'Station 19' Season 3 Episode 10 Review: Heartbreak, guilt and pain makes this episode a difficult watch
There's a therapist to unpack the firefighters' worst traumas and fears in 'Station 19' and about time too. Considering that they go through such life-threatening situations in their professional lives, as well as dealing with personal dilemmas along the way, it's a wonder why they didn't undergo therapy before. Let's not forget that they've all lost two teammates, Rigo Vasquez and Lucas Ripley, and haven't had time to process the deaths. Many of them feel a strong sense of guilt as well.
'Station 19' strikes home with the poignance and meaning of therapy, where individuals can realize that even the most insignificant thing (according to them) has had an impact on them. The therapist gets them to do the unthinkable - to cry. Yet, the episode goes beyond just the void that these losses left behind and deals with some particularly sensitive topics.
Watch the promo for 'Station 19', Season 3, Episode 10 'Something About What Happens When We Talk' - here
Of course, it isn't easy to get them to talk, least of all Andy Herrera (Jaina Lee Ortiz). Andy gives her usual dose of snark and shade and doesn't acknowledge that she is downright miserable at the moment, even if all seems hunky-dory with her and Sullivan at present. She doesn't even wish to accept that she was close friends with Rigo.
However, the most hard-hitting stories come from Benjamin 'Ben' Warren (Jason Winston George) and Travis Montgomery (Jay Haden). Ben opens up about saving Rigo (Rico Sanchez) and how sure he was that he had saved him. Except...he couldn't. And then he finally opens up about his wife Miranda Bailey's (Chandra Wilson) miscarriage and her doubts about him switching from being a doctor to a firefighter. The most painful and triggering part about the episode is when Ben talks about the racist treatment doled out to him at the hands of a police officer. It's the angriest he has ever felt, as he felt broken and humiliated. He was asked to pull over and the police officer told him to get on the ground, with the 'hands behind the head' dialogue. Travis shared about his particularly troubling relationship with his father. Troubled childhoods, scarring experiences and the omnipresence of death, this is the reason why the firefighters are the people they are today. Maya Bishop's (Danielle Savre) backstory has always been difficult to watch and she makes a strange statement about how she sometimes just wishes to die. Maya is emerging as one of the most complex characters on 'Station 19' after Andy.
Dean Miller (Okieriete Onaodowan) lectures Vic Hughes that she sabotaged her relationship with Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) by not telling him that she moved in with him, Dean. She tells him to go take a hike. Please don't make Dean and Vic a thing. And please don't force Jackson and Vic back together.
This episode of 'Station 19' was not an easy watch and knows how to twist the knife. Emotions are not exactly black and white, and the show made quite a decent attempt to understand pain, heartbreak and episode. The drawback is that therapy is a one-time thing on the episode as Andy hasn't even been able to come clean with her emotions.
The episode ends on a bittersweet note, with all the firefighters making little amends in their lives and trying to move on.
'Station 19' airs on ABC, Thursdays at 8 pm.