Nineteen had an incredibly harrowing day.
And we have an incredibly opinionated round table regarding Station 19 Season 7 Episode 4.
Maybe you’ll love or loathe it, but no one holds back!
Join Ellie MV, Heather M., and TV Fanatics Sara Trimble and Hailey Whitmire White as they discuss the episode in full!
What was your impression of this highly intense episode high on emotions?
Ellie: I’m going to sound heartless for saying that, but the episode has made me feel nothing on emotions. Why? Because the writers, the synopsis, and the trailers have the gift to make the episodes sound intense when it’s not the case after watching it. And that’s what happened with this episode.
Sara: I agree with Ellie: nothing, nada, zip. I see where they thought they were going with the emotional triggers. But I’m disassociated with the entire station.
I can’t connect with anything or anyone this season. The only thing I felt was anger and frustration at Andy Herrera. I hate that she is not wearing her Captain’s hat very well.
Heather: it’s the same for me. I didn’t feel much with this episode because, like Sara said, I can’t really connect with these characters this season.
Nothing feels right. These characters don’t seem like themselves. They constantly contradict these characters with the writing, which makes this hard to believe. Also, these rescues have been weak. Do you want us to believe these are intense situations? Give us intense rescues.
Haley: Y’all are going to make me feel like a giant baby! I got super emotional watching this episode, especially during the car accident call where all we saw was Natasha’s face reacting to the chaos.
The way they handled the calls in this one was really clever because I felt their stress and emotion without seeing them unfold. It helped the episode flow quickly so other topics could be addressed without leaving out the drama of emergency responses. I loved it, honestly. It’s my favorite episode of the season so far.
Jasmine: I’m just popping in to add that I’m with you, Haley, and you’re not alone. I thought it was a very strong episode, and it had me invested and in my feelings more than once. I loved so many of the stylistic choices.
Related: Station 19 Review: Trouble Man
Do you think Andy is facing the sober reality of getting everything she wanted? Is she handling the position well?
Ellie: I think Andy thought it would be that easy to deal with everything as Captain, and she discovers that it’s complicated, just like the scene where she learns from Ross that there will be some cuts to do at the station.
I can’t really have an opinion about whether Andy is handling the position well or not because she has never been my favorite character. However she handled things well in the episode, but sometimes, I feel like she has some anger issues as an authority on her team because she wants everything to be perfect. After all, 19 is her father’s legacy.
Sara: I agree with Ellie again that Andy has never been my favorite character. She’s always been high and mighty like she’s better than everyone. But to me, she’s average.
I feel like the only reason she made Captain is because it’s the final season, and the writers knew they couldn’t end the show without giving the main character the goal she’s spent seven seasons trying to achieve.
They are not portraying her in a good light. She is not doing well at playing Captain, and instead of realizing it’s her own failure, she tries to blame her team. Even though if she were still part of the crew, she’d be chewing out the Captain for being so hard on everyone.
And instead of talking with her team about the harsh realities of what is happening with budget cuts, she has a power struggle and abuses her position. Not cool, Capt! Especially when you have a crew with several former Captains who had your position before you.
Heather: Andy isn’t handling this well at all. If we compare her to previous captains, Maya, Sullivan, and probably even Jack Gibson would handle this situation better.
Andy has always been entitled to think she is owed that captain seat (don’t get me started on the nepotism of it all), and now she’s putting pressure on herself to be the best “this house has ever seen.”
But I also believe Ross is making things more difficult for her. We have not seen a chief breathing down a captain’s neck like we saw Ross in this episode. With Ross putting pressure on her with the whole one foot in the locker room speech, Andy still could’ve been more respectful to her team.
Oh, and let me say she can be just as mad at herself as she is at Ben over his back injury. Travis tried to talk to her about it, and she blew it off because he was “cleared.”
Haley: Yeah, Andy’s over her head, and she went into this job without understanding it. It was naive of her to think the mayor would honor his promise to increase the FD budget (like Natasha said, what politician hasn’t gone back on their promises?).
