On this chapter of The Queerest Things I Watched Last Week, I talk about the Station 19/Grey’s Anatomy crossover ship that may break my brain (in a good way), and I do a Sad AF recap of the Almost Family series finale.
- Station 19 – Season 3 Episode 5 “Into the Woods” [Live]
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I was just joining in a Twitter conversation about how not queer Station 19 has been this season when this episode kicked that to the curb.
Maya Bishop is the new captain of Station 19, and she is having a hard time in her new leadership role. What team-bonding activity does she take the station on? Camping trip! On the trip, there’s a bear attack (by a poorly CGi’d bear) and it’s a whole thing, but that’s not what I’m here to write about.
During Maya’s struggle, we get flashbacks to her life in high school. Even though the show’s attempt at making her look like a teenager is distracting, we learn about her strict father and her relationship with another girl on the track team.
TL;DW: Maya’s dad only showed her love when she was “the best” i.e. winning track meets. Otherwise, he was really controlling of her diet, practice schedule, etc. and mean to her if she wasn’t winning. It was to the extent that she dropped the girlfriend after her father freaked out on her when she lost a race after stopping to help the girlfriend when she fell.
Back in the present-day, the camping trip is cut short by needing to run a severed nose to Grey Slone Memorial (long story), and the team is no more bonded than before. Bishop is drinking her feelings at the local bar when Carina, our favorite bisexual Orgasm Scientist and Grey Slone Memorial doctor walks in.
OMG!
OMG, y’all, I could have not come up with a better crossover pairing than Carina and Bishop. Orgasm Scientist and fire captain? YES, PLEASE!
- Almost Family – Season 1 Episode 12 & 13 “Permanent AF” & “Expectant AF” [Live]
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Buried on a Saturday, FOX gave us the Almost Family series finale, and while it was good to have closure for one of my favorite ships, it was still Sad AF to know we’ll never see them again.
Leon’s trial begins and Amanda delivers a great opening argument. I think Amanda’s opening argument may be my new sexuality.
Later, Edie sneaks in a conversation with Amanda.
They make plans to meet up at Edie’s hotel room later that night.
During Amanda’s visit, Edie comes clean about sleeping with Tim. Amanda’s not thrilled with the news, but she is Understanding AF and tells her she’s not going anywhere.
Let’s be real here for a minute, Edie really does need to earn Amanda. She has patiently stood by her through Leon drama, Tim drama…let alone lesbian drama. Now it’s Edie’s turn to show commitment to this relationship. Even Victoria Cartagena agrees.
The next day Tim and Amanda share a very awkward elevator ride where he tells her Edie is back on Leon’s defense team. Tim seems pumped about knowing something Amanda didn’t, so he goes on to brag about knowing other things as well. If he was referring to sleeping with Edie, Amanda informed him she did know about that and the two of them talked it out. That shut Tim up quickly.
Later when Tim and Edie are in the office, Tim tells her she should be with Amanda because she was honest with her in a way she never was with him. And just like that Tim is an Amandie shipper with the rest of us.
That night, Edie and Amanda are in Edie’s hotel room fantasizing about a future of birthdays, parenting Lorenzo and watching TV on the couch. It’s a super cute scene until…
Oh, shit! Don’t make out in front of big NYC windows! Ugh, now we’re in for a blackmail plot twist.
It starts with Amanda receiving an envelope with the pictures and a sticky note about going back to the negotiating table. Amanda is freaking out because if the relationship’s revealed the case is in jeopardy, she can lose her job and get disbarred.
They know Chad (the owner of Tim & Edie’s law firm) is behind the photos, but who tipped him off about Amandie? Tim swears it isn’t him and leaves one other person who would be motivated to use it as leverage in the case — Leon.
Edie tries to talk Leon out of exposing their affair, but Leon is only thinking of saving himself.
Leon is a self-centered, emotionless jerk about it like usual.
Before the trial starts up again, Edie and Amanda have an intense conversation in the hallway.
I absolutely loved Victoria Cartagena in this scene. She nailed the combination of sadness, panic and the need to hold it together, all while talking to her girlfriend she’s keeping secret from everyone in the building.
Immediately after that emotional scene, Edie pukes in a trash can. One millisecond later my wife was like, “Pregnant.” A pregnancy test confirms my wife was indeed correct.
So how did the Almost Family series finale wrap up?
Leon surprises everyone by pleading guilty. We at home were not surprised, because something dramatic like that needed to happen to put all of the show’s conflicts to rest.
Edie quits the firm, and she and Amanda are free to live happily ever after.
We can only use our imaginations to figure out what happens next. Edie would have to tell Tim and Amanda she was pregnant, and I guess they would have a very modern co-parenting situation in the future.
Thank you, Almost Family, for organically incorporating a queer couple into your show and giving them a happy ending. We get so few happy endings for our characters (76 out of the 1,424 shows in our worldwide database), and even though the show was canceled, we can leave feeling optimistic about Amandie’s future.
My biggest thank you goes to Victoria Cartagena and the support she showed Amandie fans all throughout the series. I know our community can be a lot, but that is because we were raised without seeing ourselves realistically and positively portrayed in the media. Actors being cheerleaders for their queer characters and fans saves lives, and I am not exaggerating or being dramatic when I say that!
Also, of course she’s cool, she’s from Philly.
I’m going to leave you with a super sweet video Victoria made for the fans. Bye, Amanda and Edie, I will miss you.
This week: All I want is more Carina and Bishop.
