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I'm so excited for 12.09, I think it's going to be great.

I've been trying to find the full story, but here's excerpts from TR Knight's Entertainment Weekly cover story where he discussed his departure (there are also quotes from Shonda and Katharine.) http://www.ew.com/article/2009/07/23/greys-star-tr-knight-reveals-why-he-left

This is, without question, the best show on TV right now. It's insane how the series seems to take its time with everything, and yet the story moves impressively fast. Who would have thought Ed and Peggy would be ousted so quickly? Let alone with a burnt down bakery and everyone on their tail. I really sympathize with Ed. He's tried so hard to live a simple life in the 'right' way, and now it's all blown up. Peggy should be annoying, but I actually really like her too. I'm glad she didn't just run away, though she obviously isn't the brightest bulb. This is my favourite role I've ever seen Dunst play, bar none. I think both her and Jesse Plemons are phenomenal. Bokeem Woodbine continues to be the best badass on TV, too. And I can't help but sort of root for him. I was shocked that they killed off Bulo so early, and I'm sort of sad because I love Brad Garrett in this part. I was hoping to see some more of him. But now Mike has had a fire lit under his ass, and I can only imagine things are going to get more explosive from here. I wonder how Simone will play into all of it - I was worried he was going to kill her right there in the hotel room, but I like that Mike is a bit more intelligent than that. Rather than losing his cool, he knew he could use her to his own gain. I'm excited to see that. Lou and Betsy are great, and I love Hank too. I think the balance of all these stories and how they connect is basically perfect - not many other shows achieve balance the way Noah Hawley has with Fargo. The reveal of the UFO in Molly's drawing is really interesting. I wonder how they're going to pay that story off, or if it will just continue to be these sort of small tidbits here and there (which I wouldn't hate - I might actually prefer it.) The stuff with Reagan was awesome. Perfectly cast for this show, and his scene's actually added to the story. I loved his interactions with Karl (and his asking Lou to find out if Joan Crawford really had crabs) and the scene in the bathroom was fantastic. I really just love this show.

I sort of remember something like that now that you bring it up. Maybe Rhimes put it in there just to give him something to do. I don't think TR loved that George cheated on Callie, then failed his exam, etc. I remember an appearance of his on Ellen's show some time in season 4 where he talked about the writing for George sort of being a bummer. He was joking around, but you could tell he meant it (he said something along the lines of "I'm an adulterer and a failure now" and noted George's constant misfortune.)

Basically I think TR was hurt that Shonda didn't fire Isaiah Washington after what went down (he essentially caused TR to come out of the closet.) Then Heigl got vocal about it, and then the second incident happened in the Golden Globes press room. Isaiah was obviously let go at the end of S3, and then the Heigl drama really stirred up in S4 / S5. George was diminished on screen all season, and after the finale Shonda said it had been done so that when he wasn't seen in the finale, it would preserve the surprise that he was John Doe. TR said he was never told that was the reason, and that he hated the fact that he had barely anything to do. When it came time to resign contracts at the end of S5, TR declined and Heigl signed on. She continued to be vocal about the situation and how much she missed him - and eventually she left mid S6.

I actually rank season 5 really high among my favourites. At the time, it was weird to see George sidelined and it's true that the backstage stuff started to come onscreen a bit. But I really liked the Meredith / Derek development that season, I loved the Eric Stoltz storyline, I liked all that Alex got to do in the back half, I loved Cristina / Owen's story that year, I liked Bailey working with Arizona, etc. The finale is fantastic. The Izzie stuff really dragged until she was diagnosed, but after that I thought it was really well done and despite not loving Heigl, I was attached to Izzie and I thought she did a good job that year. Overall I thought it was a big step up from season 3 & 4. After season 5 we started seeing dramatic cast changes, less focus on the originals and less time for characters overall.

I think it's easy to see why the cast loves the work - a) it's a stable job, which in hollywood isn't exactly easy to come by. b) they all seem to get along great and they've been together for years. c) Grey's still gets huge recognition. It's one of the top rated series on TV still, so it's not like most of these actors will easily be finding a job that will bring them more visibility. d) With a cast so huge, their hours must be pretty ideal. No one is on set 24/7, and they're making great money. So in addition to a job they enjoy, they also get to spend time with family and do other things.

