Warning: This post contains spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy‘s Season 22 fall finale.
As Grey’s Anatomy’s fall finale opened on Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and Nora (Floriana Lima) getting interrupted in bed by Teddi Altman (Kim Raver) and their daughters, I felt certain the episode would be a wild one. Unfortunately, Grey’s also did what it seems to do best these days and pulled nearly all of its punches, leaving me wondering: What happened to our beloved Grey Sloan Memorial’s drama?
While that might sound a bit far-fetched, it feels like a fair assessment of the current state of the Grey’s union. Still, as the hour went on, the episode developed some interesting dynamics that I hope are going to come back into play when Grey’s resumes in the new year, despite a lingering fear that we’ll forever be circling the drain.
Laying the foundation for some classic Grey’s Anatomy-style drama, the stage was set for Jo Wilson (Camila Luddington) to face complications after her water broke at the end of the last episode in the wake of Atticus “Link” Lincoln’s (Chris Carmack) injuries from the season premiere. Elsewhere, Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) voices her irritation at the way Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) is behaving as acting Chief.
Hunt & Altman Finally Face Their Breakup, Without A Solid Endpoint
Their Difficult Relationship Is Going To Remain Unresolved
Quickly after laying its foundation for the episode, Grey‘s sprung an emergency onto Hunt and Altman, who witnessed a bus crash that left a cyclist, Maisy, trapped. Openly irritated at one another — Owen for the breach of privacy, Teddi for everything else — the pair put aside their differences to navigate getting their patient out from beneath the bus quickly, but less-than-efficiently.
With a winding story about her now ex-boyfriend splitting up with her for reasons that seem stupid in hindsight, Maisy keeps Teddi and Owen’s contentious relationship top of mind, especially when Altman makes the decision to crawl beneath the bus before it’s fully stabilized, risking her life and Owen’s sanity.
Once they arrive back at Grey Sloan with Maisy, the pair struggles to find any kind of balance in their awkward interactions. Their build seems rife for a fight that, frankly, Teddi and Owen deserve to have. Instead, the former couple tearfully worked through their issues to a point, then left things unresolved and underwhelming. Rather than building to catharsis, the agonizing pair seems stuck again.
Jo’s Pregnancy Complications Quickly Became Life-Threatening
Her Heart Failure Will Continue When Grey’s Returns In January 2026
Although previews told us that Jo’s pregnancy would be in jeopardy as Grey’s Anatomy season 22 rounded out the first half of the season, I was willing to stick my head in the sand throughout the last week. Jo, who has had the most trauma of nearly anyone on Grey’s, deserves to be happy with Link and their daughters, but it’s going to be a tough road there.
After some investigation, Jo is dealing with peripartum cardiomyopathy throughout the episode. It’s to the point that on the operating table, as a heart pump is being placed to help her improve, one of the babies begins to crash. Ben Warren (Jason George) heads out to find help, while Dr. Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) struggles to keep her stable.
While it’s safe to say Jo will be safe, her life hangs in the balance in a storyline that felt like a rinse-and-repeat of Grey’s Anatomy season 22’s premiere with Link’s life at stake. With Jo likely to come out of things with her heart and her babies intact, putting her through hell consistently makes less sense with each passing season.
Grey Sloan Memorial’s Staff Seem To Be Building New Dynamics
Leaning In Could Improve The Show’s Pacing
Elsewhere, there are issues bubbling between Dr. Benson Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.) and new plastics fellow Dr. Kavita Mohanty (Anita Kalathara), Dr. Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) and returning intern Dani Warren (Jade Pettyjohn), and Simone Griffith (Alexis Floyd) and Wes Bryant (Trevor Johnson). Griffith and Warren’s chemistry is palpable throughout the episode, but it’s an elevator kiss between Kwan and Mohanty that caught my attention.
The ever-charming Harry Shum Jr. and lovely new addition Anita Kalathara feel like a cosmic callback to the early days of Alex Karev and Addison Montgomery Shepherd, which felt deliciously more cat-and-mouse than expected. Kwan’s overreach in the elevator leading to the pair’s steamy first kiss is promising and left me hopeful for more from the pair next year.
Webber’s Cancer Diagnosis Was A Shock, But Felt Underscored By Big Swings
Bailey’s Reaction Will Surely Build Into The Season’s Second Half
The final moments of Grey’s Anatomy’s fall finale revealed a huge surprise about Webber, who’d plagued Bailey with overstepping decisions and an irritating attitude all day. When Bailey works up the nerve to talk to her mentor and friend, Webber reveals his diagnosis: cancer, without much more detail surrounding it. Despite this being a shock, it felt muddied by everything else happening in this episode.
Grey’s Anatomy is doing its best to build juicy storylines that will keep viewers coming back week after week. The problem, for me at least, is that Grey’s knows how to create delicious drama — so why are they being so heavy-handed? My hope for the second half of Grey’s Anatomy season 22, which will return January 8, is a lighter touch in their bedside manner.
- Release Date
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March 27, 2005
- Directors
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Rob Corn, Kevin McKidd, Debbie Allen, Chandra Wilson, Allison Liddi-Brown, Jeannot Szwarc, Tony Phelan
- Writers
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Shonda Rhimes, Julie Wong, Jen Klein, Tameson Duffy, Meg Marinis
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Ellen Pompeo
Dr. Meredith Grey
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Chandra Wilson
Dr. Miranda Bailey
- Grey?s fresh crop are full of chemistry and potential.
- Webber?s cancer diagnosis could open up a well of emotion.
- Hunt & Altman?s tumultuous relationship may finally be winding down.
- Overloaded with storylines that don?t have enough follow through.
- Too much focus on Jo, who?s been through enough without yet another tragedy.
- Some rinse-and-repeat stories that feel less interesting because of their familiarity.
