‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 13, episode 7 review: Webber faces change — and possibly the end
In some ways, you can argue that several episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” earlier on in this season were focused mostly on the past. Amelia and Owen were enjoying their marriage, Meredith was trying to figure out precisely how she felt about Riggs, and Alex was forced to think about DeLuca and what transpired at every turn.
Now, we are on the precipice of sweeping change, and it starts with the arrival of Dr. Eliza Minnick, a woman who could bring sweeping change to the hospital with her teaching techniques. She met with the residents individually, figured out what they were taught, and then proceeded to drive the attendings completely up the wall. Meredith was frustrated by her being shadowed during surgery, and for Richard Webber it was so much worse. With every passing step, he felt more and more like he was being pushed out the door as one of the preeminent teachers within the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
The reason this story works lies within the writing, and the multiple implications that comes with Minnick’s arrival. Subconsciously Webber is already a man with certain insecurities, given the notion of himself as an older doctor fearing that he will someday be phased out as so many have in the past. There is also a certain element of betrayal that comes from having Miranda Bailey, a woman responsible for building the program to begin with, being the one to give her the green light.
Eventually, everything came to a head when an important, elderly patient of Webber’s found herself entering surgery, and Minnick decided to turn it into a teachable moment for Dr. Leah Murphy. Webber resisted, and over time, it only became more sobering for him as she continued to make point after point about how he is failing to let the residents step in and learn. Do we think that she is a little too extreme in allowing young doctors to take on difficult operations? Sure, but Webber probably is too much of the bird afraid to let the hatchlings fly. The answer lies somewhere in between. What is far less ambiguous is if she comes on board, it means the end of Webber as a voice of authority. If you are looking for a source of stress, this is a well-crafted way in which to create it. Right when Webber expresses willingness in fixing the problem, the hammer drops and he could be out of a job.
Hey, at least this story ended with a fun moment in which Minnick seemingly hit on Arizona where she admitted that she had no problem remembering her name, which is what she’d made a list of names for in the first place. It wasn’t a ranking of the doctors as they had suspected.
Amelia tries to shake things up – Following the pregnancy-that-didn’t-happen, you can continue to see the tension bubbling underneath the surface between the two. He called her out on her recent trend of avoiding him, which included her staying away from home for two straight weeks. What this led to in a heated conversation in which she admitted that she didn’t want to have children. Given that this is an experience he went through with Cristina, this could have more emotional weight than it would under ordinary circumstances.
Now, she’s staying at Meredith’s.
And now for something lighter – April and Jackson tonight were hilarious, mostly because she was so intent on getting back out in the dating pool that she was willing to venture out to a real danger zone in Tinder in order to find someone. It looked on paper like her date didn’t quite work out, but she remained invested in keeping up the charade so that Jackson could have a little bit o’ FOMO going on. (For those unaware, FOMO = Fear of Missing Out.) Eventually she came clean, and Jackson, despite claiming that he didn’t want to hear about her dating life, actually encouraged her to go through with the date. So, she did — for now.
Overall – An episode that contained fear, danger, and funny moments. In a month when we’re looking back at the first run of “Grey’s Anatomy” this season, there’s not enough about “Why Try to Change Me Now” that will make it stand out. That doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Grade: B+.
Next week – We’re entering “The Room Where It Happens,” which could be an emotional, powerful hour that mixes things up for the show. Head over here to read more about it. (Photo: ABC.)