Grey’s Anatomy tees up its finale with an equal parts romantic and bittersweet episode. Titled “Love You Like a Love Song,” episode 17, the season’s penultimate, features plenty of the show’s hallmarks and feels like a classic Grey’s Anatomy episode as a result.
The hour continues Dylan’s storyline from last week, with her parents desperate for her to improve despite no changes in her condition. Nora returns to the hospital much sicker than before, pushing Teddy and Winston to think outside the box to save her. Meanwhile, Jules and Richard treat a patient in the middle of a first date, and Levi returns to Seattle to help Jo with her wedding.
Jo & Linc’s Wedding Could Go Down As One Of Grey’s Anatomy’s Best
It’s Refreshingly Simple & Stands Out As a Result
The big selling point for Jo and Linc’s wedding is how low-key the event itself is by Grey’s Anatomy’s standards. At this point, the show has done a lot of weddings, and it takes a smart approach here by forgoing drama for some lovely, understated moments instead. It’s sweet to watch Bailey help Linc with his vows and even better to see him share them in song, a choice that not only helps set the wedding apart but finally takes advantage of Chris Carmack’s vocal skills.
There’s also a nice pivot with Jo and Linc’s mom. While it would have been easy for the show to stick with the overdone “my mother-in-law is a nightmare” trope, Grey’s flips the script by having Jo’s issues with Maureen lead to the bigger realization that, despite Jo’s bluster, it is a bummer that she doesn’t have parents there on her big day. It’s the sort of aching moment that Grey’s has always done well and helps contribute to making the wedding so memorable.
It’s also great to see Jake Borelli back as Levi, and his return (alongside his boyfriend!) does a lot to make the episode feel even more special.
Kevin McKidd & Kim Raver Are Great As Nora Returns
Teddy & Owen’s Storyline Continues To Be Impressively Nuanced
Nora’s return fuels another of the episode’s biggest storylines and further complicates Teddy and Owen’s situation. As Nora hovers on death’s door, there’s a lot of great, subtle work from Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver, who have both been solid throughout this season in a very tricky storyline. It speaks to their performances that I feel empathy for both Teddy and Owen by the end of the episode, when Teddy sees Owen comforting Nora in an intimate moment.
It’s easy to applaud Teddy’s behavior here, as she genuinely wants Nora to be ok and does everything in her power to make it happen. But I was surprised by how much I understood Owen’s position as well – just because he loves Teddy doesn’t mean he’s not going to feel something if Nora dies. The episode embraces the messiness of that, the way it has Owen and Teddy’s dynamic all season.
Amelia Is An Understated MVP Of The Episode
It Highlights Her Mature Relationships With Owen & Linc
Amelia at Jo and Linc’s wedding in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 episode 17
Owen also has a quiet moment with Amelia, where they both comfort each other without saying much at all, and it highlights how smart Grey’s has been in its handling of Amelia and her exes. In addition to being there for Owen, she’s also at Linc and Jo’s wedding and looks genuinely thrilled for them in every shot.
The benefit of a show being on this long is that it has time to develop those sorts of dynamics – there’s always going to be a believable intimacy and care between Amelia and Owen and Amelia and Linc, but the show has done a great job pivoting away from their romantic chemistry to something even more evolved.
Jules Gets A Well-Deserved Victory
But Simone & Lucas Have A Big Moment That Doesn’t Quite Land
Jules and Richard talk to a patient in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 episode 17
The episode also makes time for a nice victory for Jules, as Richard lets her take the reins on a general surgery procedure, making her realize that she should play the field a bit rather than committing to cardio. While I’m still not wild about the reason why Winston took her off his service and his decision to keep her in the dark about it, it’s nice to see her with more agency in this episode.
While Simone and Lucas definitely have issues they need to work on, the show can’t quite seem to decide what those issues are.
While Dylan doesn’t make much progress in this episode and is, in fact, a bit worse by the end, her case is mostly used as a breaking point for Lucas and Simone, and I will admit, the episode lost me a bit here. While Simone and Lucas definitely have issues they need to work on, the show can’t quite seem to decide what those issues are.
Last week, it seemed that Simone couldn’t commit to a more serious relationship; this week, it’s more about Lucas being an optimist while Simone is a realist. And Simone also mentions that “not everyone gets bailed out when something goes wrong,” which is a fair point to make to Lucas, who’s significantly more privileged than she is, but it’s also an entirely different issue.
Of course, it builds to a very “classic” Grey’s Anatomy moment, where Simone makes out with a guy who is almost certainly going to be a member of the new intern class, but the journey to getting there is muddled at best, making the breakup feel like a blatant plot device. Still, the other components of the episode work well enough that it’s a minor quibble overall and builds anticipation for next week’s finale.
