BaseOps

What I hate about Callie / Penny is that 1) I don't like Penny 2) The story has nothing to do with Callie Penny was used as a prop for Meredith / Amelia, and they needed a way to bring her in. Callie got a few great scenes out of it (at the dinner party, with Meredith later) but nothing really great in terms of story for Callie. I think her and Jackson could be great together. He's always treated April well, he's a great doctor... I think he deserves better than April. I used to not like the character at all, but I've found myself liking him more. I think because he's one of the most sane characters on the show, and we've actually seen him grow (Jesse Williams, too, has gotten a lot better as an actor.) But I just think him and Callie could be interesting. I just want big shakeups with our EXISTING characters. No thrid party. A good way to get to know more about both Callie and Jackson would be hooking them up.

April dated and was engaged to that ambulance driver a few seasons ago. He was recurring. Way back in the day there was Finn of course, and Izzie's one-episode hockey player who was her boyfriend from before Seattle Grace. Obviously Richard had Adele for years. I guess usually if they're not dating surgeons, they're dating patients (Ava / Rebecca, Denny, Henry, etc.)

Random (probably very unpopular) opinion: Jackson should dump April and hookup with Callie or Meredith. I actually think Jesse has great onscreen chemistry with both Sara and Ellen. The pairings lately have been so predictable, and I'd be down for some kind of big shakeup in the back-half of this season. I could see him dumping April then having drinks with either Callie or Meredith after a tough case, and then they end up sleeping together. It could just be sex, even a one-time thing. But I'm sick of seeing Jackson tied to stories with April, and I want to see a real shakeup soon for Meredith and/or Callie.

Of course, people will definitely take sides. That's the nature of this kind of show (especially when, for instance, someone like you already doesn't like Owen.) I'm sure I'll agree with one more than the other, but I think either way, the writers won't want whatever happened to be so horrible that it would negatively impact the audience's perception of either of the characters. It seems mostly likely to me that Owen will somehow blame Riggs for his sisters death.

I don't think it has to be so black and white. There are tons of scenarios on this show where I understand both sides, whether I agree or not. If, for example, it was something like assisted suicide, I could see why Owen would hate Riggs. It's a controversial topic and people have wildly different views on it. I'm eager to see how the story unfolds if only because I'm sure the writers won't want to paint either of them as a 'bad guy', so it's bound to be something complicated.

I reaaaallly don't think they'd make it something where Riggs would come off that bad. And I don't think he's been shown to be misogynistic at all, not even close. He had no issue working with Maggie, she was the one who got upset that he had been hired without her knowledge and pushed him away. He was more than happy to work with her (and Meredith) despite their issues with him. He, in fact, knew a lot about Maggie and seemed happy to be working with her. I certainly don't think the story will be one of emotional abuse, I doubt they'd introduce the character that way. There'd be zero chance of the audience rooting for him after that.

Interesting tid-bit from TvLine: That's insanely impressive for Grey's, especially considering the dives other ABC dramas have taken this year alone (Scandal, HTGAWM, OUAT, Castle, etc.)

Grey's scored a 2.5 last night, beating Scandal (2.4) and HTGAWM (2.3) http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/11/ratings-news-20th-november-2015.html

I was lucky enough to speak with Jean Smart today for SpoilerTV; she confirmed that Hawley is currently planning S3. http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/11/fargo-noah-hawley-planning-3rd-season.html

Okay I just need to add... hearing Kathy Bates say "I couldn't pick my butthole out of a lineup" was next-level amazing.

I LOVE this season. It's not only going back to the horror roots of S1 & S2, but it's just FUN. The cast is great (even Gaga!) and sets and costumes have been incredible. I do wish it was a BIT less jumpy (where the heck do Ramona and Donovan fit into this?) but it's been absolutely great to watch. Mr March, in particular, was fantastic tonight. I'm so happy that they gave Evan a radically different part this year, and I think he's absolutely nailed it. I loved his final scene with Gaga, and the flashback to her finding him with a dead body was great. I'm also so glad they didn't do away with Finn Wittrock - since he's listed as a guest star, I thought he'd be gone after Tristan died. I love that he's back as Rudolph Valentino. I certainly didn't expect that. I think the 10 Commandments story is lagging, because it's pretty damn obvious that John is the killer. But I think that will be revealed / dealt with in the next episode. I'm eager to see the 'outbreak' or whatever happens because of the kids at the school - they can't possibly leave that hanging, right? I also think with Valentino and his wife out, we're going to see The Countless really start losing control. All around, great episode. I hope we see more of Donovan and Ramona soon, as well as Sally. They were all missed this week, but it was worth it to get some backsory on The Countess. I hope they have a great ending planned for this season, because it can very easily go down as one of the best of AHS.

I just posted this in the Media thread based on the latest preview - but I think Meredith is going to have a breakdown of some sort in the finale. We know she's in every scene of the first episode back, and both previews so far are sharing a theme: Jo is mad at Alex about how Meredith treats her, and Amelia unloads on Meredith. So maybe she doesn't get injured but has a breakdown. Or perhaps her breakdown leads to an injury. But I'm expecting some big arc for her here, a culmination of Derek's death and everything since. We'll see.

The story with Alex's dad really was the most redeeming part of S10, though I still wish some parts had been handled better. I actually didn't dislike the Meredith / Cristina fight as much as most people did, though it really did drag on and then still somehow got a rushed resolution. But I hated Shane always yelling at Meredith. In general he annoyed me, which sucked because I loved the actor on Friday Night Lights. But I never liked his relationship with Cristina or his ego, and especially not his 'breakdown'.

