Greysaddict

speaking of Japril....Sarah Drew posted a sorta cryptic instragram post earlier today indicating that something major is coming for April. I'm guess the winter premiere/episode 10 but could be episode 9 as well. Seems interesting she would say it was "big" considering how much big stuff April has been through in the past year, losing a child, going into the army, divorce, having another baby, not to mention the wedding flashbacks. Seems like even Japril getting back together wouldn't be that "big" in comparison. I've seen some speculation that April is going through PPD, although I don't really see it myself, that would certainly be something big to take on. I don't dislike April but sadly my first thought was "yay, yet another thing to push Jo's story and Jolex to the backburner". /sarcasm obviously *she insisted she isn't leaving the show but that's how it sounded at first to me.

I'm trying not to judge form a 90 second sneak peak but to me it does seem like a huge retcon. We see that GSMH is a terrible teaching hospital with interns doing whatever they want with no consequences, but in the show's universe it is supposed to be one of the top teaching hospitals (although they haven't mentioned their ranking in years, so who knows maybe it's horrible now). I feel like Leah is being shoved back down our throats because she is a Shondaland favorite and they haven't found a better place for her (since the pilot she was in didn't get picked up). But again, I am not rushing to judgment yet. We'll see tonight. Question though- I though Leah was going to be the "special consultant" but it seems as though that role is someone else and Leah is just thrown back into the resident class. Does anyone know how she ends up back? I wasn't sure if I missed something.

you are right, they have gotten laissez-faire about hiding it. I remember not even knowing Chyler was pregnant at the time so they definitely used to be better. With Jessica last season they were pretty much like whatever. I thought they weren't doing a great job hiding Caterina's pregnancy this year but I've talked to more casual fans who had no idea so maybe it's only obvious if you know. I agree that the early filming could be for a variety of reasons. However, I am not surprised that they would arrange filming around Camilla's needs. While the show shits on Jo constantly, Camilla seems to be loved by the cast and crew. I know a lot of people tend to think Shonda's character treatment equals their personal treatment but its not always the case. As someone said in another thread, while Shonda often gets a bad rap, she is super accommodating for working (and expecting) mothers and Shondaland has always been said to be a great place to work as a woman and also as a mother.

I had originally thought they were filming some scenes for Caterina's maternity leave but it makes sense they could be doing some for Camilla/Jo as well. It's still a little weird they would have to pre-shoot scenes for Camilla for episode 13 though. Last year they were shooting episode 13 in early December so its not like Camilla would be too pregnant to hide in the next 6 weeks. the BTS shot was taken on Oct 13th and Camilla snapchatted working with Jesssica on Oct 15th, presumably the same scene/epsiode. They are definitely pre-shooting for whatever reason, by normal schedule they should be on episode 9-ish now. They had the mid-season finale table read last week, which should be 13x09, so they are likely filming that one now.

hmm, you are right the layout doesn't really make sense, it seems like the waiting room is outside the ER, with the sliding doors, which makes sense. But then they seem to be operating right in the ER, not an OR. Weird.

In this picture they are clearly operating at Dillard, but other pics have the grey Sloan logo so who knows. Also I realize that the Bailey in the current pics is the current actor and thus too old to be flashback Bailey, but I'm assuming they either couldn't get the former actor or just didn't care and though the audience wouldn't notice or care all that much. They have to be flashback or perhaps dreams/what if because why else have Meredith (and Zola) in the exact same outfits as 11x21.

heh maybe they will rename Dillard Medical center as "Derek Shepherd Memorial Hospital". *I'm totally kidding, just tying into that Hamilton verse (naming Clarmont Street after General Mercer after he died).

