Review of 17x14 “Look Up Child”
It has been three years since I wrote my last review of a Grey’s Anatomy episode. After Sarah left, I stepped away from my fan accounts and did not plan on ever looking back. Somehow though, through the dedication of our captains and the strength of the Japril fandom, we got one more episode that confirmed what we have known all along – Japril is forever.
The episode opens to Jackson driving through a storm and we can see in his eyes that he is fighting an internal storm as well. He winces at his injured hand while his mind flashes through thoughts of holding Harriet with April for the first time, the pain of watching April marry Matthew, and meeting his dad. These moments, along with many others have led Jackson yearning for more out of life, and so he returns to Montana hopeful he will find answers there.
The last thing Robert Avery expects, for a second time, is to find the son he left behind standing in the doorway of his restaurant.
“Everybody alive?” Robert asks.
Jackson making this journey again, after the way they left things before, could only be for one reason in Robert’s mind. Jackson reassures him that is not the reason he came, and Robert relaxes easily into his friendly charm, offering coffee and a place for Jackson to “take a load off.” He has no idea of the “load” Jackson truly bears.
Robert is awaiting the arrival of his co-worker so they can deliver pre-packaged meals to families in need in their community. This gesture may seem small, but to Jackson, this is a subtle sign that he on the right path. There is more he can do than what he has found within the walls of Grey-Sloan Memorial. Their small talk is awkward, and Jackson wants to get right to what he came for – answers. Robert has other ideas. There are sandwiches to be made and they can talk while they work.
After following Robert to the porch, Jackson realizes this sandwich-making process is going to be more time-consuming than he thought. And so is getting the answers he came for. He reiterates to Robert that he doesn’t want anything from him – not turkey, not coffee – just answers.
Jackson presses his dad for information about why he left the foundation, the problems he saw with it, and Catherine’s perspective on it all while Robert deflects the questions with vague answers and praise of the ham and turkey sandwich. Robert is not ready to answer these questions because answering them would mean dealing with the memories of the past and the regret he carries. So instead, he smiles kindly and puts Jackson in charge of the meat slicer, which leads to the first moment in Jackson’s life where his dad taught him how to do something. (Although we all know he didn’t teach him well!) This interaction allows Jackson to let his guard down just slightly and they find they have some common views on the Avery name, money, and pressure that comes with it all. Jackson tries some of Robert’s “best in the state” turkey and Robert opens up about his own shame and abandonment by his father. It seems pain runs through generations of Avery men.
Maybe it is that realization, or the cup of Robert’s coffee in his hand, that makes Jackson relax enough to begin opening up. He shares his desire to do more to change the system has seen fail so many people. He isn’t even sure if he can, but he knows he feels compelled to try. Robert agrees that people should do what makes them happy. He did and he “never looks back.”
But Jackson does. He can’t stop looking back and wondering why his dad was absent from every moment that mattered.
“I realize that it’s really messed me up…pretty badly. And, um, it just made it hard to maintain relationships and stuff. Having this inclination to run away all the time. And I know, I know, running away doesn’t actually solve anything. I know that. So…and I’ve tried. I’ve tried really hard to rid myself of the shame and the pain that comes with all that, and uh, you know just kind of doubled-down on being the best at everything – the best father I could possibly be. I probably stayed in my marriage longer than I should have, went along with foundation business longer than I should have, but no matter what, when it gets rough I just end up right there, running into the woods trying to fight the you in me.”
What begins as a tearful explanation builds to all of Jackson’s pent-up emotions overflowing at his dad. He is distracted and emotional, cutting his hand on the slicer with blood pouring out, while his heart pours out at the same time.
Robert tends to Jackson’s injury, and they both feel it is a simple gesture that holds more weight than they know what to do with. Robert tries to make light of the situation by joking about a family practice, but it is the idea of them as family that sends Jackson to find fresh air on the porch. It is here where Robert finally answers Jackson’s question of “Why?”
Running is what Robert does when things get too difficult, and that is what makes Jackson so afraid. He feels the same pull. Just before he cut his hand, he was running down the long list of things he feels he has done wrong. Does he truly believe he stayed in his marriage too long? No. But to Jackson that is just one more way he is like his dad. He is so messed up by the fear of turning into Robert that he breaks things off before they get too difficult, before he gets to the point Robert did. If he can maintain a safe distance to the important things in his life, he won’t lose them and he won’t be like Robert. “My divorce…maybe that would have been a good time for you to step in and share some wisdom.” This isn’t who Jackson wants to be, but he is too scared of moving in either direction – scared of moving both toward or away from the things that matter, like April. So instead, he suffers in an ambiguous middle ground. One where he hasn’t completely abandoned anyone or anything and one where he hasn’t fully committed to anything either. It is a balance he has tried to find for years, but it is also what is breaking him now.
Truth be told, even Robert cannot fully run from what matters. From his cabin in the woods, he admits that everyday he regrets leaving, and he buys gifts for a little girl he has never met in hopes that one day he will.
“You’re not a runner. If you were, you’d have been long gone by now…you have it in your soul to do the right thing. To makes things right. And you didn’t just fix a disaster, you made it better…on your worst day, you are ten times the man I am.”
And it is with those words Jackson makes his decision. He is going to do the right thing. He is going to take what seems like a disaster and make it better.
Arriving back in Seattle, Jackson goes straight to the people who matter most.
