Spoilers ahead for the March 26 episode of Station 19 Season 3 on ABC, called "Something About What Happens When We Talk."
Station 19 spent "Something About What Happens When We Talk" dealing with the aftermath of Rigo Vasquez's death, which happened last week but wasn't explained until Grey's Anatomy. The firefighters spent most of their sessions with the psychologist (sent to help them process the loss) dealing with other issues than what happened to Rigo. The major characters in the episode all got flashbacks that developed their characters and may have changed some relationships, all without Grey's Anatomy crossing over in any meaningful way.
Grey's Anatomy and Station 19 share a universe (although I still unfortunately don't have an official name for that shared universe a la One Chicago or the Arrow-verse), and they've been sharing characters very frequently ever since the third season of Station 19 premiered in January.
While the big crossover event that launched Season 3 and paid off on Grey's Anatomy's fall finale cliffhanger was a thriller, the continual crossovers have started to grate on me, and last week not revealing what happened to Station 19's Rigo until Grey's Anatomy finally broke me.
By giving me a mostly Grey's Anatomy-free episode with "Something About What Happens When We Talk," Station 19 proved to me that it's better when it uses the crossovers sparingly. Yes, Carina DeLuca did turn up in the episode, but briefly, and she's not exactly the biggest character on either show.
Station 19 has a large ensemble, and not even all of them could appear in the March 26 episode. The show doesn't need to watch sacrifice its own characters with their own backstories and relationships just to bring in characters from the sister show.
Why throw in Jackson or Meredith or even Bailey when Station 19 can pack an episode with character development, ending with cathartic scenes like Andy and Sullivan salsa dancing, Ben playing basketball with his sons, Vic playing with the baby with Dean (who is apparently in love with his roomie) watching, and more?
I didn't end "Something About What Happens When We Talk" feeling like the stories were unfinished or like I had to watch Grey's Anatomy to get a full story. Granted, I was going to be watching Grey's Anatomy, but I didn't need to for Station 19.
I've spent most of the second half of the 2019-2020 TV season comparing Station 19/Grey's Anatomy to One Chicago over on NBC due to the frequent mini character crossovers, but maybe Station 19/Grey's would be better off following the FBI and FBI: Most Wanted model over on CBS. Sharing a universe doesn't mean shows constantly need to cross over, even if there are connections between the characters.
Unfortunately (for me, anyway), the promo for next week's episode of Station 19 features multiple Grey's Anatomy characters in the mix, including Jackson despite the breakup with Vic. Take a look:
In the next episode, called "No Days Off" and airing April 2, Ben will invite Grey's Anatomy's Owen, Teddy, and Jackson to take a look at the new PRT vehicle, Andy and Sullivan's efforts to get Pruitt's blessing for their romance will go sideways when ICE raids the restaurant, and Travis will wind up in an awkward lunch with Dixon, Emmett, and Emmett's girlfriend.
The promo shows Maya will attempt to take a break from fighting fires with Grey's Anatomy's Carina DeLuca, and Vic and Dean will be called to the scene of a serious emergency along with everybody else. See what happens with Station 19's "No Days Off" on Thursday, April 2 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Station 19 has already been renewed for Season 4.
