Station 19 – Nothing Seems The Same

By: Gladys Luna

The episode opens with Andy (Jaina Lee Ortiz) finding out that her mother didn’t die but actually faked her own death and is now standing right in front of her. Then, we are taken three weeks earlier to the moment Andy was trying to make the eulogy for her father while Dr. Ben (Jason George) is trying to make sure that she is doing alright. He suggests a change of scenery that could help her, so he invites her to join him for the clap out. Andy follows him outside and they meet with Tuck (BJ Tanner) who has showed up there to see his mom Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and stepfather since they have been quarantining at work due to the current pandemic. Everybody from the station starts to gather around and then we see Bailey coming out the hospital followed by other doctors. The woman is happy to see Tuck and her husband right in front of her, but at the same time she is frustrated that she is not able to go any near them. She tells Ben that he is “a sight for sore eyes” and confesses how much she misses him. A few minutes later Carina (Stefania Spampinato) also comes out and looks for Maya (Danielle Savre) among the crowd and shows a sign of relief when their eyes finally meet. There are a lot of cheers and clapping around for the doctors that have been working tirelessly to fight the pandemic.

Later Victoria (Barrett Doss) and Travis (Jay Hayden) arrive to the man mother’s house to deliver some groceries. His mother Nari (Jeanne Sakata) opens the door and seems to be very thrilled to see them there while behind her we can see Paul (Kenneth Meseroll) staring at his son with discomfort. In the meantime, Jack (Grey Damon) does the same and delivers some groceries to Marsha (Jayne Taini), Marcus (Ansel Sluyter-Obidos) and Inara (Colleen Foy) who gets incredibly nervous around him while they talk.

Robert (Boris Kodjoe) works with a group of inmates to teach them the basics of wildfire training. Back at the station Maya reminds the team that the virtual memorial service for Captain Herrera (Miguel Sandoval) will take place that same afternoon and the others think that it is terrible that they have to do it that way. Jack believes that they can make a proper memorial service after the lockdown since he believes it might just last a couple of weeks, but Ben makes fun of him since he thinks that is very far from the truth. Miller (Okieriete Onaodowan) comes in running and almost bumps into Ben who has been truly cautious and says to everyone to keep themselves at least six feet apart if they want to remain safe. The firefighters get an emergency call and they immediately clear the room. Miller sees Andy and asks her if she needs anything, but the woman assures him that she is alright. Right that moment we are taken back to the present day where Andy is discussing with her aunt Sara (Laura Cerón) while the woman is trying to calm her down given the recent news about her mother. Andy starts to hyperventilate and bolts outside of the room when her mother Elena (Patricia de León) tries to reach out to her to explain why she faked her death.

Back to three weeks earlier and while Travis and Vic are on their way to attend one of the calls he reviews his dating app looking for some fun. When they arrive to the place they see a group of four teenagers waiting in the side of the walk claiming that they were coming from one of their houses and suddenly the car over heated. One of the teenagers, Billie (Tess Aubert), was injured when trying to open the radiator cap. In the meantime the other three teenagers Kayden (Paul Syre), Conor (Matthew Erick White) and Frankie (Justin Ellings) argue about what happened. Back to the present Sara runs after Andy and tells her that she needs to listen to her mother while the other woman rants and seems to find it hard to breathe. She wants to know if her father knew that her mother had liedm but Sara tells her that it is not her place to tell her. Elena shows up and asks her for a chance to explain herself.

Back to the past where we see  Vic and Travis are back on the route when they receive a call saying there is a fire near by which happens to be the same place where they met the group of teenagers earlier on. When they arrive they find Billie crying and screaming in fear while Kayden is laying on the floor with some serious burns over his body. When Vic arrives she asks Billie why they didn’t wait for the tow as requested and Billie says that Kayden was trying to fix the car, but then it just blew up in his face. The other teenagers had ran away and then Vic realizes that there is a chance that Billie might be on to something. When she inquires about it the teenager runs away to the forest. Vic and Travis request for back up to Maya, Andy and the others.

