Now that the shows are kinda sorta one big super show, are you watching both? Does the combined feel frustrate those who just watch Grey’s Anatomy or Station 19 on their own?

As someone who watches both Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 and really likes both casts of characters, I’m really excited about what expanding the universe offers both shows. I love seeing Jackson and Hughes together. I love that Bishop and Carina DeLuca are connecting. I love that Ben and Bailey’s relationship is the glue that holds this shared universe together. I’m all in.

But I totally understand that a Grey’s Anatomy fan who doesn’t have any interest in Station 19 might be a little frustrated to have all these connections between the two shows, and vice versa. Since I watch both, I get all the references from one show to the next, but I can understand that someone who doesn’t may find it annoying to constantly have references to the other.

Ultimately though, I think the shared universe makes both shows stronger. Instead of just hearing about a tragic event on Grey’s, or putting a main character in mortal peril every week, we can watch an emergency from start to finish. We get to see the call come in, the firefighters and paramedics fight to rescue and save the victims. We then get to watch them be wheeled in to the ER and see what the next step is. I think getting to see the big picture of accidents and disasters and bad weather injuries helps both shows feel more grounded.

We also get to see some of our favorite Grey’s Anatomy characters interact with a whole new cast of characters. We get to see Jo cuddling a surrendered baby close to her chest at the fire station. We get to see Hughes and Miller in the middle of the Richard/Catherine mess. We get to watch Meredith Grey give Andy Herrera a minute to collect herself in a supply closet. All these moments and more give us an added dimension that normal shows just don’t have.

This has to have created a few headaches at the studio, what with actors having to shoot scenes for two different productions on an almost weekly basis, but I truly hope they believe the effort is worth it.

I’m especially excited about this upcoming storyline for Ben and Bailey. We just watched them go through the tragedy of miscarriage, and I loved seeing Bailey reach out to a child in need of a home for the rest of his teen years. We’ve been there with this kid from the moment Gibson discovered him lying ill with his foster siblings in a homeless tent village. We saw him be rescued and saw him through his surgeries. We now get to see him happy and healthy, and maybe even with a family to call his own.

And after seeing what Jo went through as a homeless teen, and through the numerous storylines we’ve seen through the years on Grey’s Anatomy of children losing their parents to tragedy, I think seeing a couple like Ben and Bailey consider taking on an informal foster situation is incredible. And maybe it could lead to them becoming formal foster parents in the future. It would certainly be a welcome relief from the myriad of horrors and injuries that would usually befall the staff at Seattle Grace Mercy Death (or whatever name they’re calling the hospital these days).

But we want to know what you think. Do you like the crossovers? Do you think they strengthen the Grey’s and Station 19 universe, or do they just drag both shows down? Do you like the prospect that there may be a home for some of Grey’s Anatomy‘s doctors when that show ultimately ends? Vote in our poll!