I’m writing this with the flu....it might be soppy.
I like cake. It has to be light, moist, with only a very thin layer of icing/frosting. And when it’s like that, I love it, with a strong cup of English tea (white, no sugar, in case anyone’s offering). It turns out 11.11, All I Could Do Was Cry was a bit like that kind of cake, wonderful, melt in the mouth, satisfying. At the same time though the taste of it was so devastatingly good it was tragic and at times tangibly painful.
This week April and Jackson faced the saddest decision of their lives and the viewers were treated to the biggest moment of the season. We all thought it would be Derek leaving or continually missing Cristina but the writing has been so strong that even these significant events have been surpassed by the Avery family tragedy. Indeed in recent years only Mark and Lexie’s passing can top the depth of emotion displayed within this story and drawn out from the viewer.
Firstly, a hat tip to Sarah Drew who exceeded herself throughout the episode. Gone was the whiny somewhat immature persona. The April we saw was mature, thoughtful and certainly in a lot of pain. Drew’s sensitive and understated portrayal of her crisis of faith and belief added to size of her performance. Perhaps it was predictable that such a crisis would happen but even if it was it was a fresh and very welcome experience. A second hat tip goes to Jessie Williams. Perhaps his job was harder. He has been given precious few moments over the years to really dig deep in his performance. At times Avery has been a one dimensional and rather too nice a guy (read: boring) that it needed something epic to allow Jessie to shine. He did. Jackson everywhere, but especially Jackson in the chapel brought the tears to my eye and honestly I never thought I would ever write that (@Spartigus15). Their journey was a beautiful, sad, yet important inclusion into season eleven. It must continue so that we can see the grief behind the story. Too often the grieving process is absent. A character dies and recovery is off screen. This time that mustn’t happen. On top of that let’s hope they don’t put these two characters back in a box.
Catherine Avery made an appearance as the devastated grandmother, courtesy of a call from Webber. Perhaps the writers have realized that Debbie Allen’s portrayal of her has been overbearing and, frankly, over done previously because fronting up to April she was sensitive; her performance had softened. She was attuned to April.
“Hold him until God takes him”
April, of course, wanted a miracle. She believes in them and she needed one and though one was not forthcoming to her the writers sought to provide the viewer with some yang to the yin. Some balance.
Amelia performed the first miracle; the miracle of sight. I am enjoying the introduction of Amelia to Grey’s Anatomy enormously. Her story is so strong that we only need small details to know the depth. If you were not a Private Practice fan you need only see the final scene with Owen to know the pain Amelia is suffering as she lives the experience again. It is perhaps the biggest example of a comparison to the great writing of a strong character compared to the poor writing of a weak character e.g. Jo Wilson. In 11.11 we were shown Amelia’s pain all the way through the episode without any need to have seen Private Practice.
“My baby lived for forty three minutes” tells you all you need to know.
(I know, I’m ‘banging’ on about Jo. I don’t hate the character but I see better writing which merely highlights the poorly written characters)
Amelia Shepherd will be a very important character to the future of Grey’s.
The second miracle, the miracle baby, provided the rest of the cast with a raison d’etre. While this story arc was very sweet and uplifting, personally I did not need the yin yang of the he giveth and he taketh away. Killing a baby in one room and the unexpected arrival of a much wanted baby in another felt like the writers were protecting themselves, fearful that April’s tragedy would be too much for viewers, because we’re talking about little babies. Amelia’s wonder surgery was enough of a miracle for me to feel a balance. The miracle baby was too much frosting on my cake, overly sentimental, trying too hard.
But I won’t take away from wonderful storytelling because while I did not need it perhaps other viewers’ did.
In other news Meredith wants a dirty weekend away with her husband. She needs sex and apparently can’t find anyone to cover her shift or look after her kids (didn’t she just hire a nanny? Doesn’t Derek want to see the kids?). This is Grey’s getting on with normal life while tragedy and miracles surround them. Cue Maggie, who keeps asking for friends, who announces herself as family to Meredith in front of Webber (though strangely she won’t claim Webber as family). The writers are forcing Maggie on Meredith and the viewer a little. We are told that Maggie still only has one friend since she moved to Seattle so I guess the night out at Alex’s place did not cement her within the greater friendship circle. Alex is not really interested in being Meredith’s person, in the way she wants him to be. Maggie seems only too willing. So let’s stop fannying around and get on with it shall we.
In a moment reminiscent of Arizona talking to Callie in the chapel when Izzie was sick we were treated to a little scene between Stephanie and Jo with the former feeling terribly guilty about wishing bad things for April and Jackson. I was unsympathetic to Stephanie’s guilt and honestly not very interested in her sparring with Amelia. Amelia is such a strong character that in comparison Stephanie is a bit part player on the fringe. Bite the bullet Shonda...trim down the cast and set Stephanie free.
All I Could Do Was Cry was a cracker of an episode. It allowed viewers to really tap into their own feelings with wonderful writing and epic performances. The continuation of flashbacks to create a sense of tragedy and drama was entirely appropriate and forced even more tears.
It turns out that season eleven is “an unexpected gift just when it’s needed most.”
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