that isn’t being brought up a lot of April. Sarah Drew is more than capable of playing up April’s neurotic tendencies without her devolving into a racing lunatic so I’m definitely going to credit the writing for this version of April that isn’t throwing fits all over the place and is able to calmly and concisely express her feelings and wants in a mature manner. 

That last scene between her and Jackson was heartbreaking cause you can see all over April’s face how much it hurt her to have to say what she was saying, but also how much it hurt her to feel the way she had been feeling for however long it’s been since Montana. 

Jackson and April always seem to wait for a cue from the other to talk about major events in their personal relationship and it’s both of their faults for not discussing this sooner, but i do feel april was trying to be “go with the flow” girl and it was no longer working now that she’s seen this intense “chemistry” (if multiple articles have to spell this out your pairing isn’t working) between Jackson and Maggie. 

As sad as I was about that scene I am ecstatic that it had nothing to do with Maggie, and was more about emotional health than anything else. This was probably the most clear and mature conversation they’ve ever had, so of course it leads to a break up, lol. 

The other thing I was overjoyed with is krista remembered that April has friends and is a supportive friend herself. I love how she was there for both Arizona and Nathan, even though i side eye it a tad from AZ and Nathan because we haven’t seen them even talk about April since the “civil war” BS but I’m willing to let that go. 

Its easy to forget now that Nathan revolves around the sun, but not only are April and Nathan friends, they are GOOD friends with history that doesn’t involve Meredith, Jackson, or the sisters. It was totally appropriate to have April be there for Nathan the way she did. 

Krista said April will be going on a complicated journey this season. I wasn’t going to watch but from what I have seen im really on board with seeing where April could go. These writers may not care to write japril anymore but I don’t think they hate April, heck they’ve done more for april these past two episodes than all of last season combined. But I weirdly have faith :/

[Chas411]

1 hour ago, Anela said:

with Jo hooking up with that guy, but his response was amusing. 

I bought it. They haven't been together for months and the relationship has been cited as over. Despite the two clearly still loving each other they acknowledged their issues were too big to overcome. I think he's trying to win her back via the friendship route hence being so understanding.

 

also the hookup was so obviously a mistake that I can see why he wouldn't be threatened in he slightest. Had she hooked up with DeLuca I guarantee the reaction would have been different.

It was great seeing each cast member utilised properly. I haven't seen the airtime spread this evenly in I don't know how long.

[jschoolgirl]

Kim Raver's face has filled out a lot -- a good thing for her.

[Racj82]

It's honestly hard for me anytime they bring up George on this show. Especially when they mock him. It honestly still hurts that he's gone and he went out like that.

[HazelEyes4325]

Ack...all my brilliant thoughts went missing (well, I don't know about brilliant...)

Anyway, there were things I like and detested about this episode(s).  The best thing for me, and this makes up for so  much of what I didn't like, was that it had the old Grey's Anatomy feel.  The humor was back, along with the different take on things (heels vs. crocs, for example).  Okay, the MRI masturbating was a bit much...  I kind of felt like had been watching a different show for the past few seasons and now this one is back.

I didn't really like the sub-interns--they were far too cliche-y to take seriously....but I did like what their presence brought out in the other doctors.  Richard is back teaching, everyone else is irritated with those less capable then reminded that THEY were the ones who were once incapable.

Well, at least Arizona had some stuff to deal with about Eliza--even if she forgot completely about her by the second episode (as I was sure she would).

I honestly didn't think they could do it, but the Alex/Jo reunion was better than okay.  It wasn't great...I kept feeling like they were trying to make like season 13 didn't happen, but it was better than I thought it would be.  I've never had strong opinions about that coupling either way, so it wasn't as if I was rooting for or against them--I just wanted whatever they did to make sense.

I also liked seeing Ben and Bailey be a normal married couple.  However, when Ben made some remark about Jo getting a surgery, I wanted to say, "Yeah, she got it because she wasn't off eating yogurt and watching construction guys with her spouse/boss!"

I liked the second episode version of Megan far more than the first episode version, and not (just) because she was a brunette in the first episode and a redhead in the second.  Seriously, did they dye her hair while they were trying to repair her abdomen?  In the first episode, she just seemed too unbelievable, while she had more vulnerability in the second.  I'm not a huge Abigail Spencer fan, but I don't mind her as much as I thought I would here.

There was a bit there regarding Ellis--Meredith throwing an epic temper tantrum (which is apparently okay because her mother would do that?) and then when Maggie and Richard were watching the surgery.  I actually think that this would be a interesting direction for the show.  Meredith, now as a single mother, is sort of at a place where she could choose to really follow in her mother's footsteps.  However, as Ellis's daughter, she knows what damage that sort of unmitigated ambition could do to her kids.  Add to that the fact that Meredith is only exceptionally brilliant when the plot needs her to be--more often than not, she's a just "good" surgeon--and Maggie is (supposedly) the amazing sort of medical genius that Ellis was...done well, I think that could be very interesting, and it would give Maggie something to do than to always be the 3rd wheel.  Plus, we might actually see Meredith's kids now and then.

