Yay or Nay? "Grey's Anatomy" Spinoff "Station 19"

Judging a show based on its pilot can be dicey. However, “Station 19” has many things going for it. It is based on the happenings of a Fire Station where the chief is forced to name a successor. That job is made complicated when the chief’s own daughter, Andy Herrera, throws her name in as a candidate for captaincy, persuaded by her ex, Ryan.

Andy’s a natural leader of the team but her boyfriend, Jack is next in line for the job. So, the plot revolves around Andy’s struggles with recalibrating her relationship with the three most influential men in her life. With the natural direction of the pilot, Andy has to figure out how becoming everyone’s boss will change her relationship with her father and boyfriend. If they will be able to see her as a peer and accept her leadership or will they have trouble taking orders from her because of the personal relationship they have with her.

“Station 19” had the tough task of defining itself in a way that it was not associated with previous shows of similarly positioned, the most famous of which is “Chicago Fire”. The pilot achieved that goal successfully. The show focuses on the difficulties of being a woman in a male-dominated profession and the complications of mixing professional and personal lives. While also keeping a playful tone where characters are seen giving each other nicknames and having a laugh. There is also a love triangle between Andy, Ryan, and Jack. Andy is dating Jack now while still having feelings for her ex, Ryan.

There is a twist in the episode where Andy has to ask herself how committed she is to claim what might be seen as her right. There is a scene where Andy has to help a girl stuck between two walls. “You just have to decide you can do this. You can figure this out.” Andy tells the girl. The same logic also resonates with herself as she’s metaphorically in the same position as that girl. The episode is also named “Stuck”.

The pilot sets up “Station 19” well for a drama rich story with deep character development and leaves many parts yet to be explored in the plot. For the upcoming episode, we’d like to see the love triangle develop between the three characters and seeing an example of how everyone would be affected when Andy takes the mantle. How Andy herself copes with resistance or resentment of her peers as she pushes up through the ranks. Overall, we like “Station 19” already even though it has some quirks to work out yet but we believe in giving a series a chance at the first full season before rejecting it altogether. So let’s hope that Shonda Rhimes’ works her magic again and turns “Station 19” into the same addictive and heart throbbing drama that is “Grey’s Anatomy” and we get to watch these characters grow and get molded by their personal and professional lives.