It was a fairly regular installment.
The thing is, after most of Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 has proven to be a downer, the simplicity of Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 Episode 11 is a reprieve.
It was also the highly-anticipated directorial debut of Giacomo Gianniotti. And that takes some of the sting out of losing him onscreen.
The hour managed to balance out being case-heavy while also giving us some interpersonal exploration and mixing and matching characters.
Finally, Hayes is getting the screentime that the character and the audience deserves has been a treat. He’s such a great character, and we’re getting to see him on a more personal level and in a professional capacity with his patients.
He has this innate ability to connect with people. It was on full display with his interactions with Arthur’s father, Chris. He could relate to this man as a father who wanted to do everything he could to save his sweet boy and felt helpless as Arthur got sicker.
As a result, Hayes’ passion driving him to Maggie made all the sense in the world. She’s a legend and exceptional at her job, but she’s not lived up to her full potential ever since she lost her cousin.
Apparently, despite the grace period she took and the path back to the hospital, she still wasn’t taking huge risks and doing the types of surgeries a fearless Maggie performed prior to the incident.
Hayes: He’s your son.
Chris: I can’t lose him, Dr. Hayes. We can’t lose him. Please.
Hayes and Maggie are a great pairing, and they worked well together. He was an unexpected person who inspired her to get her mojo back, and it was the best case for her to jump into the deep end.
It’s been some time since we’ve had a medical case where any of the doctors got to show off how brilliant and innovative they are, and it harkened the days of everyone coming up with new projects, inventions, and procedures.
Thankfully, they weren’t trying to kill a kid this time around, so Arthur survived, and Hayes and Maggie saved the day.
Another bright spot of the hour was Mama Ortiz.
The series has a terrible habit of fridging most of their residents and interns, even banishing some to a faraway land where they no longer exist. Fortunately, they’ve recalled that Lisa Vidal is part of the cast and isn’t someone you should waste.
Mama Ortiz is the gift that keeps giving, and her experience as a social worker gives her a fresh perspective that the series hasn’t explored. She’s untapped potential, and now is the time to dig into it.
Pairing her with Jackson made for another solid combination. Jackson is notoriously someone who wants to help, but his wealth privilege often leaves him out of touch.
Levi, who was quick with the humor and oneliners, informed him about the issues that their working-class patients faced — and Jackson’s solution was to hand over his credit card and charge up rooms to accommodate anyone who needed one.
When I was a social worker, I saw a lot of temporary fixes that came from a good place but they never got to the root of the problem. Hotels are great for quarantine but then people have to go back to risky jobs and home. I know you’re trying to help, but this is too much, and I’m just over it.
Mama Ortiz
Anyone with some awareness knows that’s a short-term solution to a long-term problem. What happens to everyone after a couple of nights at a hotel?
And without realizing it, he was infringing on those who have dedicated their lives to helping long-term by taking up all the available hotel rooms from these middle-class community organizers who came in with better solutions.
One of the best things about Mama Ortiz is that she’s an intern, but she’s a mature, wise woman who doesn’t bit her tongue. No one else could’ve gotten away with calling Jackson out and opening his eyes.
It’s something he respected, and he sees her value as someone who has worked in a field, social work, that could be useful in fixing the healthcare system and the effects on disenfranchised groups.
Mama Ortiz is who Meredith thought she was back in Grey’s Anatomy Season 16. It’s a lighter, more grounded, realistic, and effective way of tackling systemic disenfranchisement in the healthcare system.
It’s a storyline with potential and sparks some interest, so hopefully, it’s not here today and gone tomorrow.
What isn’t debatable is how much Amelia and Link have saved a dreary season. It was no exception here when Link’s parents arrived via RV for a visit and took all the children for a day.
Link’s parents were doing the Lord’s work for that. Amelia and Link’s hands were full, playing house with all of those kids, and the sad part is that we’ve bypassed all the fun new parent storylines.
Link: What if we just do a check-in every few weeks, no judgment to make sure we’re still good with our decision.
Amelia: Are we super broken or are we super evolved.
Link: Oh, definitely evolved.
Instead of using the time for sex, it led to some discussions about marriage and Amelia’s addiction. Link’s mom is determined to see them get married sooner rather than later, and you can understand since they’re the perfect couple and as domestic as it gets.
