Because The A.V. Club knows that TV shows keep going even if we’re not writing at length about them, we’re experimenting with discussion posts. For certain shows, one of our TV writers will publish some brief thoughts about the latest episode, and open the comments for readers to share theirs.
- We’ve always known that Shonda Rhimes is about as subtle as a hand grenade. But this episode is so over-the-top with blatant wall metaphors, I actually have to hand it to her. Like all of us, Rhimes is wondering, What can I do right now to help the world situation? To her credit, she crafts a Grey’s episode that turns the resistance against Richard’s ousting and the new hospital consultant into resistance against Trump and the immigration ban.
- Poor Bailey is Trump in this scenario, pulling off rash, impulse decisions like suspending Grey, after Grey pulls out a statement that could have been taken from any immigration ban protest platform (except for the Richard part): “I do not support this. At all. It’s unfair and it’s unnecessary. You’re pushing Richard aside for no reason. And lot of us feel this way. I think you need to listen and hear what people are saying.” Hear that, Trump? (Probably not, because it’s not CNN or SNL.)
- Katherine is Bannon, pulling the strings behind the scenes and making Bailey into her puppet, of sorts. When April tries to explain the protest (“We were taking a stand for Dr. Weber!”), Katherine smacks her down with: “What you did stands to hurt this entire hospital [or, y’know, country]… You shouldn’t be proud about what you did, you should be embarrassed.”
- Speaking of the country, there we can insert the poor woman wrapped in razor wire, who built a wall to protect herself and her husband from the outside world, where “we felt safe, us against the world.” Mean neighbors who built a fortress around their place, who yelled out “We have guns!” at the slightest provocation, and then wind up tangled in their own razor wire. It’s so on-the-nose, but so brilliant in a way. Because the neighbor they were protecting themselves against turns out to be the one that saved her in the end. We get it, Shonda: We all need each other. People help people; people shouldn’t be afraid of people. Otherwise, you’re going to get tangled up in your own prejudices and lose something valuable. Like your leg below the knee.
- Because she is Shonda Rhimes, she can’t let that well enough alone: The wall metaphor continues into the chasms between people. Owen and Amelia. Maggie and her mom. Karev and Jo. Shutting ourselves off does more harm than good: “Every day you don’t open the door, it gets easier to stay inside.”
- In other news, Maggie is still so annoying, acting like a petulant teenager when her mom comes to visit and charms all of her friends. I have to wonder if they are really writing her in the voice of an actual 17-year-old girl, because what grown-ass adult would be embarrassed and apologize for their mother who’s doing nothing but being nice? And she will have a another meltdown when she finds out her mother is sick, because of course she will.
- Alex is back, fortunately. Here are my new couple suspects for endgame: Jo and DeLuca, Maggie and Riggs, Meredith and Alex. Just because it seems like they’re still trying to position Maggie and Riggs together, especially this episode, which I just don’t get at all.
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