Catherine is his first stop. He needs her blessing to take over the foundation. Their money and influence can make life better for all people by bringing justice and equity to medicine and build a better future for Harriet. Catherine’s Mama-heart breaks a little to see him go, but she cannot deny how proud of him she is.
With the rain still coming down, Jackson rings April’s doorbell and stresses over how he is going to approach asking her to move across the country for him. How can he explain to her that this is not impulsive, this is not something he is doing on a whim?
Yet, when the door opens, all his insecurities are quickly forgotten because seeing April only reminds him of why they have always been each other’s person and how she has always trusted him no matter what. She trusted him the night of the boards with her heart and virginity, she trusted him with the decision to induce her pregnancy with Samuel to stop his pain, and she trusted him to run away from her wedding and the life she thought she was supposed to have. But this is different. So much has changed in the past few years. Would she trust him now?
Jackson will have to wait to find out, though, because April is frantic. Harriet is sick and April cannot get her fever down. Jackson sees how stressed she is and immediately gives April what she needs. He takes Harriet into her arms, both consoling her and helping April calm down and have a moment to breathe. They fall into their usual banter and affectionate teasing.
Their conversations and interactions throughout the episode give us small glimpses of what we should have had the past several years had their story been written they way it should have been. They naturally fall into their place as the loving, concerned parents unable to sleep while caring for their daughter. They move through the house and around each other as if this is a familiar dance that they have done hundred times before.
Harriet’s sickness doesn’t seem to be the only thing April is stressed about. Her living room is strewn with laundry and she quickly tries to clean it up while Jackson reassures her in his “bank voice” that it is fine. Too many pillows, but otherwise, fine. Jackson continues Daddy Duty by dancing with his daughter and April gets a chance to take a much-needed shower…until the storm knocks the power out.
Jackson and April alone at night in a storm, surrounded by candles, is the perfect set-up for an epic reunion, and while they may not have utilized the kitchen counter like we wanted them, too, they did reconnect on a level of clarity and maturity that shows how much they have grown.
There is also that not-so-little issue of Matthew. Japril fans spotted early on that April was missing a particularly important ring, but it was even more telling when Jackson asked her directly if her and Matthew are happy, and she responded with simply, “We are busy.” For a marriage that the terrible writing of season 14 wanted us to believe was ordained by God, how sad that you can’t even pretend to be happy. That one line conveyed so much more than what was stated. It was clear from that point that Matthew and April’s marriage was over.
April is not the only one beating around the bush. She quickly calls Jackson out on his “cagey” behavior of commenting on her exposed brick instead of saying why he actually showed up at her house late at night in the middle of a storm. She can read him so well she knows there is something more, which is when we finally find out his plan – he is going to take over the Avery Foundation. The catch is, that means Jackson, as well as April and her family, have to move to Boston.
April responds by questioning if this is what Jackson actually wants because it never was before. Is he going to move to Boston and then fail or regret his decision? And while this seems unsupportive and harsh, April has to ask these questions because, as we find out later, that is exactly what happened to her. She thought she was choosing the right path by marrying Matthew, but not only has their marriage failed, she regrets that they even tried. But Jackson doesn’t know this yet, so to defend his decision he uses Matthew proposing to April as an example of how he unconditionally supported her which not only hints at Jackson’s jealousy, but reinforces April’s fear that making a decision this big may not be the best choice. She sees happiness for Jackson in the safe choice. He can continue to rebuild faces, give little boy’s hands, and help people breathe again. Maybe if she can convince him to stay with what he knows he won’t feel the hurt she is feeling right now. “Why would you want to give all that up?”
Jackson knows he can do all of that and more in Boston. He can make a positive change in medicine, April can continue her work with the homeless, and Matthew will just follow because it is April, and that is the one reason Jackson likes him. “He is gonna want to follow you anywhere.” Jackson understands the urge to follow April anywhere. The night continues with wine, snacks, and comfortable conversation but they don’t come to an agreement on what their future holds.
The storm breaks and morning comes. Jackson, recognizing that April has been overwhelmed lets her sleep in, and she wakes up to the sounds of Harriet and Jackson happily eating breakfast and we get a glimpse of their happy, family mornings that we all know Boston will bring. The three of them laugh and talk over pancakes, orange juice, and throw pillows and April admits that she should have been more supportive of Jackson’s plans. If only they could get their timing right.
The morning has brought with it clarity for April and she tells Jackson her answer is yes. Yes, she believes he is “that guy.” Yes, she believes this could work. Yes, they are going to Boston. Shocked and surprised, Jackson offers to help talk to Matthew, but we find out that won’t be necessary. As most of us suspected, the marriage that should have never happened is over. One of the best lines of the episode is the slight dig that the writers (Sarah/Jesse?) took at the ridiculous story of April marrying Matthew. “We kept trying to tell ourselves that our whole winding road was God’s plan to bring us back together. But he was still so angry and hurt. I mean, I left him at the altar and his wife died. You know, you don’t just stop feeling hurt ‘cause it’s a better story if God brought us together in our pain.” Enough said. And as much as we are not sad to see Matthew go, April is hurting, and Jackson recognizes that. He takes her hand in a small gesture of comfort because he never wants to see her in pain. (Thank you, Jesse, for improvising that.) He gave her a reason to smile again. Their family has a fresh start ahead in Boston.
The episode closes with Harriet calling out for “Mommy and Daddy” as Jackson pulls April into a hug before leaving to prepare for their move, and April folds perfectly into his arms where she is supposed to be. Fingers crossed for new horizons. Maybe they finally did get their timing right.
