S14.E23: Cold As Ice

[Deanie87]

12 hours ago, Chicken Wing said:

'm torn on the revelation that Matthew is the one April has been seeing (though it was obvious). On the one hand, I understand everything that Arizona said about how they came back together, and on paper that do and did make a perfect couple, but on the other hand, it's just too damn soon since his wife died. I realize that time within the show doesn't necessarily equal the time that passes in real life, so it's likely longer than the 3-4 months since Karen died and the month, singular, since Matthew seemed to extend the olive branch after April figured out what was wrong with the baby. But even if it's been twice as long in story time, that's still not terribly long for them, today, to have been seeing each other "for months." Just my opinion. Matthew seems to have a habit of falling in love with women who help him get over losing other women. Didn't he say before that he fell in love with his wife when he was getting over April the first time? Heh.'

Yeah, I was really hoping that they were going to imply that Matthew and April had been hanging out together as friends and then leave it kind of as a possibility but not set in stone, rather than They Are In Love Now, etc. But I would rather this than her dying.  I guess we'll see what happens next week, but I think it would be nice to just leave things kind of vague so that viewers can make up their own minds as to what happens between them.  (Maybe they live happily ever after, maybe they are just there for each other in a comfort/spiritual way and eventually part as friends, etc.)

 

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Loved Jo mocking Jackson's "poor me, I'm so broke with my six figure salary, my yacht, and my penthouse!" Broke Jackson still has more income and property than I do so yeah, shut it. Loved that Jo told him that her definition of broke was washing her underwear with a water bottle and suddenly he was like ohhhhh, so not every cries tears made of diamonds?

I think that Camilla and Jesse have great friend chemistry and I would LOVE it if Jo moved over to Plastics rather than General under Meredith.  God knows she will probably be a resident until the show ends with this dumb timeline but there are already so many general surgeons and we don't have many mentor/mentee relationships left.  I really enjoyed them in the burn episode a couple of seasons ago as well.

[Guest]

I’m irritated by the episode. Part of me is glad April didn’t die, but at the same time, how many similar plot lines are they going to have? It was like a combination of Meredith’s near death experience (the freeze) and Callie’s (the car accident). 

Plus her and Matthew just don’t work for me- it’s so soon after his wife’s death and he’s back with the woman who ditched him at the altar?

[LaughingOne]

6 minutes ago, deaja said:

Plus her and Matthew just don’t work for me- it’s so soon after his wife’s death and he’s back with the woman who ditched him at the altar?

It's such a problematic relationship because of their terrible history, his newly dead wife and his newborn child. And they tried to fix all that with 30 seconds of exposition from Arizona. Just horrible, lazy writing.

[Biggie B]

18 minutes ago, LaughingOne said:

It's such a problematic relationship because of their terrible history, his newly dead wife and his newborn child. And they tried to fix all that with 30 seconds of exposition from Arizona. Just horrible, lazy writing.

I agree strongly. I actually gasped, slightly, when Arizona said all of that. We the viewers had no time to absorb that huge development, it was just dumped on us and we're supposed to say, "OK, great, she's in LOVE, so that makes her possibly dying even WORSE!!!!" 

[sonyab]

13 hours ago, Biggie B said:

I wasn't aware that "months" have passed. Arizona said that April and Matt had been seeing each other for months and had fallen in love. I know that the passage of time on this show has been fluid and non-linear

Yeah I am so confused. Matthew and April has been together for months? Hasn't it been like a couple of months ago that she was angry at God and hurting so much that she was sleeping with 2 guys? Or maybe I am just losing track of time! ROFL!

[Pallas]

2 hours ago, lorbeer said:

I just realized we still don't know how April is going to be written out of the show.. Any ideas?

Discussed in the Spoilers and Spec thread. I said I'm thinking that she and Matthew will move closer to the rural hospital where they've been volunteering, and take jobs there.

ETA: April will start a trauma center (where she and Matthew could have been brought after their accident, instead of downtown Seattle) and Matthew will organize a local EMT division. Funding? The first grant from the Catherine Fox Foundation.

