Station 19 Season 6 Episode 12 Review: Never Gonna Give You Up

Did anyone anticipate Theo being the interim Captain while Beckett is away?

Ross made a bold move on Station 19 Season 6 Episode 12, as the team dealt with the fallout from their mutiny while juggling saving one of the most annoying characters in existence.

And Maya and Ben elicited all the feels with their concern for their wives as the Grey’s Universe interconnected, with this hour being a bridge between Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 Episode 11 and Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 Episode 12.

Stella had to be the most insufferable person they’ve ever saved in this series.

While I’m never one to wish ill on a person, at some point, it feels like nature was simply trying to take its course, and the team shouldn’t have interfered.

Stella endangered her life, her boyfriend’s, and the first responders who had to come and retrieve her dumb ass for social media fame and followers.

Social media influencers like Stella give the lot of them a bad name. She allowed it to consume her, every decision in her life was broadcasted for the public to see, and she sought validation and attention so desperately that every choice she made was based on what she felt her followers would like.

Her poor boyfriend was head over heels in love with her, gave up his job to follow her around, recording her for the sole purpose of making her happy, and this self-absorbed woman couldn’t even go public with her relationship with him.

It was maddening when we had Maya having anxiety attacks and Travis absolutely reaching his wit’s end, and this girl could only be concerned about her live streamers.

She didn’t even show concern for her boyfriend or wonder if he was okay. It was appalling.

Travis’ spiel was utterly satisfying as he went off on her and expressed how she was endangering the lives of his crew with her antics.

Sadly, nothing got through to that silly girl. She didn’t even express genuine hurt or devastation when her boyfriend broke up with her because all she could think about was how her followers supported their relationship, and now she didn’t want him to leave her.

The case had some triggering moments for Sullivan because it had him empathizing with this man who loved this woman but couldn’t do it publicly.

Sullivan and Natasha needing to hide their relationship is taking a toll, and it’s a wonder they can still keep it up. It looked as if it was hitting Sullivan again just how much it hurts that he loves this woman wholeheartedly, but they must keep that hidden.

It’s something that Ross is probably conflicted about too.

But things stung more when we got around to the topic of interim captain. Andy was Ross’ first choice, but when Andy declined, she suggested that Sullivan be the one to take charge.

Except Ross didn’t choose Sullivan; she chose Theo.

It was an unexpected pivot; you could see it was a sizable blow to Sullivan when she made that announcement. Did Ross really believe that Theo was the next best choice, or did she avoid naming Sullivan in another effort to avoid showing favoritism?

At some point, Ross has to be able to make decisions without needing to factor in her relationship with Sullivan, but sadly, I don’t think that’s something that will ever happen.

Ross: Lieutenant Bishop.
Maya: Yes.
Ross: Right now, you are a first responder. You are not a wife; you are not a daughter. You are not an Olympian. You are here to save lives; do you copy?

By leaning too much into the opposite end of the spectrum, it’s no better than giving in to every whim that may favor Sullivan at work.

It was also interesting that Andy suggested Sullivan in the first place. While I agree that Sullivan can handle situations well, and I could see his appeal in the position, I also don’t understand why Andy would advocate for him over others and say things like how he has the team’s respect, for example.

Sullivan’s relationship with the team can be so rocky that it felt like an empty reason to suggest him that doesn’t align with his history.

And Theo has spent a significant amount of time openly discussing how he wouldn’t want that position. Putting him into it now is a bit surprising.

But Theo has also been one of the most vocal and critical of Beckett, and his defiance, rooted in his experience and the mistakes he learned from, would give the impression that he’d step up if he had to for the greater good of the team.

In that sense, Ross has presented him a chance to put his money where his mouth is as interim captain, and he’s hopped up on the Beckett thing and the situation with the barbershop.

If this were during Station 19 Season 5, I’d definitely be confident in Theo’s ability to run the team. He’s shown how fantastic of a leader he is, even though he often balked at the idea of having that responsibility ever again.

