Spoilers are ahead for the Station 19 series finale.
Summary
Station 19, the seven-seasonGrey’s Anatomyspin-off, aired its final episode — and the conclusion wasn’t completely satisfying. I’ll admit that the firefighter-centered drama series had its fair share of hurdles. In the wake of the dual Hollywood strikes of fall 2023,Station 19’s final season was given a slim 10-episode order. For a show with seasons that are more than double that in length, the episode trimming meant thatStation 19season 7didn’t have as much room for slow-burn character arcs or all that many world-building, character-developing subplots.
And while it’s certainly not the same 21-season behemoth as its parent show, theStation 19series finale has me thinking about the inevitable end ofGrey’s Anatomy. Despite ABC’s need to cut costs in the coming season, the network seems confident inGrey’s Anatomy’s future.The longest-running scripted primetime show currently airing on ABC,Grey’s Anatomyis a phenomenon, but that doesn’t mean it will continue in perpetuity. If anything, I really hopeGrey’s Anatomylearns fromStation 19’s series finalemissteps — even if the medical drama’s conclusion is still years away.
7Station 19 & Grey’s Anatomy’s Ensemble Casts Make It Hard To Tie Up Loose Ends
Every Character Deserves A Memorable Sendoff
With a dozen or so main and recurring characters,Station 19had to provide closure to quite a few characters. Instead of putting one character front and center, the series finale moved frenetically between characters and subplots. For me, the well-intentioned choice backfired. In the same wayGrey’s Anatomyneeds a Meredith Grey replacement,Station 19’s dwindling interest in putting Andy Herrera at its center impacted the series as a whole. Protagonists like Meredith and Andy may not be every viewer’s favorites, but they help ground their ensemble shows, providing someone for the many story threads to orbit.
Grey’s Anatomy…needs to figure out a way to give its biggest characters satisfying sendoffs.
In trying to give each character a moment amid the wildfire,Station 19provided its beloved firefighters with mere scraps. Instead of telling an emotionally resonate, nuanced story, the series finale fell back on genre tropes and surface-level conversations between characters with so much history between them. Admittedly, whileStation 19’s struggle to spotlight its ensemble appropriately frustrated me, the show’s 10-episode order didn’t help matters. Needless to say,Grey’s Anatomy— which boasts an even larger ensemble — needs to figure out a way to give its biggest characters satisfying sendoffs.
9 Station 19 Characters Who Can Still Return In Grey’s Anatomy
Although Station 19 season 7 marked the series finale of the spinoff, several characters can still appear on the show’s parent series, Grey’s Anatomy.
6Station 19’s Wildfire Plot Proves The Grey’s Anatomy Series Finale Doesn’t Need A Big Disaster To Work
The Wildfire Event Overshadowed Station 19’s Characters
Like anyGrey’s Anatomyfan, I love a good season finale disaster episode, from the intensity ofGrey’s Anatomyseason 6’s two-part hospital shooter finale to season 8’s series-altering plane crash. Even the season finales ofGrey’s Anatomythat center on would-be happy occasions, like weddings, are memorable.I can understand whyStation 19felt the need to raise the stakes with a wildfire, but it just didn’t have the intended impact. Sure, the looming disaster gave the firefighters something to band together against, but the same thing could have been achieved with a more “mundane” emergency.
When it comes to Grey’s Anatomy, closing the chapter is more like closing an era of television history.
If anything, the wildfire was somewhat distracting.Station 19has always been about the firehouse’s familial ties, so a threat to those bonds — to 19 itself — would have raised the stakes in a more compelling way. When it comes toGrey’s Anatomy, closing the chapter is more like closing an era of television history. Instead of trying to pull off the biggest disaster episode ever,Grey’s Anatomyshould hone in on small-scale drama, prioritize its characters, and keep the action centered on Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
1 Station 19’s Character Return To Grey’s Anatomy Makes The Perfect Owen Story Possible
Realizing Owen’s program idea in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 can benefit from 1 Station 19 character joining Owen, were their return confirmed.