[lorbeer]

1 hour ago, FictionLover said:

I was going to ask the same question. We know where Arizona is going and because of her child in NY, it was an easy fix. But with April and Jackson having a child, her exit will be harder. I can’t see either of them being all right without Harriett.  My guess is that they don’t know yet and are trying to figure out something for fall. It’s why I expected April to die. 

Maybe you're right and they won't reveal how April is "going away" in the finale and explain it the first episodes of the next season... But for me it kind of differ with the official story that April's and Arizona's story are just done. I can agree only with Arizona's story being done in Grey's.

[Bort]

Please let's keep the speculation for the actual speculation topics.

[TGinKY]

22 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Every time I see the episode title, I hear "he's c-cold as ice" in my head followed by the dance break:

Showing my age I guess but Foreigner's Cold as Ice comes to my mind.

[BaseOps]

To me, while Jackson & April have incredible chemistry and would have been an ideal endgame for the series, they never really WORKED as a couple. And yes, that comes down to how the writers wrote them, but it is what it is. They were plagued with issues that they never resolved – April ran off to the army, Jackson treated her like crap when she returned, etc. The beginning of her pregnancy with Harriet was totally toxic (restraining orders, fighting… her neglecting to even tell him at first). I thought they worked better as friends and co-parents with a deep respect for one another this year than they had a couple in the past.

As for Matthew, I’m okay with him and April being together, too. What she did to him at the wedding was awful, but it was years ago. He’s deeply religious and his religion teaches forgiveness. I do wish that we had seen more of their new relationship unfold onscreen, but I get that they were in a time-crunch and I’m glad that they’re giving her a happy ending rather than killing Harriet’s mother. April and Matthew make sense to me, especially considering what they both went through this year. Is it too soon after his wife passed? For some people, sure. And I’m glad that Arizona at least acknowledged that by saying that they didn’t tell anyone because they feared judgement. It happens in real life. You can’t really decide when you’ll meet someone who helps you move on.

I’m very glad that Arizona is getting a great send-off, as well. I loved her stuff with Herman and short of getting Callie back, Herman was definitely the next best thing (probably even better, as any resolution with Callie would have been super rushed and I’m fine with them being amicable but not together). In this case, we’re getting a farewell that honors Arizona as a surgeon.

I’m super excited at the prospect of a not-so-dark finale next week, though given the impending goodbyes, I’m sure it will be emotional.

[funnygirl]

As far as April and Matthew go: His wife died in episode 10. In episode 19, he brought his baby to the hospital and him and April reconnected in the chapel.  Then in 20, a hilariously high April said that she's been seeing someone. 

The Grey's timeline has always been hard to pin down. But "months" could be as little as 2. I'm guessing it's no more than 4, logistically and because Arizona made a point to explain (defend) that April didn't want to tell anyone because she didn't want the judgments on how long Matthew waited after his wife died and whether or not she was doing the right thing. That wouldn't be a concern if what is considered a reasonable enough time has passed. 

[jschoolgirl]

8 hours ago, beautifulGA said:

I hope we continue to see Peyton next season as well.

Who is Peyton?

[funnygirl]

52 minutes ago, BaseOps said:

As for Matthew, I’m okay with him and April being together, too. What she did to him at the wedding was awful, but it was years ago. He’s deeply religious and his religion teaches forgiveness. I do wish that we had seen more of their new relationship unfold onscreen, but I get that they were in a time-crunch  

 

short of getting Callie back, Herman was definitely the next best thing (probably even better, as any resolution with Callie would have been super rushed and I’m fine with them being amicable but not together). 

If it is acceptable that April and Matthew, who never did get married and have not been in contact for a good many years, can reunite and find love again on the basis of their past and their relateable experiences, it is more than acceptable and feasible for Arizona and Callie.  Their connection is even deeper in comparison being that they were together for many years, married, and have a child; which has kept them in each other's lives. There is absolutely basis for them to fall in love again.  

It's splitting hairs at this point. 

