Grey's Anatomy Season 20 Episode 10 Review: Burn It Down
Jasmine Blu
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If Catherine had a mustache, she'd be twirling it.
The level of villainy she's devolved to has become cartoonish at best, but it particularly took the cake during Grey's Anatomy Season 20 Episode 10.
In an understaffed hospital still battling issues like burnout, she wiped out four award-winning surgeons or those highly valued in their field, and she's fixing to take down the interns and potentially Bailey, too.
Catherine is a Cartoonish Antagonist to Everyone at Grey Sloan
Is it worth it, Catherine Fox?
There's a limit to how petty one person can be, and she's surpassed that by a mile and a half.
Meredith was back to wrap up the season by blowing through Grey Sloan and imploding everything in her wake under the guise of self-righteousness.
But because she's Meredith Grey, we roll with it.
She likes to burn everything around her down and then bounce.
In some way, I have to respect it.
However, the tension between her and Catherine is outlandish at this point because Catherine is willing to burn everything down around her out of spite.
When you have all the power, I think it's just called a move.
Amelia
At the very least, we could expect Catherine to care about human life, as a doctor, even a tv doctor should.
But oddly enough, in her vengeance tour, which involved retaliating against anyone who challenged her in any way, she was willing to sacrifice people and standards of care to do so.
It was actually appalling.
For one, we have Station 19's Theo Ruiz gallantly fighting for his life after saving his friend.
And as Bailey pointed out, he's like family to her and Ben.
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But instead of considering that maybe it's a good idea to have a few extra hands, Catherine wanted Teddy not to show up to work and pitch in.
If a girl is being honest, given how short-staffed they were and the rush of patients coming through due to the wildfires, instead of playing office politics, Catherine could have rolled up her sleeves and scrubbed into some surgeries or something, too.
If it's all hands on deck, she, Mer, and Amelia wasting valuable time playing tit for tat was ridiculous.
But that goes back to Catherine becoming some Bond Villain in a skirt.
It honestly shouldn't have taken much convincing from Mer and Amelia for her to back their research.
They didn't tell her anything new that they hadn't already spoken to her about the first time they tried to get her support.
However, since the research had already been done under her name and with her funding, Catherine agreed to it now, which was covering her tracks.
Her criteria that Mer and Amelia give it all over to Koracick for him to run it, however, was her being petty and looking to punish them.
For some reason, she kept failing to realize that Meredith Grey does whatever the hell she wants and that she's spiteful to a fault.
Releasing it publicly online was a nice show of defiance.
But it led to the sisters' firing, which is a more interesting position for Amelia than Mer, who is barely at Grey Sloan anyway.
Also, again, Mer basically showed up and disrupted everyone's lives, and now she's off to live in a nice new house with her hot, bearded boyfriend, who is devoted to her beyond reason.
Meanwhile, all her friends are jobless and must figure out what to do next.
Firing Teddy from her position as Chief was one thing, but getting rid of her as a doctor altogether is ludicrous.
She's one of the best cardio doctors in the country, and she's a Trauma queen too.
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It made zero sense that Catherine was still trying to keep Teddy from saving lives when they were shorthanded.
And Teddy's call to perform an open heart procedure in the middle of the hallway on Theo, while insane, was the best call to save his life!
What's worse, Catherine has apparently deactivated Owen's key card, too, which implies that he's been fired as well.
How is Grey Sloan, the natural disaster center, supposed to operate when it's down two Trauma surgeons?
Maybe Webber can talk some sense into Catherine, but then, she'll have to reel from the news that he's finally calling it quits, for real this time.
Who is left at the hospital anymore?
On the one hand, because Catherine is down a billion doctors, Catherine would be an idiot to get rid of Bailey, too.
They can't afford that loss, either!
However, she's on such a colossal power trip that defies rhyme or reason that she very well may call Bailey out on her bluff and get rid of her and the interns.
Lucas Finds Support in Unexpected Places, Sets Up Chance for More Camaraderie
The interns rallying around Lucas was a nice show of support.
It was also interesting to hear that he scored the highest of his class on the test and essay.
