Spoilers ahead for Episode 7 of Station 19 Season 4, called "Learning to Fly."
Station 19 returned for its first episode since DeLuca was stabbed heading into the second half of a crossover event with Grey's Anatomy last week, and Carina's brother tragically died due to his injuries. The death of a Station 19 regular's brother on Grey's Anatomy seemed primed to set up more mini crossovers that have happened pretty frequently over the past season and a half, but that wasn't the case with "Learning to Fly," and I'm now wondering if Station 19 is finally cutting down on the Grey's Anatomy crossovers.
None of this is to say that Station 19 ignored the death of DeLuca just because it happened on Grey's Anatomy. In fact, the B plot of "Learning to Fly" centered on Carina struggling to deal with the grief and guilt from what happened to her brother, with Maya doing everything she could to try and help her girlfriend. But DeLuca's death was dealt with without anybody from Grey's Anatomy dropping by for a visit. In fact, Ben performed surgery on Station 19 rather than the injured man going to Grey Sloan.
Of course, one episode of Station 19 that doesn't involve Grey's Anatomy characters (unless Ben and Carina count as characters who started out on Grey's) doesn't mean that the crossovers are slowing down, but if we look ahead to the next couple of episode descriptions courtesy of ABC, there is no mention of Grey Sloan or any Grey's Anatomy guest stars. Here's what's on the way with the Station 19 episode, called "Make No Mistake, He's Mine," on March 25:
Vic’s love life is complicated again as she learns of a shocking secret. Meanwhile, Andy grows frustrated at Sullivan for undermining her authority, and Maya struggles to keep her jealousy at bay when one of Carina’s old flames comes to visit.
The promo for "Make No Mistake, He's Mine" revealed that the shocking secret Vic will learn about her new man involves something to do with Travis, and "Learning to Fly" showed the seeds of Andy getting frustrated with Sullivan, which really just reminds me of how much I was not a big fan of their relationship in Season 3. The Maya/Carina plot is new, and hopefully means that Carina isn't going to be drowning in her own grief indefinitely. Then, we have the "No One Is Alone" episode of Station 19 airing on April 1:
Vic and Travis’ friendship is put to the test as they respond to calls to help two best friends in need. Meanwhile, Jack realizes he has a greater impact on Marcus than he realizes, and new details about Travis’ late husband’s tragic death are revealed.
"No One Is Alone" seems like it's going to pack in the drama, but not necessarily drama that involves the doctors of Grey's Anatomy! For better or worse, there seems to be a cap on crossovers for at least the next couple of weeks. The crossovers have happened quite a lot in the last couple seasons of both Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy, although mini crossovers with characters dropping by the sister series more often than the big two-part crossover events.
In fact, sometimes two episodes are hyped as a Station 19/Grey's Anatomy event but arguably don't serve as two halves of one story. Sometimes the crossovers are fun and raise the stakes, but sometimes the connections between the two shows mean that something major happens on one that hugely affects the other, which isn't the most convenient for viewers who only watch one of the two shows rather than both.
I tend to prefer when Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy aren't so connected on a weekly basis that viewers have to watch both to understand what happens in one, so I'm not going to complain if the crossovers slow down and become more special events than casual and weekly. Jackson and Vic are broken up, and Carina is now a Station 19 regular. There is still Ben and Bailey, but I'm happy to let the shows slide so those two can share the screen. What's not to love about Ben and Bailey?
See what happens next for the first responders of Station 19 with new episodes on ABC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET, followed of course by Grey's Anatomy. Surprisingly, the future of Grey's Anatomy is uncertain, so it should be interesting to see what happens next for the shared universe. My theory that a police-based spinoff is happening may not come true, but it's hard to rule much of anything out!