Edited May 11, 2018 by funnygirl

[Efzee]

I felt this was kind of a let down. I  hadn't read/seen any spoilers but as soon as they started worrying about April, I figured out where this was going (although I'll admit I wasn't sure about whether she'd live or die). The reaction of everyone just didn't resonate with me. They'd been ignoring April, her strange behavior and crisis of faith for months and now they were all so affected by it? I don't know if it was the writing, acting or whatever, but they just felt like a bunch of hypocrites to me (and I've never been a big April fan). 

Also, the fact that no one asked about Matthew's baby was weird. He's a single dad (okay, so now we know he's been dating, but no one knew at the time) who was presumably going into work and was in a car accident. They were all worrying about April because he repeated her name, but no one thought to at least inquire after the baby or maybe one of his coworkers could have mentioned that they knew the baby was with the grandparents or Owen may have mentioned something about there being no sign of a carseat in the car.

And Jackson mentioned that he'd had Harriet all weekend because April was out volunteering; I guess Matthew (and April) felt it was more important to spend a weekend volunteering rather than taking care of his newborn baby whose mother recently died. Seriously, who spends a weekend away volunteering in a situation like that when they also work (fulltime?) and were so incredibly torn up about their spouse's death?

I wish they'd paired April off with the neuro guy (the one she, Amelia and Herman all slept with), because they had good chemistry and it made more sense. Arizona's info dump was awful and I can't help but think Matthew might have forgiven April for her actions (would probably say he wouldn't have Ruby otherwise, blah blah), but will he ever completely trust her again after she literally left him at the altar? Despite their shared understanding of their grief, theirs is not a good foundation for a relationship.

And if they're not going to kill of April, then how will they write her out of the show? She's still Harriet's mom. Hope it won't be an Arizona/Callie situation, but I suppose it'd be a great reason to have to write even less of Avery spending time with his child...

On another note, does anyone else think Maggie's lack of interaction/relationship with Harriet is weird considering she and Jackson allegedly have this great romance and all she ever does is say "hi" to Harriet when he comes up to Maggie with a stroller? We've just learned "months" have passed since we last Matthew on the show, so that means Maggie and Jackson have been together for the better part of a year, right? (and apparently they haven't gone out anywhere as a couple yet in all that time, which is kinda odd)

 

I absolutely loved Herman. She's terrific. Goes to show the writers can still write great characters, but apparently choose not to. Wish we'd been left with Herman (not blind) and that Arizona had left years ago, because Arizona is leaving now anyways and hasn't done much of anything lately. I'm happy for Arizona that Herman wants to set up a maternity center (if I heard correctly) but the praise for her stupid first aid cart in case of emergency with a delivery is just ridiculous. They're acting like she redefined maternal surgery or something, when all she did was collect a few items they should already have nearby on a maternity ward and put them together in one cart. I don't know, maybe the maternal healthcare in the US really is that dire, but to a European with decent healthcare in their country it's just laughable.

I'll also join with the others in this thread who mentioned wanting a spinoff with Herman and the neuro guy. That'd be great! Herman has a great sense of humor, as does he. Heck, the spinoff could even feature the maternal fetal medicine center with Herman and Arizona and neuro guy could become Herman's partner and we could even see Arizona and Callie reunite (not that I need to, but if that's the price I need to pay for Herman and neuro guy...).

The crying by Arizona and Meredith in this episode was awful, by the way.

[BaseOps]

11 minutes ago, funnygirl said:

If it is acceptable that April and Matthew, who never did get married and have not been in contact for a good many years, can reunite and find love again on the basis of their past and their relateable experiences, it is more than acceptable and feasible for Arizona and Callie.  Their connection is even deeper in comparison being that they were together for many years, married, and have a child; which has kept them in each other's lives. There is absolutely basis for them to fall in love again if that's what the writers wanted.  

It's splitting hairs at this point. 

I mean, of course... the writers can do whatever they want. I'm just saying that personally I'm very satisfied with Callie & Arizona not being together and Arizona instead getting a wrap-up related to her daughter and career. Also, at least in April's case we knew a few weeks ago that she was seeing someone so it was alluded to happening off-screen. In this case, Arizona just broke up with Carina last week and for all we know Callie is still with Penny, so there'd be a bit more work to do. That said, if Callie makes a surprise appearance in the finale to whisk Arizona off her feet, I wouldn't be mad. 

