Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 2 Review: Take Me to Church
One way or another, Grey’s Anatomy has got to figure out what to do with Meredith Grey. On Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 2, “Take Me to Church,” Meredith is back in Seattle to secretly help treat Catherine.
It makes for some fun moments, particularly because it leads to Meredith and Bailey working together, but I’m ultimately losing interest in Meredith’s research and her story in general, since she still has one foot out the door.
DEBBIE ALLEN
If Meredith isn’t going to be working on the hospital, and if she’s only returning on occasion, then those moments should be excellent. We should be able to see her at her best, showing how far she’s come as a surgeon and as a character. Instead, it’s a side story that takes away from everything the show should probably be focusing on.
I do enjoy the camaraderie with Bailey, and what’s at stake with Catherine’s health could have the potential for heartbreaking stuff with Richard. But for now, it just feels like it’s taking away from the lighthearted intern drama and the faster-paced vibe that the show has been known to have.
After all, there are interns kissing in elevators, a former fiancé with no memory of the man she loved, and a golf game that could all be even more fun to watch if those stories got a little more attention.
NIKO TERHO, ANTHONY HILL, JAMES PICKENS JR.
I’d have liked to see more of Sydney Heron’s interactions with the interns, too.
The story with Blue’s former fiancé is one of the highlights of this episode. Her persistence in following him around the hospital adds humor in a unique way, and then once he finally fully opens up to her, it’s heartbreaking.
She’s so steady, so open, and so forgiving — but all for things she doesn’t even remember happening. It’s a backstory that really helps to shape Blue’s character, and I hope Molly will return later down the line. It feels like there’s a lot more to explore here.
Meanwhile, Amelia, Monica, Levi, Jules, and Mika are all working together on a pediatric case that feels like it’s going to be a turning point for Levi.
JAKE BORELLI
They pull off this amazing surgery on a teenage boy who is certain he’ll die soon — the kind of risky, groundbreaking surgery that Grey’s Anatomy is known for. Yet they do all of this only to discover that he has cancer in his brain, and it’s terminal. The boy has months to live at most.
Levi tries to comfort the boy by helping him make a list of everything he wants to do before he dies. It’s poignant and tragic, and yet somehow just a little bit hopeful. But Levi breaks down later when the chaplain — who he’s been butting heads with up until this point — goes to check on him.
Oddly, having a chaplain around isn’t something we’ve seen that much of on the series, and it’s a dynamic that should be really interesting to see continue.
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 10/9c on 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.