I have a feeling too that when it came time to decide what to do with PD, Shonda likely asked Ellen about the possibility of her re-upping. I think if EP was unlikely to want to renew her contract, they would have kept PD around sporadically to end their story together this year.

I wasn't sure which thread to put this in, but I guess it does fall under speculation... I'm wondering what people think of the prospect of Grey's Anatomy without the Grey. Considering the current ratings (they're phenomenal), what are the odds that if Ellen decided to leave this year, ABC would continue? I'd like to think they'd allow Shonda to end the show should EP choose to leave, but I know that they'd try damn hard to do anything they could to continue on. I just don't see how they could conceivably call the show Grey's Anatomy without a Grey. I have a feeling Ellen will re-up at the end of this season, BUT she has said several times that she's not overly enthused about a future career in acting. So, what would they do? Who would fill in the lead role? Who would narrate? Would you stick around to watch if Meredith was gone by Alex, Bailey, Richard, Callie, Arizona, etc. stuck around?

This is huge: Scandal adjusted down to a 2.2, and Grey's remained at a 2.3 That means Grey's Anatomy is ABCs highest-rated scripted series this week (Modern Family wasn't on.) It's also the highest rated drama in the key demo this week behind only Empire. This show ain't going anywhere.

The super shitty thing is that some of these covers would work just fine - but not when EVERY song is a cover. Like you said, Grey's is so known for their phenomenal placement of music. But when every song is a top 40 cover, it just gets distracting and starts to feel really trite. Way too gimmicky. It's like when they did all 80s covers back in season 10.. some of them were great, but it was all just too much.

Jo is simply one of many characters being totally sidelined because of the size of the cast. Jo, Alex, Owen, Bailey and Arizona all only had one scene last night, Steph was in the background for two scenes. Ben has no storyline at all - there are simply too many people to write for.

Tying Scandal is insane. Especially when Grey's was up against The Big Bang Theory. Year-to-Year comparisons (for the demo): Grey's Anatomy: 2.4 vs 2.3 (-4%) Scandal: 2.9 vs 2.3 (-21%) Murder: 2.8 vs 1.9 (-32%) Bones: 1.3 vs 1.2 (-8%) TVD: 0.8 vs 0.6 (-25%) Steady as a rock. If it adjusts up, it will be tied with last year in demo AND up in viewers.

The thing is, they're clearly not writing for Alex / Jo. She's been here for 3+ years now, and the character just isn't growing or moving at all. I don't dislike her, but she's never been interesting to me. As much as I want Alex to get some story, they're obviously not interested in writing for him and Jo together. I'll be happy if they prove me wrong in the back half, but every other couple has taken precedence over them. That's why I was actually rooting for an Alex / Maggie hookup last season; at least if he was with Maggie, he'd be front and centre again. But I feel like if they wanted to break up Jo / Alex, they would have done it at the end of last season. I guess I'm confused. I don't think that we'll be getting any new characters for a while, but I do think some of the current interns will be made regulars by next year. I also agree that Steph isn't going anywhere, but using her as Amelia's assistant isn't sufficient. Again, like Jo, I don't hate her but I just don't care about Steph at all. Ditto for Ben.

Honestly I just wish they'd write Jo and Steph off. I want Amelia gone more than anybody but I know that won't happen. But Ben should not have been made a regular, and Jo and Steph should have been gone a long time ago. Henderson is definitely sticking around - he signed on as a regular immediately, so he ain't going anywhere (which I don't mind.) Penny is still just a guest star, so I'll hold out hope that she's here for an arc and then will leave. I'm genuinely enjoying this season for the most part, so it's incredibly frustrating that with just a few tweaks and a tighter cast it could be GREAT.

