Notes on 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 21 Episode 15: "Bust Your Windows"
On Grey's Anatomy telling me what I need to hear + some thoughts on the show's history with women's healthcare
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This post discusses sensitive subject matters relating to mental health and women’s reproductive healthcare, so please read with caution.
“Hospitals have a long list of unspoken rules. Never say, “It’s quiet,” unless you want to be blamed when all the pagers go off. If your attending is standing, you better be, too. And if you finish the coffee in the lounge, it’s on you to refill it. No one tells you these rules, but you break them at your peril. - Meredith Grey
Grey’s Anatomy Season 21 Episode 15, “Bust Your Windows,” is full of reminders of why I love this show. It also gave me some general life reminders that I needed.
I love it when stories find me when I need them. I know that’s not a unique phenomenon, and yet, it feels so acutely specific every time that it happens. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to write about for this newsletter, and I keep coming back to “more.” Just more of everything. More of all the stories that I can’t stop thinking about. More of the stories that I watch every week. More.
So, it’s perfect that this episode of Grey’s Anatomy, written by Scott D. Brown and directed by Lisa Leone, came around when it did. I needed a push to sit down and let myself make time to write about stories that I like. Not because I’m reviewing the show, which I love to do (You can read my review of the Matlock Season 1 finale here, or my review of Wild Cards Season 2’s penultimate episode here), but because an episode of TV made me feel and think even a little bit deeper.
That’s what I want this newsletter to be as I move forward and write more. I want it to be a safe place to fall and be excited about a character’s choice, a first kiss, a big fight, an intense professional exchange, and all of the above. Essentially, I want to get out of my way so that I can show up for this newsletter more.
I should be less shocked that the reminder came to me through Grey’s Anatomy — a show I have been watching consistently for the majority of my life.
The bits that made me audibly gasp in a “this show gets me, even after all this time” kind of way were Catherine Fox saying, “Sorry I’m late. I had to yell at the president,” and Ben Warren saying, “Lotion is motion.” Then, Jules Millin told Winston Ndugu, “But the bell tower became my favorite place on campus. It had a great view. And when you looked out, everything that was overwhelming on the ground, the pressures and the people and the problems, just seemed smaller,” and I teared up.
Those three bits of dialogue are so good for their specific characters and the stories that Grey’s Anatomy is telling with them. I can only speak for myself, but those lines also feel like exactly what I need to hear, given, well, everything.