What I didn't like:

Holy geometry, Batman!  Can there be any more love triangles?  I counted:
Meredith/Riggs/Megan
Owen/Amelia/Teddy
DeLuca/Jo/Alex
Maggie/Jackson/April (blech!)
Jo/Alex/Glasses guy (well, sort of)

Plus, there were the "relationship" triangles of:
Richard/Meredith/Maggie
Deluca/Carina/Arizona
Teddy/Amelia/Meredith

That's...too much.  I got the feeling that they were trying to unravel some of them, which is good...and I hope to God that the Maggie/Jackson/April triangle will be one that goes, and quickly.  I don't detest any of the three characters, and I always thought that Jackson and April worked well together, although I was sick of the show putting them continually through the ringer.  But the Maggie/Jackson thing just came out of nowhere and doesn't make sense.  Really, all I can think is that April was so messed up by what happened in Montana that she imagined what looked to me to be a sibling-ish relationship to be a romantic one..  And, yeah, Maggie and Jackson are not blood relatives--but his mother is married to her biological father (who she is actually starting to sort of acknowledge as a father), and that's definitely tiptoeing into incest territory.

I guess this show should be commended for introducing a character I actually hate more than Eliza Minnick and Penny Blake.  Carina can just go find some other mastubatory MRI to use.  Ugh!  First of all, I'm sick of Arizona falling for every lesbian she comes across.  The only 2 other lesbians who have been on this show that Arizona did not sleep with were Erika Hahn and Penny Blake.  We didn't know Arizona was a lesbian until after Erika left and Arizona did express an attraction to Penny (which I really, really don't understand).    My wish for this show is that they have a lesbian or bi character who is in no way romantically involved with Arizona.  I'm not saying that Arizona shouldn't be in a relationship, but we have seasons of her falling head over heels for the only other lesbian who is on the screen at the time.

Plus, Carina is a completely ridiculous character.  Why is an OB/GYN studying brains?  She's not OB/GYN, she's neuro.  Also, why does she have a think Italian accent and her brother does not?  And the actress has not impressed me so far.  Ugh.

Back to triangles...the whole Nathan/Mer/Megan thing.  I've never been a big fan of Nathan and Meredith--all I really saw in them, and even this was stretching, was two people who were dealing with loss and having therapeutic sex.  I'm reluctant to believe in "chemistry" (what others call chemistry, I call writing and acting), but that just doesn't seem to be there between Nathan and Meredith.  Nathan and Megan work a bit better to me, but not so much that I'm feeling any big pull between the two.  Since Abigail Spencer isn't a regular, I doubt that anything will happen between the two...which leaves us Nathan and Meredith, which is ...underwhelming.

So, anyway, it wasn't a perfect two-ish hours, but I enjoyed these two episodes more than anything last season, or even the season before.

21 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Also I dislike the Jo/Alex pairing and I like DeLuca. He’s my favorite character on this show.

I'm with you on DeLuca.  I wish they would do more with him.

Edited September 30, 2017 by Morksmate

[HazelEyes4325]

5 hours ago, kdm07 said:

 Amelia has many faults but Owen going up to her and being like "Hey, all the women in my family hate you so you have to go to therapy", was incredibly dumb and rude.

Ugh!  Yes, that scene was terrible!  It was like boy-child with mommy issues trying to mansplain.  Oh, and of course, HE is completely innocent in the breakdown of their marriage!

[Cementhead]

16 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Um.. yeah. This was underwhelming to me, which by the looks of the forums tonight I’m alone and that’s okay.

I just wasn’t all that excited about anything that happened. Except for the ending with Amelia but that feels kinda like when Izzie had her cancer thing. 

Nothing really interests me anymore.

Also I dislike the Jo/Alex pairing and I like DeLuca. He’s my favorite character on this show.

I will join you at the table for two way back in the corner.  Because I feel the same way.  I turned it off after about 40 minutes.  And forgot about it until just now when I got home from work after 4pm and thought I'd come on here to read what I missed.  Sounds like I missed nothing.  Amelia has a brain tumor?  I can't stand her so ... whatev.   And all the namedropping and callbacks to the characters of old had the exact opposite effect on me as it did my fellow posters here.  Because to me, all it did was remind me of all the wonderful characters that used to be on this show once upon a time, characters I was emotionally invested in and cared about.   There's nobody really left for me like that anymore.  Maybe 4 characters, tops.  And 80% of the show's time is filled wasting time on characters I don't like. 

[Anela]

28 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

It's honestly hard for me anytime they bring up George on this show. Especially when they mock him. It honestly still hurts that he's gone and he went out like that.

