Grey’s Anatomy season 16 episode 18 review: DeLuca’s breakdown

This week’s Grey’s Anatomy episode featured one of the most intense performances we’ve seen in a while thanks to DeLuca’s breakdown.

This week’s promo for Grey’s Anatomy did not deceive us. Faced with an overwhelming array of choices, Andrew DeLuca’s downward spiral finally hit its lowest point — or so it would seem.

When he became immediately suspicious of a potential human trafficking situation, a large portion of the audience was skeptical. We’re immediately led to believe he’s jumping to conclusions, especially when none of his fellow doctors believe he’s making the right call.

Backed into a corner (literally) between the potential victim and the woman calling herself the girl’s aunt, it takes an entire team of doctors to intervene and try to convince DeLuca he has gone too far. That’s when he finally breaks down.

The tail end of the episode reveals DeLuca may actually have been right — or at least on the right track — when he assumed something wasn’t right. But he’s already walked off, speeding away on his motorcycle … too fast with the engine light on.

We’re left with a lot of unanswered questions here, which might be a good thing as far as cliffhangers go. When Meredith told him she loved him, did she mean as a friend or something more — or was she just saying that to calm him down?

Will the storyline with the patient and her “aunt” resurface at some point, or will they leave it open-ended? Based on next week’s promo, it doesn’t look like we’ll get more details next episode, but there should be at least one more airing after that before an early hiatus. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Even if you don’t love DeLuca’s current storyline, you have to admit Giacomo Gianniotti is going all out with his performance — in this episode in particular. He’s not holding back, and it shows. When was the last time you felt as anxious watching Grey’s Anatomy as you did watching the above scene? That’s how you know the acting was on point.

Also, can we talk about Carina for a second? We don’t see her too often these days, but when we do she always has so much to bring to every scene she’s in. She was perfect in this episode — fingers crossed she’ll play a bigger role in whatever happens next with her brother.

Props to Grey’s Anatomy for its painfully realistic portrayal of how the extremes of bipolar disorder can manifest and how it’s dealt with when it impacts health care workers. Hopefully this isn’t the last we’ll see of DeLuca’s long road to recovery — if she chooses to brave it.

What do you think will happen to DeLuca next? What did Meredith really mean when she told him she loved him?