Station 19 Season 7 Episode 3 Review: True Colors

We’re burning through so many storylines at the pace of a wildfire.

Of all the installments thus far, Station 19 Season 7 Episode 3 perfectly encapsulated how the truncated final season has resulted in the series attempting to cram a bunch of storylines into half the time.

And it’s such an unfortunate thing. So many of the storylines we have right now deserve breathing room to develop properly.

If there were times during Station 19 Season 6 when it felt like storylines were dragging on too long, the current season has the opposite effect.

One’s head is spinning from how many different things are introduced only to shift.

It’s still a bit jarring how they shuffled Jack Gibson off into the sunset with little indication of his future. Based on our Grey Damon interview, it doesn’t sound like we’ll be finding out anything new about what Jack is up to anytime soon.

Introducing a situation where a first responder suffers from an extensive injury that ends their career is only as interesting as showcasing it.

He was given a mention as Andy is still upset about his absence and that they’re down a member, but nothing more.

And then there’s the Vic and Theo situation.

Vic’s blase attitude toward Theo’s tryst with Kate was a drop in the bucket. And we haven’t had much on that front since.

But now, we had Sullivan playing oracle and relationship guide to Theo as he encouraged him to tell Vic how he really feels, while a witch called him out on wearing his regret like a shield.

The messed up thing about this is that Theo Ruiz was this truly great character who randomly and abruptly became an asshole for no explicable reason, and we still haven’t addressed that.

We have nothing to go on regarding his feelings, how he’s suddenly back to being lovable Theo (possibly too little too late because he’s giving us whiplash), and pining after Vic.

What are his motivations? Can we have the teensiest insight into where his head is right now? How did he go from treating Vic like trash on the bottom of his boot to shooting puppy dog eyes at her?

Unfortunately, they spent an entire season showing Theo’s slow deterioration into an unfathomable jerk. They can’t flick a switch and catapult him into OG Theo without giving us some explanation or easing into it.

Maya: My brother was one of the protestors. Andy: You don’t know that. Maya: I do.

But they don’t have time to ease into it, which is why it’s one of many storylines that aren’t getting the proper due to how rushed it is.

I went from being a real fan of Theo and Vic to not being remotely interested anymore, and now, I don’t want Vic to waste her time on a fickle man.

Also, it was bizarre to see Ross handing Theo the HR relationship sheet to fill out with Vic. Why are they just getting those?

And anyone with eyes could tell that Theo and Vic were done.

Related: Station 19 Review: Good Grief

Sullivan’s shtick of asking Ross to marry him every single episode may have gotten old already, and it was endearing the first couple of times.

He still hasn’t proven her wrong regarding him only proposing after some harrowing incident. And her comment about them appropriating on Pride Day was hilarious.

We got more details about the situation with Ross and the mayor, and we probably would’ve been better off if Travis had won.

Also, Ross is in a horrible position right now. No matter what she does, she’s beholden to this man who makes threats regularly and dangles her career over her head at every turn.

It’ll reach a point where Natasha Ross has to figure out how far she will go to keep her job. Because the mayor already has Faris lined up to take her place.

The second that it’s not beneficial to him, he’ll get rid of her, and I hate that for Natasha. No matter what she does, she can’t seem to win.

She’s under this man’s thumb, and now she has to prepare for firing folks for the budget’s sake.

Ironically, it is a genuine threat and possibility with an understaffed station.

Isn’t it crazy how fast you can fall in love with someone? I can’t take my eyes off of him.

Carina

But if they make cuts, seeing what that means for so many of them will be interesting.

Jack is already gone, and the way Maya keeps talking about her family, they could pull off a shocking feat if they had Maya put her family ahead of the job and realize she doesn’t need to fight fires anymore.

Warren has been on his way out of active duty for a while because of his deal to get Pru. Travis Montgomery may or may not take what Eli said about him choosing the most “macho” job to heart. He could, in some way, nod to his own repressed issues.

But with the series ending, the fear of losing more of the team via firings is an imminent threat.

Pride served as a genuinely fun backdrop to this installment, and it captures Station 19 well.

It also reflected on the realities of what we’re dealing with in the world these days, where you cannot even attend an event like Pride without fearing some form of retaliation or as if a hate crime is moments away.

One car backfiring was enough to send hundreds of people fleeing in fear, and that’s a particular type of heartbreaking on two fronts.

One, it’s angering that we have such an issue with mass shootings in our country that people feel compelled to stay on alert and risk being part of one at any social gathering.

The witch was right, you do got it bad. You need to tell her how you feel, otherwise, you’ll regret it.

Sullivan [to Theo]

And two, it’s enraging that people can’t let others be. There’s so much hatred, bigotry, and ugliness in the world, and it was so upsetting to see the protestors set up yelling at people enjoying themselves and literal children.

