As Station 19 season 6 comes to an end, episode 17 shows how mental health remains its most prominent story. The Station 19 season 6 finale will air on Thursday, May 18, and the promo video suggests a major disaster is coming. It also leaves the potential for a cliffhanger ending, something the series has become known for, as Station 19 was renewed for a season 7. Station 19 season 6 has featured plenty of different stories, from the mayoral race to relationship drama and the captaincy race, but mental health stands out as the most prominent.
Station 19 season 6 will have 18 episodes in total, and many of them deal with the mental health of its characters as well as the topic of mental health in general. Season 6 isn’t the first season of the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff to focus on mental health, but it is the first to make it its most prominent story. Station 19 has tackled many issues over the years, including police brutality, Asian hate, sexism, substance abuse, and many more. As the seasons go on, Station 19 has gotten even more deliberate in exploring these issues, as shown in the season 6 mental health story.
Station 19 Season 6 Has Explored Maya’s Childhood Trauma
The first major way Station 19 season 6 explored mental health in its story was with Maya’s character. There was a six-month time jump in between Station 19 seasons 5 and 6, and in that time, Maya’s mental health had deteriorated greatly. She was struggling with not getting her captaincy job back, her failed attempt at blackmail, and her and Carina’s inability to conceive a child. Everything came to a head in the Station 19 season 6 winter finale when she fell off a treadmill and had to be put on an involuntary 72-hour psychiatric hold at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
Fortunately, Diane’s Station 19 return helped Maya explore her childhood trauma and how it impacts her present-day behavior, something that's also been shown with Jack's character. Though Maya first acknowledged her father’s abuse back in season 3, it wasn’t until season 6 that Maya was able to work on healing her inner child. In some powerful and emotional scenes, Maya began her road to recovery and was shown to have made great progress in season 6, episode 17, when she decided not to put herself up for the captain job. This decision also allowed Carina to finally see Maya’s growth and move back into their apartment.
Station 19 Continues To Build Its Crisis One Program In The Background
In addition to Maya’s storyline, mental health also played a major role in Station 19, season 6, through the continuation of the Crisis One program. Crisis One was introduced in Station 19 as a program created by Dean Miller to help firefighters and other first responders learn to de-escalate tense calls so police intervention won’t be needed. Though Dean died in Station 19 season 5, Crisis One has been a big part of the legacy he was able to leave behind, along with the station’s clinic that was founded in his name.
One of the reasons that Travis decided to run for mayor was to ensure that Dixon wouldn’t win and dismantle the Crisis One program. In Station 19 season 6, episode 7, Vic, Andy, and Chief Ross put their training to work when they helped a teenager from becoming a potential victim of police brutality. This led to Ross taking a stand against Dixon and her encouraging Vic to get a psychology degree so she could take over leading Crisis One. With Dixon losing the mayoral race in episode 17 and Vic’s work, it seems like Crisis One will only continue to grow in Station 19, season 7.
Station 19 Explores Beckett’s Mental Health With Long Firefighting Career
Vic’s Crisis One training and psychology schooling came in handy in a big way in Station 19, season 6, episode 17 with Beckett. After taking a leave to get help for his alcoholism, Beckett returned early in season 6, episode 16, and seemed to be an entirely different person. Fortunately, Vic noticed his strange behavior for what it was and helped prevent Beckett from taking his own life. Sullivan had also taken notice of Beckett’s behavior before his leave in Station 19, comparing his long firefighting career to the “lifers” he’d seen in the military and the psychological effects their service had on them.
Beckett has had a career in firefighting that has spanned about 20 years, and over that time, he’s seen a lot of tragedies that have affected his mental health in Station 19. He shared one incident with Vic that left him so haunted he couldn’t even drive on the street where it happened anymore. While Vic was able to help Beckett, his mental health story in Station 19 teaches an important lesson about how you never know what people are going through. Beckett’s character was always a bit of a villain, but his mental health story in Station 19, season 6 showed a different and important side of him.