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I love seeing how much everyone seems to get along on-set and how much fun they're having this year. Ellen posted this of Debbie: https://www.instagram.com/p/BDO33gXkAQz/?taken-by=ellenpompeo Also this from 2 weeks ago: https://www.instagram.com/p/BCgvdLYkAc4/?taken-by=ellenpompeo Jillian Dempsey sent makeup to Ellen - https://www.instagram.com/p/BCbRM2NEAeZ/?taken-by=ellenpompeo

A bit late on this convo but I think to compare ER to Grey's in terms of longevity and awards is sort of unfair. Back then, it was a lot easier for shows on broadcast to win Emmys. Grey's started just before the Emmy's began shunning series' on broadcast in favour of cable and, now, streaming. There was not a single nomination for a broadcast series in the Outstanding Drama category this year (or the year before, or the year before, or the year before...) This year also had no actors from Broadcast in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama category. Outstanding Lead Actress had 2 out of 6 actresses from broadcast shows. In 2009, the year that ER had it's final Emmy nominations (2 - for outstanding Guest Actor and Outstanding Direction) there were 2 Broadcast series nominated for Best Drama, 2 actors in the Best Actor race, and 3 in the Best Actress race. In 1997, the year they had their most Emmy nominations, all 5 Best Drama nominees were on Broadcast, as were every nominated actor and actress. I'm not saying this to put down ER or say they didn't deserve those awards, or even to say that Grey's deserves more, but simply to say that times have changed drastically, and was a LOT easier for a show on Broadcast to gain nominations than it is now. There's an insane amount of television being produced these days, so even when it's great, Grey's doesn't really stand a chance. It's also a lot harder for shows to survive and stay on air these days given all the competition and the current state of ratings.

Just for reference, here is ABCs ratings this week (Monday - Sunday) for the 18 - 49 demo. 1. Modern Family - 2.5 2. Grey's Anatomy - 2.1 3. The Goldbergs - 2.0 4. The Middle - 1.7 5. Scandal - 1.6 6. HTGAWM (Season finale) - 1.4 7. Last Man Standing - 1.2 8. Once Upon a Time - 1.1 8. Fresh off The Boat - 1.1 10. Quantico - 1.0 10. Agents of Shield - 1.0 10. The Real O'Neals - 1.0 10. Dr. Ken - 1.0 14. Nashville - 0.9 15. The Family - 0.7 16. Of Kings & Prophets (Which has since been cancelled) - 0.5

At this rate, Grey's has a HUGE way to fall before ABC would even consider pulling the plug. It will be in Shonda & Ellen's hands. Most of their dramas are teetering around a 1.0 (Castle, Agents of Shield, Nashville) and the rest aren't much higher (HTGAWM, Once Upon a Tim, etc.) I'm pretty sure Grey's is the highest rated drama on broadcast again this week.

Based on the early household numbers, Grey's is not only up from last week, but also up year-to-year. The final demos will be a few more hours.

This is my primary issue. With so many characters, it's just impossible for the writers to continue each story every week. That's why I wish they didn't bother adding in Penny and even Deluca. There were enough characters to make interesting dynamics without adding them in, plus they already added Riggs for new blood and Maggie and Amelia are both relatively new. A few characters have ongoing arcs (April / Jackson, Meredith, Maggie / DeLuca, Amelia / Owen / Riggs) and everyone else is basically given one-offs.

Lucy took his job in Africa. She was Callie's OBGYN, so I believe season 7. The actress was Rachel Taylor.

