You can feel the fatigue in Grey’s Anatomy. New characters have joined the cast, but if we look at their development after three years on the air, we have to admit they aren’t on the same level as Meredith Grey, Christina Yang, Alex Karev, George Bailey, or the unforgettable Izzie Stevens. It doesn’t help that, instead of fully committing to them in a covert reboot, we still have the old guard on the payroll, without necessarily having fruitful dynamics with the new residents. But, considering that viewers are already watching the series out of habit, loyalty, and stubbornness, it’s appreciated that, unexpectedly, we’re getting… an interesting storyline!
It’s not about Jo and Link, even though they nearly killed her during childbirth in a drama on autopilot, devoid of any emotion. Nor is it, of course, any development in the romantic lives of Teddy and Owen, who are stuck in a constant repetition of themes, conversations, and situations, as if they were in a sci-fi story about two people living in a time loop. And, with Meredith absent—even though her calmness and presence are appreciated—it’s also not about Ben Warren, who has always been a non-factor when it comes to contributing to the storylines.
So who gets the honor of having the storyline with a touch of nostalgia, of pure drama, of “this is going to make me cry,” of “there’s real emotion here”? Katie, Bailey’s patient played by Samantha Marie Ware, who will bring us a certain sense of nostalgia in the coming episodes, after she started dating at the end of the previous season. Because sometimes you just need to look to the past to understand how to bring life to the present, and Katie—with a frustrating cancer that could kill her in the prime of her youth—follows in the footsteps of such iconic characters as Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Denny Duquette or Elizabeth Reaser’s Rebecca Pope (or Ava), who left an indelible mark on our memories.
She single-handedly has Bailey on the ropes, due to his inability to help her as she deserves. She’s turning Lucas Adams into a tolerable character by allowing him to explore his humanity through a life-changing experience that will alter him forever. Along the way, she gives us a potential love story with every sign of ending in tragedy. Since it’s a matter of life and death, she’s allowing Adams and Simone to develop a friendship, giving themselves—and the viewers—a reprieve. And Samantha Marie Ware has the presence of an actress who hasn’t just come in as a guest or recurring character and stays in the background: she fills every scene with presence, pain, and uncomfortable emotions.
Katie’s medical case is the only bright spot in a 22nd season that lacks natural charm and is marked by one missed opportunity after another. We don’t have Owen and Nora, Beckman’s potential is being wasted, Jo and Link are stuck in a marital spin-off with no creative spark, Wes has lost the energy with which he burst onto the scene, and as for Kwan, after uninspiredly eliminating the promising fiancée, they’re pairing him with the kind of relationship you know is going nowhere—and therefore, it’s not even worth memorizing the doctor’s name. The only other ray of hope comes from Ndugu and Millin, who, slowly but surely, prove that there’s still someone in the writers’ room who remembers what Grey’s Anatomy used to be.
