Deanie87

This is a great point. Jimmy certainly knows that Chuck doesn't have a high opinion of him, but I am not sure that he understands that Chuck kind of really and truly hates him. I hope that this will be the final straw and that when Jimmy does begin to understand just how much Chuck is intent on destroying him that the gloves will come off and Chuck will not see it coming. At the same time, Chuck is Jimmy's Achilles Heel and I'm sure that is compounded by the guilt that Jimmy feels over the injury in the print shop and the repercussions from that at the hospital. Chuck may milk his illness, but it is real to him and those scenes of him in the MRI were painful to watch. The deathbed scene was revealing, not only because of their mother's calling out for Jimmy, but because of the story that Jimmy told. In an effort to lighten the mood, he reminisces about the party where he brought two dates. To Jimmy, its funny and light and he remembers it fondly, while Chuck remembers the fact that, yet again, someone else had to deal with the consequences of Jimmy's behavior and that their mother had to leave her own party to drive one of Jimmy's dates home. At this point, I don't have much sympathy for Chuck, but honestly, having dealt with people like Jimmy, it is absolutely exhausting and even more frustrating when they clearly can't see the effect that their "shenanigans" have on other people. Chuck has gone round the bend, but I get it to a certain degree. My favorite part of the episode was Jimmy and the Senior Citizens. I love the fact that his commercial was so successful, I love the look on Kim's face when JImmy asked her to get coffee and I love the people that the casting directors get to play the old folks. The woman giving her coffee order was so authentic, I kind of hope that she isn't really an actor but that Gilligan just goes to a retirement home and recruits people. I wish I cared more about what is going on with Mike, but I just don't.

Justin hasn't given an interview in two years, so I have no idea how he feels about anything. In his last interview, pre-season 11 he was hoping that Alex would settle down and have kids and would do well in private practice. So, there's that. After seeing the promo where Hawkeye Pierce...I mean Alex, seems to lecture Jo about gun safety and seeing the photos of Camilla and DeLuca, I would be fine with a JoLuca hookup. Jandrew? WilLuca? On the one hand, I would love to see a Riggs/Amelia kiss just to watch Owen spontaneously combust, but I really want to rule out the Mer/Alex stuff at least for the time being, so I really hope the makeout session is Meredith and Riggs.

I really like the pace that the writers are going as far as bringing in characters from BB, and I personally hope that the drug cartel stuff doesn't overtake the show anytime soon. I know that eventually Jimmy will become Saul and that he and Mike will delve deeper into the criminal life, but I hope that we have at least another season with Jimmy before that happens. While I enjoy Mike's scenes (and really enjoy Nacho), the Salamanca stuff just kind of forces me to try to remember everything from BB and that actually distracts me from BCS. I loved BB, but I watched that show already and now I want to watch a new show without constantly trying to remember who did what to who and how it ends for so and so, etc. (Not that Gilligan and Co. are forcing me to do that with the writing, but I feel like its kind of inevitable.) I haven't watched BB since it went off the air, but I seem to remember rolling my eyes a few times at some of the stuff that Walt and Jesse were pulling off. Walt almost became a cartoony supervillian and some of the cartel stuff just went way over the top. I definitely enjoyed it and BB was a show that really got your adrenaline going, but BCS is a "quieter" story thus far and I am enjoying that as well. Yes, some of Jimmy's antics also involve quite a bit of coincidence, and Chuck's illness can seem a bit over the top, but it just seems a little bit more realistic to me thus far, and I want it to get to the more Breaking Bad-level stuff organically and on its own merits. I feel like it will get to all of the crazy drug lowlife drama soon enough, and for now I am just really enjoying watching the Jimmy stuff.

Dre's ping-pong grip and injury made me laugh a lot harder than in probably should have. The flashbacks are great too - Dre's De La Soul hair and name and the Meshell Ndegeocello (yep, had to look that spelling up!) shout out...ah the memories, the late 80s and early 90s were a magical time LOL! My one complaint about this season is that Jack and Diane (especially Diane) are veering waaayyy too close to annoying precocious sitcom kids for me lately. Thank god for Junior and his solitary game playing!