What was fascinating was how the hour explored this event for its queer characters. Maya had to come face to face with her radicalized incel brother, nodding at a rampant epidemic of its own of hundreds of primarily men being indoctrinated online.

And Travis had to unpack some of his internalized homophobia, shame, and family issues.

Travis was such a jerk to his father and his father’s boyfriend, but also, in his defense, it has always been frustrating how they’ve always acted as if Travis didn’t have a right to be angry and he should easily let go.

Related: Station 19 Round Table: Are They Ruining Travis Montgomery?

He’s had a lot to reckon with when it came to his homophobic father actually coming out as gay and admitting that he’s been having a full-blown affair for most of his marriage.

Travis is entitled to have feelings about that, and it’s frustrating how often others invalidate those feelings for some “forgive and forget” idealogy.

But also, Travis is a raging hypocrite, so his behavior was particularly obnoxious when he was guilty of infidelity as well.

The whole infidelity angle has been generally frustrating overall because of the stigma regarding queer men with that.

Travis: I slept with Emmett.Eli: What did you say?Travis: Twice. Eli: I am such an idiot.

But Eli gathered Travis right together with Vic (finally, some great Travic content), issuing the final blow of telling Travis like it is.

And the entire series has indeed had Travis being a man weighed down by the shame his father put on him because of his sexuality.

He’s carried that repression with him for as long as we’ve known him, and it’s ruined many of his relationships, too.

It’s a great angle for them to work with the character, but the problem is suddenly dumping it all onto him right now.

Was Travis and his father’s conversation powerful? Of course. I could feel the weight lifted when Travis’ father told him to put that shame down and stop carrying it because it wasn’t his to have.

That shame that you’re holding onto. That shame that tells you you can’t be who you are, it doesn’t belong to you. It’s mine. It’s time for you to let it go.

Mr.Montgomery

I wish there were a more organic way of getting us to this place where it didn’t feel as if it was thrown at us at once, and we’re powering through Travis having a new kind of awakening.

There’s also a fear that they won’t revisit certain things, which makes the storytelling frustrating.

Maya Bishop seeing her brother protesting pride was another storyline that was jolting.

I don’t know how to feel about it. We’ve wanted Mason for so long that it’s shocking that this is how we get him, enveloped in a possible storyline rooted in homophobia and trauma.

Might we have the introduction of a storyline regarding this and Maya having to deprogram her brother? Do we have the time for something like that? Would we want it if they did embark on that path?

I have a million questions about this, and it’s all unsettling.

But speaking of the rapid pacing, it was enough to give a girl whiplash that Maya and Carina had settled into having Liam and bought a new house.

So many things are taking place offscreen that it’s jarring. They just drop these bits of information on us and move on to the next thing, leaving us reeling and processing.

Carina is adorable as a sleep-deprived mother so overcome with love for Liam that she doesn’t even know where to put it all.

And Carina and Miranda Bailey are such a great duo. I wish we had more of them on Grey’s Anatomy.

Bailey is the perfect person to assist Carina with motherhood, and their conversations surrounding it were so wonderful and heartwarming.

Carina singing the song she used to sing to Andrew DeLuca was sweet and a nice nod at her late brother.

Bailey was such a great support, and it reminds me of how much I love the Grey’s universe for this because it really does take a village to raise a child.

Maya: My brother was one of the protestors. Andy: You don’t know that. Maya: I do.

But Bailey was also good at helping Carina work through the lawsuit and eventually concluding that Carina didn’t do anything wrong.

It’s odd to hear that Carina has never faced a malpractice suit, especially as an OBGYN. They have some of the highest malpractice insurance because of how likely something will happen.

Nevertheless, Bailey was able to determine that Carina didn’t do anything wrong and that there was no validity to this case, which made me wonder why they bothered to introduce it in the first place.

It may lead somewhere. But at this rate, it may not, and that’s where the storylines could be clearer for me; I don’t know where anything is headed, nor can I latch onto a concrete theme.

Related: Grey’s Anatomy Round Table: Are They running Out of Things to Do With Amelia?

Yes, it has only been three episodes. But it has also been three episodes in a truncated season.

I’m afraid of the series going everywhere and nowhere at the speed of lightning during its final season.

Other tidbits:

Beckett bonding with his patient was cute. Of all the things moving fast, Beckett’s sobriety is at the right pace.

They got clearance for Beyonce! What a perfect song to end the night, a prideful dance party and all!

Andy seemed more worked up about the protestors than anyone else. As a captain, she can’t be so reactive.

Everyone hitting on Sullivan and Vic because they know aesthetically pleasing when they see it.

Ros and Pru at pride made me smile. Screw the haters!

I loved the sentiment to death, but I cringed at the tabletime overview of how damn dire it is for the LGBTQ+ community.

Over to you, Station 19 Fanatics. What did you think of the episode? How do you feel about the Mason shocker? Sound off below!

You can watch Station 19 on ABC at 10/9c. You can stream it on Hulu.

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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.