JustinChambersOnline posted a pic with Justin and a woman who could be his lawyer, in a courthouse. I think it is for 13x09 so I do still think the trial is coming before the winter break. None of the episode descriptions include anything about Alex on trial though, so we'll see I guess. As I was saying in the episode thread, I do think Jo's past and why she can't marry Alex is for sure coming, I am just getting frustrated there has been virtually nothing for them in the first 5 episodes. The problem I see with them "holding" this for the mid-season finale is, every cliffhanger for Alex and Jo has basically been dropped when they the episodes return. So I am not personally holding on to any hope that we will see an on screen interaction/discussion between Alex and Jo during the winter premiere. I guess I will just keep waiting but every promo/sneak that comes out is like, more Omelia nonsense, Meredith and Riggs or the Mer/Maggie/Amelia trio and its just like blah blah blah. In other news, I guess we will be getting flashbacks to the day Derek died in episode 13x09 per the promo pics. http://calzona-ga.tumblr.com/ I wonder how they will tie this in to Stephanie's childhood and seems like also something relating to Webber's family member (mother or sister?). Meredith, Owen, Webber and Stephanie seem to be doing a surgery at Dilllard? So odd, I am so curious as to what is happening. well duh, I just figured why the episode is called "The Rom Where it Happens". I guess Meredith (and co) will have to operate on someone in the same OR where Derek died, hence the flashbacks. http://www.disneyabcpress.com/abc/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/145005_6094-900x600.jpg

oh, and I do agree there was some good dialogue tonight. I loved the Alex and Mer bench scene and I love their friendship (only as friends!!). One of my favorite scenes was Meredith saying she didn't have to tell Derek about baby Ellis because he was dead and Maggie being like "well this was fun....for a minute". I realize I do enjoy Maggie when she's not acting like a 12 year old.

I agree that its coming...the thing is, this was episode 5 (!!) so like when are they going to start addressing it. I gave them a pass on episode 1, episode 2, then episode 3 but now I'm just getting angry. This is mostly rhetorical. I'm sure you are right and there will be some big random blow-up in the mid-season finale leaving us with another cliffhanger that will be dropped when they resume, again. yay. Sorry I am not directing this to you I am just annoyed by this entire storyline.

I don't understand what this show is/has been doing to Jo. I really thought we were going to get her back story, her real name, what happened in her marriage, etc but there has been zero mention. I also thought we were going to get more backstory on Alex and learn why he jumped right into beating Deluca nearly to death...but also no. Such wasted potential for interesting stories, and good acting from Justin and Camilla.

I thought that Amelia told Owen about her baby in the chapel after Samuel (Japril's first baby) died. Does anyone remember that? She definitely told someone and I thought it was Owen. I totally would have thought this about the weather too but it has been 85+ degrees in NYC this week, totally un-seasonable and I did have to turn on my AC. It wasn't standing in front of the freezer type hot but it made the story much more believable for me. The writers got really lucky the episode happened to air during a east coat heat wave.

that was really....not good and horribly predictable and just blah. I can't believe this was episode 5. Literally none of the storylines have moved forward except maybe Owen/Amelia, the only one no one cares about. Amelia not being pregnant was the worst reveal since pretty much everyone knew she wouldn't be. duh. Though I don't think they will go the fertility problems route and she will be pregnant by the end of this season. Speaking of kids, Riggs apparently wants a milllion...convenient. I just can't get on board with the Meredith/Riggs thing its just too close/similar to MerDer. Like someone said last week, Derek wanting Meredith made sense but we haven't seen why Riggs would want to be with Mer. Such a shame because they could have made this a good story but its just not working. Meredith herself seems like a completely different person to me. I can't put my finger on anything specific but I watch old episodes and these and feel like she's a different character. Ok im kinda of just rambling now but ugh not a great episode for me. btw, i think I need an new name, i am barely making it through the episodes these days let alone addicted. lol

I never liked Leah and I thought her and Arizona's hookup was awkward and weird. Frankly I'd rather see Lauren Boswell back (Hilary Burton) though I'm sure that would piss off the Calzona shippers.

oh good lord. That is someone I have no desire to see return and with Arizona...ugh. This article is sort of misleading though because they are just guessing she is going to be Arizona's love interest, right? Also, wasn't she fired from the residency program....how are they going to explain her returning as a surgeon, which I would assume she is if its a multi-episode arc.