I know. I just watched his last episodes yesterday.  :( 

Just now, Cementhead said:

I will join you at the table for two way back in the corner.  Because I feel the same way.  I turned it off after about 40 minutes.  And forgot about it until just now when I got home from work after 4pm and thought I'd come on here to read what I missed.  Sounds like I missed nothing.  Amelia has a brain tumor?  I can't stand her so ... whatev.   And all the namedropping and callbacks to the characters of old had the exact opposite effect on me as it did my fellow posters here.  Because to me, all it did was remind me of all the wonderful characters that used to be on this show once upon a time, characters I was emotionally invested in and cared about.   There's nobody really left for me like that anymore.  Maybe 4 characters, tops.  And 80% of the show's time is filled wasting time on characters I don't like. 

I didn't love it either. I stopped watching after twenty minutes last night, then got back to it this morning. I was watching old episodes last night. 

[displayname]

Also can't wait to see who dies first!

[WhosThatGirl]

35 minutes ago, Inerttt said:

Make that a table for three. 

The more the merrier! Last night I was so surprised that most people here liked this episode. It was meh to me. 

Also another thing I didn’t mention- what’s going on with Arizona? I thought her last season disregarding her friendships for hookups/relationships was a fluke but did anyone notice they did it again last night? She completely was like “oh whatever I’m hooking up with my roommates sister whatever let’s go back to hooking up!”

[Court]

I want more Mere/Alex scenes. Also, more Teddy. How did Amelia not know she existed?

Amelia is the worst. I hope the tumor kills her. I was pissed her surgery worked and she put Jackson in that position. I wanted it to fail spectacularly. 

While Owen's approach was all wrong, he was also right. I don't mean the tumor, but she does need therapy. She doesn't deal with anything and just runs away. I'm not a huge Owen fan but their marriage being a sham is on her. His family is right, she wasn't there for him or even made an effort with his family . 

I enjoyed seeing Jo being awesome at her job. I like that Jo. I still don't like her and Alex together and it makes no sense that they're just sleeping together again. 

 

I liked Megan and I enjoyed Meredith in it. I laughed when she walked away from Riggs at the end. I was hoping Riggs and Megan would be off the show and go live in Iraq together. The cast is just too big.

[Palomar]

I always thought that Maggie had the best chemistry with DeLuca.  Not sure why that ended.  I noticed it was mentioned by the sister.  Would rather see that come back than a semi-incestuous relationship with Jackson.  Plus Maggie bugged me with her "dibs" on Briggs just because she liked him.  It isn't high school.  There's always expanding your dating pool to someone other than someone who works at the hospital. And I like Jackson and April together but get why April doesn't want crumbs.

[Anela]

3 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

The more the merrier! Last night I was so surprised that most people here liked this episode. It was meh to me. 

Also another thing I didn’t mention- what’s going on with Arizona? I thought her last season disregarding her friendships for hookups/relationships was a fluke but did anyone notice they did it again last night? She completely was like “oh whatever I’m hooking up with my roommates sister whatever let’s go back to hooking up!”

I noticed that, too. I guess she figured his sister is a grown woman, but it would still be awkward. 

[only1shoe]

Like many of you, I think this brain tumor crap with Amelia is a big retcon being used to re-write her character because she's been insufferable since she switched over to Grey's (I wasn't even a fan of her in PP tbh). I can't believe the writers decided to take the easy way out instead of having her actually own up to her crappy behaviour.

5 hours ago, thewhiteowl said:

Amelia has been an insufferable ass for years. She has had a few flashes of actual human behavior but mostly just an ass. Last season she was pretty WTF but not really OOC.  The tumor is quite large though, it could have been affecting her behavior and judgement for a long time, left frontal lobe, I believe it would.  

This is what bugs me the most, because even though she's been annoying as hell, her behaviours weren't exactly OOC. We've been told she is a runner, and she has admittedly gone through a lot with her father, brother, and ex-boyfriend dying, so its not like her recent antics couldn't be explained and dealt with. But as usual, Amelia gets another excuse for her shitty actions instead of admitting and owning up to them. Also this episode is the first time we've really seen her be reckless in the OR, the whole thing just seems like a giant retcon. And now Owen's going to be dragged into this storyline too. I swear if they use this tumor as a way to shove Owen and Amelia back together I will be livid. Those two have been awful together from the start!

 

4 hours ago, Morksmate said:

Ugh!  Yes, that scene was terrible!  It was like boy-child with mommy issues trying to mansplain.  Oh, and of course, HE is completely innocent in the breakdown of their marriage!

How is he at all at fault for the failing of their marriage? Literally all he's done is try to talk to her in order to understand what the hell she was doing! Then she yelled at him that he was suffocating her and threw Cristina in his face!! She's been nothing but awful to him and he's been pretty patient with her. Honestly if it were me, I would've dumped her ass a long time ago!

 

3 hours ago, Court said:

Amelia is the worst. I hope the tumor kills her. I was pissed her surgery worked and she put Jackson in that position. I wanted it to fail spectacularly. 

While Owen's approach was all wrong, he was also right. I don't mean the tumor, but she does need therapy. She doesn't deal with anything and just runs away. I'm not a huge Owen fan but their marriage being a sham is on her. His family is right, she wasn't there for him or even made an effort with his family . 