[Chicken Wing]

1 hour ago, funnygirl said:

As far as April and Matthew go: His wife died in episode 10. In episode 19, he brought his baby to the hospital and him and April reconnected in the chapel.  Then in 20, a hilariously high April said that she's been seeing someone. 

The Grey's timeline has always been hard to pin down. But "months" could be as little as 2. I'm guessing it's no more than 4, logistically and because Arizona made a point to explain (defend) that April didn't want to tell anyone because she didn't want the judgments on how long Matthew waited after his wife died and whether or not she was doing the right thing. That wouldn't be a concern if what is considered a reasonable enough time has passed. 

After sleeping on it I realized that what was leaving a sour taste in my mouth about this whole thing was because it was April. If Matthew had been brought in and we learned that for the past few months he'd been seeing Mystery Woman who shared his experience of losing a loved one, I'd be like, "Oh, has it been months since we last saw him in Grey's time?" and not thought too much beyond that. But for him to have rekindled his romance with April, especially now, nags at me. They have a complicated history, to say the least, and their relationship has a lot of painful baggage built into it. And I feel like this kind of complicated, baggage-filled reunion is the last thing Matthew ought to get tangled up in while he's still grieving his wife, however the hell long it's been in Grey's time. Plus the fact that we didn't actually see any part of their coming back into each other's lives to growing close to falling in love, it was just thrown at us after the fact in an infodump, doesn't help. So it bothers me. And I totally get why they decided not to tell anyone to avoid the judging, because I'm judging them and I don't even care about them. But, I get it. The heart wants what it wants, you can't help who you fall in love with or when you're ready to love again, blah blah puke, but whatever.

Edited May 11, 2018 by Chicken Wing

[beautifulGA]

1 hour ago, jschoolgirl said:

Who is Peyton?

sorry I can't recall the character name. the junkie kid amelia is mentoring...

[Biggie B]

1 minute ago, beautifulGA said:

sorry I can't recall the character name. the junkie kid amelia is mentoring...

Her name is Betty.

[iMonrey]

Dammit, I wanted April to die! I've wanted April to die for as long as I can remember. Why can't I have nice things?

To me, this felt like a cheap bait-and-switch. The show knows we know Sarah Drew is leaving the show, they know we would expect them to kill her off. The "surprise, she lived!" ending felt cheap. Not that her death wouldn't have been too predictable - just that they should have avoided the "near death" emotional crisis altogether. It was gimmicky. 

Even up to the very end after she woke up I was hoping she'd end up flat lining in the final seconds of the show.

[beautifulGA]

I think most of the time greys time jumps don't settle well because while it props one story, the other stories look all over the places.

Like if months have passed since the weed episode, why jackson and Jo are still talking about settlement? Was Leo's mom living on road all this while? Why is Arizona giving notice just now if Sofia is been miserable on months end now?...

And we basically have to just conjure up the answers ourselves....

[LaughingOne]

2 hours ago, sonyab said:

Yeah I am so confused. Matthew and April has been together for months? Hasn't it been like a couple of months ago that she was angry at God and hurting so much that she was sleeping with 2 guys? Or maybe I am just losing track of time! ROFL!

Why are you so confused? It's obvious that Matthew and April exist on an alternate reality plane where they experience time differently than every other character on the show. I mean, duh.

Really though, I'm not sure why they bothered with April having a time-bending, ham-fisted, under-developed reunion with Matthew. The woman just re-discovered her faith, survived a near-death experience and got Jackson to believe in God. That's a pretty good run as of late and plenty of reason why she might decide to take her life in a different direction. A poorly written, off-screen reunion with the guy she dumped at the altar actually detracts from her journey, and the episode overall, rather than enhancing it.

