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Ellen Pompeo made it very clear in the TvGuide article that Alex / Mer isn't happening. I guess Maggie / Alex is still a possibility. SpoilerTV. It isn't a full press release, just the early synopsis. There should be an expanded version within a week or so.

I'm all for it. I'd rather have screen time spent on just about anyone else - perhaps Penny leaves for New York or gets her head cut off in 12x23. Either way, she's more of a prop then an actual character: for Meredith, first, and then as a catalyst for this Callie / Arizona story. I've got no use for her on my screen. I'm just happy to see that Alex is mentioned in the press releases for the last 3 episodes, so he'll seemingly get a decent chunk of story throughout. In the next episode it's related to a patient storyline, but in the last two it seems he'll have some stuff going on with Jo. Better late than never, I guess. I do wonder what she's been keeping from him - I mean she's been offscreen basically all season, so she's had plenty of opportunity to hide things lol. I'm getting so tired of this Amelia and Owen merry-go-round and I hope this 'support' isn't through another break-up. This must mean the Amelia / Meredith rift happens in either 12x22 or 12x23 if Mer is back by her side in the finale.

Episode 12.24 - Family Affair Meredith and Maggie offer Amelia support; Jo admits she's been keeping things from Alex; Arizona and Callie deal with the effects of their custody arrangement.

Totally lost as to what this church event could be now. It seems that it isn't a funeral, but who would get married? If they throw together an Alex / Jo wedding in ONE episode, I mean damn... that's new levels of getting pushed aside. Granted, every marriage on this show happened within just a few weeks / episodes, but it's 12x23 that we have Alex getting 'clarity' regarding his future with Jo. For them to be married in the next episode would be bizarre. If it is a funeral, I'm just as confused as to who it would be. These next few episodes should be interesting at the very least.

True. I guess I never thought of him having a sad widower backstory, probably because I feel like Meghan is eventually going to show up. I also don't think they were ever married (although the story is foggy to me) but I do see your connection there. Alex / Jo felt a lot more obvious to me, just because onscreen I've never really felt like they were pushing Mer / Riggs together. At the end of the day I'm just glad they took their time before pushing them together or putting Meredith with anyone serious. I guess their blooming - and sure to be on-again-off-again - romance will be at the heart of S13. Maybe the funeral is for Meghan who is discovered dead so they really push the parallel hard and thus... Merethan? Naredeth? Griggs?

I think the only reason it's slightly predictable is because of when Riggs came on. As soon as they announced a good-looking male entering the show, everyone assumed 'he's for Meredith' (myself included.) Onscreen, there's been nothing really hinting at Riggs / Meredith, which I like. We're 20 episodes into the season and Riggs has been given moments with several other characters over Meredith (Owen, Amelia, Maggie, April, etc.) I'm glad they didn't just push Mer / Riggs early on and I'm actually excited to see how they end up coming together considering there's been so little build-up. The anniversary of Derek's death could be interesting... I guess it would be 2 years since his passing. We know that there will be an Amelia / Mer rift again and that it somehow involves Derek, so I'm guessing that's what leaves her dark and twisty somehow. I'm starting to believe it's maybe not Kyle who dies... MS doesn't suddenly kill. Complications can arise, and we know his situation will advance this week, but it'd be pretty out there for him to go from relatively okay to suddenly dying. From my experience, that's just now how MS works. But who else could they possibly kill off? I don't believe it will be a regular, but I could be wrong. I'm guessing something happens at the end of 12x23.

