Grey’s Anatomy season 15 episode 14 review: How you want to live
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The title for this episode refers to a sweeping epidemic of overdoses that came into the Grey Sloan (it is also one of our favorite 80’s songs from Huey Lewis and the News!). For most cases, they were commonplace, a mere blip on the radar for an established doctor like Owen Hunt or Alex Karev. For others, they had a more lasting impact. Betty was one of those, and so was her boyfriend — who ended up dying before they could live out any future together. Betty was fighting for her own life in the ICU, and as she recovered, Amelia and Betty’s parents had to make a decision: Do you tell her the truth about her boyfriend’s death? This is what could kill her, but it’s what could turn her life around. That’s why Amelia stressed what she did: She has to know. It’s the only way since otherwise, there is always that lingering question.
Would you do the same? It’s a question worthy of some discussion, given how every individual handles trauma and handles their definition of “helping others” differently. You weigh the options and think about the greater good. The good of Betty getting through this (for Amelia) outweighs the fear that it could send her down a dark road … one that she is inevitably facing as it is.
Elsewhere in the episode, maybe some of the stakes were a little less dire, but nonetheless still important. Alex Karev had to make a decision of his own: The best advice to hand down to a man with a junkie ex, someone who could mentally or even literally poison their kid. There’s sympathy, but then there’s also safety for those who need it. This is what Alex enforced, really on the hardest line possible. It was a method that surprised Amelia, but a sensible one from his past. This is a man who experienced the pains of addiction first-hand, growing up with a drug-addict father who abandoned him. It’s him handing down his own form of tough love and then Jo working to understand it after the fact.
Make no mistake: There will come a time when the cracks start to form between Jo and Alex — they do with many couples within the realm of Grey’s Anatomy. They’ve just found a way to keep their honeymoon mentality longer than anyone thought.
Meredith breaks a record
Consider this your story of joy — one of a few in what was a depressing hour of television elsewhere. Ellen Pompeo’s character found herself performing the longest procedure in the history of the hospital, and did it without even batting an eye. As a matter of fact, she blasted through the episode, found a way to show care for Amelia, and then eventually passed out on a hospital bed. This was about resilience for Meredith more so than any other attribute — fighting to maintain the good fight.
For any MerLuca ‘shippers, your moment-of-the-night came when he tucked her in to the hospital bed following the end of the procedure. It was small, but a nice reminder of where they are. There’s no room even for the metaphorical cracks with the two of them as of yet.
Jackson (doesn’t) go camping
It started as an ideological dispute — Jackson felt like a camping trip with Maggie would unleash their inner passion and allow them to reflect on their place in the world. He’s a spiritual man these days and we almost want to see an episode of Grey’s Anatomy with Jesse Williams at Burning Man.
Maggie, meanwhile, likes the finer things in life — her place in the world is mostly in an apartment, or somewhere with an actual toilet (which we can related to – who wants to sleep on the ground if they don’t have to?). She tried to put on a brave face and while she wasn’t exactly happy about the idea of Amelia in peril, the Betty situation offered her a get-out-of-camp-free card that she was able to play. She could hang back at the hospital, better ensure her sister was okay, and save Jackson’s brand of passion for another day … which will likely be some time down the road. Jackson himself decided to help one of his patients, an elderly man with nowhere to go, by giving him some of his camping supplies. While we’re not about to say this man is about to go glamping by any means, Jackson had some pretty top-tier equipment! He knew he couldn’t just go roughin’ it with his girlfriend so he had prepared.
CarterMatt Verdict
Isn’t peace what everyone on Grey’s Anatomy is really looking for? It is just something so difficult to find and something that takes tremendous effort to uncover. It also does come in a myriad of forms. For Amelia, her peace comes with knowledge and making sure those who need it have it. For Jackson, that peace is maybe the sound of the wind in the Pacific Northwest. Some people find that peace earlier and easier than others, but these doctors realize how valuable it is. That’s the takeaway from episode 14, and you have to hope that it reverberates beyond just the events of Thursday night.
Want to preview Grey’s Anatomy season 15 episode 15?
We have an article up over at the link here, and we highly recommend that you check that out … stat!
What was your take on Grey’s Anatomy tonight, and if you were in the shoes of Betty’s parents, would you tell her the truth about her boyfriend? Share in the comments. (Photo: ABC.)