Chuck is 100% an asshole, but at the same time, how much must it suck to always be the one to do the right thing and always take the long way around for half of the acclaim and appreciation, when your younger brother seems to put in 1/2 of the work and, even worse, 1/4 of the care and responsibility and yet always seems reach the finish line, if not first, then at least to the adoration of the crowd. I feel for Chuck, and I feel for Jimmy and I feel for Kim. I understand all of their motivations and their choices, and whether I agree with them or not, that is really all I want in a drama. To understand where each character is coming from, even if I hate them or loathe what they stand for. I think that this show does character driven drama even better than Breaking Bad, and that is saying something. Chuck is as important to this story as Jimmy, and even more important than Mike, IMO, so I hope that they don't give up on all of that too soon.

I think that the new showrunners have a lot to do with who is getting screentime and who isn't, mainly because they have been in charge for the last two years and that is when I saw such a big shift in the way the show was run (as far as how the seasons were unfolding or not unfolding) and the big discrepancy in screentime. I always thought that both McKee and Harper were two of the better writers, but maybe they are just better at writing their individual episodes than they are at crafting a whole season arc, because these last two seasons have just been a nonsensical and jumbled mess, IMO. Some characters's stories get stopped midway and others drag on and on and on to the point where I just don't care anymore. As far as Debbie Allen, her presence would explain why Jackson and April are getting so much time and story this season, but I would think that if she is playing favorites (not saying she is, but if), then Jim Pickens would be getting stuff to do as well, and he isn't either. To be fair, there has been a bit of upheaval in the last two seasons and they seem to be reinventing the show into much more of a Meredith-centric series, but it just doesn't make sense to me why they had to bring in these people to surround Meredith when it would seemingly have been easier to just craft better relationships with those who were already there. I always thought that one of the big points that the show tried to make was that you choose your family, so having actual blood relations matter so much in the end kind of goes against that, especially when it wasn't that way with Lexie (or the other sister) and not much is being made of Maggie's connection to Ellis or Richard anymore. As far as Shonda or whoever liking the "shiny new things," the thing is that Jo and Stephanie are still kind of shiny, new things, comparatively speaking, and other than Jo getting a lot of build up in season 9, neither of those characters have gotten anything close to what Maggie, Amelia and now Stephanie (not to mention many other guest stars) have gotten in the last two seasons. It may be because they came in as interns and are now residents, but IMO that opens up a lot more stories than just another superhero attending working on the patient of the week. My mileage clearly varies against seemingly everyone associated with the show, I guess.

God, this show is so damn good! And I swear, I want a happy ending for Jimmy/Saul just as much as I ever wanted one for Jesse. I really hope that the series eventually goes beyond the "present" day at Cinnabon. Totally agree! The relationship between Jimmy and Chuck is really the whole basis of this series and it is actually my favorite part of the show, along with the relationship between Jimmy and Kim. I just love how real Kim is. On the one hand, she totally knows what Jimmy is and that will eventually destroy their relationship. On the other hand, she isn't SO full of moral outrage that she isn't sometimes willing to reap the rewards that Jimmy's schemes bring, even if she would never stoop to that level. When I was a teenager, my cousin often shoplifted lipstick and I would never, EVER join her or even go into the store with her when I knew she was going to attempt it. However, I did once mention that my favorite lipstick was L'Oreal's MICA (shut up it was the 80s!), and you better believe that I had that lipstick in my Jordache pockets every day once she "retreived" it for me. Of course, I acted shocked and disappointed, but hey, frosted purple lipstick is frosted purple lipstick. I AM KIM! I also love how well these characters know one another. Not only does Chuck know that Jimmy did all of this for Kim, but Kim knows it too and also knows every bitter detail in the ongoing Jimmy/Chuck saga. Likewise, Nacho knows just what button to push (the murder of the good samaritan) to wipe the smugness off of Mike's face. I think its too soon to lose Chuck. We still need to find out what happened with his wife and how he came down with this "illness." Honestly, I think that I will be disappointed if they rush the emergence of Saul. I am very, very happy to spend another couple of season with Jimmy and his pals.

