Grey’s Anatomy: Season 18, Episode 1 Review

Story posted October 4, 2021 in

The previous season of Grey’s Anatomy focused on the main character Meredith Grey having COVID-19, and the rest of the hospital working during a pandemic. While that season was different than anything the audience had seen from the show before, many were ready for the show to return to its normal focus.

Previews for season 18 focused on someone from Meredith’s past returning. Fans speculated it being character Addison Montgomery played by Kate Walsh. Walsh has confirmed on her TikTok that she will be returning to the show this season to reprise her role. However, she was not featured in the first episode.

The episode opened with a message explaining how the show will be portraying a “fictional, post-pandemic world.” We then open on Meredith awaking from a dream. It appears that she is unsure what to do with the “second-chance” she gained since surviving COVID-19.

We come to find out that Meredith is out of town interviewing at a new hospital. Her beloved coworkers of Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital are worried about her leaving the staff, but she reassures them that she is only interviewing because the hospital is naming a research library after her late mother.

While away on her trip, not only does she find out the true motives of Dr. David Hamilton who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and wants Meredith to help conduct a clinical study, she is also faced with a love interest from her past, Nick Marsh.

In season 14, Marsh was Meredith’s patient and was quite the flirt. The two really hit it off and was Meredith’s first time potentially falling in love since the death of her husband, Derek Shepherd.

However, Marsh was only featured in one episode. The two caught up and still had quite the flame. Audiences anticipate that this fire will find its way back to Seattle and become prominent throughout the rest of the season.

Grey’s coworkers, Owen Hunt and Teddy Altman, spent the episode trying to get married, while Amelia Shepherd tried to explain to baby daddy, Atticus Lincoln, why she did not want to marry him. “Grey’s Anatomy” is known for its overdramatic relationship troubles, so it is easy to assume the audience will be seeing more of that between these couples in later episodes.

Along with that, Jo Wilson has quit her job to pursue a new specialty while taking care of her newly adopted daughter, Luna.

In other news, Dr. Cormac opens up to his boss, Miranda Bailey with the trouble he is having with his son’s anxiety. Over the years the show has covered many topics, but anxiety and panic disorders have not been a common subject in the show. It is exciting to see how the show will approach these tough topics.

Overall, this season seems like it has a lot to offer for new and longtime fans. This season is a fresh start with new plot lines, but still has original fans hooked with the future reappearance of Addison Montgomery.

However, all fans, new and old, are wondering whether or not Meredith with will be continuing at Grey-Sloan Memorial this season.

 

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