Overall, I really liked this episode but I feel I could've liked it more if I had more faith in the writers. Especially in the mediator argument.
Hen's big argument there was that none of them could know what shes been going through because none of them asked. No one cared enough to figure out if she was actually doing ok after Bobby's death, emotionally or otherwise. But, aside from the forgotten birthday episode we haven't really seen this. Even this episode, to me, felt kinda dropped outta no where, with no build up and a quick reconcile. It didnt seem like a storyline they were actually building or continuing.
It was a whole thing immediate post bobby death that buck was actually being over bearing and checking in with people TOO much. Yes, he was doing it in an unproductive way (a la grief assessment), but it does kinda contradict hens point. We've also seen eddie getting closer w Hen this season since theyre partnered up. They went to an IMAX together! Hen and athena seem to regularly hang out together. Hen also hid all of this from Karen, her literal wife.
Bearing all of that in mind, I think you could still believably pull off hen making this argument in this moment. She's just lost her job and possibly her healthcare with it. Her sense of identity, purpose, and family are obviously very tied into her career. They all have such incredibly blurred lines of work and personal relationships. To top it all off, shes been kinda ambushed into this mediator intervention session. I dont expect her to be making a sound/rational argument rn! I totally support her lashing out emotionally even if her isolation in this is largely self imposed. That's messy and real and human, and I think shes allowed to be that!
But with the way the rest of the table reacted, it seems like the writers are trying to sell that argument as real. They all look suitably chastised for not paying enough attention to hen. No one speak up to argue or defend themself or even slightly contradict her. That's where it all breaks down and feels like the writers arent keeping track of their own story lines now, for me.
I just feel like they either needed to commit more to hen actually being neglected (before this episode, continue and build on the forgotten birthday storyline, throw us little bits of hen getting talking over or prioritizing other people or more fraught interpersonal dynamics cause of the team reorg, etc) or let the other characters react in a way that tells us this is all a big bundle of emotions rather than messy story telling (let the rest of them contradict her, keep the argument unproductive cause theyre still not hearing each other and feelings are still raw, have her collapse happen as people start yelling and she gets up to storm out bc she feels like ppl arent listening to her).
But like. Do one of those and do it fully. Don't just tell us they haven't been paying attention to her without showing it and then give her a dramatic medical emergency so this can all get swept up without actually having to process it.
Either way, I'm tuned in, I want more hen storylines, im interested if they wanna drag out the tension and make the interpersonal stuff a longer lasting thing. I just wish it felt more like the show knew what the actual story is