5Station 19’s Flash Forwards Didn’t Reveal Enough To Be Satisfying
The Station 19 Flash Forwards Aren’t Even Canon
Each ofStation 19’s main characters experiences a moment where they’re either confronted with something life-threatening or with something that makes them consider their future. For a moment, the characters will zone out and imagine what lies ahead of them. I wasn’t a huge fan of the show’s use of flash forwards. The moments were too brief and vague to add up to anything meaningful, and the execution started to feel formulaic and overly sentimental.Not every series finale can achieve theSix Feet Undereffect, and some, likeGrey’s Anatomy, should find closure in other ways.
Grey’s Anatomy
Cast
A high-intensity medical drama which follows Meredith Grey and the team of doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial, who are faced with life-or-death decisions on a daily basis. They seek comfort from one another, and, at times, more than just friendship. Together they discover that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white.
One of the best parts ofGrey’s Anatomyand its spin-offs is that Shonda Rhimes' world feels incredibly lived-in.Grey’s Anatomydoes a great job of referencing past plotlines; at times, characters even call out their own ludicrous actions. It’s what myself and so many other viewers love about the show’s slightly cynical bent. Whilea series finale shouldn’t be just a collection of Easter eggs or self-referential moments,Grey’s Anatomydoes need more of that fan service thanStation 19’s finale offered. For example, I’d love to see an adult Dr. Zola Grey-Shepherd says, “It’s a beautiful day to save lives.”
3Grey’s Anatomy’s Final Episode Must Include Cameos & Guest Appearances
Fan-Favorite Characters Like Cristina Yang Must Return To Provide Closure For Viewers
In my humble opinion, this is the biggest must-have inGrey’s Anatomy’s series finale. During the show’s COVID-19 era, Meredith saw the ghosts of loved ones past on her private limbo beach, allowing her to speak with her late husband, Derek Shepherd, and her late friend, George O’Malley. Needless to say, there are plenty of inventive ways for the show to bring back as many fan-favorite characters as it can wrangle. More than anything else,I need to seeSandra Oh’s Cristina Yang return to Grey Sloanand dance it out with Meredithone more time.
Station 19’s Series Finale Flash Forward Finally Gave Closure To A Grey’s Anatomy Crossover Story
The series finale of Station 19 saw the show’s firefighters saving Seattle, but the end-of-episode flash forward provided another kind of closure.
2Station 19’s Finale Needed To Be Longer To Tell Its Story Well
Even thoughStation 19season 7, episodes 9 and 10 tackled the wildfire plotline, they didn’t air back-to-back on ABC. For me, they felt a bit disjointed, and like there wasn’t really enough time to fully explore the wildfire or sendoff the show’s characters. By cramming things into two separate episodes,Station 19’s finaledidn’t quite live up to its potential. Again, the shortened season didn’t do the final season any favors, butit’s abundantly clear thatGrey’s Anatomy, which will have been on the air for two decades in 2025, needs a traditional two-hour finale event.
Every Grey’s Anatomy Doctor Who Won’t Be Working At Grey Sloan In Season 21
The Grey’s Anatomy season 20 finale delivered a cliffhanger ending in more ways than one, with several doctors leaving Grey Sloan ahead of season 21.
1Station 19 Purposefully Avoided Major Character Deaths In Its Finale
Grey’s Anatomy’s Divisive Character Deaths Have Been A Big Part Of The Series' Legacy
This might be a controversial take, but I was shocked thatStation 19didn’t kill off any of its main characters aside from Kate, who got pulled into a literal fire tornado and slammed against a building. Plenty of contemporary TV shows kill off characters left and right in order to be shocking, raise the stakes, keep audiences on edge, or deliver an emotional blow.Sometimes that focus on tragedy undercuts a story or pushes a series to go for the wrong kind of closure.I was delighted to see characters like Maya, Carina, and Ben get happy endings, but I also feel thatGrey’s Anatomyis so known for its divisive character deaths that it needs something big in its series finale.
All 7 seasons ofStation 19and all 20 seasons ofGrey’s Anatomyare streaming on Hulu.
Station 19
Station 19 is a spin-off of Grey’s Anatomy that premiered in 2018 on ABC. The series follows the professional and personal lives of the firefighters at Seattle Fire Station 19. Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 sometimes have crossover episodes in which a storyline is depicted on one night throughout both shows.