I think Izzie would have survived the cancer and then been killed off in the shooting at the end of the year. Katherine didn't return for her next scheduled appearance. That was never supposed to be her exit. Addison couldn't have been killed off, though, as she left for a spin-off. Teddy, Smash (heh, now I can't remember the actual character name...) and Leah would have all made little impacts with their deaths. Also, Hanh's exit was written with basically 0 notice. ABC had Shonda write her out with one episodes notice, hence her exit being basically explained on-screen in the next episode. It's always been a soap, though. Of course after 12 seasons there's going to be an unbelievable amount of death... as there's been an unbelievable amount of near-death-experiences, disasters, accidental pregnancies, out-of-control doctors keeping their jobs, etc. It's a drama series, so yea, sometimes the drama is just for drama's sake. I agree that Lexi didn't have to be killed off, but I think Mark did. Shonda said herself that she couldn't write him as just leaving his child behind - ditto for Derek. And I agree on both counts. But Lexi's death was a big shock and provided a great moment. By S8 I knew to expect that from the show. I do agree that the death count of main characters is of course implausible and quite high, but it's nothing new. People have been saying the disasters were over-kill by S3, but they bring in viewers. I do hope we can finish out this season without any more disasters or major deaths, though. This we can all 100% agree on lol

Considering she says "it's not too hard to guess who it is" and it ISN'T Alex, that really only leaves Riggs, right? It definitely isn't Owen, Richard, Jackson and I'd be SUPER surprised if it were DeLuca, so I'd say Riggs is a safe bet. I wonder how they're going to build up to it.

I just read that interview and loved it. I especially like EP pointing out how she struggled with the scene of Mer kicking Thrope out of bed and called it 'a bit dramatic'. She seems to be more level-headed than the writers. She also says she's against Mer / Alex as a couple because of their friendship and says Meredith is in a 'dark place' when she hooks up with someone else (sounds like Riggs to me.) Here's a link to the scans for anyone interested:

I've never thought that she needed to be devastated or gush about him publicly. I think the expectation that she should talk about nothing but him or wish to leave the show because he did is ridiculous (I've mainly seen it on twitter; not speaking of anyone here). I do think the backlash would have been eased with a simple statement issued right after PD left but JMO. I also don't care that PD left the show or that Shonda choose to kill off the character of Derek. I do think the exit was written badly just as I think Izzie's exit was written badly. I agree to an extent, but I don't think that any statement would have lessened the blowback from angry fans. She has been complimentary in several interviews and I think she did the best she could. But, yea, I guess a concrete statement would have been nice. I agree that the way he was written off was kind of crappy, I think he had to die but I hated the follow-up (especially the 2-hour episode after he died.) Izzie was a different story because Katherine Heigl was scheduled to return to set and she never did, so it was out of the writers' hands in a sense.

Grey's Anatomy Cast Hints at 'Potential Disaster' in Season Finale Seems quite a bit exaggerated, as I don't think they mean a 'disaster' in the sense of a bomb, shooting, etc. In fact, Henderson tells a bit of a different story: Promo shots for 12x23 We've got Alex / Mer scene (does she tell him to hurry up and put a ring on it? lol I know a few posters here would love that), Jo on Amelia's service, Maggie / Riggs, and a surgery with Mer / Alex / Jackson / Riggs.

I think Ellen has been really complementary of PD, noting that many fans were very upset when he left, which she said is "super understandable", and she said the cast / crew all "miss him dearly." She even said it has been a real challenge to now work without him. I'm not directing this to anyone in this thread, but in general I think people have been way too quick to jump on Ellen for her statements since his exit. Feelings for Meredith as a character aside, what is Ellen really supposed to do? Revolt? She's not going to say "I'm devastated, the show is shit without him, etc." She has said that she and the cast miss him, she values his part in the series, but she's excited about the new stories. If you watch any of EPs interviews she's always very sarcastic and silly, and her original comment here was clearly a joke. She's addressed before that it got a bit annoying to hear that the show was doomed when he left, because there wasn't such an outcry when Sandra Oh - a much more pivotal character - left. Patrick is one of a long line of actors who have exited the show over 12 seasons. I really don't think any of the Shonda / Patrick drama was as big of a deal as the press and some fans made it out to be. He was clearly ready to move on and she made it happen in the only way that made sense.

