Grey`s Anatomy turned 16! Congrats guys. Another milestone in the shows long rollercoaster ride. "Nothing Left to Cling To" was a solid premiere setting up stories to be explored further down the season, while keeping up their hopeful, dramatic and twisty vibe. The premiere was written by Showrunner Krista Vernoff and directed by executive producer and fellow guest star Debby Allen.
The first positive thing I`ve got to say about the premiere is that the show really rediscovered itself and found a way to give necessary dramatic input and development without overdoing it. Grey`s had its phases were they were trying incredibly hard to force up stories and characters upon us, this episode was the complete opposite. They took their time and explored the stories they`ve ended last year with and gave them a new dimension, of course not all of them worked seamlessly still enough for me to enjoy the one hour ride.
So let`s start with the biggest surprise of the premiere, Amelia is pregnant. With decent clues layered through the episode, it was a big shocker for sure. The revelation scene was hilarious though. Carina and Amelia`s interaction was simply hilarious and so smooth. Great balance between dramatic and comedic. Amelia and Link really turned it around next season. After that misguided attempt of Link and Mer and Amelia`s toxic relationship with Owen the two really turned it around last season and became my second favorite current pairing of the show, Alex and Jo running the lead. Nevertheless, this certainly will change so much for Amelia.
(Jump to the next paragraph if you haven`t seen the last two seasons of Private Practice or intend to do. Even though I think Amelia mentioned her PP pregnancy with her fellow addict boyfriend, some of you might have missed it.)
Amelia gave birth to a brainless child and it tore her apart. It took a major toll on her and brought her character to the barely sane person we are living with now. Seeing how this all will affect her down the line is really a challenging story and I am all in for it. Amelia is such a strong and complex character, the path she took from where we met her to where we`ve got now was anything less than heartbreaking. Cat Scorsone certainly can handle tough material and seeing her (with Link) going through this pregnancy will certainly be a rollercoaster.
Meanwhile, Meredith was slowly couping with the consequences of her actions. Fans all over the web already saw her back in scrubs by the end of this hour and I am majorly glad she didn`t. Bossy badass surgeon/mama Mer is definitely my favorite. But I prefer when a show introduces consequences to the actions of their characters. Mer is our protagonist and her going through rough patches is what this show is about. The Medical Board going for her license will majorly impact her for sure. Meredith was downplaying the whole situation and the community service seemed like her worst punishment and she accepted that. I am intrigued to see her fighting to get her life back.
One of the sweeter moments of the premiere, was indeed Tom professing his love for Teddy. Never in a million years would I expected for this turn around in Tom`s character. I adore him. Greg is a brilliant versatile actor and does so much great work as Tom. The writers along with his performance gave the character major depth and likeability. Still, not sure how Teddy could`ve chosen Owen over him. Like why?
In another slow-motion attempt, Owen needed 3 weeks to step up and decide he wanted to be a family with Teddy. That dude seriously pisses me off. He is 40ty or something but has the emotional intellect of a teen. Step it up, dude. Please step it up.
The sweetest moment of the episode was certainly the Jolex proposal. Our man Alex did it once again, he won our and Jo`s heart all over again. Alex came such a long way and his love for Jo just grew bigger and bigger as time was passing. His proposal was just perfect and I am so in for their second wedding.
The therapy session hit really close to home for both characters as expressed their deepest fear, Jo`s not to be worthy of Alex`s love and Alex`s that he might lose Jo forever. The progress was palpable as the scene felt authentic, Krista knows these characters really well.
Richard and Alex sharing more screen time was certainly a major positive of this episode. The two of them along Mer and Bailey are at the core of the show and the more we get of them the better. The two of them running another hospital together seems like a promising storyline, the writers should not drop it easily especially as Mer might join them along the way. Richard getting dragged trough this episode allowed James a lot of great scenes and the use of ageism was inappropriately funny.
Last but not least there were Jackson and Maggie. The resolution of the vanishing story felt a bit anticlimactic, yet proved as very potent plot device for many other characters on the show. After much fighting for their relationship, the two of them (mostly on Jackson`s initiative) called it a quits. I can`t say I felt sorry for that development, it just felt like a poor choice to make him date that Station 19 chick right away. And while I feel the chemistry between them, all of them felt a lot of quite forced.
Other Tidbits:
- Miranda-Catherine scenes are always great.
- We need more Schmidt. That one scene with Nico was solid but we need better and more.
- Bailey is going to school. He was born 7 seasons and many times jumps in between ago. I am all in for more of Mer`s kids. Hope this season gives us more of them.
That is a wrap on my side guys. Hope you enjoyed the premiere and my thoughts on what went down in episode 343 of Grey`s Anatomy. Drop by in the comment section and tell me your thoughts on all that went down. Till next week. . .