The series hasn't done enough to explore his neurodivergency, but it's nice to showcase that just because someone processes things differently, it doesn't mean they lack capabilities or aren't smart as hell.
SImone: If Adams goes...
Catherine: What? You all go? I can have you all replaced by tomorrow.
Bailey: What about me? you willing to replace me?
Simone was desperate to keep her man at Grey Sloan, so he didn't head to Chicago.
Bailey showed a sign of support once she realized how instrumental Lucas was in implementing that program that updated the status of first responders.
For so long, it seems like most of the others haven't paid attention to Lucas' capabilities, so he got a much-needed chance to shine.
Everyone putting their neck out for Lucas is unexpected, but Bailey going that far is the most surprising.
We'll see if it pays off.
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To be fair, it's not cool that Lucas was facing the brunt of punishment for Sam's death when he wasn't the only person who was involved.
Reasoning Behind Mika and Levi's Impending Departures is Still a Mystery
Interestingly, even with this situation, there's no indication of the impending departure.
We know that out of the interns, Midori Francis won't be returning to the series, but there wasn't anything with Mika that would support how she'd be written out.
Mika and Jules shared a near-kiss, which was interesting, especially since Jules and Blue have seemed like such a sure thing for so long that there wouldn't be any other distractions.
It was almost as unusual as this whole Beltran and Winston nonsense.
But outside of that moment, there was very little of Mika to work with during this finale.
Levi: I thought we were friends. Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?
Jo: I'm what?
Levi: Oh, that's why.
As for Jake Borelli, we saw that Levi didn't meet the score he needed for Peds, but he was still working toward that fellowship and trying to impress Beltran.
I can't tell what's next for him or how he'll be leaving, but he did imply that he needs to reevaluate his life a bit.
Jo's Pregnancy Underwhelms
Another least shocking moment was Jo passing out because she was pregnant.
We saw that coming a mile away, especially after the pregnancy scare and all the talk about children.
If Jo and Link want three kids who aren't even in Pre-school while juggling busy workloads at Grey Sloan, that's on them.
Congratulations to them, but I don't really care about this development.
The same goes for Dorian getting to go home.
It's nice when we have long-term patients whom we get to know over time, but Dorian wasn't particularly interesting.
Blue's mysterious ex-fiancee, who has suffered short-term memory loss, however, is an intriguing development.
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For the most part, Harry Shum Jr is criminally underused in this series, so if this is a chance to give him a compelling storyline, then so be it!
It's such an awkward situation, though.
He has an ex-fiancee who doesn't know who he is due to the repercussions of being in a coma, and she has this whole new life and a boyfriend, too.
Bailey Steals the Hour with Ben/Station 19 Connection and Simone Dynamic
But if anyone had to be the MVP of the hour, it was probably Bailey.
The hints of Station 19 were particularly emotional, given that they were slightly related to the Station 19 series finale.
Ben's departing words to Bailey were enough to send one's head spinning and have them beside themselves with worry.
I love you, Miranda Bailey. Always have Always will.
Ben
He told her he loved her as if it would be the last time he'd get to say it.
It's no wonder she was freaking out the whole time.
She could barely concentrate on helping them save Theo because she was too worried about Ben and how she couldn't reach him.
One of the most unexpected dynamics of the season is that between Bailey and Simone.
It's a special bond that can blossom into a very endearing mentorship situation, and it was great to see Simone return the favor of supporting Bailey emotionally when she needed it.
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The confirmation that Ben was alive was enough to put Bailey at ease and keep her anxiety at bay, and Simone handled the situation so well.
We'll get more of those two next season.
Of course, that depends on whether Simone and the other interns still have jobs when Cyclone Catherine is over.
They crammed a lot into this installment, but it also wasn't a memorable, particularly exciting, or high-stakes finale.
Catherine: You are just like your mother.
Mer: Great. That means I'll win.
But we'll have to see what they bring next season.
Over to you, Grey's Fanatics.
What are your theories on Blue's ex-fiancee and the story there?
Will Catherine fire Bailey and the interns?
What's next for Mer, Amelia, Owen, and Teddy?
Let's hear all your thoughts below!
You can stream the full season of Grey's Anatomy on Hulu.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
