Deanie87

Izzie/Alex was my first thought too, because some of the wording could be made to fit, but it also sounds like: someone did something horrible in the past that gets found out; other relationships are affected by it and that maybe someone leaves the show because of it. I'm not sure any of that fits. Unless Izzie's mom shows up with Alex's kid and somehow Meredith gets involved (as she seems to be constantly involved these days), and her not yet fledgling relationship with Riggs gets affected and then Jo leaves the show. But it says that the more established relationship won't be that affected, so that doesn't really fit either. In other words, it might be Greys but I don't think it's Alex/Izzie/Jo.

Because it was Quinn, QUINN!!, I let Carrie's emotional breakdown pass, but I'm not going to lie and say that my eyes didn't roll at the first chin tremble. It is just losing its impact for me. I'm not saying that she doesn't have reason to cry every single episode, but I just feel like it is such a thing now, and each time brings diminishing returns, at least for me. Which is a shame, because of course QUINN!! I am fully on board with a Quinn, Carrie and Astrid threesome. In fact, I am delusionally hoping for a scene where Quinn comes to and sees his two women and sitcom-like awkwardness and hilarity ensue while jaunty Grey's Anatomy music plays in the background. Just like when a doctor gets on the SGH elevator with the 7 other people he slept with, except with no-nonsense Germans and sarin gas!

Oh, its great to love this show again! I love how the camera made it look like Jimmy was going to smother Gretchen with the pillow, but really he put it under her head. I guessed that part, but didn't see the tent coming and I had heart eyes when I saw it. I loved seeing Gretchen cry after being so numb for so long and I'm glad that it was Jimmy that brought it on. I always got the impression that Jimmy has that in him, but that he got so bitter and angry after Lindsay's sister dumped him. He seemed to believe in marriage and romance, to a certain degree anyway, where Gretchen has always seemed more guarded and caustic. But I am excited to see what comes next. I agree that the Lindsay pregnancy twist doesn't thrill me, but I did love seeing her pee outside in the CVS parking lot LOL! I would absolutely love it if Sam turned out to be the father, but I'm sure it will be Paul's. I loved the montage of Lindsay's "friends" trying to help her out and I'm glad that Jimmy called them, even though it was probably sheer torture for Gretchen. I especially loved the return of the creepy neighbor ("let's start a group") and the degenerate old friend. As for Henry, boy he is looking old, which means that I probably am too. Very happy for Edgar moving on, but the actor is reminding me more and more of Ross Gellar/David Schwimmer and not in a good way.

Doesn't Carrie see Peter in a hostage video in the previews? I don't know how that will dovetail with the sarin gas they gave him, but I will be shocked if this is the end of Quinn. I will be shocked and then I probably won't want to watch anymore.

I don't know what it is. Part of it is the writing, of course. But Meredith's (Ellen's?) demeanor is different too, and it has been since even before Derek died, even before Cristina left I think. She, like all of the characters, has always been very self-centered, but she also used to have a great warmth about her that just isn't there anymore. She seems stern and impatient with everyone and just generally devoid of any kind of humor. Normally, I would say that this is a result of Derek's death, but it started before that and for some reason, it just doesn't explain it for me. I don't mean to imply that Ellen is phoning it in or that Ellen is lacking warmth, but Meredith's actions are lacking some quality that was there before. I'm sure that it is on purpose, either she is choosing as an actor to make those choices or she is being directed that way, but something is missing for me and I feel that whatever they are trying to get across about her isn't quite working for the way that they want it to. I am not one to clamor for scenes with the kids, but it might be nice here just to see some of that warmth again. Cross cracks me up and I would prefer more scenes with him and DeLuca than a quarter of the cast right now. "I was scared." Speaking of DeLuca, is he going to be shocked every time a patient dies? I know he is an intern, but you would think that he would be prepared for it to happen every once and awhile.

