Note: This article contains spoilers for season 15, episode four of Grey's Anatomy.
Thursday's Grey’s Anatomy episode may have featured a crossover with the firefighter drama Station 19, but fans of Meredith Grey were focused on a flame of another sort—that between their fave doctor and her blind date John (Josh Radnor of How I Met Your Mother fame).
Fans took to Twitter from the moment Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) introduced herself to John and said, “start the clock”—an inside joke with Alex Karev about whether or not she bails on the date after 20 minutes. And tbh, the reactions to the potential couple were as mixed as they were when fans first learned about Meredith’s potential new love interest.
Some people just couldn’t get see John as anyone other than HIMYM’s Ted Mosby:
While other fans just found the idea of the pair straight up hilarious:
But once the two started chatting and Meredith’s eyes did that crinkly, happy squint that's been so rare post-McDreamy, viewers tweets took on a different tone.
After all, John sounds as devoted to his job — he’s a privacy software developer — as Mere, even mentioning that his former wife “couldn’t share” him with his career. And the two share a few laughs over a common grammar faux pas (hello, they don’t have time for people who confuse "there," "their" and "they’re").
But their most obvious moment of chemistry arrives when John spots a woman chatting at the bar with another man and realizes she was supposed to be his date. “I knew you didn’t look like the picture, but …” he says, trading more laughs with Meredith, who didn't have his picture prior to their date. The two send simultaneous “sorry, but I can’t make it” texts to their original dates, and it's a happy mistake that seems to seal the deal.
And fans kind of loved it:
But as quickly as viewers saw the spark, it was just as swiftly squashed by John’s honest admission to Meredith that his past dates had been with single mothers "looking to get married." Meredith (understandably) was offended by that, and ended the date by saying that she didn't feel like she was on "any sort of clock." Snap.
Fans of course rallied behind their girl:
But it might not be the end of John just yet. When Meredith tells Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) and Station 19’s Andrea (Jaina Lee Ortiz) about his date-ending goof, Andrea tells her maybe she was better off dodging an otherwise "slow moving bullet." But there’s an air to the convo (and that pensive look in Meredith’s eyes) that makes it seem like there’s more to the Meredith-and-John story and, perhaps, a second chance.
And, if not, then fans have a Station 19 bachelor in mind:
Caroline Shannon-Karasik is a writer and mental health advocate based in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to Women's Health, her work has appeared in several print and online publications, including The Cut, Tonic, Narratively, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, and DAME. She is currently writing a collection of essays.
