Teach Them How to Say Goodbye: Station 19 Finale Commentary

Nikoo and I say farewell to our little gay fire station.

It’s always sad when a great TV show gets cancelled; this was the fate of Station 19, the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff that started in 2018. Thankfully, the writers knew that they were going into their final season this year, so they were able to give the show and characters a proper sendoff. After seven seasons of firefighting, the final episode, “One Last Time,”¹ aired last Thursday, May 30th.

Going into the finale, I jotted down my expectations and predictions based on the episodes leading up to it. Here are the essentials:

• Despite the cliffhanger of Maya trapped in the forest fire, she’s going to be fine. We could see her with the rest of the crew in the promo, but also, if the writers pulled a bury your gays in the last episode, they’d be hearing from me, personally. I predict only happiness for my favorite wives.

• I hope Ruiz is okay after his run-in with the falling tree! Killing off a major character would certainly pack a strong emotional punch for the audience, but I honestly don’t see what they would really be achieving narratively with that at this point. All it would do is deliver yet another gut-wrenching (and unnecessary) loss for Vic and Travis.

• Where is Jack? I need the writers to follow up with him again post-brain injury—I really wish they had done more with that storyline this season.

• With the show ending, I think Ben will decide to be a surgeon or an anesthesiologist again and go back to Grey’s. That man loves a career change as much as he loves Miranda Bailey.

As has been my tradition since she first introduced me to the show, I watched the final episode with my best friend, Nikoo. We met in a Google Doc (and over FaceTime) to watch and discuss the show together. Our live commentary notes were a bit chaotic, but here are some highlights:

Alina: They’re gonna rescue Maya before the title card.

Nikoo (on Andy slaying as captain): Andy, they could never make me hate you!

Alina (on Carina in turnout gear): They did this just for us!

Nikoo: Are they literally wrangling a fire tornado?

Nikoo: Wait, how long are they planning to just sit under these burritos?

Alina: I literally said at the end of last season that it could be cute to get Andy and Jack back together at the end, even if it is kinda random!

Alina: The pierogis!! Wait, so Ruiz is fine. Why did I react to the pierogis first?

After the initial shock of it all had worn off, we went through and discussed all the main points of the episode.

Alina: Overall, I am pleased but simply overwhelmed by all the things that they shoved into that episode. Let’s get into the firefighting first—that is what the show’s about, after all. I thought it was cool to see those fire blankets; the fire tornado was crazy!

Nikoo: The fire tornado was wild, but I thought it was great that they ended the series with a good old giant disaster, and that the only death was that rando annoying woman.

Alina: Oh my god, I forgot that Powell died. So many things happened in this episode! Honestly, I wonder if they just did that because viewers hated her. I’m still surprised that there was barely any reaction to her death in the episode. Weren’t she and Travis supposed to be close friends once upon a time? In any case, I’m glad they wrapped up the fire story fast enough to get back to the character stories. And they played “Somewhere Only We Know”—you can’t have an episode of Station 19 without the slo-mo music firefighting sequence.

Nikoo: So true. What did you think of the character-specific flash forward montages?

Alina: I get why they did it the way they did, but I’m honestly haunted by the fact that they aren’t necessarily canon.

Nikoo: I liked that everyone got their moment (except Jack), but I’m still torn on if this was the best way to go about it. I think I would’ve preferred an actual flash forward. In the words of me describing my date last night, “it was very good but not great.”

Alina: I guess the writers just had a lot of things they wanted to convey about the future and the characters’ hopes and dreams, but it was so fast-paced and a little jarring at times.

Nikoo: I think I liked the content of all the flash forwards (except Beckett’s pickleball moment, that was so random) but I wish that we knew whether or not they came true. We already know Travis’ doesn’t happen the way he imagines it, so which other ones don’t end up happening?!

Alina: Yeah I really feel that, especially with the Marina family, like do they end up with three kids or not? The pickleball scene was kind of a cute, casual moment, though. Honestly, I’m surprisingly happy with how well they redeemed post-rehab Beckett this season. Maybe all we need in life is to find love and pickleball.

Nikoo: You’re so right, and you know what? I recently found pickleball and I love it, so I guess I’m halfway there.

Alina: One thing that did annoy me, though, was Sullivan and Ross. Just when I thought I was getting over my dislike of Sullivan, they had him dream about his professional achievements, whereas Ross was imagining their wedding. He’s the one that was proposing to her all season!

Nikoo: Everyone looked so good at their hypothetical wedding, though, and we saw baby bump Carina (and her digital camera, she’s so me-coded)!

Alina: I know, I love Marina so much. I also thought it was really sweet to see Maya realize, over the course of this season, that she actually wants to give birth too. And I’m glad we got a scene just the two of them for Carina to tell Maya she’s pregnant.