This is the same thing that happened last year. Shonda starts the season saying how Jo and Alex are going to be a big part of the storytelling, they start a plot and then either just completely drop it or slap on an ending that very clearly isn't where the storyline was heading. I get that they had to write PD out last year and and they weren't the only ones who got shortchanged, but most of those other characters got significant stuff to do this season (Jackson, April, and Owen for example.) Callie still hasn't gotten much other than the simply dreadful stuff about Penny, and Richard gets nothing either, but Arizona got the Geena Davis arc last season and has gotten a decent amount of storyline this season, even if most of it is lighthearted (dating) or mixed up with other storylines. And she will get some good stuff coming up, as will Callie it seems. It is just Alex and Jo (and Richard) AGAIN. And popularity doesn't seem to be an issue considering Penny is fucking everywhere all the time, and Alex is popular even if Jo isn't. I imagine that Camilla is frustrated, but Justin is probably fine with coming in commenting on Meredith or Maggie's lives, cashing his paycheck and having a family life. Even he, though, has expressed boredom with doing the same old thing all the time and wanting Alex to settle down and start a family. I have never wanted an unexpected pregnancy line for Alex and Jo, but god help me if that's what it takes, then sign me up. At least then they can't ignore it, although that's what I thought about a "breakup" and a proposal. I assume that they will get at least one scene in the last two episodes if nothing else, but there are so many other loose ends to tie up that I don't expect more than one with Jo putting the ring on. And I get that the huge cast is the reason for the uneven storytelling, but what I don't get is why it is the same characters that seem to get shortchanged every single time. They seem to juggle everyone else out pretty well. Maybe they just keep telling themselves that Justin will always be there so they will concentrate on him "next" season, at least until the next issue comes up every "next" season.

Maybe she is trying to re-do the Africa trip. Only this time she has a kid so it isn't quite the same.

This actually makes a lot of sense, since it seems that Arizona is going to be pro-active about it. I still am not sure how all of this will bring Callie and Arizona together (if they are going to go that way). I think that if they are going to go the Alex/Meredith route, it won't happen until sometime next season. If Jo and Alex breakup either in the finale or, more likely, over the summer timejump offscreen, then Camilla will most likely leave and then we'll know. OR Meredith will still get with Nathan, Alex will be without a love interest once again and get even less storyline, if that is possible. Jo got more of a storyline than he did this year.

Seriously, I know that God is on his side, but come ON! I am still enjoying the show, but I don't care at all about Sydney's love life and everyone's "WE MUST FIND A WIFE FOR THE VICAR!!11!!" panic gets on my nerves. I haven't liked any of the women for him so far, except maybe the jazz singer, but I get that she wouldn't have made a great vicar's wife. I am much more interested in Leonard's burgeoning romance. It also seems like Sydney is a lot more jaded as far as getting involved with the crimes go. He came near to seducing/getting seduced by the victim's wife in this episode and I couldn't tell if he was just trying to get an answer out of her or if he was truly going to go for it. Neither one sits well with me, considering he is a vicar. It also doesn't fit well with me that I find him more attractive on Happy Valley...yikes! That's bad.

Maybe after seeing all of the crap that Jackson and April are going through with regards to custody issues, she starts to feel nervous about her own standing with Sofia. Or maybe she hears that Penny got the grant and fears that Callie will go with her and she won't be able to do anything about it. I don't think that we know what their exact legal custody agreement is, do we? I wonder if there will be any other cliffhangers surrounding other actors whose contracts are up? We assume that CW, JC and JPJ are going to re-sign but I don't think that anything is confirmed (or JW/SD). Its clear that Richard and Alex just aren't going to get any kind of storyline this season, other than wisely stepping into other people's conflicts and/or being wingmen/Dear Abbeys, but I guess they could get something in the finale. Also, is Meredith ever going to interact with Nathan again? I would have thought that they would plant those seeds a little earlier than they have if its going to happen. The next 5 episodes seemed filled with Ben/Bailey and Calzona stuff.

If this is indeed Sara R's last season (and that is where I am leaning right now), I wonder if they have been planning this story for awhile? Because if they are going to have their friends "take sides," Arizona hasn't had many connections other than April and Alex. But this season, they have her hanging out with Richard and living with DeLuca (not that this has been explored really at all), which I have enjoyed, but I hope it hasn't all been just to build to this moment. It will be interesting to see where the various characters fall in their support, if it gets to that point. Also, I really despise this concept of Meredith granting her approval to all the various couples. Maybe they are going for something along the lines of her encouraging people to go after love while they can, blah blah. But for me it comes across more as a bunch of dumbasses who can't make a decision for themselves regarding the people that they have been involved with for literally YEARS now, until the Head Cheerleader tells them to. Its just stupid and it bugs me.