[RedbirdNelly]

2 hours ago, Efzee said:

 I'm happy for Arizona that Herman wants to set up a maternity center (if I heard correctly) but the praise for her stupid first aid cart in case of emergency with a delivery is just ridiculous. They're acting like she redefined maternal surgery or something, when all she did was collect a few items they should already have nearby on a maternity ward and put them together in one cart. I don't know, maybe the maternal healthcare in the US really is that dire, but to a European with decent healthcare in their country it's just laughable.

I'll also join with the others in this thread who mentioned wanting a spinoff with Herman and the neuro guy. That'd be great! Herman has a great sense of humor, as does he. Heck, the spinoff could even feature the maternal fetal medicine center with Herman and Arizona and neuro guy could become Herman's partner and we could even see Arizona and Callie reunite (not that I need to, but if that's the price I need to pay for Herman and neuro guy...).

 

totally agree on this; I cringed every time Herman brought up the cart like no one had ever thought of carts before. It was just awful.

And I also would watch that spin off.

[MicheleL4]

2 hours ago, TGinKY said:

Showing my age I guess but Foreigner's Cold as Ice comes to my mind.

I almost posted the EXACT same thing!!  Ha ha!!

[TigerLynx]

I'm glad both April and Arizona are still alive.  Knowing this show, I wouldn't put it past them to kill off April, Arizona and Matt.

I don't know about April and Matt getting back together after what April did to him last time, but I was always disappointed that April left Matt for Jackson.  I thought April and Matt had a much better shot at a happy marriage than April and Jackson did.

[marceline]

17 hours ago, Laurie4H said:

How realistic would it be that April would have no brain damage?

Right? They were literally beating on her for how long?

[sonyab]

1 hour ago, LaughingOne said:

 

 

"Why are you so confused? It's obvious that Matthew and April exist on an alternate reality plane where they experience time differently than every other character on the show. I mean, duh."

ROFL! You got a good point there. :)

"Really though, I'm not sure why they bothered with April having a time-bending, ham-fisted, under-developed reunion with Matthew. The woman just re-discovered her faith, survived a near-death experience and got Jackson to believe in God. That's a pretty good run as of late and plenty of reason why she might decide to take her life in a different direction."

 

Yeah it IS a pretty good run!!! :) I thought she was going to die. I was crying, especially when Jackson had his scene! :(  I don't know what the writers are planning for April on her last day.

 

"A poorly written, off-screen reunion with the guy she dumped at the altar actually detracts from her journey, and the episode overall, rather than enhancing it."

I want April and Jackson back together!!! :(

9 minutes ago, marceline said:

Right? They were literally beating on her for how long?

100 hours!!! :)

[Chick2Chic]

It was an alright ep. I thought the music was too loud at times and the writing verged on bad fanfiction at points... I too was ready for "I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow" type line by the end. But in the end, it all came together neatly-ish.

I wasn't surprised that April reunited with Matthew even though the timeline of their rekindling seems wonky to me. Guessing this time April & Matthew will be able to work out since there aren't any secrets / denied feelings to trip them up in their renewed relationship. 

Good to see Geena Davis back. I like Herman and her scenes in the ep were golden. 

[CloudySky]

- Meredith's crying has always been cringy and the streak continues. Arizona was giving her a run for her money though.

- The episode felt like it was 2 hours long. I was shocked when I checked the time and it was only 31 minutes in...then again, not much was happening besides 4 people alternating pounding April's chest. This felt like the best of every previous One of Our Own episodes mixed together. Like someone said before: the Meredith drowning and Callie accident. But I also got George vibes because they didn't immediately all realize April was missing and there was an Alex wedding going on in the background.

- Herman was the best part of this episode. I'm glad they are giving Arizona a respectable send off at least. And with the way she's been talking about Callie lately, I can just head canon that they reconcile in New York.

- The whole April/Matthew thing is too ridiculous for words.

This season has done a good job of redeeming Bailey and making me like Jackson and Jo more. But so many of the characters feel like dead weight...Owen, Webber,...don't tell me the writers still have fresh new stories to tell for them and not for Arizona and April. Even the new interns are more fun and interesting to watch these days.

There were a few episodes there last season and early this season where I was really enjoying this show again, but now it's at a point that it's become a chore to slog through - again. Oh well.