She's very complimentary of PD in the clip. Ellen Degeneres says people thought the show would end when Patrick left and noted how well it's doing, and Pompeo said "it's amazing how much you get done without a penis." She didn't say that in this clip but it wasn't the full segment, so maybe she said it on-air. EDITED: Here's the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWL-NQl01h0 She says it will probably be 2.5 weeks of filming for the finale and says "Shonda is writing" but she could mean revisions as I believe Shonda does a final draft of every script.

I really don't think Jo or Alex are getting killed off. I doubt any regulars will die this season. Obviously I could be very wrong, but they insinuated that the death happened before the finale and we know that Camilla was around for the finale table read, so.... My guess remains Wilmer's character, although MS doesn't really kill per say, so it would have to be some type of complication that arises.

Maybe. But honestly I've never cared much about Jo. She's fine, but the only reason I've grown to like her even a little bit is the connection to Alex. The writers clearly don't know what to do with her or don't care. And Jo leaving or dying doesn't necessarily mean he has to end up with one of the sisters. I'm sure if we lose any characters this year they'll continue the trend of adding 4 more next year. I don't think Alex / Meredith as a couple is ever going to happen, I'm not really worried about it.

Jo dying might be best option to give Alex an actual storyline seeing as the writers don't care to give them anything together.

The PR for 12x23 has "Amelia and Owen taking their relationship to the next level" - have the two of them had sex? I feel like they did at some point, but their 'relationship' has been one giant blur to me.

My bet for the death is definitely Wilmer. I'm fine with that. I don't want any regulars to die, honestly. I'd like to see some leave, but not die (but I'd be all for Penny dying.) We've had enough regulars killed off. At this point, so soon after Derek, it would just be ridiculous. I wonder what will cause tension between Meredith / Amelia that has to do with Derek? "Alex and Jo get clarification on their relationship status" lol so essentially we'll just see them get engaged in 12x23 and be done with it. Very happy that we seemingly have no disasters on the horizon, also.

Ellen Pompeo on the Ellen Degeneres show

I saw two different accounts of The Catch's early numbers, too. I typically trust SpoilerTV. For the finals, Grey's stayed at a 2.0, Scandal 1.5, and The Catch 0.9. That put The Catch 0.1 behind Rush Hour for 10PM.

Nothing new, really, but if they did a set visit then we should get a Greys-focused article soon. From EW's Spoiler Room:

Grey's did a 2.0 last night, making it again the second-highest rated drama on broadcast behind only Empire. It was also ABCs top-rated series this week (Modern Family was a repeat.) Again, it's super impressive especially considering many shows slid to series lows this week (NCIS fell below a 2.0 to a 1.8 for the first time in its 13 year run) and Empire has been down every week since its return. Scandal hit a series low in the demo last night at 1.5 and The Catch did an 0.9. Hah, whoops.... Greysaddict beat me to the punch.

Edit. Wrong thread lol...

Liked: - The Meredith / Steph storyline. It was fun. - Acknowledging some of the issues I've had with the season (Richard pointing out how terribly April & Jackson communicated as a cautionary tale for Arizona, Bailey pointing out that Callie was throwing away her own career for a resident.) - Seeing Meredith's kids! - The continuation of a calm, level-headed Amelia. - Jo and Alex's last scene was nice. More of that please!!!! Meh: - Ben and Bailey Disliked: - How heavy-handed some of the gun stuff was (the music choices felt especially cheesy) - Maggie badgering the babysitter / her random "I love your kids so much!" stuff. - Owen's 'revelation' at the end. That story is so, so boring at this point and nothing that's been said in the last several episodes has really added any depth or sympathy for either he or Riggs. Lets just get on with in, shall we? - Wherever the Callie / Arizona story is going.....

Rejoice. Ellen Pompeo says Meredith and Alex are not romantically linked: they're "too much like brother and sister."