Grey’s Anatomy Review: One Day Like This (Season 14 Episode 17)

 

Sometimes, Grey’s Anatomy is at its best when it thinks small.

That’s the case on Grey’s Anatomy Season 14 Episode 17, “One Day Like This.” The focus of this episode is narrowed, with three major storylines that center on character development in the span of 24 hours time. Because its structured that way, I’m going to address them one by one:

Owen and Teddy

There’s something that feels nostalgic in the way these two connect, and it’s no doubt romantic when Owen shows up at her door after hopping on a plane to Germany. In a moment, it feels like, yes, this is what we’ve been waiting for!

Because there has always been a connection between Owen and Teddy, and they share a history that goes beyond what we’ve seen on screen.

The day they spend together, though, is almost too perfect. It’s something straight out of a Hallmark film. It feels cozy and simple.

But it’s too simple, and that’s the problem — which is something Teddy realizes as they talk more about his motivations for going to see her in the first place.

She hits the nail on the head. Owen does love her, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that, but he’s grasping. What he wants is a family — a wife and children. Something Cristina couldn’t give him and something Amelia couldn’t give him either.

It’s painful to see him go through this kind of loss yet again, but it also offers some closure. I think that’s the point. Owen has to do some soul searching for himself before he can be in a real relationship again. He was *married* after all.

Spending that time with Teddy will lead him there — focusing on the two of them in those quiet moments in the way this episode does makes room for that opportunity to learn more about Owen and to allow for this closure.

Teddy’s right to send him away, but gah, I’m still heartbroken for him.

April and Eli

Eli, a rabbi who is dying thanks to a reaction to his antibiotics, is the person who finally seems to help April.

He offers a bit of tough love and a bit of understanding, finally having a conversation about faith that, perhaps, no one else in her life would really be able to have with her.

Sarah Drew knocks her performance out of the park as she finally breaks (and leaves us in a puddle of our tears). It’s some of the best work we’ve seen her do aside from when April lost her baby.

And just as she breaks, Eli loses his grip on reality and thinks April is his wife. She realizes she has to give him what he needs at that moment, and lets him believe it so he can say goodbye before he passes.

That could be another moment to bring April down further — it’s yet another unfair death. Even Eli realizes this, noting that he’s dying from medicine that for most people, saves their lives. But instead, April rallies, and we see this glimpse of understanding.

She finds Bailey in the chapel trying to light a candle (poor Bailey; this was her patient first) and lights it for her. They stand there together and that’s a defining moment that makes me feel some hope for April, and gosh, it’s incredible.

Meredith and Nick

From the start, you could see the connection between these two. Scott Speedman’s Dr. Mars has plenty of charm, but he also has a clear respect and admiration for Meredith Grey.

What I like most about these scenes is that, again, we’re dealing with small moments, and that allows for us to see characters in a new way.

You’d think we’d know everything about Meredith by now, but we don’t, especially as she continues to evolve, not just in maturity, but in the way she sees the world. She’s developed a softness and even a confidence that she didn’t always have.

Nick and Meredith have some great moments of conversation, continually returning to the idea of living a different life. What would Meredith do if she wasn’t a surgeon?

Because we’ve never seen her NOT want to be a surgeon — it’s such an important part of her identity. So to explore those other ideas in such a personal way with someone is really interesting to watch.

It also brings me back to something that I’ve been excited about all season, and that’s the return of patients who make an impact across more than one episode.

Early seasons of Grey’s saw important patients who developed relationships with the doctors as opposed to us only seeing procedural patient-of-the-week scenarios. Doing that opens up so many more opportunities and is, quite frankly, much more interesting to watch than whatever drama can happen between the doctors themselves.

I am bit put off by the introduction of a new love interest for Meredith so soon. I was enjoying this focus on her career and her independence. That’s not to say I don’t want to see it eventually, but I think it could have waited.

Still, falling for a patient who is also a doctor — and who doesn’t even live in Seattle — is a story that has a lot of potential.

And for just a minute, can’t you imagine Meredith and this new guy wandering the streets of Sardinia together? It’s a pretty picture if you ask me.

Oh, and the kicker? The real moment that, at least for me, turned me into a blubbering mess? The final moment when Meredith turns her head in the bar, and we see it flash to a younger version of her, looking at Derek.

There may not be another character on television that I feel as invested in as I do Meredith Grey. In fact, I know there isn’t.

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

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

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