 

Agree with all of this. I don't care if she has a brain tumor, Amelia was being reckless and arrogant as usual. I didn't necessarily want that poor little boy to die, but I so badly wanted Amelia to fall on her face. Also I don't understand people saying that Owen was wrong for telling Amelia she needs help. His family finally knocked some sense into him regarding how Amelia's been treating him and he seemed genuinely concerned that she was not okay. I don't think telling someone you love "hey, you're acting kinda strange and other people are beginning to notice so maybe you need help" is rude at all. Sometimes someone just needs to say something! And clearly Amelia needs some damn help, she's nuts!

Even though she seems to be suffering from Stockholm syndrome or something, I liked Megan and I wish she was staying longer. Its nice that Owen finally has someone in his life other than Amelia, he didn't seem so permanently depressed when he was with his sister. And while Teddy and Owen have way more chemistry than he and Amelia do, I for one hope they stay just friends. Owen has a severe lack of friends on this show, and I like their friendly banter.

Edited September 30, 2017 by only1shoe

[kingshearte]

12 hours ago, BaseOps said:

It feels like Vernoff binged the show and basically said, 'here's what needs to be fixed, here's what needs to be addressed.'

This pretty much sums up my impressions. So many loose ends that were just completely dropped last season have been picked up again, which is great. Perhaps someone could make a supercut of anything from last season that would actually be required in order to understand stuff that comes up going forward, and then we can all just pretend that the rest of the season never happened.

Here's hoping we continue to have people behaving a little more like actual people than they have in what seems like ages.

Also, I am not remotely into the idea of another Teddy & Owen triangle situation, but I'd be more than OK if he traded Amelia for Teddy...

[Sheenieb]

Quote

How is he at all at fault for the failing of their marriage? Literally all he's done is try to talk to her in order to understand what the hell she was doing! Then she yelled at him that he was suffocating her and threw Cristina in his face!! She's been nothing but awful to him and he's been pretty patient with her. Honestly if it were me, I would've dumped her ass a long time ago!

Same. Tumor or not, I'm over Amelia. I've been over Amelia for a minute. If she's so unhappy with Owen, nothing is stopping her from filing for divorce. I'll give Owen credit for trying to work things out with her, but if it were me, I would've been dusted my shoulders off and moved on. I was with Teddy all the way when she told Amelia to start acting like a wife.  And we know she's going to drag this shit out until she faints and everyone rushes to her side.

[Ohwell]

I don't like Megan, maybe she'll grow on me but I thought she was acting a little too "cutesy" for someone in her condition.

I also didn't like Italian sister sticking her tongue in Arizona's ear in a place of work.  Totally inappropriate.  Yeah, I know, that's standard for Grey's, but she just got there. 

Don't care about Amelia and her damn tumor.  

[HazelEyes4325]

46 minutes ago, only1shoe said:

How is he at all at fault for the failing of their marriage? Literally all he's done is try to talk to her in order to understand what the hell she was doing! Then she yelled at him that he was suffocating her and threw Cristina in his face!! She's been nothing but awful to him and he's been pretty patient with her. Honestly if it were me, I would've dumped her ass a long time ago!

Well, I wouldn't say he's the only guilty party...but he definitely bears some of the responsibility of the breakdown of their relationship.  I agree with everything that you said about Amelia...but I would also add that Owen continually tried to steamroll over her and repeatedly failed to listen to what she was saying.  Neither one is a saint and they are BOTH responsible...however, that scene was 100% Owen telling Amelia that everything that went wrong between them was all her fault, and that's just not true.

[statsgirl]

This felt like early Gray's -- when Meredith was the brilliant surgeon and Cristina couldn't win for losing.  They were both reckless in the OR, they both had ground-breaking surgeries but Meredith was praised and Megan turned down Nathan because he's still in love with her, and everyone dumped on Amelia, from Avery about her surgery (which was successful but he was backing Meredith) to her mother-in law who barely knows her and her new sister-in-law who doesn't know her at all to Teddy who was pouring poison in  Owen's ear. Why does Owen need Amelia, who has a job to do, when Teddy is all over him and Megan's hospital room can't hold everyone who is already there.

The thing about Amelia and Owen is that there is the stuff of a decent story arc about communication and learning to trust your partner but this is all black and white and superficial. She doesn't handle emotional things well but Owen needs to stop listening to everyone else and listen to her for a change.

I hate the manipulativeness of this writing. I liked Megan and Teddy when they first appeared on the episode but now they can't leave soon enough for me.

DeLuca's sister was awesome though. I hope she stays.

Jo sleeping with Glasses is typical Grey's where people in love with X sleep with Y just because.  Jo claiming that she found the donor was awful.  Even more awful was Meredith's approval when she finally admitted it.

April and Jackson are still functioning at the kindergarten level, I see.

I really like how they addressed the Muslim travel ban.  If the boy could have come to the US, Megan could have stayed. 

But that and Deluca's sister are the only things I like about the episode.  If this is how Krista Vernoff is going to be running the show from now on, I think I'll be watching something else.

Edited September 30, 2017 by statsgirl

[Court]

How can Owen possibly listen to Amelia when she won't talk to him?