I really, really liked this episode. I know some people will think the Meredith / Jo thing was wrapped up quickly, but I actually think it was sort of perfect. I didn't want it to be dragged on, and the way Meredith has treated Jo has been - I think - in line with others that she's pushed away for similar reasons. I liked her telling Jo that she didn't want Alex to get hurt again, and that she should be standing up for herself. Basically, I'm glad it was acknowledged and now we can move past it. Could it have been dug into deeper? Sure. But it worked for me, at least, so I'm happy. I'd love to now see some major Alex / Jo focus and progress. I like the switch up of character interactions - I like that Alex is involved in the April / Jackson storyline, for example. And it's nice to see Ben getting better integrated with the cast and being given some actual story. I thought his last scene with Bailey was a bit odd, but I'm not sure what exactly it was. I really want to see more of them both, honestly. I've never been a huge fan of Ben (never disliked him, he's just always been underused) but I think there's lots of potential to explore with the two of them that hasn't been tapped into. No Maggie / Deluca sex stuff this week! That was nice. And, don't shoot me, but I actually didn't hate Penny this week. Maybe it's just my tolerance building up. I still wish her screentime was spent on other characters. I did sigh big-time when Amelia said "I have to teach her..." NO YOU DON'T! SHE CAN LEAVE! I didn't hate Amelia much, either (*gasp*). I really like Riggs more and more, so maybe having them interact with him helped. The patients were both engaging, which is good, and I like that they've been keeping things relatively light and fun. Meredith's story with Thrope is a bit odd, him showing up seems kinda of desperate but I love to see Meredith smile, so I'm open to this continuing. I'm glad he wasn't shoved down our throat this week: one scene at the end was good enough.

I know it will never happen, but I'll always hold out hope for a reappearance of Izzie.

This is the episode where Meredith regrets moving forward with Will, so I think the Alex / Mer scene is just two friends talking. They've been light on Mer / Alex scenes since they came back from break, and they're still best friends, so I've got nothing against it. I love their scenes together and didn't want them to disappear totally. Their friendship is still one of my favourite things on the show. If they DO choose to move forward with it romantically.... that's another story, but I'll wait and see. I really don't think that's the case.

So it appears Sofia does indeed end up in the hospital in 12x16, but looks like just a scrape... http://images.spoilertv.com/grey-s-anatomy/Season%2012/Promotional%20Episode%20Photos/Episode%2012.16%20-%20When%20It%20Hurts%20So%20Bad/

I'm so dreading Owen's sister inevitably showing up. I really wish she was just dead... the idea of her popping up is just so soapy, and I know Grey's has done stuff like that before (they love surprise siblings) but at least then it usually sort of made sense. This just seems so over-the-top. "The helicopter disappeared...". Ugh.

I think at this point Shonda and the writers must have some idea of which cast members are staying and going at the end of the year; I don't believe any of the originals would be so on the fence that they'd leave it to the last minute, and I think they'd all want to give their characters a proper send-off after all these years. So, I believe that if Sara Ramirez is leaving then they would have some plan crafted (a firebomb? a tornado? a piano falling on her head?). I really hope having her leave with Penny isn't what they'd choose, because Callie deserves so much better than that. I really do think that we'll have an announcement of Penny becoming a regular by the end of this season. It's hard to say who I'd like to see gone the most, because the characters I'd most like to be cut are the ones least likely to go (Amelia, Maggie, Owen.) Deluca had potential but I feel like they've made him so bland already; there's nothing at all distinguishing about his character or story, and he only really interacts with Maggie. I actually like Riggs and think he works well with several members of the cast. Nothing against Ben, but again they have yet to give him anything interesting to do, mainly because there are so many other stories / characters to write for.

Yea, I think Penny is (sadly) inevitable. But I don't think it has anything to do with Steph... whether or not Jerrika leaves, I think Shonda intends to add her. I doubt the blonde intern is going to be made a regular, though. He's really been back-burnered since they made Giacomo a regular, and I think they would have promoted them at at the same time. But you never know. We also know that Owen's sister is probably gonna pop up, and she's also a doctor.....

Me. Nothing against the actress at all, but Steph adds nothing to the show and we drastically need a cast reduction. Let her use her talents on a series that will actually give her something to do. Obviously there's no ill will as this is a Shonda project. I think they both know Steph has run her course.

Yea, I mean I guess I just kinda got past it because it's how they seemed to write the majority of the characters back then. Meredith and Cristina definitely had an unhealthy relationship if it were real life, but it was Shondaland so I rolled with it. But I agree that it's gotten less and less amusing as they've grown up - I don't think it's quite as bad as it was for a while, but all the forced 'sister' stuff with Amelia and Maggie at the start of this season really bugged the hell out of me. It seems like the writers have just sort of gotten lazy with actual logical lately and bend the stories / characters to whatever story they want to tell that week: like Arizona needing a roommate. It just makes no sense. But I digress... 12x16, where Zola appears, is the same episode that 'Meredith has regrets' about taking a step forward with the military doc, so maybe it has something to do with him sleeping over and seeing the kids in the morning? Which would be funny considering Amelia was smashing down walls and Maggie was banging Deluca and they never acknowledged that the kids were there, but I'll take it cause I'm always happy to have the kids pop in. I can't even remember the last time we saw Sofia. It's odd - Ausiello and all those other columns still come out every week, but the Grey's stories are either infrequent or give us NO info.

