Spoilers ahead for Episode 8 of Station 19 Season 4, called "Make No Mistake, He's Mine."
Station 19 lightened up on the trauma somewhat this week with Carina on the road to recovery from her brother's death and Dean moving forward with his lawsuit, but the Andy/Sullivan drama continues, and the show complicated Vic's new relationship by revealing that Theo is the Seattle Fire Department captain who got Montgomery's husband killed. For most of the episode once she found out about their history, Vic was Team Montgomery over Team Theo, which made sense for her character. So, the end of the episode with Vic softening toward Theo and being caught in the act by Montgomery was a twist that I really wish could be un-twisted.
Theo made a case for himself by saying that Montgomery isn't the only one who is tortured by what happened, and getting his foot run over by a car scored him some sympathy points with pretty much everybody but Montgomery, but everything about Vic Hughes' character over the four seasons so far led me to expect that she would side with Montgomery, especially after her big speech about how much he means to her. She hasn't known Theo for long, and Montgomery is family in pretty much every way but blood. Of course she'd side with Montgomery and not embrace the man who she knows got his husband killed, right?
If only! Theo may have his own side of the story, and the next episode looks like it will shed some light on what exactly happened that Michael lost his life, but Vic hasn't known Theo long enough or well enough that it makes sense for him to stand on anything close to equal footing with Montgomery for her. Of course, Station 19 (and Grey's Anatomy) will always deliver relationship drama, and that can even be part of the appeal of the shows. But it doesn't feel earned for Vic here, and Vic is usually so solid. Keeping a huge secret from Montgomery was rough enough!
Besides, there was already enough relationship drama in "Make No Mistake, He's Mine" that felt more earned. The Andy/Sullivan conflict was organic, especially to me as somebody who has had concerns about their relationship ever since they rushed their way to the altar. The Maya/Carina complications made sense too as wrinkles in a relationship that had to get serious pretty quickly in the face of tragedy. Vic felt out of character for me, and the drama felt unnecessary when I have no reason to be attached to Theo, other than that he made Vic happy for a time. And according to the episode description for the next installment, called "No One is Alone," the drama will continue:
Vic and Travis’ friendship is put to the test as they respond to calls to help two best friends in need. Meanwhile, Jack realizes he has a greater impact on Marcus than he realizes, and new details about Travis’ late husband’s tragic death are revealed.
"No One is Alone" airs as the next episode of Station 19 on Thursday, April 1 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, ahead of a new episode of Grey's Anatomy that will continue Meredith receiving visitors on her beach.
