Station 19 Series Finale’ Subtle Grey’s Anatomy Callback Made It Even Better

The Station 19 two-part series finale’s starting point in season 7, episode 9 included the last calm moments before the storm Station 19’s firefighters will face, making a connection to Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19‘s history with two subtle details. Knowing Station 19 season 7 would be the last let the firefighting drama dedicate it to wrapping up all protagonists’ storylines, giving apt conclusions to their multiple-season journeys. Station 19 season 7, episode 9 continued doing so, calling back to distinctive Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 moments in the few pauses Station 19‘s firefighters had to decompress while fighting wildfire.

The strong link between Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy was evident from the multiple cross-over episodes that started and will conclude Station 19 with season 7, episode 10, happening throughout the firefighting drama and Grey’s Anatomy’s last seven seasons. While characters appearing in both Shondaland shows always kept the connection open, Station 19 rarely implemented in its story things part of the medical drama’s history so iconic that they became synonymous with Grey’s Anatomy. Still, that’s what Station 19 season 7, episode 9 did with one blink-and-you-miss-it reference dropped during Travis and Vic’s fight en route to the campaign fire.

Vic Calling Travis Her Person Firmly Reminds Station 19’s Connection To Grey’s Anatomy

Vic & Travis Never Used “My Person” To Refer To One Another Before

Station 19 made Vic Crisis One’s leader in Station 19 season 7, episode 8 with the project going national, not being funded anymore by the SFD, thus solving its budget problem, but causing Vic to move away from Seattle as a result. This made Station 19 season 7, episode 9 devoted to breaking the news to the team and Travis in particular, as he had been not only Vic’s roommate for years but also her best friend, and one not particularly good with change.

Vic and Travis fighting over Travis’s reaction to the news, which centered on Travis’s feelings instead of Vic’s, showed how even that change was discussed in Travis and Vic’s peculiar way of handling massive transformations. However, in calling out Travis’s selfish reaction, Vic called Travis her “person,” using Cristina and Meredith’s typical nickname for each other in Grey’s Anatomy. Travis and Vic never referred to themselves as one another’s person in Station 19, making the spur-of-the-moment moniker a direct connection to Grey’s Anatomy and its indelible link to Station 19, symbolized by Vic and Travis’s friendship resembling Cristina and Meredith’s.

Indeed, while Meredith and Cristina as a duo never interacted with Travis and Vic, the two firefighter best friends embodied the doctors’ distinctiveness in Station 19. Although bright and cheery compared to Grey’s Anatomy’s twisted sisters and given their usual attitude to make things more bearable by making fun of them, Vic and Travis too had a bond unlike any other in Station 19. This made the firefighter duo and the centrality of their unique friendship the perfect connection to Station 19’s parent series, showing the similarities between the two via an iconic nickname inevitably synonymous with Grey’s Anatomy.

The Team Laying On The Fire Engine Is A Throwback To 1 Of Station 19’s Saddest Episodes

Lucas Ripley’s Death Was One Of The Saddest Station 19 Moments

Besides the clear reference to Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19 season 7, episode 9 also managed to hint at a memorable yet heartbreaking Station 19 season 2 moment. Vic and Travis choosing to sleep on the top of the fire engine and being joined by Ben, Maya and Andy indeed mirrored the Station 19 team doing the same to support Vic after her boyfriend and SFD chief Lucas Ripley died in Station 19 season 2, episode 15. The two moments greatly differed in the feelings involved, but they both highlighted the close bond and support among the firefighters in Station 19.

Vic needed Station 19’s support to withstand losing Lucas, face the funeral, and deal with the rest of SFD learning about her romantic relationship with the fire chief in Station 19 season 2. Through Vic’s painful story arc, Station 19 season 2, episode 15, “Always Ready” showed how death being behind the corner was the reason why firefighters were so close, especially those at Station 19. While the moment in Station 19 season 7, episode 9 was lighter, the shot from above highlighting Station 19’s closeness nonetheless indicated the severe wildfire-related challenges ahead in Station 19 season 7, episode 10.

Both Details Highlight How Important Family Is To Station 19’s Team

The Found Family Trope Has Always Been At Station 19’s Center

Station 19 season 7, episode 9’s connections to Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 put the topic of family at the front and center of the firefighting drama’s series finale. The found family trope had always been important in Grey’s Anatomy because the time spent by the doctors at the hospital effectively made the medical drama’s central characters each other’s family. However, Station 19 made it even more central because of the many friendships linking those at the firehouse and how Pruitt Herrera had built that team to work, fight, and protect each other as if they were family.

Station 19 season 7, episode 9 having already introduced life-threatening challenges for Theo and Maya hints that more will follow in the final Station 19 episode, making it crucial to remind viewers what the firefighters will fight for besides saving Seattle. With Station 19 season 7, episode 10 likely being action-packed and drama-filled, season 7, episode 9 needed to highlight the distinct and heartwarming bond linking the firefighting drama’s protagonists so that the high stakes of the series finale will deliver the biggest threat yet for Station 19’s firefighters to overcome.