#but i do remember there's a scene where derek is in an argument with tom

[boltlightning]

s2 of smash is such a mess BUT derek wills has achieved his full form of sprawling over every set like a misbehaved house cat making snide little comments and viciously mauling any enemy who comes near. nothing more. he is a man who only has emotions in weird puppy-eyed daydream sequences and that's how it should be. the show has finally realized i'm a simple woman and im only here to see jack davenport be hot and evil and inevitably ruin everything

[bloomingundertheshadows]

This my longer ranting post about this whole fwb storyline. If you’re in the mood for a rambling rant, this is your one stop shop. 

I feel like this fwb is irrationally irritating me. I am not really sure why, but something about this plot like actually makes me angry. I know that at least part of it is because they’re making it abundantly clear that they have no real narrative purpose for Nico, and I’ve really reached my tolerance for plot lines that do not add anything interesting to the show (I’m looking at you Teddy-Owen-Tom nonsense). 

I think the other part of this that bothers me is that I feel like I was, at least somewhat purposely, duped into believing one thing about this couple only to have it go another direction entirely. I feel like I was lead to believe this was a) going to be characters that got some development and b) that we were actually looking at a meaningful relationship here. I’ve said it before that they really went kind of hype on this couple and I feel like they dropped that ball in 16B. Season 15 clearly set up character growth and conflicts for this couple, and then idek know what happened to that thought in Season 16.  And I don’t mind there being more complexities/drama from a relationship. Let’s all remember the season 1 bombshell of Derek being married. However, I feel like this storyline is almost like what would have happened if at the end of Season 1, Meredith told Derek she loved him and he was like “You know, despite the fact our relationship has been building the entire season, I think I would just like some sex.” 

Now, I know there are some valid arguments that Nico’s behavior isn’t new. And if this was Season 15 or even 16A, I would agree. The issue is that being an emotionless corpse was a Season 15 plot point that the final episode very clearly indicated would be an issue that was being actively resolve (hence complaint a) Let’s not forget that Nico was the one to come and apologize. And then we went through 16A essentially like it never happened until Justin Chambers left the show and then in literally the course of an episode he was like “actually nah, all those nice things I did for you were a lie.” The show more or less hit pause on that issue for more than half a season, and at that point I don’t think you just get to resume like nothing ever happened. Maybe it was their intent to have this seem like a natural progression from the end of Season 15, but they spent half of season 16 making them a very cute and stable couple; they made their bed, and they’re refusing to lie in it. We’re acting like Nico didn’t seem to want to make an effort about being better about you know not exploding at his partners under stress or being a completely emotionless moose. 

I’d argue that they actually could have gotten away with this whole storyline, except for one key fact: they refuse to give Nico any actual story. The devils advocate might argue that we’re seeing all these relationship problems arise right when Levi moved in with Nico. Could this be because moving in together was just too much of a commitment and it freaked him out? We’ll never know because no one can be bothered to give this poor character some screen time to turn him into more than a story-beat on the planning board. And I know some people have picked up the fact Nico’s probably lying when he said he’s fine, and you know what? If the writers actually do something with that, I will applaud them. But we’re 2 seasons into these characters, and the sliver of character growth fro Nico in Season 15 was chucked out the window in favor of whatever that closet scene was. 

If anything I think this storyline irritates me because it’s a culmination of every issue I’ve had with the writing of these two characters for over a season, and nobody has taken any steps to fix it. The weird bombshell about Nico not being out to his parents was dropped, Levi’s mom might as well have moved to France, and I feel like the writers just recon something when it no longer fits the current storyline. If I felt there was some endgame lesson to be learned from this plot or if I trusted the writers enough to make something meaningful out of this clownery, maybe I would feel differently. But I have spent enough time making mountains from molehills when it comes to the writing, and somehow I don’t foresee any big changes. They had the chance to dig into something meaty in 16B when Levi moved in. I mean commitment issues/Nico secretly maybe not actually being out could have fueled them for at least a season (and I know COVID changes things, so I am willing to concede a little). 

