Sheer luck.
That’s how Ben and Dean managed to survive a night at sea on Station 19 Season 4 Episode 13, by which all accounts should have left them dead.
They had hypothermia, were stranded in the ocean, and no one knew where they even were, to begin with. So yes, it’s a “miracle” that these two firefighters managed to not only stay alive but also wash up on shore, relatively unharmed.
Even if it’s a little hard to believe both Ben and Dean escaped this entire ordeal without so much as a scratch on them, we’ll still take it.
After the deadly trifecta of Ryan’s, Rigo’s, and Pruitt’s deaths on Station 19 Season 3, followed by the incorporation on the novel coronavirus pandemic throughout this season on top of Battalion Chief Gregory’s death at the top of the hour, I don’t think we could have handled any more pain and suffering.
Dean: They murdered him.
Ben: Who, chief?
Dean: George Floyd, man. They murdered him. You saw it. We all saw it. He’s gone. He wasn’t doing anything to anyone. That could have been me, day we found Jada in that basement and cop slid my face into the ground. If that had been a bad cop, it would have been me. And prue would have been alone. But all because I had a decent cop on the scene I get a second chance, and George doesn’t. He doesn’t get anything. And the cops, everyone just watched. I don’t know. Nobody did anything.
Ben: No one could do anything. Everyone that was there that day, I’m sure they felt as powerless as we did watching that video.
Dean: If that happened to me, Prue could end up in a basement alone like Jada because nobody was looking out for her, and I was taken out first. And what do I do on my second chance? I die in the ocean.
Ben: No one is dying today. OK, and you’re not getting taken out first. Even if that did happen, you can’t control what takes you out. All you can do is fight as hard as you can to stay alive.
At some point, enough is enough, so thankfully, Ben and Dean live to (fire)fight another day.
Besides making us paranoid that the series would off another fan favorite, this episode stopped for an hour, allowing us to focus on where Ben and Dean were at that moment.
Flashbacks weren’t necessarily needed to get a glimpse of where Dean’s head was at as he lay adrift in the freezing water.
Ever since Station 19 Season 4 Episode 5, when the police wrongfully arrested Dean, he has been on a mission to hold the police accountable and put an end to systemic racism and police brutality through his lawsuit.
It’s a decision some of the higher-ups have criticized, including Battalion Chief Gregory, but Dean has stood firm.
If anything, the killing of George Floyd only made Dean more resolved to proceed with his lawsuit against the police.
Floyd’s death also served to reignite Dean’s fear about what would happen to Prue if he died, something that was only heightened tenfold as he and Ben floated aimlessly in the water.
Since Prue was born and JJ left, Dean has been terrified of leaving Prue parentless.
Dean: Your speech felt a little pointed in my direction.
Gregory: That’s because it was Miller.
Dean: Breaking the color barrier was a huge victory, sir. You forced yourself into the game because you knew we had a right to play, but now it’s 40 years later. I’m on the field, and I can’t simply take your achievement and put it on your mantle. That’s not enough, sir. It’s the same as giving up.
Gregory: Son, we have to present a united front. I mean there are people marching in the streets right now calling for the defunding of the police. We need the police.
Dean: Not like this. Not a militarized police force that shows up with their guns drawn. A situation, sir, that would be better served by mental health care professionals.
Gregory: Look, the point of the police clearing out a potentially violent scene before we enter is that it makes sure a firefighter doesn’t get treated instead of a patient. You want to pull their funding?
Dean: Calls to defund are calls to reallocate some of the funds to services that improve lives, and that reallocation will benefit the community and the police force.
That fear was enough to make Dean reconsider if he should be a firefighter, and that fear again popped up as he was facing possible death either from drowning or hypothermia.
It’s normal Dean fears Prue being left alone should something happen to him, but he keeps forgetting that he has people around him who will take care of her.
This isn’t a reference to Prue’s grandparents. Dean has every right to be skeptical about them caring for Prue.
Until recently, he’d never met JJ’s parents, and when Prue was first born, Dean’s parents didn’t want anything to do with their son and granddaughter.
No, Dean needs to remember that Station 19 will be there for Prue no matter what, though you can hardly fault him when he’s facing imminent death.
It was sweet that Dean wanted Ben and Bailey to take Prue if he didn’t make it, but somewhat odd that Vic wasn’t his first choice.
Yes, they had that weird fight where Dean deflected his love for Vic and made up some crap about not wanting to confuse Prue about Vic being her mother, but it still feels off that Dean wouldn’t make Ben promise to have Vic raise his daughter.
