The soap opera lives on.
So what did we get out of Grey’s Anatomy Season 16 Episode 17? We found out who Amelia’s baby daddy is after Link made a grand romantic gesture in the rain. Teddy continued to have an affair after getting everything she thought she wanted.
Tom made a questionable choice after vaguely seeking advice from Meredith, the renegade, Richard quit spectacularly without revealing his secret tremor, and DeLuca descends into madness.
Mess abounded throughout the hour, and it was enough to make your head spin. But this is what we can come to expect from the lives of all those who cross the threshold of Grey Sloan Memorial, right? They’re human disasters.
The installment remembered that the season’s theme was illuminating the pitfalls of the American healthcare system, so after dropping it back in Grey’s Anatomy Season 16 Episode 8, Meredith picked it back up while spewing some buzzwords about doing mostly pro-bono and her patient’s insulin crisis.
Insulin is so high that people with diabetes can’t afford it, and they end up rationing it to make it last. It was awful to hear this woman speak about the financial jam she’s in and how she literally couldn’t afford to live.
And in the end, she died. Unfortunately, so much was happening that it fell to the wayside, and this is why Grey’s attempts at this keep falling through.
It doesn’t necessarily fit with everything else they have going on, and it’s best when they leave these types of missions for the likes of The Resident or New Amsterdam. Hell, even Chicago Med.
How do you decide which rules to break?
Tom
Meredith has decided rather abruptly that she’s anti-rich people even though she considers Jackson one of her friends and Catherine Fox a bit of an idol. She was opposed to helping Tom with his billionaire patient because of her frustration that the rest of society doesn’t have what he does.
It would’ve made sense if she took his presence as an opportunity to appeal to his charitable side if she was so concerned, but I guess it’s cooler to be mad at him for existing and talking about all the things she would do with that type of money.
Honestly, Meredith has stopped making sense, and the problem all season is that her rallying on behalf of the disadvantaged feels performative more than anything else.
I’m stepping away from surgery indefinitely.
Richard
But somehow, she has become the poster child for breaking the rules for no good reason, so world-renowned neurosurgeon Tom Koracick turned to her to figure out what to do with his patient.
He wanted to know when breaking the rules was acceptable or not when their job as surgeons come with strict guidelines.
Without telling the almighty Meredith Grey the full circumstances, he decided to take his billionaire up on his deal and lied about him having an aneurysm or whatever in exchange for a big, fat check that could help the hospital.
If the truth comes out, it can also cost the hospital gravely, not to mention him and his license, and something tells me he won’t have a legion of people fighting on his behalf.
Meredith: How is Link have you spoken to him?
Amelia: If Link can’t love me no matter who the father is then we have nothing to talk about?
Meredith: I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about that either.
Meredith was dealing with her case and Tom, but she was also avoiding DeLuca.
They are going with the decision that DeLuca is mentally ill, so it’s less murky now. However, it remains unfortunate that this seemingly came out of nowhere, and then it doesn’t get adequate exploration.
We saw him have a brief session with a therapist.
One has to wonder why every soul at the hospital hasn’t sprawled out in this counselor’s office over the years. God knows they all need it.
In the session, he maintained that he didn’t have any issues, and she ran down a list of symptoms he may display, and it was all for our sake. It came in handy later on when he propositioned Jo for sex after trashing her relationship in a crude way that was not like the DeLuca we know.
Since the high sex drive coincides with a manic state, we have another reason to believe he’s BiPolar, and now we have to wait to see when he’ll implode.
It’s nothing to oppose regarding this storyline at all. It could be something meaty, and the subject matter is of importance. The fear is that there is so much going on and not enough time to do it justice.
Jo wasn’t having any of DeLuca’s crap. She’s taking Alex’s departure well.
I am so mad, and I’m so hurt. But I also know that he’s the reason I will rise from the trash.
Jo
She’s a bit bitter, but who isn’t other than the legions of Izzex fans who came out of the woodwork? So far, her pity party hasn’t ventured toward the intolerable.
She had one big speech about him discarding her like trash, and something about rising from the ashes or whatever, but aside from that, she and Link looking unkempt and grumpy about all things love was amusing.
Jo and Link’s friendship is such an unexpected delight, and since there is a lapse in a consistently showcased platonic friendship with substance these days, it’s all the more special.
As for everyone else, there is a distinct lack of reaction to Alex leaving. Some of the other characters referenced it, but they shrugged it off.
Wow. That went from forever to less than a day. You called it Jo. All love sucks.
Link
Their case with the couple who were eating each other’s faces made Link and Jo both look at things in their lives differently, and it prompted Link to go to Amelia and make a grand romantic gesture.
Is anyone else still trying to figure out why Link had to apologize? Nothing he said or did was unreasonable. Amelia was the one acting ridiculous in this situation, and it’s frustrating that it isn’t acknowledged.