[chitowngirl]

April: You prayed for me. And it worked. Ha ha.

[GalvDuck]

4 hours ago, jschoolgirl said:

Who is Peyton?

Peyton Kennedy, the actress who plays Betty, Leo's mom and Amelia's meeting co-attendee.

[Chicken Wing]

Regarding April having no brain damage, her body temperature had dropped to, what, 68 degrees they said? That level of hypothermia basically froze her whole body, including her brain, to the degree that she was essentially in suspended animation, so to speak. The brain's need for oxygen actually decreases. But you have to be frozen just right, for just the right amount of time, and you have to be brought back in just the right amount of time, at just the right level of warmth administered in just the right way. Get any of them wrong and the person could still die. A lot of caveats to beat but people have survived this way in real life. Hypothermia is even induced in people who have suffered heart attacks or cardiac arrest to reduce damage to the brain or other organs.

Edited May 11, 2018 by Chicken Wing

[anna0852]

For the Marvel fans out there, that's what the Jabari did to T'challa in Black Panther.

[KaveDweller]

5 hours ago, beautifulGA said:

I think most of the time greys time jumps don't settle well because while it props one story, the other stories look all over the places.

Like if months have passed since the weed episode, why jackson and Jo are still talking about settlement? Was Leo's mom living on road all this while? Why is Arizona giving notice just now if Sofia is been miserable on months end now?...

And we basically have to just conjure up the answers ourselves....

Jackson and Jo were talking about the fact that his money was gone because he gave it to the victims. A couple episodes ago they were talking about how victims were asking for things or submitting claims. So it sort of makes sense that some time has passed in the past few episodes and they payouts have all been made, and that's how Jackson knew he was really left with "nothing." Although in real life all that would probably take years.

And at some point between the last episode when Arizona decided to move and this one, Arizona has found out she couldn't get a fetal surgeon job, but got offered a peds surgeon one. I assume she waited to give her notice until she firmed up her plans.

But the Betty/Amelia storyline doesn't work with a time jump.

[Shellie]

9 hours ago, LaughingOne said:

It's such a problematic relationship because of their terrible history, his newly dead wife and his newborn child. And they tried to fix all that with 30 seconds of exposition from Arizona. Just horrible, lazy writing.

The idea that there aren't any stories to tell for April anymore?  That would have been a fascinating story.  Even perhaps a natural progression from her crisis of faith to her renewed faith to finally actually falling in love with Matthew, and his forgiveness of what she did. 

But no.

[virginia blue]

7 hours ago, LaughingOne said:

 

Really though, I'm not sure why they bothered with April having a time-bending, ham-fisted, under-developed reunion with Matthew. The woman just re-discovered her faith, survived a near-death experience and got Jackson to believe in God. That's a pretty good run as of late and plenty of reason why she might decide to take her life in a different direction. A poorly written, off-screen reunion with the guy she dumped at the altar actually detracts from her journey, and the episode overall, rather than enhancing it.

I think the writers wanted to avoid any speculation from fans that April and Jackson might be endgame. If April is single and just living elsewhere a certain percentage of the fan base will continue to hope for a reunion. Short of killing her off, the only way to permanently end Japril hopes is to pair her off with the guy she left at the altar. There’s no way she could ever plausibly leave Matthew again and reunite with Jackson. With April out of the picture and happily paired off, I’m sure they hope the audience will be ready to buy into Maggie and Jackson.

Agree that Matthew and April are likely going to end up at the rural hospital where they were volunteers.

[Tierney]

Thought it was a good episode.

Agree with other posts, Jesse gave the best performance of the night.  Also agree with other posts though that some of the episode pacing / emotional scenes were a little off (Meredith, April surrounded by her Apostles after she woke up).

I really liked Maggie’s scenes.  Once the preview showed April was the injured one, I was sure Maggie’s role would be to stare at Jackson by April’s bedside during the ep, with worried “he’s still in love with her” looks.  Wasn’t the case at all.  She was the one pushing most to tell Jackson and was a pro during the ER, surgery and post op scenes.  I also loved her last scene with April.

