Grey's Anatomy - Fight The Power - Review: "Someone to be Ur Voice"

This week our favorite Doctors at GSMH continued the fight against COVID 19, as the virus continued to infiltrate the people closest to our doctors. Fight The Power was written by Zoanne Clack and directed by Michael Watkins. 

Before digging into the events of this week's episode, I have to apologize to the readers of last week's episode for not properly addressing the story around Owen last week. Out of hatred for Owen's character, I skipped addressing the story completely, which was a severe mistake.  The story addressed a Patient of Asian descent who suffered from right side Diverticulitis. Dr. Hunt did what most doctors would do and with the symptomatic of right abdominal pain did an ultrasound and thought in the direction of Appendicitis, the most common disease with the symptomatic. Nico and Tseng later on headed into a verbal altercation with Owen cause of his bias. And while I find the story they've tried to tell important, it didn't really reflect well. Personally, I think it has to do with it being Owen who was addressing the issue. Owen is a character who is limited and sort of very poor in self-reflection and personal growth considering how stubborn and self-centered he is.  Even his "heart to heart" with Miranda didn't feel sincere, though his self-righteous attitude and pushy ways didn't really hit the way this story intended to. I still applaud the attempt and hope the show will keep spreading awareness in this regard and show the mistakes that are thought during medical school in regards to treating people of different races and ethnicities. 

Back to episode 5 of the current season. Right of the bat, the episode started with Miranda's voiceover highlighting this will be an episode heavy on her character. And boi, what an episode it was. Miranda's mother came into GSMH with Covid but also revealing that she is having Alzheimer's. The whole constellation provided space for Miranda to experience a range of emotions which was so smoothly executed by one of our series originals, Chandra Wilson. Chandra's Miranda Bailey was often sidelined to prosper the love stories of the series but when the show/writers allow her she always delivered. 

The thing I most appreciate about Chandra's acting is her facial expressions.  The work she does, the way she is reacting to situations with her face and body language is just precious. And it was just like that when her mother entered GSMH you saw that swift change on her face the balance between serious and worried was exceptional and gripped me right from that moment. Miranda's realization that she has to let go of her mother was excruciating and painful. The emotions she exuded during the scene where she discussed her mother's situation with Maggie just carried so much weight. 

But this wasn't where Chandra stopped her acting marathon.  Next stop, the beach with Meredith. Seeing Miranda open up to a comatose Meredith just hit so hard. There is something special to this beach, the serenity of the beach, the calming sounds of the waves, and the peace Meredith herself radiated just echoed Miranda's words and pain through the screen. 

And just when Miranda ,,was ready" to let her mother go, her mother said she wanted to fight. This brought us to probably Chandra's strongest scene of the episode. The scene with Maggie in the park, where she questioned everything she knew and did so far. Maggie was the perfect scene partner for this. Kelly's Maggie revisited her own mother's passing and how she processed her emotions. The two reminiscent of their lives, their mothers' support, their struggles, and their powers to find a bit of light in the darkness surrounding them.  Eventually, it was time for Miranda to say goodbye, and who could be a better companion than her work husband Richard. Chandra once more gave all of her into this scene as Miranda tried to provide all the love and care she still had in herself.  

Meanwhile, on the other side of GSMH, Jo was trying to fix her liver-baby Patient, Val.  After another rough surgery where she had to remove most parts of Val's liver, Jo was beaten down. The joy of surgery was taken from her and she didn't know how to get it back. Suddenly she was pulled into another Baby delivery springing some light into her life.  Jo is now questioning a specialty change, which seems a bit crazy and irrational but let's see where this discovery takes Jo.

Also getting hit hard by Covid was Tom who even suffered a seizure out of the fever and exhaustion. This forced even Amelia to come back to GSMH. Despite everything Tom has done and is continuously doing, he is one of them and they will show up for him. I always enjoy it when Teddy gets the deserved spotlight. Her scenes with Amelia and Tom were just so good. Kim Raver just flourishes in these conditions where she can show emotions, regardless if positive or negative. Tom eventually woke up without major deficits being as sleazily charming as always. 

Another, strong moment within this episode was born through a casual scene between Jackson and Richard. After talking about how Catherine doesn't take care of herself and isn't wearing masks properly. They've touched upon the infection and death rate between Black people and how the numbers are unbelievably high and the death rate is staggering. I find it always so powerful when a show is able to transfer such a powerful message in such a calm way. 

Other tidbits:

- Mer's condition is improving finally, but does this mean we won't get many beach scenes? 

- Schmidt was adorable as always, him swooning over the new intern Khan was just so Schmidt. Get that piece boi you deserve it.

- The Amelia-Linc scene was also very sweet. Their supportive and honest relationship is really light in these dark days. Also, Linc's face when Amelia mentioned she slept with Tom, priceless. 

The episode closed with a dark screen filled with names of people who succumb to COVID. We only have one episode left before ABC's Thursday block is going on a 10-11 week hiatus. What are your thoughts on Fight The Power? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. Till next week.