First things first: Thank god this episode didn't end with Meredith in yet another near death cliffhanger. That fact alone was enough to make it more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I still think that ending the first "half" of the season after only 8 episodes disrupts the flow of the season, but it will be nice to have a bunch of episodes in a row when it comes back. You know, nearly 3 MONTHS from now. I continue to enjoy the way that they are mixing things up with the characters this season. Richard and Arizona continue to be awesome together (and I haven't liked Arizona this much in awhile) and I really enjoyed the Jackson, Callie and Ben dynamic, even though Callie was doing the thing that annoys me the most about her. I am on the fence about Riggs. What is with people showing up at the hospital knowing that some people really don't want them there (Penny, Riggs, Amelia)? I am also not sold on his rugged handsomeness either. However, that DeLuca just keeps getting more adorable! I'm glad that they made up, but I didn't like Steph telling her that it wasn't Jo's fault that the attendings weren't paying attention to her. Whether its true or not, Jo needs motivation to start making herself be seen and heard and allowing her to think that everyone is just picking on her because they are sooooo mean just reinforces her position as a poor victim, and I hate that look on her. And Steph telling her that she was a good surgeon just sounded insincere and hollow, especially since it came after Jo's "I know you don't think that I can apply a band-aid" speech. Jo is making progress on standing up for herself, but she needs to start working on it as a surgeon. Again, I'm glad that they made up but I didn't really like the way it went down, except when they told each other that they missed each other. As much as I loathe to agree with Amelia about anything, or even spend time discussing her, Meredith has been pretty awful this season. Its not so much what she is doing, its just the cold and dismissive way she is treating everyone, friends and enemies alike. I get that she is grieving still and I am sure that in her mind she is the only adult at the hospital (HA) and has so much more responsibility and tragedy than anyone else on the planet, but her attitude isn't fun to watch and hasn't been for awhile. With all that she has been through, it should be very easy to root for her, but it just isn't. *Sigh.* I just don't know what the best outcome here is. On the one hand, this is the second time that Alex has proposed (though his timing IS terrible and I don't really count the first one but he does), so her saying no makes me sad. But on the other hand, he isn't listening to her no matter how much he says he is. He dismissed her feelings yet again, by even proposing after she said that it wasn't working and she was going to stay elsewhere. And I did appreciate that she told him that she wasn't asking him to give up his friend and that she wasn't going to ask him to choose, so she was just going to do what she had to do for herself. So maybe a tentative "yes" or some kind of compromise where she isn't totally turning him down but that the timing isn't right and that her career needs to be her priority right now. I don't know. I do think that it was a cop out that Meredith's rudeness and Alex's oblivion to Jo in this episode was due to the impending proposal. That doesn't make all of the other times magically disappear and yet again lets the both of them somewhat off the hook for their behavior. I would have liked to have seen a conversation between Alex and Meredith regarding him proposing just to see her be a little supportive of their relationship and to be happy for Alex. On a shallow note, I hate the way that they are dressing Alex this season, with the tucked in and belted button down shirts. It isn't flattering and it makes him look like a boring old middle aged businessman. I get that he is supposed to be a newly minted grownup, but he doesn't have to look like an insurance company middle manager.

I'm not sure how I feel about this episode, or in how Gretchen's arc is going. Objectively, I think its great that this show has the guts to try new things and the actors are certainly up to the task and I find what they are doing interesting, but I guess I'm just not enjoying the show as much as I used to. My favorite thing about the show last season was the way that Jimmy and Gretchen interacted with each other and their back and forth, which we are barely getting now. It also may have to do with the fact that I liked Jimmy more than Gretchen from the start, maybe because I found the ways that he is horrible (pretentious, self-centered and self-important) were funnier than the ways that Gretchen is horrible, and I don't feel that we are getting much of Jimmy lately, except the last episode. I am glad that it looks as if things are going to come to head soon, because (and I know this is awful) Gretchen's depression is starting to bore me. I appreciate that they are doing it, and what stories it will hopefully bring for Jimmy and Gretchen (even a breakup), but I'm I ready for it to move to the next stage for all of the characters.

Any predictions for tomorrow night? I have two: Jo breaks up with Alex and then we see that Alex was going to propose (Grey's tweeted out a ring emoji as part of the tease) April gets pregnant from her last tangle with Jackson (that may not happen in the finale, but I bet they will go there) ETA - You may be right. She is not Callie's favorite person right now either, and Alex may give her a hard time for being bitchy to Jo (please!). That would also figure in the therapist that is coming on the show. That may cause her to deal with her grief in order to make way for the Kiwi.

So, that Maher/Colbert interview was....something. I couldn't tell if they really don't like one another, if they were playing up for the cameras or what was going on but it simultaneously delighted me and made me deeply uncomfortable. Stephen seemed to have a good time with it, and I thought took Maher's insults about religion pretty well (considering he practically called Stephen stupid), but Maher seemed like a sour grape. I don't know if it was Stephen interrupting or if Maher considers Stephen a sell-out or perhaps feels like Jon Stewart and Colbert have stolen his thunder, or just two giant egos battling it out. Any idea why Maher kept referring to Stephen as a Nixon-voting Republican? I would love to know the history (if there is any) between these two. I know that Maher felt that the Rally that Jon and Stephen did was useless, but beyond that I wonder. ETA - I was posting at the same time you were, thispersonstinks. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who saw Maher as maybe having sour grapes/professional jealousy.

