But first, aSPOILER ALERT!
Don’t read if you haven’t watched Thursday’s episode of the ABC drama.
So I know, we were all"Season of Love!
Credit: Eric McCandless/ABC; David Livingston/Getty Images
“and then we put you through episode 1507.
We were all, “Grey’sis a romantic comedy again!”
and then we put you through dark and twisty drama.
But sometimes, a little darkness is necessary so you can appreciate the light.
This episode was designed as a study of a family in crisis.
Let’s start with Richard.
It makes Richard what folks in the recovery community would deem a “dry drunk.”
It’s a dangerous state of mind.
Thank God he didn’t drink.
Thank God he didn’t hit the bartender with the bat.
That scene was a beast for any director.
We didn’t have enough bottles to reset the scene if it went wrong.
So I ran the lines a few times with Jim backstage.
I mean that literally and in every metaphorical way I could mean it.
And maybe as a result, this is my favorite scene in the show.
Jim’s performance is stunning.
It was an extraordinary thing to witness on set, and when the take was over I cheered.
Because the tension building up to that moment took my breath away.
And because Jim’s performance?
And those words written by Elisabeth Finch?
When it was all put together, it just wrecked me.
I hope it wrecked you too.
I hope if you’re sober, it sent you to a meeting.
I hope if you gotta get sober, it sent you to a meeting.
There are pictures to prove it.
That bar exists in Los Angeles.
There’s a bar where they give shots for chips.
When I heard about it, I wanted to take a baseball bat to the place.
And because I love Catherine Avery.
My God, Finchie was brave to write this story for us.
“Why do we do that?”
Catherine asks, speaking on behalf of Finchie who is speaking on behalf people with cancer everywhere.
“Why do we refuse to talk about it?”
How’s your health today?
How are you feeling today?
You would be shocked how rarely people ask that question of people living with cancer.
We are afraid and so we talk about almost anything else.
It’s hard when a belief system you’ve leaned on your whole life shifts.
It breaks you open.
And sometimes it prompts you to revisit who you were in your old belief system.
Sometimes you have to look backward so you can walk forward.
And you oughta be able to talk about all of it.
Maggie is willing to listen.
She is always willing to listen.
Like she says, she’s an incredible support system.
But she never learned how to share of herself, and that is what Jackson needs right now.
(That’s a huge part of how 12-step programs work, by the way.
You tell your stories and people laugh in recognition of them.
Maggie was a child genius, a prodigy.
She never walked among her actual peers as a young person.
Sometimes a fight can deepen the relationship.
Sometimes walking through intense truth and bewildering pain can bring you closer.
But Maggie never learned how to do any of that.
She manages to articulate that to Jackson which is a huge step forward.
Endings and beginnings are not always clean.
We wish they were, life would be easier if there were no messy shades of gray.
Often by the time people access that grief, they have moved on to a new love.
It’s messy and it’s hard to talk about.
I don’t believe that Maggie walks out that door because she can’t handle what he actually said.
And then she texts Meredith that this feels like the end of the world.
I believe Maggie can rise to the occasion, but it’s going to take her a minute.
She has to walk through those big feelings and dig deep and find the other side.
I believe Jackson genuinely loves Maggie.
And yes, he has been sharing with other women who have been through what he’s going through.
He didn’t cheat.
He isn’t cheating.
But Jackson has to rise to this occasion too.
It doesn’t have to be over just because someone walked out the door.
In terms of behind the scenes, Kelly McCreary and Jesse Williams are a director’s dream come true.
They are smart, deep, thoughtful, prepared, kind, and generous actors.
And her village of nurses.
When my dad died, his ICU nurses showed up at his funeral.
I have never forgotten that.
It was nice to spend this time with our nurses.
To depict all that love and warmth and care.
Television is a collaborative art form.
And without the fans, we are all lost.
Grey’s Anatomyairs Thursdays at 8 p.m.