But with a perfect blend of comedy and thought-provoking character analysis, their time was spent with Amelia discussing her addiction in depth.
They’re a couple who skipped so many steps, and they haven’t done another in a traditional way, but that’s what makes their moments of soul-bearing gratifying.
They have a way of communicating with one another on a deep level. They get each other well, and they can have some of the deepest conversations seemingly out of the blue, where they both walk away from it the better for having it.
Amelia is unsure if she’d be a good wife. She admitted that she wasn’t one with Owen, and it had nothing to do with her tumor. She worries that her addiction illness doesn’t make her wife or partner material.
It’s such an honest and raw fear of hers, and you can sense that Amelia knows she has it good right now, but she also doesn’t want to mess it up.
On the one hand, it felt like her discussion about her battle with sobriety and how much she craved drugs came out of nowhere. But then, you recall how she behaved when Link was drinking, and it’s no secret that the pandemic and quarantine life has triggered and tested many addicts.
It’s nothing pretty about Amelia saying that she thinks about using every day or how she spaces out sometimes while with the kids and considers it. She still craves heroin, and she’s honest about that.
If I smoked weed, it is very likely that I would forget not to do heroin.
Amelia
We don’t often see the depiction of recovering addicts open about sobriety as a choice made every second of the day.
It’s that honesty that doesn’t scare Link away, though, even if he does sleep to avoid emotional conversations until he can process them. As long as Amelia is open and communicating, they’ll always be OK.
It’s beautiful to see this couple evolve as a mature, stable, long-lasting one.
And hell, maybe the culmination of Amelia, Bailey, and that case helped Owen, too.
It was a shocking moment when Owen stopped in to speak to Teddy, and he apologized. He tried to make amends with her. He extended an olive branch, and he offered the friendship that she needed in the first place.
Owen: You tried to tell me the truth about your relationship with Allison and I was awful to you, and I am sorry.
Teddy: I should’ve told you years ago.
Owen: You told me when you could, and I should’ve listened to you because every day since we met, Teddy, and every day since, you’ve listened to me. You have fought for me. ANd that thing that you did on our wedding day…
Teddy: I’m sorry.
OWen:I know, I know you are. We were friends first. We’ve been friends for years and you’ve never been anything but there for me so when you did something that was so out of character I should’ve known that something was going on and you just needed a friend. I can be your friend. I don’t know if I have anything else in me, but I can be your friend if you let me.
It was big of him, and in some ways, it was something of which he owed. It was a mature move, and while he and Teddy probably won’t and shouldn’t pick up their romantic relationship, at least they can be friends and co-parents.
It’s such a profound moment of maturity, grace, and growth for Owen that I don’t want to undermine it with harping on Teddy. I’m happy he took accountability for his part in things, even though I’m confused about things like her cheating on him was viewed as an out-of-character moment for her.
Again, I’m confused about how far back Teddy’s PTSD is supposed to extend and her grief? Is there a reason why they keep presenting it as something that excuses any and all misdeeds?
Technically, Teddy was OK with infidelity before, and they’ve shown us that since the beginning, so why would Teddy sleeping with Tom when she’s about to marry Owen come across as a “cry for help” or something?
Nevertheless, it was time for them to move on from this tension, so whatever.
And Jo played a part in Meredith waking up. She was so put off by Jo wanting to switch specialties that she opened her eyes long enough to tell Richard.
Sometimes I forget that Jo is Meredith’s mentee and that Mer would care what a fickle Jo does with her career. I’m not exactly sure why this storyline is significant, and no, I”m not facetious, so if you guys have any strong thoughts about it, hit the comments below.
But whatever the case is, Jo is attached to baby Luna, and everyone has a strong opinion about her career choices.
And Mer is off the ventilator, and she had a sweet moment with Richard, but she’s still not out of the woods.
I guess we can expect more beach scenes after all.
Over to you, Grey’s Fanatics! Are you happy Mer woke up? What do you think about Jo switching specialties? Are you loving Mama Ortiz?
Are you happy Hayes is getting more screentime, and Maggie got her groove back? Should Link and Amelia get married? 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.