Grey’s Anatomy Review: Back in the Saddle (Season 16 Episode 2)

New beginnings breathe new life into Grey’s Anatomy at just the right time with Grey’s Anatomy Season 16 Episode 2, “Back in the Saddle.”

It baffles me that I don’t see more people screaming from the rooftops about how well Grey’s Anatomy has done at keeping its stories fresh and interesting and important while continuing to develop characters it has had on the series since the very beginning.

This is Season 16(!) and we’re seeing new starts for Meredith, Richard, Alex, and Bailey — all of the characters still on the series that have been there since day one.

Meredith is still doing community service, and even though her medical license is in danger, it doesn’t stop her from bending some rules to help people in need.

She offers medical advice to the people she’s working with, sending many of them straight to Alex and Richard at Pac. North (we’ll get to that in a second). She even has Schmidt bringing her medical supplies, and when he worries over stealing, she reminds him she still owns the hospital. 

Her determination and her willingness to put herself at risk is fitting with her character, but it also shows some change and, quite frankly, some maturity. I love seeing Meredith so focused on a cause, and it’s one that’s bringing her to a new goal entirely. She decides she’s going to write about what she’s seeing.

It’s not laying low, as Andrew points out, which is what was suggested to her. But she’s more interested in helping people, and she’s in a unique position here. 

It’s really the perfect next step for Meredith. She dealt with the loss of her husband, she became so successful in her career that she earned the award formerly known as the Harper Avery, and she let herself fall in love again. So, what’s next for her story? Thankfully, it’s not some rocky on and off again thing with DeLuca.

They are happy and steady and in love, and there’s no drama there right now. There doesn’t need to be. Instead, having her career turned upside down and seeing her with a new goal — that’s a hell of a lot more interesting than any of those other things. 

Similarly, Richard and Alex are starting over at a new hospital. We know Alex makes a great chief, but this hospital has challenges that would be comical if they weren’t so sad.

For Richard, this is a shock to the system too. He’s doing what he has to here, but he’s rightfully heartbroken at the legacy he left behind at Grey-Sloan. Here, though, as Alex points out, he could make a new kind of impact. 

It’s smart storytelling for both of those characters, and I’m really enjoying seeing them work together so closely too.

Back and Grey-Sloan, Bailey has to find her joy in a new way now that so many of her best doctors are gone. Teaching Bailey is happy Bailey, and it’s wonderful to see her taking on that role. This is how we met her, after all. It’s a creative way to bring things back to basics and to bring her character full circle a bit. 

Having residents competing against one another for surgeries and such is the lighter side of Grey’s, and a side that we saw often in the early seasons. It’s fun to see that happening again. 

DeLuca does need to calm down a bit, though. He’s still got his own lessons to learn.

For Amelia, the new beginning is the possibility of starting a family. She is, in fact, pregnant, and she tells Link even though she hasn’t fully decided what to do about it. 

My favorite thing about this is it gives her the space to tell more of her story about the baby she lost. That was shown and Private Practice and still stands out as one of the most memorable parts of that series — and one of the most heartbreaking.

I’ll probably always wish for more of those details to be told again or for flashbacks to somehow be possible, but Amelia opening up to Link about it comes close to what I’ve been waiting for on that for a while.

I do imagine it’s more impactful to hear her discuss it for those who watched Private Practice than for those who didn’t, but it’s done well, with Link listening intently and with such an honest empathy.

Their relationship has been moving slowly at Amelia’s request, but now it’s complicated. Neither of them was sure they wanted a child, but Amelia’s story changes Link’s feelings, and he gives her the most perfect response — if she wants to keep the baby, he’ll be the best dad he can. If she doesn’t, he’ll go with her to the appointment and support her in every way. 

And though she thinks she has her mind made up as she’s telling him about the baby she lost, his response blows that out of the water. 

They come to the decision to have the baby together, and it’s done in a way that’s filled with promise and hope. 

Other thoughts:

• Just when I was feeling good about Tom, and he goes and flips out on Owen. A restraining order? Seriously? Way to make yourself a villain again.
• Jackson’s Instagram post really does sound cheesy, and I don’t blame Maggie a bit for the way she reads into it.
• Jo is back to work, and she’s starting anew also. Her confidence is back on top of everything else, and she leverages an offer from her husband to land an attending position at Grey-Sloan. Why yes, Jo is a freaking warrior queen.

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.

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