She wanted kids and said this more than once. When she realized she didn't, she just left and hid out in Stephanie's apartment. I'm not even an Owen fan but I keep finding myself defending him.

I'll reiterate I hope the tumor kills her. 

[WatchrTina]

I have to say I didn't enjoy that pair of episodes.  Those photos of the failed jaw surgery -- I'm afraid those were real and now I'm thoroughly grossed out and horrified for that poor woman.  I was afraid that's where they were going with the kid, so I'm grateful that he did fine (he could even TALK after a surgery when his jaw was dismantled like "legos" -- how stupid was THAT) but of COURSE Amelia now has a big 'ole tumor.

I just didn't enjoy any part of these two episodes.  I was tense and worried and anxious the whole time.  I've spent the last week watching the Vietnam documentary on PBS and I cried enough over that.  I don't need to be stressed out by Grey's Anatomy.  

Edited September 30, 2017 by WatchrTina

[KaveDweller]

11 hours ago, Anela said:

It was nice to see Teddy, until she was rude to Amelia and Meredith, and then she continued down that road, with a marriage intervention in his sister's room. When it comes to that, the sister can sod off, too. 

I see no chemistry between Riggs and Megan. I don't believe that she was a long lost love that he never got over. She seems to be have been fine without him, all these years. 

Yeah, I didn't see much chemistry between them either. Riggs didn't seem super thrilled to see her (though that may be shock) and she seemed happier talking to her family than Riggs.  She didn't seem to care about him, but not like he was this great love that she's been missing all this time. She also didn't seem at all like someone who was held hostage for ten years. Maybe it is shock or some kind of PTSD, but it seemed weird. I liked the character, but she didn't make much sense when you consider the history. 

Is Teddy back as a regular or just for a few episodes?

[HazelEyes4325]

1 minute ago, KaveDweller said:

Is Teddy back as a regular or just for a few episodes?

She's back as a guest star.

[Anela]

1 hour ago, Morksmate said:

Well, I wouldn't say he's the only guilty party...but he definitely bears some of the responsibility of the breakdown of their relationship.  I agree with everything that you said about Amelia...but I would also add that Owen continually tried to steamroll over her and repeatedly failed to listen to what she was saying.  Neither one is a saint and they are BOTH responsible...however, that scene was 100% Owen telling Amelia that everything that went wrong between them was all her fault, and that's just not true.

Just like he tried to steamroll Cristina, only she wasn't having it. 

One thing that struck me, as I've re-watched old episodes, is all of the unhealthy relationships. McDreamy was McAss for a while there. Characters being thrown together for the sake of a silly story line. Happy marriages suddenly broken up, for the sake of drama, and a new arc for Bailey, or someone else. Cristina and Owen were unhealthy from the beginning. 

[WhosThatGirl]

The thing is.. I honesty didn’t like much, if anything of this episode, I did like April’s talk with Jackson. That Montana episode happened as a bubble episode and was treated like one ever since. Like it was literally never mentioned again until this episode. So points for that.

Everything else.. really.. just read my last post.

I hate that I dislike Alex so much that I don’t want a happy ending for

him anymore. I did up until last season and then they gave him that terrible story where he nearly someone and he gets not even a hand slap. Also sorry show and other characters but hearing everyone say that  Alex is just a puppy dog or something makes me mad. 

I hate the Amelia story, only because we totally did this once. It was called when Izzie got cancer. 

I don’t care about Riggs and Meredith.Also Riggs is in love with Meredith? Okay? I mean.. how long were they officially doing this thing before the finale last season? Mer was barley acknowledging him before that- sure they had hooked up a few times but she wasn’t pretty rude and stand-off ish to him for like two seasons. Also I still can’t get over him mansplaining to her last season about how she needs to move on from her dead husband. Ugh. The only time I ever liked a scene with them was when she was telling him about Megan being alive last season. I wish they had let Mer Be with the random one night stand doctor who looked like Josh Duhmael. 

[moonorchid]

Alex and Jo

its easy to forget they still care for one another when I can barely remember their last interaction. Heck I feel like Alex exhibited more concern over jo in two episodes than all of last season combined. 

I feel like Krista didn’t care at all for Alex beating the crap out of Deluca and tried to write herself out of it as best she can, which no matter what they still condone what he did.

say what you will about Jo but I appreciated that she was the ONLY one who wasn’t willing to just instantly forgive and defend Alex for what he did. The lack of consequence sours me to Alex and I didn’t appreciate bailey waving off what he did. So there won’t be anything to come from it at this point but at least Jo was at the very least bothered by it.

[Racj82]

7 hours ago, Morksmate said:

Ugh!  Yes, that scene was terrible!  It was like boy-child with mommy issues trying to mansplain.  Oh, and of course, HE is completely innocent in the breakdown of their marriage!

What exactly did he do to hurt their marriage? Want kids after he's always made it clear he wants kids? Want to communicate instead of running away? Not sure what I missed.