Efzee, good point about Maggie/Harriet.  I guess since they haven’t officially gone public yet, it would look like they are rushing Maggie’s interaction with her?  I agree, there could be more.

April and Matthew, I’m not against it, but I’m surprised.  Matthew still sounded so bitter in January.  He went from being pissed with her, to forgiving, to friendship to love in a matter of months.  I was also kind of pulling for Tom to be the guy.  I liked his witty banter with April.  But, I’m happy to see Matthew get some happiness after being made the fool at the wedding.

Other plots - Amelia/Betty, Arizona/Herman - were good.

[bonniejmac]

42 minutes ago, Tierney said:

I really liked Maggie’s scenes.  Once the preview showed April was the injured one, I was sure Maggie’s role would be to stare at Jackson by April’s bedside during the ep, with worried “he’s still in love with her” looks.  Wasn’t the case at all.  She was the one pushing most to tell Jackson and was a pro during the ER, surgery and post op scenes.  I also loved her last scene with April.

I liked Maggie's scenes too and glad they didn't go romantic melodrama with her. I tend to like Maggie in general, although I'm still not fully on board with Maggie/Jackson despite coming to terms with the end of Japril. But I have to admit that the cynical part of me thought they totally had Maggie be the one really pushing to save April and maturely wanting to tell Jackson right away to try to convince the angry April fans "see? She really IS a good person! She's not trying to be mean and steal Jackson from her! She can't help who she fell for! Please don't hate her!"

[LexieLily]

3 hours ago, virginia blue said:

I think the writers wanted to avoid any speculation from fans that April and Jackson might be endgame. If April is single and just living elsewhere a certain percentage of the fan base will continue to hope for a reunion. Short of killing her off, the only way to permanently end Japril hopes is to pair her off with the guy she left at the altar. There’s no way she could ever plausibly leave Matthew again and reunite with Jackson. With April out of the picture and happily paired off, I’m sure they hope the audience will be ready to buy into Maggie and Jackson.

Agree that Matthew and April are likely going to end up at the rural hospital where they were volunteers.

However, Matthew could eventually come to see that the past four years has changed them too much and break up with her. I also can't help but wonder how Matthew feels about Harriet and seeing April with a living, breathing reminder of what she and Jackson did to him and what that relationship ultimately produced.

[anna0852]

 Yes, Harriet is a reminder of Jackson and April's relationship. However April leaving him allowed Matthew to meet his wife and to have his daughter Ruby. Could Matthew really say that having Ruby and that having Holly in his life for the time that he had her were bad things? Had April not left their wedding he wouldn't have met Holly and there would be no Ruby.

[Efzee]

17 hours ago, Chicken Wing said:

Regarding April having no brain damage, her body temperature had dropped to, what, 68 degrees they said? That level of hypothermia basically froze her whole body, including her brain, to the degree that she was essentially in suspended animation, so to speak. The brain's need for oxygen actually decreases. But you have to be frozen just right, for just the right amount of time, and you have to be brought back in just the right amount of time, at just the right level of warmth administered in just the right way. Get any of them wrong and the person could still die. A lot of caveats to beat but people have survived this way in real life. Hypothermia is even induced in people who have suffered heart attacks or cardiac arrest to reduce damage to the brain or other organs.

This reminded me of something else in the episode that made me roll my eyes: Bailey said something along the lines of [hospital] having been through this once before and so they knew what to do now, which was clearly referring to Meredith's drowning but also seemed to imply this was only the second time in over a decade?! Not sure about the timeline but with all the first seasons together only covering a year of internship and all the crazy time jumps, about a decade or more should have passed since season 3.

1 hour ago, anna0852 said:

 Yes, Harriet is a reminder of Jackson and April's relationship. However April leaving him allowed Matthew to meet his wife and to have his daughter Ruby. Could Matthew really say that having Ruby and that having Holly in his life for the time that he had her were bad things? Had April not left their wedding he wouldn't have met Holly and there would be no Ruby.

