This review contains SPOILERS for Grey's Anatomy Season 21, episode 18 "How Do I Live."
Based on the Grey's Anatomy preview for the finale this week, I knew this viewing experience was going to be a highly stressful one. I didn't know just how stressful, it turns out -- because we never learn as fans of this show, I guess.
The hostage situation wasn't the only nail-biting event that happened this episode, of course. Ben operating in the ICU unsupervised, Meredith Grey maybe hinting that she was going to leave forever -- so much stress leading up to those final moments of the episode. But of course that's where they really kicked us while we were down, as they almost always do.
The facts are these: That tank wasn't actually empty, and that gas probably released in the operating room when Dylan's mother dropped it at the end of the surgery. There is a very big, very fiery explosion moments before the episode ends, but we don't actually know who -- if anyone -- was in the room while it happened. We're supposed to believe it's Link, since his surgery in progress was shown right before the credits rolled. But it's also mentioned very briefly that no one knows where Teddy is, and the last time we saw her she was walking away from Owen.
We also know that all surgeries have started up again, which means it could be anyone in that room. Jules asked to scrub in on another surgery right beforehand as well. And these episodes like to play with time to mess with us, so there really is no way to know for sure who might have been in that room when the gas ignited.
This is one of the best twists-to-cliffhanger scenarios we've gotten in a Grey's season finale in a very long time. I can't remember the last time this show has stressed me out this much. I don't think I breathed normally the entire time. And this one was so well done, and so welcome, that I'm honestly not even upset that we have to wait until September to find out how all this plays out.
While this show often gets criticized for its lack of realism, sometimes it's the absolute chaos ahead of these cliffhangers that make its classic lean into dramatized medicine really count. Maybe someone won't make it out; maybe they will. It's the anticipation, and the many months of waiting ahead, that are ultimately going to make all this worth it when Season 22 finally premieres this fall.