And he had zero intention of ever saying anything like that. He's let all the women in his life put him in a tough situation. He didn't handle it well but fuck it. Everything about Amelia has been rude for a long time and without the knowledge of a tumor, it did seem like she needed to talk to somebody. No real gentle way to bring that up even if his method sucked.

[diadochokinesis]

I'm so happy that it seems like Grey's is going back to what was working and all the mini shout-outs to past events. 

The Amelia brain tumor storyline doesn't bother me that much. Depending on a variety of factors, that brain tumor could have been around for a long time and explain a lot of her back story. I've had patients in the past whose brain tumor was there and basically just stayed close to the same size (extremely slow growing) for 10+ years. 

4 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

I have to say I didn't enjoy that pair of episode.  Those photos of the failed jaw surgery -- I'm afraid those were real and now I'm thoroughly grossed out and horrified for that poor woman.  I was afraid that's where they were going with the kid, so I'm grateful that he did fine (he could even TALK after a surgery when his jaw was dismantled like "legos" -- how stupid was THAT) but of COURSE Amelia now has a big 'ole tumor.

I just didn't enjoy any part of these two episodes.  I was tense and worried and anxious the whole time.  I've spent the last week watching the Vietnam documentary on PBS and I cried enough over that.  I don't need to be stressed out by Grey's Anatomy.  

2

Those photos were photoshopped but the simulated effect can be real. I used to work extensively with head and neck cancer patients. I've had patients whose lower jaw was rebuilt using basically a steel bar. There aren't any really good traditional prosthesis for patients who have lost their lower jaw due to the weight but 3D printing is making gains in that ground. I know head and neck cancer isn't one of the "sexy" cancers that get a lot of attention but it is truly one of the most devastating ones.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was trying to figure out why Megan looked so familiar. Thankfully IMDB told me that she was Blahblah on How I Met Your Mother.

Every time someone (ahem, Arizona) mentioned that Minnick was gone, I cheered a little at the thought of never having to hear her monotone voice again. When Arizona stood in front of Minnick's apartment knocking and talking and then opened the door and saw the movers packing everything up, I laughed at the fact that they were all in there totally ignoring her.

Look, I expect Maggie to be awkward and do things like awkwardly leave the table when Jackson sits down. But geez, leaving your tray full of garbage on the table? RUDE!

I also expect Amelia to be totally jealous of Teddy, but it's still annoying to watch.

I was also annoyed by Arizona's whole "what's ghosting?" thing. Does she not watch tv or ever go on the internet? This isn't really a new term. It's been around for a while. It's also not a new thing. It's an old thing (ditching someone) with a new name. Is this show going to turn into Younger or The Great Indoors where we have to act like anyone over the age of 25 knows nothing about technology or pop culture? Then again, the timeline on this show is so screwy that for all I know, this episode took place in 2014.

I've learned to expect that there might be some gross stuff shown on this show during surgery (and hence not to eat while watching this show), but man, Megan's abdomen seemed grosser than usual. Or maybe it's just that I was thinking about having pasta earlier today and seeing her abdomen totally killed that urge.

OF COURSE Arizona hooked up with Deluca's sister.

[marceline]

On 9/28/2017 at 11:14 PM, chocolatine said:

One actress being swapped for another, pretending the audience wouldn't notice? - Check!

Except Nathan said that she looked different in his memory. I thought that was a clever way to handwave the recast.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Amelia the neurosurgeon has a tumor. This is like Joey on Days of Our Lives: "The only doctor that could have saved me was me."

I don't like Amelia so part of me would be okay with her character being written off the show by way of an inoperable tumor that kills her. The only reason I don't want that to happen is because I know it would result in an entire season of more of Owen's man pain and I can't take that.

On the one hand, I understand how tough it is to see someone you love in a shitty relationship. I've seen it several times and it sucks when your friend or family member is with someone who doesn't treat them well. But in Amelia's defense (and I say that as someone who has disliked Amelia from the first episode she appeared on this show), Teddy and Megan JUST met her like two seconds ago, so how are they in any position to judge her relationship with Owen? She's a horrible wife because she's not spending every minute in Megan's hospital room with Owen? HELLO, SHE'S AT WORK. You'd think as fellow doctors, they would understand that. She has patients and responsibilities and she already took time off to accompany Owen to bring Megan back.

Another possibility: she is giving Owen the opportunity to spend time with the sister who he thought was dead for the past ten years. On top of that, anyone who knows Owen knows that he isn't the "let's cuddle and talk about our feelings" kind of guy. When he gets upset, he pushes people away so Amelia giving him some space while he's at the hospital doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

What is a sub-I and why did Jo sleep with one? Ugh. How do sub-interns fit into the med school schedule? Is this a real thing that's new? Or did the show just make it up?

While I totally understand Bailey not wanting to wear stilettos to work, there are shoes in the world besides high heels and clogs. She could wear ballet flats or wedges or lower heeled shoes (like 2" heels or even 1" heels).