Yes and from their religious point of view they probably consider it "fate" that all of this happened and they found their way back to each other... however, if April hadn't left Matthew at the altar, then she never would have gone through the heartbreak of losing Samuel (because it was a genetic defect, right?) and Matthew never would have lost his wife. Instead, they could have been together for years, with 2 or 3 kids (Samuel, Harriet and Ruby).

[marceline]

Apparently this was another episode where HIPAA doesn't exist because it was just fine for Amelia to not only bring her pet junkie to work with her but said junkie was allowed to sit in CT while Herman got her brain scan while Alex and Amelia debated not only Herman's current condition but the possibility that her blindness was the result of her previous surgery.

No privacy being violated there at all!

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 5/11/2018 at 10:51 AM, Pallas said:

ETA: April will start a trauma center (where she and Matthew could have been brought after their accident, instead of downtown Seattle) and Matthew will organize a local EMT division. Funding? The first grant from the Catherine Fox Foundation.

If they DON'T do this, they need to hire Pallas as a writer for next season.

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 5/11/2018 at 2:12 PM, MicheleL4 said:

I almost posted the EXACT same thing!!  Ha ha!!

I never assumed anything BUT this ... didn't there used to be a time (like, a long long time, maybe still) where most if not all of the Grey's episode titles were actual song titles?

[LaughingOne]

20 hours ago, virginia blue said:

I think the writers wanted to avoid any speculation from fans that April and Jackson might be endgame. If April is single and just living elsewhere a certain percentage of the fan base will continue to hope for a reunion. Short of killing her off, the only way to permanently end Japril hopes is to pair her off with the guy she left at the altar. There’s no way she could ever plausibly leave Matthew again and reunite with Jackson. With April out of the picture and happily paired off, I’m sure they hope the audience will be ready to buy into Maggie and Jackson.

Agree that Matthew and April are likely going to end up at the rural hospital where they were volunteers.

Eh, I can't imagine April's blink-and-you-missed-it, off-screen relationship with Matthew is going to deter Japril fans from hoping for a reunion. And I gotta say, if they are aware enough to believe that Jaggie's only hope for fan acceptance is to pair off/write out April, maybe they should consider for a moment that they haven't created that awesome of a couple. 

[pennben]

On 5/11/2018 at 9:51 AM, Pallas said:

Discussed in the Spoilers and Spec thread. I said I'm thinking that she and Matthew will move closer to the rural hospital where they've been volunteering, and take jobs there.

ETA: April will start a trauma center (where she and Matthew could have been brought after their accident, instead of downtown Seattle) and Matthew will organize a local EMT division. Funding? The first grant from the Catherine Fox Foundation.

Oooh, this isn't spoiler or speculation, just playing on a riff here....but that rural hospital.....none other than the one where Derek died!!!  Full circle!

[Bort]

4 hours ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

I never assumed anything BUT this ... didn't there used to be a time (like, a long long time, maybe still) where most if not all of the Grey's episode titles were actual song titles?

They never stopped doing that. They’re all song titles — with the exception of that one who’s title got changed to the 800 number for domestic violence. 

[StaceyNotStacie]

1 hour ago, pennben said:

Oooh, this isn't spoiler or speculation, just playing on a riff here....but that rural hospital.....none other than the one where Derek died!!!  Full circle!

I thought they mentioned when Callie brought Penny to Meredith’s dinner that the hospital was shut down. 

[pennben]

Probably. I was more playing here in response to something someone was having fun with above me rather than presenting anything as a realistic possibility.  Just having a little fun....carry on!

Edited May 13, 2018 by pennben

[KaveDweller]

11 hours ago, marceline said:

Apparently this was another episode where HIPAA doesn't exist

Wait, has there ever been an episode where HIPAA exists? 

[katisha]

Just watched this episode and I enjoyed it because I felt so sure they were going to kill April off and it doesn't seem that is going to happen so at least if SD has to leave the show, she and the character are getting a decent sendoff.

I love Geena Davis whenever she's on this show and I wish she could be a more frequent guest star if they cannot make the Greg Germann spinoff happen!

I was trying to work out for a while why on earth they had shoehorned Ben into the episode until I remembered that he had delivered Harriet.