I think that Meredith could have been a better friend to Alex over the last couple of seasons (refusing to answer his calls when she disappeared, sabotaging his plans for the board seat and then not voting for him, etc.) but the problem now is Alex. Meredith isn't demanding that Alex be there for her 24/7, he is offering and she isn't turning it down, but I also think that she is just not interested in looking past whatever her latest tragedy is. And that was ok right after Derek died, but it has been awhile now, and she is coming off as selfish to me. In fact, I think that she is almost a completely different character now than she was even 3 seasons ago. She may have gotten stronger, but she is nowhere near as compassionate, in my opinion. She was always self-centered, but most of the characters are. Can you imagine the Meredith from seasons 1-5 completely ignoring the fact that Jackson and April lost a baby because she needed to go have sex? I can't. I also don't think that it is fair to compare how she treated Burke or Owen to how she treats Jo. Both Burke and Owen hurt Christina in different ways and so its natural that she would look out for her friend. But Jo has never been anything but supportive and loving to Alex, so there is no underlying reason why she should treat her so dismissively, even if she is only a resident. If anything, she should understand how difficult that is, having done it herself. But, like I said, the biggest problem is that Alex lets it all slide. He is also a lot different than he used to be, at least in this respect. He gave Meredith a hard time in the season 10 Thanksgiving episode, reminding her that she was once an intern sleeping with an attending, when Meredith sniffed about Jo coming with Alex to dinner. That Alex seems foreign to me as well these days. I had hoped that since they are the only two left of the original interns that their friendship would deepen and become more enjoyable. But it has become weird and dysfunctional and I hope that whatever is going to happen with Alex and Jo will wake Alex up to this fact and the Mer/Alex friendship will regain its balance and become enjoyable again. When they started this tedious Mer/Alex/Jo "triangle" at the beginning of last season, I really thought that some underlying reason would emerge as to why Meredith treated Jo so badly, but none ever came and I don't think it will now, which will only reflect badly on Meredith. And on Alex if he doesn't fix it.

Yes, it was terrible, but there has always been a double standard when it comes to Alex's behavior, so I will holding on to it bitterly forever LOL!

I think it's everyone because Jackson and April were both attending snit were saved by marriage.

Speaking of ethics only being for other people, I assume that Penny, Callie, Owen, Amelia, Maggie and DeLuca have already signed signed their Love Contracts? Owen especially, considering he suspended Alex for dating Jo. Original Version Alex would have obnoxiously mentioned this by now.

I don't think so, she showed last night that she is a good doctor. Her problem isn't that she isn't good, its that she is letting her insecurities about everything consume her and not handling well. After the brief scene in the elevator between Meredith and Riggs, I am not as concerned with them putting Alex and Meredith together, thank god, so even if Jo and Alex break up, I don't think Camilla is going anywhere. I think that the writers are doing whatever they are doing with Jo for a reason, though I can't figure out exactly what that might be, and things will start to come to a head next week. I don't think that they want us to hate her, but they aren't doing her any favors at this point. But she isn't the first character that they have done with, so hopefully they will build her back up soon.

I really liked the episode as I watched it. As mentioned, most of the characters were used, the stories intersected well for the most part and different characters were together. But the more I thought about it, the less satisfied I was with it. This x 1,000,000. It is just beyond stupid and she needs to go. How many loved ones of the alzheimer's patients wanted to punch Meredith in the face when she deliberately messed up Derek's trial, to name just one thing that these guys have done? I feel like we are supposed to sympathize with someone in this clusterfuck, but for the life of me, I'm not sure who. Meredith is coming off like an immature hypocrite and Callie is once again bulldozing people when it isn't her place. I just loathe Penny on the principal that she is taking away screentime and adds nothing to the show that we didn't already know. I felt bad for her, but she is overdue for a "If you want things to get better stop accepting crap" speech. Rather than complain to Alex (who is in the lead for mediocre boyfriend of the year, and also for getting no discernable storyline again) and blow up at Penny, stand up for yourself and demand respect. She has been there long enough to know that these people are assholes and passively accepting what they dole out isn't going to get you anywhere. When Meredith gave her crap for calling in the night, I wanted her to say, right back at ya, at least this is medical and not an excuse to climb in bed with my boyfriend and whine about your personal problems. When the family and the doctors were celebrating at the end, I wanted her to march right in there and celebrate with them and casually take credit for it. When Meredith kicked her off the case, I wanted her to address it with Mer afterward, calmly and professionally, because clearly the only reason Meredith did it is for personal reasons and because Penny confronted her about it. But rather than do any of these things, she just passively takes it, looks woebegone and takes it out on the wrong people. So as much as I feel bad for her, I also get frustrated because she does nothing to help herself. I'm sure that its difficult to confront your superiors, who are also your boyfriend's friends, but every other single person does it so I don't get why they are having Jo act differently (not to mention, it seems completely out of character for the woman they orignally introduced, but that ship sailed a long time ago). I agree, though, that Stephanie's smug smile bugged, and I am ready for her to get served a healthy slice of humble pie. I'm white and that is where I thought that they were going as well, but then talked myself out of it because I'm not used to Grey's being that subtle and I didn't think that they would make the point using Amelia.

