What, no Merlex? In this week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, there were two noticeable absences: our intrepid narrator, Meredith Grey, and her guy “person,” Alex Karev. And while it was a solid episode nonetheless, well, it’s just not Grey’s Anatomy without Meredith Grey.
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As for Alex, we just missed him. I mean, we did just get him back from the clutches of the penal system, so it would be nice if this week started to reintegrate him at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
Rather, what we got was an episode that focused on what life might look like at Grey Sloan if April Kepner’s appointment as interim chief of general surgery actually stuck. Was it interesting to see where everyone’s loyalties fell and how the dynamic between the doctors played out in the OR? Sure.
Having said that, it simply wasn’t the same without Mer, am I right?
I kept waiting for her to pop up at some point or at least be worked into a scene. But nope! She remained the out-of-sight narrator for the entire episode. ICYMI, that basically makes two episodes this season already that have had little to no Grey factor. What gives, Shonda Rhimes?
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All of this isn’t to say the cast and characters who had arcs tonight aren’t important or interesting. Case in point? Dr. Stephanie Edwards learned the hardest lesson any surgeon will ever learn: that sometimes, no matter how prepared you are, things go terribly wrong and you lose someone on the table. And sometimes, that someone is a 9-year-old boy.
Jerrika Hinton, who plays Stephanie, gave yet another moving performance. Her arc also served to move Minnick’s story forward, as this was also Minnick’s first loss of a child. For the first time, she is vulnerable and open, letting Arizona console her in the aftermath.
Another character that saw major development this week? April, of course. Now that she’s the new interim chief, we’re seeing April in a new light. On the one hand, I kind of get where she is coming from — opportunities like this don’t just come along every day. On the other hand, I’m with Maggie… the total 180 April did when Bailey offered up Meredith’s job on a silver platter makes April seem like a Judas.
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So, yes, there was plenty going on this week to sink our teeth into. However, can any fan who has been on this journey with Meredith all these years not feel at least a little slighted when she is a no-show?
No offense to April, but we want Meredith! If Alex happens to be right by her side, that wouldn’t hurt our feelings either. You can’t take away Yang and McDreamy and Lexipedia and George and Izzie for good and after all of that deprive us of Mer and Alex.
The new kids may be cool, but there are no substitutes for the real deal.
Hopefully, Rhimes gets a little pushback from fans and realizes this could never work IRL — as in, if this is all some sort of strange test run to see if you could still have Grey’s without Grey. Rest assured, though, Rhimes… you just can’t.
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