Grey’s Anatomy Review: The Room Where it Happens (Season 13 Episode 8)
Thanks, Grey’s Anatomy, for opening up that wound yet again.
Grey’s Anatomy, Season 13 Episode 8, “The Room Where it Happens,” breaks form by focusing the entire episode on one surgery as the doctors try to save a John Doe.
It’s definitely a unique approach, and the first half of the episode feels strange — and a little boring. But the ultimate result of this episode is actually brilliant, and the approach allows for new opportunities as the doctors put a face and a back story on to the John Doe to make him feel more human.
What each of them chooses is not a made up person, but rather someone from their past — or in Stephanie’s case, a younger version of herself.
We learn, for example, back story on Richard that shapes his character in an important way. That’s impressive for a character who has been on the show for all 13 seasons, and it proves why Grey’s Anatomy, is able to keep going.
There’s still so much that can be explored, and after 13 seasons, the show is able to take a risk like this and allow it to pay off.
It also shows a young Stephanie, which also shapes her back story even further. We knew she was sick as a child, but this makes that fact hit home even further. Now I want to dig into that even more.
Owen’s character is another one that we’ve been exploring more and more since learning that he had a sister, and we finally get to see her in this vision/flashback. She’s played by Bridget Regan, by the way, who is basically everywhere these days (see: The Last Ship.)
What is probably most significant — no, what is definitely most significant, is what Meredith imagines in this scenario.
She relives the moment when she arrived to a hospital with each of her children after Derek’s accident. Just seeing that is enough to bring on a solid ugly cry, but then we get see something we didn’t before. We see the moment when Meredith had to tell her children the horrible news that their father was dead.
We were cheated of those moments in the way Derek’s death was handled in Season 11, but it’s almost better to see them now. The show is doing a great job of keeping Derek in the story rather than letting that drop — whether it be through Meredith’s continued growth or in these kinds of moments.
Cue more ugly crying when we actually SEE Derek — another vision of Meredith’s at the end of the episode. He’s got that perfect smile and he’s wearing his ferry-boat scrub cap.
Like I said, thanks, Grey’s Anatomy, for opening up that wound again.
Seriously, though. Even though I could have done without that crying this week, the risk this episode takes as a way to develop its characters further and keep Derek’s memory alive definitely pays off.
It also makes another significant move. It shows a complete change of hierarchy. Remember when Richard was the chief and Meredith was an intern? Now to see her in the OR, making an order and responding to Richard by saying “I outrank you,” is almost surreal.
She apologies later, thankfully, and Richard proves through this entire exercise that he’s still perhaps the best teacher that Grey Sloan Memorial has.
What did you think of this episode of Grey’s Anatomy? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.