Expressing my intense (and apparently very long-lasting) bitterness about Denny in the other thread reminded me of something that I wished had been better handled in season 5. I have always felt that the writing for Izzie was awful, and did a huge disservice to the character. For someone who was practically a lead in some of her later seasons, Izzie's motivations have always been a mystery to me and I often had to walk myself through why she would do half of the stuff that she did. And far be it from me to ever call this show unsubtle, but there were times when I felt that the writing for her could have been a little more obvious in terms of who Izzie was. I was a big fan of her and Alex back in the day and when season 5 started, it seemed like they were going to go with a kind of cracked fairy tale theme in regards to these two. I remember that the first episode that season had the Taylor Swift fairytale song in it and it ended with the voice-over saying something about reality possibly being better, if scarier, than the fairy tale, as Alex slammed the door in Izzie's face while making out with some skank (God I miss that Alex sometimes!) Anyway, I had high hopes that it would turn out that Izzie had been wishing for some Prince Charming to show up and fulfill the fantasy of the perfect guy that she cooked up back in the trailer park, but after failing that with Denny and George, she finally comes to the conclusion that there is no such thing as fairy tale romance, and that the guy who had her back for so long and who understood her the best, was actually Evil Spawn Alex, whose idea of romance was giving her a bouquet of cadavers to practice on and probably as far from her Prince Charming as she could get. I thought that watching Izzie reconcile all of her unrealistic expectations and give up what she thought she wanted to attempt a real and messy relationship with someone who was guarded, could be cruel and very far from perfect, would be a great storyline and would go a long way to explain why Izzie made the choices that she made. But instead, Denny showed up for the whole middle of the season, Alex turned into a perfect guy who had no problem with Izzie imagining other guys while she masturbated (!!!), and it turns out that he was kind of second choice all along. Ick. I think that they kind of revisited the fairy tale vs. real life at the end of the season with the wedding and the arguments about the DNR, etc. but I have always been disappointed in the way that season refused to really follow through on what I thought would have been a great character arc.

Floyd needs to take a page out of Mags Bennett's mothering handbook (Justified reference, if you haven't seen it - watch it now, its that good!) and get her son under control in one way or another. The way she was watching Dodd with his daughter at the end of the episode gave me pause and it does seem like something untoward has been going on and Floyd is aware of it. It may be that Dodd is just a bully when it comes to his kids, or it may be something worse, but I have a feeling that Floyd is going to be dealing with Dodd at some point.

That's kind of how I remember it (and the EW article sort of confirms it.) As always, I'm sure that the truth lies between what TR says and what Shonda says, and I think that their relationship never recovered after everything with Isiah. One thing that does interest me is how Shonda/the writers seem willing to allow input from some of the actors (Sandra Oh, Sarah Drew apparently) but not from others. Nearly every actor on this show has gotten either some godawful material or has had their character written in a way that probably displeases them (even Cristina with the second pregnancy), but some have been vocal about and some haven't. I guess it comes down to how much the actor cares, how much clout they have with Shonda and whether or not any of the head writers are sympathetic. As always, I can't wait for the tell-all!

Ok, I know that Carrie: is a continent away from her daughter and doesn't know when she'll see her again; just got dumped; has people out to kill her; thinks that Quinn is dead; feels betrayed by Saul; and is wearing a very bad wig. But I am so tired of seeing her cry all the damn time! Suck it up Carrie, there's no crying in the CIA Spy Game! I know its probably not fair (and probably sexist) but I have always thought that she is way too emotional to be a secret agent/CIA recruiter. She cries in nearly every episode. You don't see that nice boy Quinn breaking down over every little kidnapping and double cross!