I want to see how Carina's study actually works because the issue with MRIs is that you must be very still while the scan takes place. If you move around, the scan will not be clear. If these women are pleasuring themselves in any way, chances are they are not holding still enough to get a good MRI image. I'm sure that it's just a matter of time before we get to hear someone talk about having to clean/sterilize the sex toys that Carina is providing for her subjects.

I'm also calling shenanigans on the fact that she waltzed into Bailey's office and was running her study by that afternoon. Any new study requires approval by the institutional review board where the study takes place (most of which do not meet every single day). I work at a large university and our IRB meets only once a month and there's a submission deadline before each meeting (meaning if their next meeting is October 1, you can't send your paperwork over on September 30). Even if you had institutional approval for your study at your previous hospital/research center, it does NOT transfer. You still have to get approval from the new place where you're running the study.

I know that Meredith owns part of the hospital, but it's still really inappropriate for her to be breaking shit. Not only does all that broken stuff need to be replaced (which comes out of the hospital's budget) but the poor cleaning staff has to deal with the mess that her temper tantrum created. I wouldn't want to spend an hour picking up shards of glass just because someone got mad.

My favorite friendship moment this week was Alex and Meredith eating out of the same to go box while they talked.

Meredith being supportive of Jo stealing the surgery from Glasses didn't surprise me at all. MAGIC was always trying to steal surgeries from each other so it makes sense that Meredith would totally approve of Jo doing it to Glasses. And to be fair, Jo was right - after Glasses dropping his glasses, there's no way Meredith would have let him actually participate in her surgery.

[Joana]

On 29.9.2017. at 8:13 AM, NUguy514 said:

You know, writers, I don't care how many times you have your characters say what Alex did was because he thought DeLuca was hurting Jo.  I really don't care.  What he actually did was beat a man almost to death.  I don't give two shits why he did it because he did it and he did it to a completely innocent man.  You can't just have your characters basically sing "Bygones!" and have it be fine; it will never be fine with me.  When Bailey said Alex wouldn't hurt a fly, I laughed out loud because it was such a load of crap.  Alex is an asshole and a bully and has been the entire duration of the show (if George were still alive, Alex would still be bullying him).  This doesn't mean that I don't enjoy watching him or am not invested in him; what it means is that you can't have him commit a felony and then try to pretend retroactively that it's not a big deal or that his motivations were pure or whatever other bullshit.  If they're not going to have Alex suffer any actual punishment for his crime, I'd rather they just never mention it again so that I don't get pissed off each time it is mentioned. [/rant]

PREACH IT! It's not like I didn't expect them to hand-wave the whole situation like that, but it's still extremely annoying. And it kills whatever little interest I had left in Alex and Jo as a couple. I think I'm just gonna fast-forward through their scenes from now on. 

I'm really ambivalent about these episodes. They had a good flow and didn't feel like a drag, which is already a massive improvement on the previous season - although, it could have hardly been worse than that mess. And I do appreciate that they're trying to address all the issues that have accumulated over the least few seasons. On the other hand, doing it all at the same time might be a bit too much. It doesn't feel organic and it leads to total cop-outs, Amelia's tumor being the most blatant example.

Teddy! I've always liked her. I wish she'd stay, but she obviously won't, how would they possibly fit her in? I hope the endgame there is that she and Owen go away together. It would make sense, and frankly, they ran out of stories to tell about him long ago.

Megan seems interesting as a character, but she's absolutely not believeable as a hostage. The whole thing looked more like a family reunion after a long tenure abroad than a miraculous resurrection after being presumed dead for years. 

Is Arizona ever going to operate on tiny humans again or she'll just spend her entire time on the show making out with whatever random Lesbian of the Season they throw at her?

Edited September 30, 2017 by Joana

[candall]

58 minutes ago, Joana said:

Teddy! I've always liked her. I wish she'd stay, but she obviously won't, how would they possibly fit her in?

I like her, too.  I'm surprised she's not permanent--I thought Owen and Teddy would be putting their love on hold and making moonpie eyes at each other across the room because Owen's wife is suffering/having/recovering from brain surgery.

I also thought Jo would pause and then start sobbing because her abusive husband is still out there walking around.

Glad I'm wrong on both counts.  I'd be a terrible writer for this show.

*****************

After the Mer/Alex discussion referencing George, there was a funny throwaway comment.  Something like, "Can you believe how long ago that was?  Let's not talk about it anymore."

*****************

If you opt out of the Avery/April story until they finally settle down and pick a partner, and you skip all the comments and speculation about same, you have so much more free time!

[Blonde Gator]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

What is a sub-I and why did Jo sleep with one? Ugh. How do sub-interns fit into the med school schedule? Is this a real thing that's new? Or did the show just make it up?

While I totally understand Bailey not wanting to wear stilettos to work, there are shoes in the world besides high heels and clogs. She could wear ballet flats or wedges or lower heeled shoes (like 2" heels or even 1" heels).

 

The "Sub-I's" were a Minnick project, apparently approved and tucked in a drawer, which no one remembered until they arrived.   As Alex said, they were "Zeros", because they haven't yet completed Med School, therefore not doctors, and not first year interns.  Top 10% of their respective med school classes, totally geeked, and good for being the butt of everyone's joke/story line props this week.