True, I see what you're saying now. I thought you meant the boundary issues started as soon as he started dating Jo, so I was just thinking that I've always seen most of Meredith's friendships as being a bit beyond the normal boundaries of friendship. But it definitely amplified with Alex after Cristina left when the 'person' thing started and I definitely think that Jo bringing it up with her has been a long-time coming, especially because it has extended into how Meredith treats Jo professionally. But to me, the personal side is something that has to be dealt with primarily with Alex. I'm all for Jo confronting Meredith regarding the way she treats her, but if her main issue is how close Alex and Meredith are as friends, then that's an issue that, in my opinion, needs to be addressed and resolved with her boyfriend.

I can think of some instances where they had non-traditional boundaries long before Jo: in season 6 when Meredith ran to Alex while he was in the shower to tell him that Derek wanted to have kids. At the same time, he told her that Izzie had sent divorce papers: Derek walks in to get Alex and sees Meredith there and she says "he's being a girl for me", and Derek makes a joke about him receiving visitors in the bathroom.

I think almost everyone on this show has weird boundary issues, which is one of the things I find kind of refreshing about Jo - it's like she's one of the only people who recognizes that Alex / Mer's relationship is a bit odd. Personally, it's never really bothered me, but I get why it's weird for some people, especially Jo. With Derek, he was friends - or at least got along with - all of Meredith's friends. He acknowledged that it was weird but he accepted it because he loved her. I also understood the way Meredith was - she rejected the idea of traditional family and so she made her own with Cristina, Izzie, George, etc. (again, it's a justification that I know doesn't work for everyone.) But Jo has no reason to be ok with it because Meredith has never been kind to her. After the Mer / Cristina stuff, I just accepted that this is how the writers approach friendships on the show, but it doesn't make it less weird. I do think they've backed off the Alex / Mer stuff a bit in the past few episodes, as she hasn't been running to him for every little thing... but we'll see what happens this week I guess. I agree about Thrope. I think he's just around for a quick rebound... but I also thought Penny would be gone much, much earlier. So who knows..

We have confirmation from the press release that both Zola and Sofia will be appearing in 12x16.

The majority of comments about him and Meredith were actually pretty positive this week. The guy has only appeared in 1 episode so far, I think we need to give it a bit more time to see how it unfolds. And just because a 'source' like the inquisitor says he might become a regular, it doesn't mean he will. Nearly every multi-episode contract comes with a clause that they 'could' become regulars. It's smart for Shonda to keep that option depending on how things unfold. I don't want or need any more regulars, but if this is the guy that they choose for Meredith long-term then of course he'll be made a regular. I hope we lose a few cast members at the end of this year though.

Honestly, I thought they were going to write Jo off last year (and set Alex up with Maggie) because it seemed like the writers just didn't care to give her anything to do. The writing for her character at the start of this season was also really strange to me and it kept feeling like they were purposely trying to make her look bad, but I think now maybe that was build-up for Jo finally standing up for herself. At least I hope that's what it is. I'd love this Mer / Jo thing to get resolved without having to bring Alex in to choose sides. I want him to have a better storyline than this, which is why I hope they deal with it quickly and then wrap it up and move on. I think it might come down to whether or not Camilla is sticking around.

HTGAWM has actually dropped a lot too. It was pulling just shy of 3.0s this time last year, but it's been in a steady decline since it came back. It fell below a 2.0 for the first time around the end of October and has been free-falling since (aside from the mid-season finale.)

From EW: Is Meredith going to hook up with that new military doctor on Grey’s Anatomy? I was starting to think she and Riggs might be an item. — Haille I hear that Dr. Thorpe (Scott Elrod) will return for multiple episodes, but whether that means Mer is heading into a full-blown relationship remains to be seen. As for Riggs, he has other problems to deal with first, namely all things Owen. “In episode 15, April does get in the middle of them a little bit,” Sarah Drew teases of the tension building between the docs.

Didn't both actors hint at 12x14 was a big episode for them? There's no mention of them in the press release but I seem to recall them saying there was some type of reveal or movement in episode 14.