She’s not doing a great job of listening to her team. As Heather said, Andy ignored Travis’s concerns about Ben, and there could have been serious consequences.
Andy ignored Theo’s concerns about where Vic was during a call, and all she had to say to Vic after was, “Don’t let it happen again?” I sure hope she plans to check in with Vic in a more caring way.
Related: Station 19 Fans Are Desperate to Save the Show… But Is It Ending at the Perfect Time?
Is Sullivan onto something about them paying the price for his and Ross’ relationship? Is she probably right about someone worse ending up in the position?
Ellie: I don’t think he is onto something, but he can’t wait for Ross to say yes to his proposal so they can live their relationship.
I don’t know if she is right about someone worse ending up in the position. I think it will depend on the person in the position. It would have been worse if it were a man, and if it were a woman, maybe it would not have been that bad. To be honest, it’s hard to answer the question.
Sara: I think Sullivan feels guilty for wanting to be public with their relationship. He didn’t want to hear that things would be different if the bosses learned about them. And now he’s seeing what Ross was worried about—being vulnerable and at risk of blackmail.
I think the mayor had plans to screw 19 the second he made that deal with Travis. Travis never should have dropped out of the race or believed a politician. It’s a bit on the nose that a politician is crooked and goes back on his word to become enemy number 1 for the station.
I think if Ross lost her position, it could cause someone worse to replace her.
Right now, Station 19 is falling apart, and the only thing saving it is that they have a personal connection to Ross. I wonder if she would be as willing to help other stations if they were in the same boat or if it’s just because she’s friends (and lovers) with the 19 crew.
Heather: I absolutely agree with Sara. Their relationship is not 100% to blame for everything happening in the department, but it’s certainly a part of it. It has made Ross’s job more difficult.
Osman has taken the opportunity to use their relationship to make Ross his political puppet. In the season 6 finale, he clearly stated that he did not want Ross to be the chief. Then, they have a conversation on Station 19 Season 7 Episode 1 in the hospital, and she’s back as chief and allowed to go public with the relationship.
We all saw there was something off about that. I’m willing to bet there was more said in that conversation that we haven’t seen yet. I’ve always believed that Osman was playing Travis last season to get that mayor position, and we haven’t seen the last of how ugly things will get.
We can’t know if someone worse could be in that position. The last time we saw a great chief was Ripley, and our feelings about him as a chief have gone back and forth, too. I will say that I hated that whole “I’m a hero” spiel Ross gave Sullivan when he asked how their relationship affected things. She made it sound more about her and her career than anything, and I believe she would steamroll the station to save her career.
Haley: Natasha Ross is sitting where she wants to be, and “someone worse being in this position” is an excuse. She sold her soul for this job. Sullivan feels guilty, but he has a right to do so. There’s a reason there are rules against fraternization. This is sort of a FAFO situation, sorry to say.
Should Warren hang up the helmet?
Ellie: That’s the thing with Ben. We love him and Miranda; they have a couple of goals, but Ben, at 19, can be as annoying as he was in this episode, so Travis was right about him.
With his back pain, he is a danger to everyone, so he should hang up the helmet and enjoy his life with his kids. He even could become a doctor again at the hospital. It will be less dangerous, and Miranda will feel more reassured.
Sara: The writers are setting Ben Warren up to return to the hospital, both with the way they portray his injuries on 19 and Bailey’s concerns over his work on Grey’s. Since 19 is ending, we would expect to see a few characters maybe return to their home show.
That said, I’m still trying to figure out how we went from seeing Ben with an injured wrist that was healed to now struggling with a back injury, especially when he’s been so in shape this whole time.
Heather: It’s looking that way, and I will say yes just because, over the entire series, Ben has yet to develop as a firefighter. Ellie and Sara are right in that it looks like they are setting him up to go back to Grey’s.
I’ve had issues with how the writers have always done Ben. He’s an ambitious guy who has argued about wanting to be the guy running into the fire. But mostly, we see him doing medical work because of Miranda’s concerns. He hasn’t seemed like he wasn’t to promote either.