But Theo has been so full of anger, hurt, and goodness knows what else for a while. It’s like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but we don’t know the extent of it because he hasn’t confided in anyone about it, whether it was Vic or Travis.

Screw it! This city isn’t protecting its citizens or us. Let them fire us. I’m done.

Theo

Recently, Theo has felt closed off and inaccessible, running hot often, and I don’t know what to make of that and what that can look like now that he’s in this position, even if it’s temporary.

He was shutting Vic out again earlier in the installment, and later we learned that they didn’t investigate the barbershop fire prompting him and Vic to do it themselves.

They learned that it was arson behind the fire. And as suspected, the theory that the massive company that’s been buying up the property in the neighborhood and destroying businesses and homes that don’t sell could be behind it.

Theo is passionate about this neighborhood and the ugly gentrification that’s happening in it now. And he admitted that the barbershop is a special place for him because it holds the last memories of his father.

One can’t envision the fight ahead of him with all of this.

He’s at least ready for his fight, which is more than one could say about Travis, who always seems like he’s phoning in this mayoral run.

He’s ahead of Dixon, which is great, and he stands a good chance of winning. It would mean that the good guys prevail, and we’d have someone who is a good person in office instead of a career politician with ulterior motives.

But what good is putting someone in office who doesn’t exactly want to be there? Travis isn’t showing much interest in this and what happens next, making it hard for him to invest in this storyline.

Eli doesn’t seem to let it faze him, though. And he’s also taking up space at the firehouse because of his attachment to Andy. Their first date never materialized, or at least not how it should have.

Interestingly, Eli astutely observed that Andy wasn’t ready to date, but then they proceeded to have an unofficial one, and they seemed in this limbo where it still felt like they were pairing them up.

It’s still an odd pairing that seems like they’re throwing them together just for the sake of it, and I don’t see the appeal of the two as a romantic pairing.

All the romance came from Maya and Ben, who literally hit the ground running to get to Carina and Maya.

Ross: Lieutenant Bishop.
Maya: Yes.
Ross: Right now, you are a first responder. You are not a wife; you are not a daughter. You are not an Olympian. You are here to save lives; do you copy?

They heard about the protests at GSM and the car that plowed through the crowd and injured people. And every second they went, unable to reach their wives or find out what was happening, tore away at them.

Maya had a full-blown anxiety attack in the middle of a call, prompting a fantastic moment where Ross gathered her together and a firm way that Maya would definitely respond to, and she was able to carry on with the rescue.

And Ben was able to distract himself with Reggie, who he quickly learned was the man who drove the car. It was a shock that they made that connection to tie the two series, having Ben actively working to save the life of a man who could’ve killed his wife and friends.

Reggie had gotten bit by a Black Widow spider, and his body was essentially shutting down because he needed the anti-venom. It wasn’t clear whether he meant to plow through the crowd for political or protest reasons or if it was a byproduct of his health issue.

Nevertheless, Ben squared him away and then, nearly mirroring Maya, ran like hell to the hospital to see his wife. Ben running to Bailey has always been their thing, and it warms the heart every time.

And Maya raised the bar with that, running ten miles to get to her. She was a true Olympian for that move, and the gold medal was Carina.

We got the buildup to how romantic this was for Marina during this hour. Still, the actual payout with the interactions came on Grey’s, so you can find further commentary on Marina in the Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 Episode 12 review.

But not only have Ben and Maya been thriving in their underrated bestie era, but we got to see how freaking head over heels they are for their wives and their willingness to drop everything as soon as they can to run to them literally.

There aren’t any bats in these caves, right? Will someone please answer me?

Travis

Over to you, Station 19 Fanatics. Are you shocked by Ross’ decision to name Theo captain? What do you make of the arson case? Sound off below.

You can watch Station 19 online here via TV Fanatic.

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