Bailey's shoes were a metaphor for her transformation back from last season's "new, don't give a shit about anything but being CHIEF Bailey" to the old likeable Bailey.   The writers had made her Katherine Avery V.2.0 last year, and I for one am sick of KA.   She's a vicious piece of work, she needs to go.   She adds nothing to the series any longer, and it was ridiculous having Bailey act just like her, in it for herself only, bowling people over for her own selfish reasons.  So no more "high heels" (power exec look) means we get back the Bailey we know and love.

Edited September 30, 2017 by Blonde Gator
Nott enough coffee yet, oops.

[Deanie87]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

What is a sub-I and why did Jo sleep with one? Ugh. How do sub-interns fit into the med school schedule? Is this a real thing that's new? Or did the show just make it up?

I thought they were also sort of like "substitute interns" and that the hospital could save money by not having to give them a full contract/admission. I could have possibly made that up though.

As for why Jo slept with him, it wouldn't be Greys without some inappropriate sexing, I guess. It didn't bother me though because her walk of shame and Alex's reaction to it were two of my favorite things in the episode.

[WatchrTina]

I thought "sub-interns" were candidates for the internship program at this hospital and others and that their week-long visit was a form of Sorority Rush week. They're checking out potential hospitals where they might want to intern and the hospitals are checking out medical students they might want to offer internships to so everybody should be on their best behavior and putting their best foot forward.

One would like to think that "glasses" just got black-balled by this hospital.

[-pj-]

 I really don’t care that it’s in its 14th season. It maybe not the same as earlier ones but if you’ve seen it from the beginning you see growth and inside jokes and things other people don’t. 

 

Teddy came back! I loved Teddy when she was there before and her return was great. She was the same. Henry was brought up it was great. I’m so glad they at least had a moment with her and Arizona. They used to talk all the time. And Arizona verbal diarrhoea at her was just typical. 

 

Megan- now can I say how much I am glad that they changed her Abigail Spencer. I don’t remember the last actress but Abigail was awesome.  I’m glad they didn’t go down the PTSD route with her. She was actually a delight. 

 

Now Amelia - I guess all her behaviour make sense now especially in this episode. Even I do love Amelia and she is one of my favs I did think she was a bit short with Teddy for no reason. Teddy wasn’t saying anything wrong and it wasn’t Amelia’s place given how she was being. However, now she has a tumour, fits of rage made sense. Except I wasn’t so seen on her comment about Owen and Teddy and then for him to act on it. It just took me back to season 6 and thought are we here again! Not sure how I feel about the storyline but we will see. Caterina will knock it out if the park like she usually does. Hopefully they don’t go down the Mark Greene route. It is a cop out to deal with her issues. I actually thought when Megan brought up Owen taking her son that would also help Amelia as it not that she doesn’t want children. She wants them but is so scared that what happened to her first will happen again. Why she has never spoken to April is beyond me. 

 

Everything else was great typically greys humour with glasses, mention of George and surgery jokes . A good season opener. 

[dmc]

21 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

What more do I want to occur?  Uh, an actual punishment for his crime would be nice.  He should have gone to jail for aggravated assault, or even attempted murder.  That would be actual, deserved punishment.  I repeat, he beat a man almost to death; being arrested and going to trial (a trial that concluded because Alex's victim decided to drop the charges for completely idiotic, writer-directed reasons – I can't) were not actual punishments for that particular crime.  There have been no lasting consequences whatsoever, so, yeah, I would have wanted a lot more to occur.

Even if Delucca hadn’t dropped the charges...First time offenders get no jail time all the time. 

 

Alex is a major character and this isn’t a prison or crime show-so we all know the bare minimum would happen.

 

But I do think...Jo should be cautious and it shouldn’t just go away on the show

[dmc]

On 9/29/2017 at 11:48 AM, Evie said:

I found the premiere watchable which is more than I can say for last season so that's good.

I liked Megan, but I found the situation kind of WTF. I'm glad they didn't go the amnesia or PTSD route, but I kept forgetting that she was held captive for 10 years and wasn't just Owen's sick sister who came home for treatment.

I liked Jo and Ben's scenes as well as Alex and Meredith's. Given how Alex/Jo were completely dropped last season, the reconciliation felt kind of WTF too, but I did like their scenes. I liked how Alex reacted to Jo and Glasses. 

Bailey didn't annoy me for the first time in forever.

I groaned at the tumor reveal. Has Amelia had the tumor the whole time she's been on Grey's because she's pretty much sucked the whole time. 

Jackson and April have been in limbo forever, so I hope they let them both move on for good, or at least a good long while.

Any time a character sucks-tumor

[Court]

While I agree Amelia doesn't need to spend all her time in the hospital room, she didn't spend one second in there. You would think she could have popped in and said hello at the beginning/end of shift. Or at least know what is going on with Megan. Also, Amelia took a few months off of work for the express purpose of avoiding Owen. 

She didn't even know who Teddy was.