No problem, I may have missed something in my mad dash to fast forward through all things Penny. I still think Maggie and the new guy are going to go at it.

I don't feel bad for Camilla in that she is a young, beautiful actress who gets paid a lot of money to make out with Justin Chambers. But, her career is just starting out and she is probably ambitious and it must be extremely frustrating to be on a show for 3 years getting very little material and then watching newcomer after newcomer get more and better writing. Its not just that they don't give her much, but they have no handle on her character and that must be hard when you are, you know, trying to find motivation or whatever it is that actors do. And while she isn't Meryl Streep, she is pretty good when they give her quieter material that isn't just Jo having a pissy fit like the stuff that they have given her in the last two seasons. I thought she was very good with the Jason arc and Alex's dad story. Of course, my unpopular opinion is that I liked how the Jason stuff went, for the most part, and appreciated that the show doesn't shy away from how screwed up and ugly Alex and Jo can be when pushed. Some of the actors are good enough that they can (god help me with this phrase) "rise above" the material, and I don't know that Camilla is one of them, but if she never even gets any practice with good material, she certainly isn't going to get any better with the bad. I"m always glad for more Alex, but for the love of god, can Jo please get something on her own??

I wonder when Maggie keeps mentioning that amazing sex,whether he even sleeps at the place where he moved in with Arizona,or he just sleeps over at Maggie´s,but we did not see him in the car pool last epi or he leaves earlier. Wait, are they still having sex? I admit that I fast forwarded through more of the last episode than I watched, but I thought that they kind of put a hold on things after the UTI. And then Maggie mentioned that he wasn't speaking to her. I'm confused.

Yep this pretty much sums up my thinking. I also think that as far as storylines go, I have been surprised by where they seem to be taking Callie. A Calzona reunion doesn't seem to be on the horizon anytime soon and there doesn't seem to be a push to give Callie much teaching or mentoring focus like they had been doing with Jo. This could mean nothing or it could mean that the writers are keeping options open in case she doesn't return. Alex never gets much ever, so this season isn't a dramatic change for JC. He has said he's not ambitious, he likes the paycheck and doesn't really seem to mind that Alex is often an afterthought. He gets paid no matter what, gets plenty of time off and clearly isn't interested in a lot of publicity.

It would really surprise me if the producers and/or Shonda didn't have a meeting with Ellen before or during everything with PD, to see what her situation was. Not only because I am not convinced that they would have killed Derek off if Ellen was planning to leave, but also because the marketing of the whole show changed to an Ellen/Meredith-centric show from the more ensemble-focused publicity that had come before. That may have been part of what they used to convince Ellen to stay. The only cast member that I could see leaving voluntarily at this point is Sara Ramirez, which isn't to say that some won't be let go of involuntarily. But I also think that given all of the drama over the years surrounding the various cast member departures, that Shonda, at least, has to have some idea of who is staying and who is going, even if it is just hypothetical conversations at this point. As for me, I will most likely watch as long as Justin Chambers is on the show (provided they start giving him more material and don't hook him up with Meredith or Maggie), but I think that not having Meredith around would be a huge blow to the show. I was never a Derek fan, so his absence hasn't affected my enjoyment, but I was a big fan of the original interns and I feel that the show has gotten worse with each of their departures, no matter how many new people they add. My prediction is that the show will go to season 15 and the original cast (EP, JC, CW, JPJ) will sign on for those three years, plus SD and JW, but that maybe SR won't and maybe they will let go of CL, JH and the guy who plays Cross. ETA - The only reason that I don't think that this is the case, is that I got the impression that Ellen was at least peripherally involved in some of these decisions. From the various interviews and also what was not said in the interviews, it seems like Patrick may not have left under the best of circumstances and a rift formed between he and Ellen as well. So maybe to pacify Ellen the focus of the show as far as marketing became more like Scandal and HTGAM in that it was a one woman show with a cast of surrounding characters, which I really don't think was the case before. So I do believe that Ellen was consulted (or made her opinion known) every step of the way.

Unfortunately for me, you may get your wish. It does seem to be headed that way, no Jo so that Alex can be freed up to be there for Meredith 24/7 and be second choice yet again, while the one person in the history of the show to be unconditionally supportive of him, will just get tossed away. It sucks for the actress, it sucks for Alex the character and, most importantly, it sucks for me. But I don't think that Stephanie is going anywhere, and I guaranty that if some of these guys leave at the end of the season, then more will be added. So for me, besides the fact that I like Jo and want her to stay, I would prefer the devil you know. Because otherwise, Grey's will just keep adding the women in the Maggie and Amelia vein.