And look, yea, these two def have some of the more notable sex scenes in the last two seasons, but there is just a point where I’m like...is this really what we’ve reduced ourselves to? Previous storylines focused on confidence and compassion, and we’ve reduced ourselves to ‘tee-hee sneaking into supply closets to have sex with my emotionally repressed ex.’ Like really? These characters have 2 minutes of screen time, and we’ve chosen this path? After all that hype you raised about Levi’s coming out and Nico being the first gay male surgeon? This is what you’ve done?????????? Why. Also, why is the most lines Alex Landi’s getting centered around saying what an ass his character is? Like come on, guys. Could we not pull a season 6 gallavich here? 

[nellie-elizabeth]

Grey's Anatomy: No Time for Despair (17x06)

Do we think there's any universe in which Meredith dies from Covid? I mean, I want to say no, but I didn't think they'd ever kill Derek off either. It is a soap opera, after all.

Cons:

Something about the way doctors talk about the sex trafficker bad guy patient was just so over the top that I was waiting for a twist where it turns out he was innocent. I feel like we've seen the doctors treating despicable people before, and they had to grit their teeth and handle it. That's basically what happened here, but they were all so vociferous about how hard it was to do, and then we have Maggie's outburst where she talks about how black girls are more likely to be victims and less likely to be believed in situations like this. And like - no argument from me, of course, but I just felt like I've seen this show handle similar issues with smoother writing before.

I mean, Teddy still sucks, so what else is new. I don't mind at all that Owen is like "I never knew you" because that's what she deserves. However, one thing is kind of bugging me about their scene, and that's when Teddy says that Allison wasn't just her best friend, but that they were in love. Owen's reaction is to laugh hysterically and say that they named their daughter after a lie. Now... I don't quite remember. Does Owen know the whole story? Does he know that Allison had a girlfriend at the time, and therefore realize that Teddy is a serial cheater? Because to the untrained eye, it could look like Owen's "I don't know you at all" moment is in response to Teddy basically... coming out to him? Like, is Owen pissed that he didn't know Teddy was attracted to women? I don't know. I don't think that was the intent of the scene, but there were a lot of mixed signals and I was a little uncomfortable about the way the end result was presented. I still don't feel any sympathy for Teddy, really, given the situation as a whole.

Pros:

I really like Tom Koracick, okay? I will be seriously bummed out if he dies. His scene with Meredith where the two of them chatted about kids and about being surgeons and being addicted to saving people... that was so great. I mean, these two just vibe together, in a way very few characters on the show really do. They're twisted, they're messy, they have a morbid sense of humor. They can be kind of terrible but at their core they're brilliant, and they will go to any lengths for the people who matter to them.

The human trafficking woman coming back into the hospital and pretending to be a mugging victim was... intense! The whole episode, just waiting for DeLuca to see her and recognize her, meanwhile Schmitt is happily and ignorantly treating her... yikes! I wasn't expecting this plot thread to be a recurring one, since it seemed like Covid was the obvious "big bad" of season seventeen. But I'm not mad about it, I'm really intrigued!

Speaking of DeLuca, I loved his moments with Bailey, where he noticed her in a not-great place because of her mother's recent passing, and calmly advised her to take some time, sitting with her and letting her talk it out. He then tagged out in order to take his meds and get some rest, and Bailey expressed pride in him for managing his mental health and setting limits. This was so lovely! Some nice bonding between them as they have both had mental health plot threads on the show. It was so heartbreaking hearing about Bailey's mother's wishes for a funeral, and how because of Covid things were going to have to look a little different. But DeLuca was calm, and said the right things, and I think really helped Bailey get some perspective.

Since other hospitals are at capacity, Grey Sloan Memorial is officially enacting surge protocols. We see the chaos of this, as the cafeteria is converted to extra space. Richard is doing an amazing job managing it all. I feel like after the tumult of the past couple of seasons with him, it's so nice to see him in his element, succeeding at management in such a powerful way. He and Bailey make a great team on this!

Maggie is having a rough time, but her boyfriend shows up in person, tired of long distance! I did think it was weird how they just immediately hugged, no masks, no conversations about their respective bubbles, but I suppose since they're both doctors, they've been taking every precaution along the way! I hope this romance stays a stable aspect of Maggie's life moving forward, as she's about to receive some bad news about Meredith...

As always, I'm sure I'm missing something. There's always a lot going on in this show. We're about to go into our winter hiatus, and we've left things on a cliffhanger: Meredith, on a ventilator. And Carina and Andrew chasing after the trafficker in their car, not willing to let her get away a second time. I'm still totally on board to find out what's next!

8/10