It will seem strange to me if this leads Callie and Arizona to reconcile. For the past season (if not two), they have seemed perfectly fine without one another. Dreadful though it is, Callie seems to be very happy in her relationship with Penny so I'm not sure what is going to change, especially if there is some kind of custody battle. I'm more inclined to think that SaRa is leaving. If they do reconcile, though, I hope that they there is no huge, dramatic reconciliation this season because I don't think that it will be earned. Has there been any information about the last two episodes released yet? I was bored and going through some of the old threads and we have been pretty accurate in our predictions: Penny came on and basically became the new Maggie; Meredith's attack had no long-term repurcussions for any of the other characters, nor did it really change any of Meredith's relationships much; the Jo/Meredith conflict was retconned and ended in a half-assed manner; Alex exists only to be a sounding board and all of the Alex/Jo stuff was only mentioned in passing; April found out she was pregnant as soon as the divorce papers were filed/finalized and she then got more and more delusional/unlikeable as the pregnancy went on. Now we just need to see Owen's sister pop in the finale and have Jo put on her engagement ring, thus ending their "storyline" and we can all become licensed psychics or the new Ausiello for badly written, predictable soaps!

What do you expect? It's not like he is second billed in the credits or anything. It's only fair that Penny gets her turn. His time will come.

This is the kind of thing that I love about the show. I really expected Howard to be dismissive and smug to Kim and he was pretty gracious, and sincerely so I think. He has been one of the characters that I could take or leave, but he really interests me now. His knocking Kim down to the basement was a complete dick move, no doubt, but to offer to pay her loans was way more than I thought he would ever do. And of course, he wants to keep the new client, I wouldn't expect anything less. But I don't think it was to thwart Kim, necessarily. In fact, my mostly unpopular opinion is that I while Breaking Bad is in my top 3 of all time great shows, I am ready to be fully immersed in this world, and some of connections to BB have started to almost bore me a little. I like Mike and am still interested in his story, but the whole time he was watching the Salamancas, I wanted to get back to Jimmy, Kim, Saul and Chuck. They are the best parts of BCS, IMO, and as slow as its going, I can't wait to see where it all goes. Maybe once Jimmy starts interacting with the BB characters I will care more, but for now, I am happy to stay within Jimmy's little legal world. Granted, if Gus Fring shows up, all bets are off and Chuck and Howard can go wrap themselves in tinfoil :)

I don't hate the scenes, but I would like them a lot more if Alex shared stuff about how he was feeling, he really doesn't seem to do that much anymore and Mer used to be his main confidante. I still have a lot of questions about what exactly went down with the "proposal" and where exactly they stand now. Clearly I am not going to SEE it revealed between Alex and Jo, so him talking about it would to a long way toward getting any kind of sense on where he stands on things. Also, I really think that it would do the character of Meredith some good to show some interest in the lives of all those who drop everything to make sure she is OK. I Yeah, and unfortunately I think that they may still be flirting with it. Meredith may be sharing some scenes with Nathan coming up, but I have thought that they have been holding Alex "on ice" for her just in case for awhile now. It would explain why Jo is basically a non-entity these days and the sloppy, inconsistency of their relationship drama. I think that the Alex is super-concerned for Meredith stuff has been a little over the top as well, so we'll see I guess.

Just also wanted to add my condolences to all of you who have been sharing your stories (PrincessTT also from earlier in this thread as well). It really does add to the discussion and I"m glad that Greys can still touch people, for better or for worse.

And really that's it, but now I want to know why they have gotten no real storyline for the last 2 seasons. They aren't the most popular, but is Penny? She gets a hell of a lot of screentime which includes both personal and professional drama. Is it because they are relatively happy? Then make them unhappy, they are masters at that. Is it the actors for some reason? More backstage drama? Is it the new head writers? Debbie Allen as the new producer? I mean, there are plenty of story to mine if they wanted to, and ones that haven't been told over and over again already. I do think that being Meredith's person factors into it, but he has been that for two seasons and storylines start and then stop and either don't get resolved or they slap some nonsensical ending together, so they must have ideas, they just don't follow through. And as much as it has to do with Cristina leaving, I also think that the writers like the idea of having a guy be protective over Meredith, and now that Derek is gone, Alex is the only one left, and they do have a long standing friendship, albeit one that used to be less all consuming. Characters who are connected to Meredith get outside stories and those who aren't connected to her at all get stories, and at the beginning of the season, Shonda sure was talking them up, so what changed? I'm just not satisfied with the old "they just don't care about Alex" explanation anymore, I feel like there has to be more to it, or maybe I just want there to be more to it.

