Grey's Anatomy S19's Lion King Scene Is Giving Fans Musical Episode Flashbacks
Let us not be unjust, callous, or unkind. Let us speak truthfully, but never with the intent to harm. Let us, in fairness, admit that 19 seasons is a lot of TV, and a lot of time to not only make mistakes, but to repeat them. This time, however, repeating the mistake with the song that's like, the third most associated with Pumbaa and Timon.
We speak here of a two-fold problem. Fold one: The Season 19 episode of "Grey's Anatomy," "Training Day," in which a group of dedicated physicians sings "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in primetime-ready harmony to aid in the birth of a child, because the American healthcare system be like that sometimes.
Fold two: This is not the first time that the suspiciously symmetrical medical nerds of the world of "Grey's Anatomy" have started singing unexpectedly. It's not even the first time that it's happened in the lead-up to a dramatic birth. Longtime viewers who are just trying to get through this show will remember that in Season 7, the denizens of the series performed a jukebox musical in the brain of a car crash victim. If that doesn't make sense, it's only because it doesn't make sense, and the story is still widely considered one of the most over-the-top moments in "Grey's Anatomy" history.
The parallels were not lost on fans of the show, who took to social media to comment. Or, as Reddit user u/Petaline so correctly predicted, "Everybody in these comments about to clutch their pearls and start reliving the musical ep."
Grey's Anatomy got musical again, and fans noticed
"Ok, come thru mini music episode," wrote Redditer u/FourDrunkMoms, prompting u/streetsahead483 to respond, "These harmonies. What is happening?" Perhaps this user forgot that doctors can't be good at everything.
Meanwhile, over on Twitter, @mermelias astutely observed that "the musical episode looks different here." User @emmarinato spoke for all of us, saying that they weren't "expecting to see Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Carina (Stefania Spampinato) featuring on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," but here we are." Life is what happens when you're making other plans, you know?
Now here's the good news: The episode in question ended on a cliffhanger, leaving the door open for even more songs that were briefly featured in "The Lion King" to appear in part two. Maybe Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) comes back and sings "I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts." Maybe Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character appears in somebody else's brain and does a heartfelt cover of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight." Say what you will about "Grey's Anatomy," but it's a show that knows how to keep its audience coming back.