Especially since Dean openly declared he’s still in love with Vic and wants her to be Prue’s mother. Who saw that coming? Oh wait, we all did.
Dean being hung up on Vic is the exact opposite of a cliffhanger, but his brush with death may be the push Dean needs to tell Vic the truth.
Dean: I can’t die before I tell the only woman I want to be her mother that I love her.
Ben: What now? JJ?
Dean: No.
Ben: Condola?
Dean: No, Victoria Hughes.
Ben: What?
Dean: I’m in love with Victoria Hughes, man. I’m about to die, and I never told her. And she’ll never, and I’ll never know, as crazy as it sounds, if she’d been into it too. We could have lived happily ever after.
She’s not attached to anyone romantically, so Dean does have a shot, though part of me thinks it’s not truly over between Vic and Theo.
With only a few episodes before the season ends, Dean needs to make his move before it’s too late.
Similarly, Ben’s near-death experience also propelled him to carpe diem and agree to have surgery.
It was surprising that Ben may have cancer, especially since it was only last season that Pruitt died from the same cancer.
For Pruitt, the cancer was a death sentence, but hopefully, that won’t be Ben’s fate.
On the surface, it made sense why Ben wouldn’t want the surgery, or at the very least, wanted to consider other options before having one of his testicles removed.
Like most men, Ben saw the removal of one of his testicles as emasculating.
Even if he didn’t have any adverse effects from the surgery like lowered testosterone, Ben would still feel like less of a man.
Ben: I don’t need a lesson. I know I’m lucky. I have resources. I have you forcing me to go to the doctor. I have every reason to fight, but I also have every reason to… I eat right. I exercise. I am the top of my game physically. Why is this happening to me?
Bailey: It’s not just happening to you.
Ben: Miranda, I am not in the mood to…
Bailey: No, Benjamin do not ‘Miranda’ me because I am your wife and everything that happens to you, happens to me. You are not in this alone. I know what it’s like to go from doctor to patient. I know how you feel. But you need to do this … because it’s been a hell of a year. My mother died. Andrew DeLuca died. Meredith Grey just came off the vent. Call it selfish but I cannot lose you. I wouldn’t be able to take that. I wouldn’t be able to function. I wouldn’t be a person anymore.
Ben has never been the overly macho man type, but he sees himself a certain way, and having the surgery would somehow make him lesser.
In his mind, he would no longer be the husband Bailey deserves or the father to whom Tuck and Joey are entitled.
Ben would be a shell of his former self, which we all know isn’t true, but Ben still needed some time to ruminate on his “decision.”
He claims that he needed some time to come to the choice himself, but we all know Bailey would have dragged him kicking and screaming to OR and performed the surgery herself.
Bailey tried to be the supportive wife, but thank goodness she laid down the law when Ben was having doubts.
Bailey has been through absolute hell on Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 and cannot take any more loss.
If she were to lose Ben, she indeed would be a shell of her former self and unable to be the mother Tuck, and Joey needed.
Hopefully, Bailey doesn’t have to go through it, but you can never be too certain in Shondaland.
Some stray thoughts:
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For the quickest of seconds, did anyone think Ben and Dean were dead when the show cut to the beach, which looked suspiciously like the beach dreamscape Meredith’s subconscious had been occupying on Grey’s Anatomy while she fights COVID-19? Just me?
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It’s a shame Battalion Chief Gregory died, even if he disagreed with Dean’s lawsuit. His death was sudden and out of nowhere, but it did lead to a great storyline, so there’s that.
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Ben and Bailey offering to pay for Joey’s medical school was everything. They truly are his parents at this point, adoption or not.
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Ben made the right call when he told Dean to let Gregory go. It was admirable that Dean wanted to bring Gregory’s body back to his family, but doing so nearly cost the pair their lives. It’s cruel and unfair and an awful position to be in, but they had to leave the former battalion chief behind. If not, they all could be dead.
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This is why you always wear a lifevest when out on the water. Even if you’re just canoeing in a boat nearby your house, you need to have a life preserver. It may sound silly and unnecessary, but trust me, it’s required.
So what did you think, Station 19 Fanatics?
Did you enjoy Ben and Dean’s ocean adventure? Will Dean tell Vic how he feels? Did Ben’s cancer surprise you?
Don’t forget to hit the comments below to let me know your thoughts. If you missed the latest episode, remember you can watch Station 19 online at TV Fanatic.
Jessica Lerner is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.