Nikoo: I agree, that was super cute.

Alina: Speaking of couples, I’m kinda shocked that they took us all the way back to the pilot to hint at Andy and Jack getting back together. The way this season abandoned Jack entirely was so disappointing, but I’m glad we got a bit of reassurance about his ending. I can just imagine Andy being a fire boss and the two of them chatting away on dispatch, and it’s nice to think he’ll stay tied to 19 this way.

Nikoo: I liked that too, but it was definitely sad that he was so absent all season. I wonder if that was Grey Damon’s choice.

Alina: They really had me scared when Andy was missing and had to go to the hospital, but I’m so relieved they didn’t kill off any of the main characters. In terms of Ruiz, it was very odd to have Grey’s and Station happening sort of simultaneously.

Nikoo: Yeah, we knew that he got through surgery from Grey’s before we saw him go to the hospital in Station.

Alina: It was nice to not add to Vic’s trauma, though. Speaking of, I gasped when Dean stepped out of that picture in her flash forward.

Nikoo: Crisis One lives on!

Alina: Wait, I have things to say about Vic and Travis. I’m so happy that he did decide to move away with her, because it counteracted the expectation that every major character should have an endgame romantic partner. Narratively, the two of them have been the most important people in each other’s lives throughout the show’s run, so it’s fitting for this to be their happily ever after instead of forcing a rushed relationship plot. The airport scene in particular was a great subversion of the romance trope where someone dramatically shows up at the airport to confess their feelings, and I’m just obsessed with their platonic love story!²

Nikoo: Yes, and I was recently listening to Barrett on Jaina’s podcast, and she talked about how Jay is her favorite scene partner she’s ever had, she feels so lucky to have worked with him, and the Travic friendship was her favorite storyline to play. That just made me so emo, it’s so cute that their friendship is the same offscreen too!

Alina: That is so sweet, I love when cast members seem to be close in real life.

Nikoo: Yeah and obviously, people have come in and out of the show but, for the most part, the cast has been pretty consistent, so I’m sure that helps. The rooftop conversation between Ben and Andy was such a nice reminder of where it all began, since he was the reason for the initial crossover and Andy was the lead at the beginning.

Alina: Good point! I couldn’t help but laugh, though. Ben Warren surgical resident Grey’s season 21 here we come! Oh, and grown up Pru Miller-Warren being a firefighter at station 19 nearly brought a tear to my eye. That big time jump was such a nice surprise—I truly did not expect to ever see Captain Bishop again, so it only makes sense that it would happen under Chief Herrera.

Nikoo: Yes, they did that for us! They definitely gave us Captain Bishop because the fans (me) never forgave them for taking it away from her in the first place. Alina, do you have any concluding thoughts? Reflections on the last seven seasons?

Alina: Where do I begin… Thank you, Shonda Rhimes, for giving us this show. It has ignited a fire within me and an eternal passion for firefighting. We will always be on the lookout for fire stations in every city we visit and I’m so glad. Although I’m sad to see Station 19 come to an end, it was wonderful that it got to do so on its own terms. I’m also very puzzled about how Grey’s is gonna continue without Station mentions and crossovers since the two have been very intertwined recently. That said, I’m holding out hope for Carina being on Grey’s since she’s still Jo’s mentor; hopefully we get to see glimpses into her and Maya’s lives if Danielle and Stefania are available. It would make sense, since Ben was the other main tie between the shows and he’s returning to the hospital. Nikoo, what are your reflections?

Nikoo: What to say! In this moment, I am thinking back to that one month we lived together and binged truly three seasons’ worth of this show all day and night—so beautiful how much has changed since then, yet how much has also stayed the same.

Alina: Yes, it really takes me back to summer 2021!

Nikoo: Station 19 is such a good show, and it’s so upsetting that it’s been cancelled, especially since it's been consistently better than Grey’s, not gonna lie (I also love Grey’s and am a loyal watcher, but let’s be real).

Alina: You know what it is, the characters on Station are just written so well, and I find myself much more invested in their storylines overall.

Nikoo: Yeah, the whole cast of characters was great; (almost) everyone was so likable and had such well thought out storylines. My final thoughts are: I love diversity, Andy is such a badass, and I’m definitely also holding out hope for Carina and Maya on Grey’s going forward.

Alina: Couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks so much for chatting about the episode with me on here!

If you’ve read this far without having watched Station 19, what are you still doing here? I’m kidding, but thank you for coming along for this different article format. Until next week—happy Pride Month!

1. I’m interpreting this as a Hamilton reference. I suppose they could also be thinking of the Ariana song, but that makes less sense to me.

2. Let me be your daddy!