No idea who this familiar face is going to be but I'm excited for it! Better not be someone lame. I'm not expected a major character like Izzie, Addison or Christina but I hope its someone good. I'm thinking its someone related to Amelia, perhaps her mother or a sister? The next few episodes seem Amelia heavy.

Not really ratings per say, but I thought this was interesting. Netflix, who famously doesn't release any viewing data, published this report of what episode people get "hooked" on for several shows. For Grey's it's episode 2 (along with a few others). * A hooked episode was defined when 70% of viewers who watched that episode went on to complete season one of the same series.

I shouldn't be surprised anymore but I am constantly impressed by the ratings Grey's turns out year after year. Some people will say that that 2.4 is down -14% from last year's premiere but literally everything is down year over year. To be up over the finale and it's the highest rated episode among A18-49 since the mid-season premiere is very impressive.

I liked the episode well enough. Meredith and Alex and are my favorite characters so I am happy they were both heavily involved in this episode (Alex mostly since Meredith is always the focus). But, reading this thread I think @windsprints nailed it pre-episode. I feel like this situation is going to turn more into how does it effect Alex and Meredith's relationship than about Alex and Jo, which ugh, not really what I wanted from this. I'm still going to stay optimistic Jolex will get a real storyline out of it. I do like them together so I hope they can work though, or if not at least have a meaningful discussion of why they can't trust/be with each other. Also since I do like Jo, I hope we learn more about her and her marriage situation. It's about time Camilla got something good to work with. I'm not terribly bothered by the "misunderstanding the situation" trope because Grey's was pretty much built on TV tropes right from episode 1. I liked the few scenes we got with April/Jackson/Catherine, I thought it worked well within the episode and sets up the future for them. The sisters triangle seems right out of Hamilton so I'm kind of eh about it. Maggie still annoys me on many levels. I think they should have had her come in on a fellowship rather than the head of cardio. I go back and forth how I feel about Meredith and Riggs but I think they have nice will they/won't they chemistry (yes another TV trope). This is episode was the perfect example of why the cast needs to be trimmed. It worked so well without Owen, Amelia, Callie and Arizona. Not to say those are the characters that I would want gone but we still had a huge ensemble of characters that were all included and those 4 were missing.

speculating next episode before I comment on the premiere.... Big surprise, Alex is the first person in the history of Grey's to actually have legal consequences for his actions. I guess they had a courtroom set leftover from the Calzona custody battle might as well use it again :) ETA: I saw the promo pics for 13x02 and Justin looks HOT in that suit. damn

Ellen Pompeo signs new deal with Grey's Anatomy confirmed Ellen Pompeo signed a new deal for GA (duh)...no details yet but hopefully they will update the article as the day goes on.

I think this is really a case of the media turning a tweet into news. ABC created the moniker of "TGIT" and is fully allowed to use it no matter what shows they program on the night. I think Shonda knows that and simply meant it was the last night of "her" TGIT but not that ABC couldn't use the phrase until it was a three hour block of Shondaland programming. FWIW the show ABC has scheduled for 9pm (Notorious) seems very compatible with the Shonda audience, speaking as someone who watches all four of Shonda's current shows, but I have no idea if they will continue to use the marketing of TGIT in the fall.

Linda Holmes, formerly of TWOP and now a writer for NPR re-posted this blog post she wrote in 2010. While this particular post is about Chuck, it really struck a chord with me with whats happened with Grey's the past few years, mostly Derek dying, but a little with Callie leaving. The Double-Edged Sword Of Devotion: 'Chuck' Vs. The Entitled Fan Base

I'm always down for some good gossip if you want to share @allthumbs.

seems like it was meant to be a cliffhanger of whether she would go or not. OR maybe the rest of the scene is Callie says no to Arizona and that she is staying in Seattle but they just cut that part out to. Ellen Pompeo did say that Shonda changed a scene they shot in the editing room, so its most likely that.