There was never any talk of being a lieutenant or anything like that. As he gets older, he needs help keeping up with everyone. Also, Travis is right about him. He is a danger and a liability to everyone in that house as long as he keeps lying or going cowboy, as he tends to do.
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Haley: I’m with Sara; when the heck did Ben hurt his back? He had a wrist injury and was cleared, and now suddenly, he’s Old Man McBad Back??
Anyway. As the others have said, we’ll see him hang up his helmet and return to Grey Sloan. It’ll be a hard transition for him because he found his calling at Nineteen, but ever since adopting Pru, he’s been benched more often than not anyway. I’m curious to see how they’ll reintegrate him into Grey’s Anatomy on a professional level.
What did you think about Beckett’s emotional response to that call and his feelings about facing such hardships sober?
Ellie: I’m not a fan of Beckett from day one, but I liked the scene because he was so real about his feelings. His feelings were valid; I’m sure he would get through them.
Sara: I loved the scene where Beckett lost his composure. Unlike my Station19 round table partners, I have enjoyed the redemption role for Beckett. And I haven’t minded his character during the previous seasons. The things firefighters experience daily can be rough and traumatizing. It’s no wonder Beckett turned to alcohol in the beginning.
So I liked seeing him raw and anguished after such a horror. That’s enough to make a person relapse, so I appreciated Sullivan’s attention and assistance.
Heather: This was the second time we’ve seen Beckett be so vulnerable, and my heart has been going out to him.
What made me appreciate this scene even more was we got to hear him over communication talking about the children at the scene, and you could hear his struggle in his voice. I was worried that he would shut down and not talk about it. I’m glad Sullivan was there for him and got him to open up about his feelings.
Haley: Y’all just heard me go off about how much I didn’t care about Beckett, and now here we are. I’m eating my words. He grew on me during the Pride episode with his speech to the patient on weight-loss drugs about loving the body you’re in.
And then having this heart-wrenching response to a call was a big deal for a guy who usually keeps it close to the chest. Not only did he show vulnerability, but he didn’t act like an ass when Sullivan reached out to support him, and he even prioritized his sobriety by having a meeting with Sullivan.
I’m rooting for Beckett now, but nothing will make me change my mind about Kate.
Theo resigned. What’s your reaction? And do you think more cuts are on the horizon?
Ellie: Oh, thank God, A MIRACLE !!!! It was about time for Theo to leave 19.
I do think there will have more cuts on the horizon because during the truth & fear game with Maya & Carina.
Maya said she was scared to die on her job and to leave Carina alone with a baby, so to me, it gives the prediction that Maya will leave her career for her family and that will be the same thing as Alex Karev leaving the job for Izzie on Grey’s Anatomy (I will never get over this because I loved Jolex to the death)—completely bullshit.
Sara: I always felt Theo was an awkward addition to the 19 house, so I won’t shed any tears now that he’s leaving. Hopefully, Kate follows him out. I agree with Ellie that Maya will also be leaving the station. Maya and Ben will be leaving, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Travis took a leave of action.
The only true firefighter left is Andy. With Ross and Sullivan facing such issues, I wouldn’t be surprised if they leave the area completely by the end of the season and take jobs elsewhere where they don’t have a stigma over their heads.
Heather: I don’t get all the Theo hate, so I’m sad to see him leave the station. To me, he was a good firefighter and a good addition to the team. The way this episode went, we could tell something was about to be up with Theo. We saw him conversing with almost everyone in the house (or trying to).
Each conversation felt awkward. If they didn’t have that explosion at the restaurant and Theo didn’t blame himself for it, I’m not sure he would have resigned. But you could tell he felt like the odd man out now that his relationship with Vic was over.
As far as any more cuts, I don’t know if there will be other cuts, but others will choose to leave. So far in these four episodes, we have been given a reason for everyone except Andy to want to leave firefighting or Station 19.
Haley: I’m sad about it, honestly! Like Heather, I like Theo. I wanted him with Vic and hoped they would find their way back to each other. I hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of him. I sure hope more cuts are coming. BYE KATE! (Please.)
