Grey’s Anatomy Season Finale Review: Ring of Fire (Season 13 Episode 24)

To say that this season finale is intense would be a gross understatement.

On Grey’s Anatomy Season 13 Episode 24, “Ring of Fire,” the doctors deal with the aftermath of the explosion, Stephanie risks her life to save a young girl, and the return of Owen’s sister turns his world — and Meredith’s — upside down.

Stephanie Walks Through Fire

As farfetched as it feels for Stephanie to have survived that explosion, I’m much happier seeing her leave the show as a hero who leaves on her own accord than for her to be yet another character who is killed off.

In fact, much of the episode feels like a tribute to her character. We get the chance to see her at her best — thinking on her feet, proving her skills as a doctor, sacrificing herself to save someone else, and literally walking through fire.

She fights like hell and doesn’t give up, and thankfully, the end result is a happy one. She’s badly burned when it’s all said and done, but she comes out alive and with a new perspective. She doesn’t want to spend any more time than she has to in a hospital.

That decision leads us back to Grey’s Anatomy Season 13 Episode 8, “The Room Where it Happens,” where we find out more about what life was like for Stephanie as a child. She describes that even further to Erin as she tries to comfort her, and it’s all foreshadowing. Because now, she’s lying in a hospital bed, enduring more pain.

Once she’s healed, she’ll do that no longer. She tells Richard she’s quitting, and thanks him for everything he’s taught her. It’s emotional, and it’s sad to see Stephanie leave, but it’s powerful that this is how she goes out. She’s not shot, or killed in a plane crash, or anything else like that. She powers through and survives, all while saving a life.

Meghan is Alive

Meanwhile, Amelia goes with Owen to see his sister, and Meredith waits until the time is right to tell Nathan that his fiancé is alive.

It’s the dream — the dream that Nathan and Meredith have talked about before. The one they bonded over. The one where their loved ones weren’t actually dead. Only now, for Nathan, that dream is reality.

This is such a complex story, and it’s one of the reasons I think sometimes Grey’s Anatomy is underrated. This is the kind of storytelling that sticks with you. We’ve just seen Meredith come to terms with letting Derek go and making the decision to move on without him. Now it’s her that delivers the news to Nathan that the woman he loved is alive.

That can’t be an easy thing for her to do, but the fact is, she understands that she has to. It’s her first impulse to give Nathan that news, and when he’s conflicted for just a moment about leaving her, Meredith assures him that if it were Derek, she’d already be gone.

There’s another parallel to Derek when it comes to Owen and Amelia. Each of them believed their sibling was dead, and now Amelia will be beside Owen when he gets to see his sister again. For both Amelia and Meredith, this is going to be painful for those respective reasons.

And for Owen, the shock and the guilt have already overcome him. I’m definitely interested to see where this goes next season.

Minnick is Out

Seriously, this woman forgets about Stephanie? While I’ve started to grow to like Eliza, mainly because of her relationship with Arizona, any likability goes out the window in this episode.

She proves herself to be cold and too focused on protocol. It’s a nice book end to the season when Bailey makes the call to fire her, proclaiming that she isn’t a good fit for their program and the way they teach.

Bailey: We make doctors. Thinking, feeling, human doctors. And we will teach them right.”

Stephanie, she says, was clearly taught right. That credit goes to Richard Webber.

It’s ultimately a victory for Minnick to leave, but it’s heartbreaking for Arizona. Like Meredith, it took Arizona some time to open herself up for a relationship again, and now that’s going to end.

Other Thoughts:

• I’d be much more excited to see Jackson and April move forward together than for Jackson to pursue Maggie. It is just me, or does this feel like it comes out of nowhere?
• Ben has become one of my favorite characters. He stays away from drama and steals fire suits and runs into burning buildings.
• Jackson also runs into burning buildings. April: “He’s the kind of guy who runs into a fire, apparently.”

What did you think of this episode of Grey’s Anatomy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.

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