Back to the present and Andy is still trying to make some sense to what is happening; her mother tells her how she felt when she had her and confesses that back then she didn’t feel ready to have her. And, although she loved her, she was not capable of taking care of her. She explains that she left for NYC and was dealing with a lot of mental issues at the time, but anything she says seems not to be enough for Andy to forgive her since the woman never apologizes for actually leaving. The backup has arrived at the place where Kayden’s car had blown up. While the team is trying to help another explosion happens and it spreads to the trees nearby. The team find Billie nearby and take both teenagers to the hospital in a rush. Vic calls the Seattle Grace Hospital for support, but they say that they are not taking anything that is not related to COVID. Sullivan responds to Maya’s call much to her surprise and he asks her where she wants him to be. Andy finds Conor in the middle of the forest while she recalls her conversation with her mother where Elena tells her that when she left she told Andy’s father to tell her she was dead, but she never meant it and it seemed that it is exactly what he did. Andy is still overwhelmed and mad at the woman’s confessions, but also hurt that her father lied to her like that. Andy is taken back from her reverie when hearing Conor ranting as he confesses that he and his friends just wanted to gather one more time to party since their graduation was canceled and begs her to find Frankie since he has a lot of health issues and he forced him to attend the party.  In the meantime, we find out that Frankie has tripped and when he fell he stabbed himself with a piece of wood and is found nearby by the other firefighters. Vic takes the other teenagers to the hospital and is welcomed by Owen (Kevin McKidd) who says that they are not taking any cases that are not COVID related, but the woman says that if he doesn’t admit them then he’ll be the one to blame for murder in case they die.

She goes back to Travis and he says that he hates teenagers for being so reckless, but at the same time he understands what they must be feeling right now. Once their job is done the three firefighters trucks leave the place while people come out of their houses carrying signs of appreciation to them while they wave at them.

Back to Andy, she is sitting on the floor while telling her mother that when she was nine years old she got her period and didn’t know what to do since no one had ever talked to her about it. So, she just woke up one day and the sheets and her underwear were all stained. She tried to clean it all up but made a mess instead. When her father arrived he got mad at her for it, but then he saw what happened and sat with her to explain the whole process she was going through. She recalls that while he did he cried and she thought it was because she was no longer a kid, but now she understands that it was because he knew that somewhere out there there was Elena who had decided not to be her mother. Elena confesses that he went to look for her when 9/11 happened and begged her to come back, but she refused to do it. Andy says that she was with him that time and that they returned home alone, so it makes sense to her that Elena never wanted to be really part of her life. She gets up and goes straight to the door, but before she leaves the room she asks her to tell her aunt Sandra that she will call her and explains that every year Sandra sent her birthday cards, even when her father didn’t give them to her. However, she appreciates that at least she tried, something that Elena didn’t do.

While Travis was looking at his dating app he found the picture of his father there and was surprised but hid it from Victoria who noticed his reaction and insists he tell her what he saw. He gives in and finally does. Travis is mad that his father has been living a double life since he believes it is not fair for his mom. They laugh while they talk and he asks her to move in with him permanently and be the only normal thing in each other’s life. Sullivan shows up at Maya’s office and tells her that even though he is not part of the station anymore he wanted to be there for Andy and apologizes to her for what he did.

Andy shows up at her father’s memorial and gives a lovely speech while everybody else is watching it streaming. She says that even though her father was faced with a lot of hard choices, he did what he thought it was best for her. She says that her father gave her a family at the station and decided to stay and protect her until he had to leave her to save her one last time. While Sullivan watches her from the bottom of the room, he recalls the conversation they had when he asked her to give her ninety days to get fully sober so he can spend every minute of their lives loving her. Andy closes her speech saying that if she could say anything to her father she would say that she is grateful for him and that he did his job very well.