What’s going on with Vic, and what do you think about her trying not to feel anymore?
Ellie: Someone checks on Vic ASAP because she is NOT doing okay at all!
The scene where she fell asleep while the others left for the call reminded me so much of the scene where Maya fell off the treadmill and lay on the floor for hours…
Anyway. I think Victoria is maybe ignoring all kinds of feelings like the angst, the pain of a breakup, being ignored…I think it’s a lot of feelings she is ignoring, and so, sooner or later, she will have a mental breakdown. And Barrett Doss will kill at it because she has already killed in that episode. And I think she deserves more recognition for her talent.
Sara: Vic is experiencing the burnout that happens when you care too much and no one else cares enough. Given the situations she’s experienced, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see her abandoning firefighting to focus more on mental health.
I wouldn’t be shocked if they air an episode where she snaps and loses her cool. I hope it doesn’t happen during a call and that they don’t overdramatize it. The last thing we need is to dislike yet another key player.
Heather: Oh, my poor Vic! She is just going through it so badly!
Everything is catching up to her. She constantly buries her feelings, even though she doesn’t think she does. So, this is a culmination of everything from the past coming to the surface. When she took her heart tracker off to me, it said she didn’t want to care anymore. That she just wanted peace. She is headed for a breakdown.
Again, her missing the call adds to the bad writing we’ve been seeing. This house has seen this happen with one of their own on a couple of past occasions, with Maya ultimately ending up in the hospital.
Theo noticed Vic was missing when the call came in, but Andy bit his head off about it. When the team got back to the station, all Andy did was look at Vic in anger and tell her not to let it happen again. Andy should’ve recognized right there that something was wrong with her firefighter and could have jeopardized the entire team.
How is no one noticing what is going on with Vic Hughes? Travis saw something was up, but the writers just wanted to use that scene for comedic relief instead of him being Vic’s friend, who he had been in the past.
Haley: Vic broke my heart in this episode. Barrett Doss acted her ass off and delivered an incredible performance.
It’s a combination of burnout and untreated mental health issues. She tries so hard to save everyone around her and carries the weight when anything goes wrong.
Also, I get that everyone had a lot going on with the audit and a hard 24-hour shift. But it SUCKS that no one was there for her. Travis poked at her, but like Heather said, it was more of a silly scene than a heartfelt one. I have a feeling this is going to lead somewhere dark.
Did you enjoy Maya and Carina figuring out what parenting is for them? Did they miss out on exploring how Carina is influenced by her childhood, too?
Ellie: The problem with Maya & Carina on parenting is that it seems like they can’t agree on how to raise a child. Maya wanted to check on Liam when he was crying; meanwhile, Carina tried to let him cry until he stopped, so I’m struggling with them because they have never had conversations about the baby topic.
For example, the conversation about their fears is a conversation that should have happened a season ago, not when the baby is here.
The thing with having Stefania regular on Station 19 is that her character won’t be developed as much as I would have liked. Carina is an OBGYN and doesn’t belong to Station 19, a show about firefighters.
She is on the show only as Maya’s wife and nothing else. The thing with being the wife of Maya Bishop is that the writers don’t take time to develop her outside of Maya, so we will never know the real reason she wanted a child, on how influenced by her childhood Carina is…
There are too many things missing about Carina’s childhood and life.
Sara: The struggle with how to parent was an authentic disagreement experienced by many first-time parents. Especially when they’re raised differently, I would like more context to explain why Carina is more on self-reliance and if that’s going to be a factor that plays into Maya remaining a firefighter.
We have yet to see much of Carina as a rounded character, which might have affected the impact of the relationship scene. Carina got to blame Maya’s concerns on her recent run-in with Mason. But we need insight into why Carina is on the spectrum’s opposite, more closed-off side.
Heather: Honestly, I checked out some of the Marina scenes in this episode because I don’t want to hear a crying baby on TV, and I’m tired of them looking for any reason to make them argue.
This story failed me because we first see Maya drilling and baby-proofing while Carina tries to change the baby, acting like she can’t do it alone. All while the baby is crying. And Carina is fussing at Maya for help to find the diapers.
