Grey’s Anatomy Season 18: Episode 8 Review

Story posted January 19, 2022 in CommRadio, Arts & Entertainment by Savannah Swartz

The season 18 winter finale of “Grey’s Anatomy” resolved many of the ongoing storylines that have been brewing this fall.

The episode began with a plotline that has been relevant and ongoing all season. Linc and Jo are in their apartment preparing for the day when Linc reveals that he is going to fly to Minnesota to see Amelia. He has finally decided that he is going to tell her how he feels.

On his way to the airport, he gets a call from Jo saying that she just passed Amelia at the hospital.

It would have been true Grey’s fashion to let him fly all the way to Minnesota before finding out she was in Seattle, but thankfully he was able to turn around before getting too far away.

This leads fans to wonder why she and Meredith are in Seattle? In the last episode, Amelia and Kai made breakthroughs in their research, and because of these discoveries, they can perform the surgery on Dr. Hamilton.

Dr. Hamilton wants his surgery to be discreet because of his high status in the medical world and wants it to take place in Seattle.

Many people in the hospital are unaware of the high-pressure Meredith is under this episode.

Many patients in past seasons have caused high stress and nerves for Meredith, but this time was different. Meredith throws up in front of Amelia showing how stressed she is about their outcome. This is a new surgery that has never been performed before, so of course, she is nervous, but there is more to it.

She goes to check on Dr. Hamilton before pre-op and he reminds her of how this surgery is bigger than her and would be able to change the course of neurodivergent medicine and treatment.

At this point it all comes together. It is now apparent that the reason that Meredith took such an interest in this project is because of her subconscious desire to cure Alzheimer’s disease.

Meredith’s mother, Ellis died in season three and suffered from Alzheimer’s.
Through the series, Meredith, and her late husband Derik, have attempted to find a cure multiple times, however, have never come as close to a result.

This changes the narrative and causes the audience to be more excited for positive results in this research. Before this, it was difficult for fans to be connected to Dr. Hamilton and his cause. This conversation made it feel more personal.

Later in the episode, it is learned that Dr. Hamilton is not going to be able to receive his surgery because he has a fever. He originally claimed it was caused by nerves, but he has tenderness in his abdomen and needs surgery. The results of this surgery are unknown and are left to be discovered in the next episode.

Surgery isn’t the only drama for Amelia and Kai this week. During Linc’s quest to find Amelia and confess his love for her he walks in on the two of them sharing their first kiss.

Amelia and Kai have been a slow brew all season. There are pros and cons to all of this. While many still ship Amelia and Linc, there is still a sense of relief when Kai and Amelia finally get together.

In another part of the hospital, Farouk is still fighting for his life, with Megan by his side. Early in the episode, Cormac announces that Farouk is going to get a heart transplant.

In celebration, Teddy, Owen, and Cormac go to retrieve the heart.

Unfortunately, on their way back to the hospital, their driver has a stroke. The car roles multiple times and ends up on the edge of a cliff hanging onto a tree.

The trio spends most of the episode stuck in the car. It is decided quickly that no matter what they must get the heart to Farouk. Deciding who is going to deliver it is a tougher conversation.

It’s discovered that if one person leaves there is still enough weight in the car to keep it from falling. Teddy is chosen to leave with the heart and go find help. We see her get in a car and assume that she finds her way back to the hospital, but that too is left for the next episode.

Cormac leaves the car next, and in his last moments before leaving, Owen reveals how he gave Noah the drugs that put him out of pain and ultimately ended his life and ask Cormac to give the drugs to the rest of the veterans who are suffering.

This is very shocking to Cormac who then watches the car fall off the cliff with Owen inside.

Back at the hospital, Bailey is getting to know the new resident, who only wants to learn from her.

Along with that and a bit more important, Schmidt takes some liberties in the OR while participating in the Webber Method and does not wait for an attendant when executing a risky step in his procedure.

His patient ends up bleeding out and dying. Bailey is extremely unsettled by this and surely will punish him in the next episode, and who knows what she will do about the Webber Method, which she was already not a fan of.

While some things like Amelia and Kai were resolved, there are still many things that are left unknown. Fans have no idea if Owen is alive if Teddy made it to the hospital if Dr. Hamilton is getting his surgery, or what Linc is going to do.

The next episode is either going to have a lot of answers or a lot of angry fans.

Savannah Swartz is a first-year communications major. To contact her, email sms9072@psu.edu.