Too Soon, Too Forced: Grey’s Anatomy’s Newest Potential Pairing Is Poorly Executed

I cannot be the only one trying to process whatever Grey’s Anatomy is doing with Jules and Winston.

For the record, the chemistry between them is something that the series tiptoed around since Grey’s Anatomy Season 20, so it’s not like the bold-faced hints about it now have come entirely out of nowhere.

But it’s still enough to make you wonder what the game plan is with this possible pairing.

Grey’s Sacrifices Mentorship for Romance (Again)

In many ways, it feels like a last-ditch effort to give something meaningful to Winston, who has been flailing as a character with limited presence since Maggie’s departure.

Anthony Hill is a great actor when he has the material, but unfortunately, Grey’s Anatomy hasn’t given the guy much to work with for years. His storylines often feel like someone is throwing darts at a list of suggestions pinned on the wall, and they go from there.

But he recently had a compelling potential mentor/mentee dynamic with Jules that has always simmered in the background whenever the series chooses to show it.

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And Grey’s Anatomy, for all of its high drama and relationship carousels, has had some interesting mentorships that have resonated with us over the years.

Sometimes, to break up the monotony of who is sleeping with whom, it’s been fun to see young doctors come into their own under the guidance of someone more established whom they’ve looked up to over time.

Is Jules/Winston Merely for Screentime?

Jackson essentially became Sloan’s lasting professional legacy. And for all the messiness of Burke and Yang, the mentorship aspect of their dynamic always resonated most and made the biggest difference.

Grey’s Anatomy is dipping back into its own well and trying to hint at that similar Burke/Yang dynamic that holds space between mentorship and romance.

But it’s difficult to know what to feel about this development.

Anthony Hill and Adelaide Kane have decent chemistry, so that’s half the battle when pushing a new ‘ship, even if it does not feel particularly necessary.

However, it feels like they’ve spent too much time pushing whatever was going on between them so far into the background that suddenly thrusting it forward throws everything off and disrupts the vibes.

Jules’ Carousel of Romances Shortchanges Her

The transition between Winston’s practically zero screentime and suddenly being the attending trying to regulate his feelings for his resident gives viewers narrative whiplash.

It has also done that frustrating thing where they’ve tied Jules’ only storylines of substance to romantic relationships or sex.

When we first met her, she slept with Link, another little nod at Grey’s Anatomy’s past with the MerDer origins, and that was fine, if only to make us nostalgic.

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But then she and Blue settled into a rather interesting and fun love/hate dynamic involving them sleeping together. It felt like the start of an arc that could have some legs and really blossom and evolve.

Blue and Jules fizzled out for no real reason, and their relationship felt largely unresolved. Now, you’d forget they were ever intimately together, and we don’t even see much of their burgeoning friendship, which is odd.

Rushing Through Jules’ Love for Mika for Winston Disrupts Her Arc

Jules’ greatest romance was with Mika, but when we learned Midori Francis would depart the series, it was difficult to fully invest in this beautiful relationship, knowing it had an expiration date.

As someone who genuinely loved the pairing, I almost wish they hadn’t gone there because it didn’t stand a chance.

From a writing perspective, the choice to build up a genuine romance, especially a queer one, only to discard it felt like they were box-ticking. In theory, we can appreciate the representation, but the execution was ultimately hollow.

Presumably, much of the season would involve Jules understandably grieving the loss of this relationship. So this mentorship with Winston would set up the perfect opportunity for her to devote herself to work and find her passion in cardiothoracic surgery.

Jules, reeling from Mika’s departure and a string of half-baked romantic arcs, seemed primed for a storyline about personal and professional growth under Winston’s wing. Instead, we’re veering into romantic territory before the groundwork has been laid.

It would’ve been nice if they had taken a long enough beat so that Jules’ storylines didn’t have to be tied to romance in any capacity, especially since Blue and Mika. The series unwittingly undermines Jules and stunts her evolution in other areas by consistently being one-note in how they explore her.

Jules and Winston Could Work If Not Rushed

Every time Grey’s Anatomy randomly pairs two people together, it often feels like they stopped knowing what to do with the characters and wanted to liven things up, and that’s what Winston and Jules are giving off, as it’s the most random dynamic we’ve had in a bit.

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Ironically, it can still work, though. I can see the vision even if I don’t necessarily want to, and Hill and Kane could pull this off well.

That rooftop scene felt like something from a romantic comedy, so the potential for cuteness is there.

I’m not put off completely, despite finding the retread into an attending/resident relationship a bit tiresome. But it feels like they’re on a totally different show right now, and obviously, the execution of this could’ve been much tighter.

If Grey’s Anatomy wants to lean into nostalgia by echoing past dynamics, it must do more than recycle tropes. Mentorship turning into something deeper can be powerful when earned.

Right now, it feels like another random pairing thrown together to shake things up.

It’s a classic case of another plot device in a show that often confuses screen time with substance.

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