Then later they fight because Maya is ready to run to crying Liam while Carina wants her to wait. So you have this whole flip-flop on their parenting perspective that made no sense to me.
I’m sick of the whole dynamic they have created as Carina being this loud, pushy, bossy partner, and Maya eventually gives in to her. I still feel like this relationship is sometimes unhealthy and unstable because of how these writers get lazy on their stories.
Haley: I have a 13-month-old son, so I’m not too far removed from newborn days. I sympathized with Carina and Maya in the early days of parenthood — the exhaustion, the arguments, the stress.
Without getting too divisive, I have strong feelings about their argument regarding parenting styles, and I was surprised to see which sides Maya and Carina fell on. I would have expected them to be on opposite sides of the attachment vs. self-soothing argument!
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I didn’t love how Carina acted like she knew so much better than Maya about parenting. They’re both brand new at this, and they need to remember that it’s the two of them who are against the problem, not each other.
I would have liked to see both of them explore how their own childhoods impacted their beliefs on parenthood — a season or so ago, in a therapy session or something, before becoming parents.
What was a standout moment from the hour or a scene you enjoyed most?
Ellie: Maya & Carina being locked out of their house. It was pure gold comedy. I loved that scene so much.
Sara: I agree that the scene where they got locked out of the house was great. I’ve done it personally, so I can relate. It was cute when the girls bickered about Carina’s car being locked, and she swore it was. But it wasn’t. I can relate because I often do the same thing with my husband.
The rest of the scenes didn’t have much impact on me. Vic sleeping through her alarm. Andy losing her crap over the crew misplacing their equipment. The proposal coffee from Sullivan. I’m so over the proposal bit. Stop asking. She’ll answer when she’s ready. Or she’ll ask you!
Heather: I don’t know if I enjoyed any scene in this episode. I did enjoy Vic letting it all out on Kate. Someone needed to say something to her. I did like the scene in the beanery with Travis Montgomery, Sullivan, and Beckett joking about Beckett and Sullivan as captains. But then Andy walked in and ruined that scene.
One scene that stood out, which was not enjoyable, was the one where they were looking for the jaws of life.
The blame game, finger-pointing, and ugly, uncalled-for remarks were absolutely unlike any of these characters. Yeah, it was a rough shift, and they have had some rough shifts in the past and never treated each other like that.
That was just gross writing. There were better ways to have an intense episode without it going there.
Haley: It was definitely the scene where Vic speaks to Kate in the bathroom. It was exceptionally cruel, unlike Vic, but it was a great display of Vic’s current mindset. Her seething tone and the cold look in her eyes as she calmly read Kate for filth will stick with me.
Do you have any additional thoughts you’d love to share?
Ellie: Stefania has done an incredible job with her directional debut on the episode !!! I enjoyed her directing very much. 10/10
Sara: I hope the final few episodes will see Andy returning to the person we’ve enjoyed all season. I’m over her power trip, angry, aggressive behavior. She’s always said they were more like a family. And she’s railed on anyone who’s come into the station and treated the crew as anything but the close-knit group they are. So why is she acting like a tyrant and mistreating them?
Heather: Stefania did do a good job with the material she was given. This episode was a notch better than Station 19 Season 7 Episode 3. It was still a weak episode to me.
It also has not given me any confidence this season will improve. Not one character seems like themselves. Still cramming too much in an episode. Nothing feels cohesive. Oh, and Sullivan, for the love of God, stop with the proposals already.
Haley: I totally agree about Stefania; she nailed it. Again, this is probably my favorite episode of the season. She captured a lot of emotion and action in an episode that primarily took place in the firehouse. Also, yes, can Sullivan please knock it off? It’s getting cringey.
Welp, our lovely Station 19 Fanatics. It’s your time now. Do you agree with everything that our round table has shared? Whether you do or don’t, sound off below with all of your thoughts!
Station 19 airs on Thursdays on ABC at 10/9c. You can stream the following day on Hulu.
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.