Grey’s Anatomy’s Midseason Premiere Delivers Predictability, Found Family and Messy Romances

Critic’s Rating: 3.3 / 5.0

3.3

Well, after all of that, Jo and the babies are fine.

But then, are we really surprised? For the most part, Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 Episode 7 explored how much these characters have become family.

And while the medical cases mostly fell into the background, personal dynamics carried the hour.

Found Family and Rallying Around Jolink

It was sweet to see how everyone rallied around Jolink and the twins.

Chris Carmack does well with heavier material, portraying a distraught, tired man struggling with the stress of these life-altering situations.

He was a mess, understandably so, and it was tough on him having to deal with Jo nearly dying (something she did a couple of times during the installment) and worrying about their babies: at the hospital and at home.

It was a lot for one man, but he only needed to look around to see he’d formed quite a family at Grey Sloan, and they’d all supported him however they could, effortlessly.

All of it was sweet. It’s sometimes hard to see a clear point of connection between some of the remaining characters anymore. Friendships don’t feel as pronounced as they used to be.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that some of these characters even care about each other, or that their closeness feels like something that happened offscreen.

In this case, it’s easy to forget sometimes that Teddy and Link have had a pretty solid connection over recent years, and, of course, in the absence of anyone else, I guess, Jo would be Warren’s closest friend.

Warren, in particular, was a great friend throughout the hour. A pillar of strength for everyone. He was there for nearly every procedure for Jo, taking care of her like he would his own family. And without even being asked, he was looking after the twins and taking shifts, too.

It was heartwarming.

And Teddy was a shoulder for Link to lean on and a person for him to lash out at when it got to be too much. It’s very human — he’s lashing out. And I’m glad he apologized later. But it just reinforced how we’re our ugliest with those we love — because there’s no judgment.

Teddy’s kindness, compassion, and support were a genuine highlight of the hour. And she was adorable, talking to the baby about medical procedures as if she were reading a lullaby.

Meanwhile, Bailey was a mess.

Of all the reactions, hers with Jo startled me at times because I either never realized or never paid attention to how much she cares about her. I think it’s just generally weird, because so many of the close dynamics Bailey had, akin to how she did with M.A.G.I.C., are just … gone.

I can see her connection with Simone and Lucas out of the newer kids, but I never really saw that with Jo. But overall, it’s just that Bailey has gone through so much and lost so many people, so anytime someone she cares about experiences something like this, she takes it hard.

This time, she had a full-blown panic attack, and I appreciated that the series didn’t forget that Bailey has mental health issues that she has to work through every day consistently.

My favorite scene was probably Warren comforting her and knowing exactly how to get her through it. They are and will forever be the ultimate goals.

Of course, Bailey was also struggling because of the news about Webber. And he was being stubborn about not wanting her to fret over him.

But it was a relief when he finally let her take his blood and agreed to some of her offers of help. He understood that it was about love and care.

I think the chapel scene with Link helped him just as much as he helped Link. Speaking of that scene, I’m still thrown by the faith-based arc that they’ve woven in when it comes to Jo and Link.

It still feels like something that came out of nowhere, and now they’re reheating old nachos from previous arcs and trying to make them fit.

Nevertheless, Webber’s advice was nice and sound. I loved how he explained how non-believers apply faith during AA meetings. Maybe they don’t believe in God, but they can believe in each other and the people in the room — in those in their corner.

After all that hoopla, Jo lived, but there was never any genuine concern that they’d kill her, so it was just one of those overly dramatic arcs.

They squeezed in that case with the pilot to give us more medical content. And it was sad in the sense that it was horrible, the pilot died, and his girlfriend blamed his friend. The standout moment from that entire plot was the friend talking to Owen.

But most of the hour was digging into dynamics, romantic or otherwise.

Owen and Teddy finally feel like they’re in a healthier place, and it’s growth on Owen’s part that he didn’t tell Teddy about Nora, so they didn’t fall into old habits. And it was sweet when he told her how proud he was of her over the interview regarding Teddy’s work saving Nora.

Before everything else, they used to be best friends, and that means something.

The Kavita and Kwan storyline is something I have zero investment in. So whatever.

Simone and Wes’s hookup also felt like more of the same, so much so that it was cheesy and dated rather than hot.

Plus, Simone has exhausted me. It just feels like they don’t know what to do with her other than a stupid love triangle.

And the whole thing with Jules and Winston is dragging. It wasn’t the least bit shocking that he ended his night hanging out with that flirty nurse, Iris. More obstacles and angst. Sure.

Lucas and Katie are something messier. Sometimes, it feels like a doomed Walk to Remember type of situation where he falls in love with a dying girl.

Other times, it feels like an unexpected friendship that still feels doomed. Either way, it feels like Katie will die at some point, and Lucas will be devastated.

Katie has found the friend that she’s missed out on while she’s fighting cancer. Everyone else abandoned her, but Lucas hasn’t. That started because of force, and now it’s because he cares about her.

They were sweet watching movies together and taking a detour to see the water.

Over to you, Grey’s Fanatics.

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