Grey’s Anatomy Review: Put on a Happy Face (Season 16 Episode 21)
Though this wasn’t originally meant to be the season finale, Grey’s Anatomy Season 16 Episode 21, “Put on a Happy Face,” still works well as a way to wrap up the season, and we do, luckily, get some closure with Richard Webber.
It’s all hands on deck to figure out what’s wrong with him. While most of the doctors seem sure at this point that Richard has Alzheimer’s disease, Meredith refuses to stop looking for other answers.
She’s certain that it’s not Alzheimer’s, and it turns out that she’s right.
She’s not the one who discovers the case of Richard’s symptoms, though. It’s DeLuca, who works tirelessly and likely without any sleep at all to figure out what’s really happening.
It turns out, Richard is being poisoned by an old hip replacement.
I started out wary when Richard was showing signs of a problem several episodes ago. The shaky hands and his decision to stop surgery reminded me of stories we’ve already seen on Grey’s Anatomy, and the suggestion of Alzheimer’s also felt like it was heading toward something that’s not necessarily unique.
But this landed on something that feels fresh and powerful for a lot of different reasons.
For starters, it does harken back to Meredith’s experiences with Alzheimer’s, and now it’s proven that truly does understand the disease more than most. She’s also not blinded my emotion here. Her mind is clear enough to focus on what Richard needs.
It’s also an opportunity to enjoy the doctors coming together, which is really wonderful to watch and feels like the early days of Grey’s. It’s not all about separate surgeries, but about their ability to work together, respect one another, and listen to each other. Plus, we get to see characters interacting with folks that don’t often interact with.
For DeLuca, it’s a chance to prove that he’s still able to do his job. Unfortunately, he’s still erratic, and while swiping the tools off the table to get Bailey to listen to him is likely the right move to get her attention and save Richard at that moment, it’s a sign he’s still not the DeLuca we used to know.
He does get to be a part of the hip replacement surgery that saves Richard, thanks to Meredith, but once it’s all over, we see what this has taken out of him. Meredith finds him sitting on the floor, an emotional wreck, and tells him it’s time to go home.
It’s a really emotional moment, and it’s complicated by Meredith and DeLuca’s relationship, which has already been in a gray area. As much as I want to see Meredith just enjoying an easy relationship right now, this is much more interesting storytelling.
Hayes is also in the picture now, and I’m curious to see if anything will between him and Meredith in the future.
Finally, though, all of this is a chance for Richard to get some closure of his own. When he wakes up from surgery, he has his mind back, which he proves by answering Maggie and Jackson’s questions that he deems far too simple. This is the Richard we used to know, and thank goodness for that.
His reaction toward Catherine is probably the most telling, though. He’s angry that she’s there — that she would stand by him now but not before.
While all of this was a wake-up call for Catherine, who realized she didn’t want to lose the man she loves, Richard has no interest in taking her back, and he’s not at all impressed to know she was by his side while he was in the hospital. It’s actually quite satisfying to see him take that stand.
Meanwhile, Amelia goes into labor, for real this time. Link is by her side at the beginning, but then he’s needed for Richard’s surgery.
So it’s Bailey that’s there for Amelia as she continues labor and delivers her baby. When it gets so hard she can barely take it anymore, Bailey climbs in bed behind her — just as someone else did for her once.
The scene immediately brings back to memory the time George helped Bailey through labor when her husband couldn’t be there with her.
Watching Amelia give birth also has some added significance if you watched her on Private Practice. Her first birth, to a child who wouldn’t be able to survive, was gutwrenching. This time, it’s filled with joy.
Amelia and Link also grow more and more adorable as a couple. When he’s there for her at the beginning of her labor, he arrives with all sorts of supplies for the both of them.
And when he shows up after the baby is born, the joy on his face is contagious. I love the way the two play off of each other and how open Amelia can be around him.
Unfortunately, things aren’t quite so joyous for Owen and Teddy.
Teddy still can’t shake Tom, but she’s insistent on marrying Owen and they’ve even moved up the wedding, ultimately as a defense mechanism for Teddy so she can feel right, and have closure, in choosing one man over the other.
But in a classic mistake, Teddy accidentally calls Owen and leaves a voicemail while having sex with Tom. Owen listens to part of the message in surgery and plays it off, saving face as best as he can. When surgery is over, he listens in private, and everything he knows just falls away.
It is entirely heartbreaking, and honestly, can’t Owen Hunt just catch a break? It’s not an enjoyable storyline at all, particularly because Owen has had such horrible luck. Now just when everything seems to be falling into place, this happens.
He doesn’t confront Teddy when it’s time to marry her. He calls of the wedding by saying he got called into surgery, but Teddy doesn’t find that out until she heads downstairs in her dress to see Owen’s mother taking the decorations down.
I almost feel bad for Teddy at that moment. Almost.
I really hate that she’s becoming something of a villain, even though her side of the story has been so clearly shown and we can be sympathetic to the way she’s in love with both men.
It’s complicated, but she’s made bad decisions, and pushing up the wedding is ultimately the worst. Teddy’s been a great character, so it’s even more disappointing to see her hurt Owen.
That’s where we leave off. It’s not the kind of dramatic cliffhanger we’re used to from Grey’s Anatomy. But Grey’s, along with most shows, are ending earlier than expected because of the need to halt production, and this episode still offers enough closure while also leaving us wanting more.
It works well a season finale, and it certainly leaves its audience feeling a wide range of emotions.
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 will return next season to ABC.
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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.