Well shit, I didn't see that ending coming. That entire last sequence had my jaw on the ground. This episode was probably one of the strangest of the series, and that's really saying something. I think Justin Theroux is the most underrated leading man on TV right now - he can be heartbreaking, terrifying, and frustrating usually within a few moments of each other. I really felt for Kevin this week... I mean, Nora just up and left? Wtf? That sort of seems out of character to me, although I guess she's been through a lot. But when your loved one tells you they're sick, you just take the baby and leave? Ditto for Nora - is this really how the woman in Kevin's life treat him? He's done so much for both of them, and the second he needs help they both blow up on him and leave him to die. I liked the stuff with Laurie, especially Kevin apologizing for something as trivial as "being mean" about not getting a dog. This guy is truly tortured, and it's sad that things just keep slipping out of his grasp. I'm assuming (hoping) that they haven't killed him off, although with this show I really don't know.

From Entertainment Weekly: Is there anything you can tease about how Riggs and Owen are connected on Grey’s Anatomy? — Thomas We’ll get much more information next week when another familiar face from Owen’s past pops up — but I have to stay somewhat vague about this one, sorry! “It’s interesting because Riggs is connected to Owen’s past,” Kevin McKidd says. “So it means that

"Have a therapeutic day" lol yea I'd say he must be working with her.

Pretty crazy, right? And Grey's is steady as a rock. Technically it could adjust up in the finals, too. Last week Scandal adjusted down, so who knows. I do love seeing Grey's tying and beating these new, younger shows.

Post-Mortem with Kevin McKidd Some excerpts: When will we actually get more information? The audience will definitely get more information next week. We’re going to get more, but not all of it, and not the key elements to it. We’re going to get very enticing hints next week, and hints that people will be able to draw their own conclusions. The actual spelling out of what happens is going to be saved until we come back. What does their [Amelia / Owen] relationship look like moving forward? Me and Caterina keep saying, “Wow, we’ve been dating for like three years now, and all we do is hold hands.” [Laughs] They’re the slowest going couple ever. There’s definitely going to be some movement with them, which I’m excited about. I know Caterina is. I like the fact that there really is this slow drawing of them together. They both have had a lot of damage in their pasts. I like the fact that it honors that for both the characters. I love working with her. She’s amazing. The chemistry works really well. We’re going to see a lot more of those two in the back half of the season.

Well it wasn't Meredith's car that they were getting into, so perhaps we can assume Meredith remembered that she had children and had to pick them up from somewhere (the 24/7 daycare?) that night. Who knows.

I guess it wasn't really a 'turn', but Cross finding Owen in the on-call room in full-out rage mode / PTSD really surprised me. We haven't seen Owen like that in a long time, so while I thought maybe this would be some trivial issue with Riggs, I'm actually interested now. I really wonder what the hell happened, and I hope it's not a let-down. I actually quite like Riggs so far. He seems very unassuming, just trying to go about his work professionally. I like seeing outsiders come into the hospital and realize how interconnected and dramatic it all is. I also liked Owen in the surgery scene with that intern - I like when we see him teach. I think for all of his crap, he's always be a good teacher and been invested in making great surgeons. Overall I really enjoyed the episode. As I said, I liked all the interactions between different characters and I liked the patient stories this week. I really wonder where they're going with Jo. She's really feeling undervalued, and I can imagine Camilla can relate to that lol. I'm not even a Jo fan, but I hope she gets an actual journey / arc this season. Something to justify her still being there after years of being sidelined. Arizona's story is so odd this year... she moved in with DeLuca, then nothing (literally, have they even shared another scene?) Now she's just sort of floating. Her stuff with Richard was fun, but c'mon. I guess since they got Capshaw to sign on for 3 years they're not really concerned with giving her anything substantial to do right now. The Jackson / April stuff took an interesting turn, I guess. I was half expecting him to say "I want a divorce" at the end, but I'm glad they didn't go for that kind of dramatics. Also - am I the only one who noticed immediate chemistry with Riggs and Meredith in that elevator scene?

Everyone seems to pin the "Lexie being eaten by wolves" thing on Shonda having it in for Chyler / Lexie but I really think it was just about adding dramatics to Cristina's monologue in that scene, honestly. Sandra Oh was great in it, but some of the things felt so over the top (the fact that it took four days to find them, Lexie being eaten by animals, drinking their own urine, etc.) But yea, I really don't think that had anything to do with the actress. As someone said, Chyler gave her notice and they worked toward that story. Columbus Short from Scandal is a possibility, as is TR I guess. I don't think she ever disliked TR though. I think that whole situation just got the best of everyone, and then coupled with the frustration of the writing for his character TR decided to leave.

This episode is airing in Canada right now. I won't spoil anything and I'll wait until later for all my thoughts. But there's a great turn at the 30 min mark, and it's really, really enjoyable so far. Good balance of stories and characters. I love how they're playing different cast members off of each other, even just for a scene each.

I was just listening to the radio and they were talking about the new doctor who was 'replacing McDreamy' on Grey's - I didn't realize it until the host said it, but Martin Henderson is the guy from Britney Spears' Toxic video. The cheating boyfriend who she kills at the end lol. I've tried for a long time to figure out where I knew him from because I don't think I've seen any of his movies or past parts... that was it.

Whoops, that's what I meant.

Taken from the Media thread - we know that Meredith is in every scene of 12x09. So I'm guessing our winter cliffhanger is her getting injured somehow, and then we'll follow it through 12x09 when the show returns.