I agree, I especially hated the way that Izzie left things with Meredith and it would be a great story for Alex and Jo (and interesting for Meredith, Callie, Bailey and Richard) and would get some buzz. If only... Maybe if we get a lot of exits at the end of this season (and neither one of them leave) then we will get more focus on Alex and/or Jo next season. But I'm not sure who Shonda would cut or who wants to leave, and that is what I have been telling myself for the last two seasons and it hasn't happened. So I am not that hopeful, unfortunately.

I would actually love that, but I just don't think that there is any way that KH is ever, ever coming back. However, if they could get Sharon Lawrence who plays Izzie's mom back to say that either Izzie is on her deathbed (my preference) or that Izzie died and surprise! here is your baby, that could work. I just think that we would have heard something about this by now. They have really been keeping things under wraps, but we heard about Wlmer, and some sort of hint has been mentioned about every other character on the show, except Alex or Jo. JC hasn't done an interview in 2 years and nothing seems to be on the horizon. At the same time, I don't think there is any doubt of him leaving. I guess we'll see about Camilla. Its possible that Jo and Alex will have a lot going on in the last two episode like last season, and while that really won't make up for all that has been ignored and handled poorly this season, it will at least give me something to look forward to as far as they are concerned. But my guess is that Jo will put the ring on in the finale, essentially "proposing" to Alex with no discussion about their "break up" or any other issues, and then after a months long time jump in the premiere we will find out that they eloped, and they will remain vaguely happy offscreen. I would love to be wrong, but going by the season so far, I don't think I will be. ETA - I agree about Callie and Penny, and I think that there is an equal chance that Penny is her exit and that this will be used as the cliffhanger until we find out what SaRa's contract status is. I maintain that Shonda MUST know, at least unofficially, who is staying and who is going at this point. The finale has been written and they will be working on season 13 soon.

I agree that I don't want to see any of the kids either, but they choose the weirdest things to mention. The writers don't go out of their way to explain where the kids are in the morning carpool, for example, because we can hand wave it, its just a show. But then they DO go out of their way to show how many other different characters are taking care of the kids, rather than Meredith or they make the kids a plot point but then we are expected to handwave it when they don't feel like dealing with it. Just in this episode, alone, it seemed that Amelia was doing all of the childcare, they go out of their way to mention it. Why not have Meredith mention that she just put the kids to bed or something? What they do take the time to explain or show, is almost never Meredith being a responsible mother, IMO. I don't care that she slept with Will, she can sleep with a different guy every night for all I care, but she can go to a hotel if she is worried about the kids seeing him or if she wants him to leave first thing in the morning, or go to his place. Of course, DeLuca is there as well and I guess now maybe Owen will be there soon so I guess that just isn't a problem. I think that in making the show more Meredith-centric, they are trying to show how much support she has, but to me it often comes off as other people doing things that she just isn't interested in doing, or other people catering to her every whim, and she just comes off as selfish and entitled. I get that she has suffered, but each of her new tragedies/problems/freak outs has diminishing returns for me and, you know, other people exist.

Good point, and the speculation that I was referring to really was based on a lot of guesswork. Apparently in one of the behind the scenes photos at this courthouse location, someone spotted the colored tape that is used to mark where each actor stands. The regulars usually have a specific color each time and in this BTS photo, there was colored tape for JC and SaRa. But of course, with more regulars than colors in the actual rainbow, they may have to use different colored tape for guest stars, extras, etc. As far as I know the only person actually seen at this particular courthouse location shoot was JCap. So the rest is pure speculation and not really based on any evidence. So I would guess that it is more based on Arizona/Callie/Sofia given the episode descriptions and the supposed emotional performance that JCap is giving. Also, Callie isn't my favorite, but I wouldn't be happy about SaRa leaving. However, if it means that Penny can go to, I think I would be able to get over it pretty quickly. I am hoping that Shonda does have an end season in mind and that the next however many seasons can be planned out with those who stay for next season, whoever that may be, and they don't feel the need to replace those who leave in order to plan for for future exits.

I guess it could be either. I just saw a conversation between Calzona fans that seemed to indicate that SaRa was on the courthouse location shoot and so there was speculation about a scenario involving custody/rights/adoption for Sofia. It really sucks having so little to go on regarding the rest of the season.

I saw something on Twitter I think of behind the scenes production, etc. at a courthouse and someone mentioned that they saw something (mark tape?) that indicated that SaRa was filming at the location as well. It makes sense given the episode descriptions about big decisions coming up for Callie and Arizona. Not sure what Alex would be doing there though.