The whole thing with them being apart was pointless. It was needless drama for the hell of it. Amelia could’ve taken the test and gave him the results in the first place, and it didn’t have to turn into some big ordeal where he had to prove to her he loved her.
Why was there never any space for Link to have jumbled up feelings without him needing to put them on the backburner to bend to Amelia’s will and reassure her?
You make me want to write love songs in the rain. You make me want to be a parent.
Link
Why was it OK for her to unload decades worth of her abandonment issues or whatever else and force him to be held accountable for them by proving something to her, but he couldn’t do the same with his host of issues, baggage, and insecurity?
Amelia didn’t deserve that grand romantic gesture because of how unnecessary it should’ve been in the first place. If anything, she should’ve at least apologized to him too.
But all that aside, Atticus Lincoln is absolute perfection. They let Chris Carmack hold a guitar and stand in the rain. The Nashville feelings jumped out.
As pointless and contrived as this godawful, and stupid, baby daddy plot was, Lincoln made me swoon, and Amelink is back on track.
Amelia: You want to do this even if he isn’t yours?
Link: I do.
Amelia: I really needed to hear that because I got the results, and he is yours.
We have our healthy couple back, and we’re going to pretend like they were never apart in the first place.
As for Teddy, Owen, and Tom. Gee whiz, they are a mess.
For once, Owen is not the disastrous one in his relationship. He’s the wronged party, and you couldn’t help but feel for the guy when he was at home cooking dinner for his fiancee, unaware that she had been banging Tom like a screen door during a windstorm.
Basically, Teddy freaked out about Owen being the baby daddy and slept with Tom for no good reason. She then spent the entire hour trying not to make it her fault.
Owen: Teddy what’s wrong? I know you too well. Something has happened. Just tell me what happened.
Teddy: Amelia’s baby might be yours. Might be, might not. She doesn’t know yet.
Teddy pulled an Amelia when she dropped a bombshell on Owen and didn’t give him time to process. It didn’t make any sense. It was the same as Amelia getting mad when Link froze for .000034 seconds after finding out something shocking.
What is with these women?
Teddy was mostly inclined to pull a reversal on Owen out of guilt. If she could make him wrong for freezing too long and after finding out Amelia’s baby could be his, she didn’t have to feel bad about sleeping with Tom.
She even resorted to telling Owen about the situation with Amelia instead of confessing. To be fair, Owen should’ve heard the news from some damn body, but not like this.
Maggie: Who does this? Who cheats on her fiance with a man who is desperately in love with her an dbefore you go judging Amelia why don’t you remember how long it took you to tell Owen you were pregnant.
Teddy: Yes, yes, you’re right.
Maggie: That’s my sister you’re talking about.
God bless Margaret Pierce for speaking truth and providing levity and sense to this situation. Teddy had the audacity to once again think she could speak ill of Amelia to Maggie of all people, and Maggie would not allow it.
Maggie calling Teddy out for whining and judging Amelia when she didn’t tell Owen she was pregnant with his kid until she was damn near in the stirrups was the best moment of all.
Maggie was also right to admonish Teddy about using Tom, someone who has been in love with her and playing with his feelings.
Tom sure as hell isn’t a saint in any of this, and it’s irritating as hell that he’s stuck in this storyline. Now, he’s settling for being Teddy’s lover, and nothing good can come from this.
Tom: Stop. Stop saying that. I’m really not a good guy, Teddy.
Teddy: I don’t think that’s true.
Tom: It is true.
Teddy had everything she wanted, but her fear that Owen would choose Amelia over her, and whatever other insecurities she has about their relationship and how tenuous it is, has her being reckless, dumb, and self-sabotaging.
She blew her entire relationship and happy life up, for what? It was so exciting when Teddy returned to the series, but be careful what you wish for, you know?
We got her back, but at what costs?
And Richard refuses to tell anyone what’s wrong with him, but the way he lashed out at Bailey was troubling. She didn’t deserve the way he snapped at her.
He’s upset about his hands trembling, and he told her he’s leaving. He’s choosing to retire, but is it for good? Will it take?
Bailey: Richard, this place needs you.
Richard: And that’s why I want to step away at the top of my game.
They just lost Alex, and Richard is a staple at the hospital. How can they go on without him? I wish he’d open up about his hands. What if there’s something that can be done?
Oh yeah, and Jackson was annoyed that Vic moved in without telling him, and then he got irritated she chose to shack up with Dean instead.
He was concerned about her moving in with someone with a crush on her — the same guy who hit on Maggie too. They broke up or whatever, but was anyone invested in this?
Over to you, Grey’s Fanatics.
Are you appalled by Teddy’s behavior? Are you happy Amelink made up? Hit the comments below.
You can watch Grey’s Anatomy online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.