I really, really liked this episode. I think there are a few odd continuity gaps, but I'm sort of pushing them from my memory... overall, this is easily my favourite season so far since Asylum. I think they're really bringing the "Horror" back to AHS and all of the characters are engaging, some are sympathetic, and the story is interesting. As everyone has said - Denis O'Hare knocked it out of the park here. He was incredible. That backstory for Liz Taylor was both fun, sad, and scary (I was dreading his co-workers seeing him.) I also thought that sequence in the school was shocking: I didn't expect them to take it as far as they did, but I'm glad it did. The story is moving along quickly, which I think is great. Nothing stagnant. I didn't expect the story with Holden's mother to move along so quickly, but obviously that's moving along nicely now. I think Chloe has been great this season, and this role seems absolutely perfect for her. I also love Kathy Bates in this role; I'm excited to see how far they'll push it. There's a lot of moving parts now, so I'm eager to see how they all come together. I think it's seeming more and more likely that Sally & John are committing the 10 Commandment Murders together somehow. Obviously she can't leave the hotel, but it seems like he's doing it and she's orchestrating somehow. Who the hell knows with this show... I'm hoping we see a lot more of Ramona Royale and Donovan in the next few episodes. More Tristan & Mr March, too, please. I'm excited to see the backstory between The Countess and March.

I liked this episode for the most part. It flowed well, it was interesting enough - nothing groundbreaking. I didn't mind the Meredith / Penny stuff. Yes, Meredith was harsh - but have you guys seen this show before? Do you remember how Bailey used to talk to the interns? How she used to treat them when they messed up? Amelia spent 90% of last season screaming at doctors for no reason, so I don't really mind Meredith getting a little tense with Penny, especially when she WAS missing steps. I see both sides, but I don't care about Penny, so I tend to be on Meredith's side here. I don't love that Callie / Penny are going to try to make it work.. I'm enjoying Jackson more and more - when he first came on, I think Jesse Williams wasn't a great actor, but he's grown a lot. And I love when we get to see him be a doctor, because I happen to think he's a great one. April is incredibly grating, though, constantly circling everything back to their marriage. Henderson's character was refreshing, repeatedly telling the doctors to get over themselves. "God has bigger things to worry about then whether you get a divorce." AMEN. I wonder what his deal is with Hunt? Seems to be sort of one-sided, as it was clear that Owen wasn't happy to see him. I wonder how he winds up back at the hospital next week? I'm guessing Bailey offers him a job. The Richard / Maggie stuff was long overdue, but as someone else mentioned it feels so weird coming this late. Maggie has been at the hospital for well over a year now. This stuff should have been addressed and played out a long time ago, but I guess these things can take time. I hope we continue to explore their dynamic. I also love any time Meredith interacts with Richard or Bailey - there's just so much history there, and I think all of the actors knock it out of the park. Even in the short scenes they get (Bailey offering to work with Blake instead), I'm always happy to see them together. As much as I hate that Alex has no story, I did love his scene with Meredith in the chapel (despite it being so random - why did Alex happen to stumble into the chapel?) I know some people aren't, but I'm quite enjoying Meredith this season. I liked that she was trying to talk to Derek. I think that's a really natural thing even for non-religious people to try to reach out. Meredith is dealing with a lot on her own, I wish we'd get more exploration of that. I think we will with the winter finale. I still wish we'd see her damn kids... So now onto my favourite topic, the cast bloat: - ONE scene for Alex this week, and it's supporting Meredith - ONE scene for Arizona this week, and it's supporting April - ONE scene for Owen. - There was a cut Meredith / Alex / AZ scene in the cafeteria (from the promo pics). I would've liked to see that. - Ben has had 0 story still this season... did they really make him a regular just to have him follow Jackson around? - Nothing for Bailey to do. - ONE LINE for Jo! Literally. And two throwaway scenes for Steph. The one person I was happy to see sidelined was Amelia. I thought she'd be more unbearable this week, but thankfully we didn't have to see much of her (though even when she was on for short times, she was annoying.) Basically, this was a transitional episode: bringing Penny to the hospital, introducing Nathan, giving some hope to Jackson / April... it was good, but not great. Let's see what they have in store for next week.

She's probably going to become Meredith's kids' nanny lol

I mean I guess when the list of traumas is this long, they might as well keep adding. Meredith Grey certainly has the most tragic life of any recent TV character: - Father walked out on her and started a new family - Mother attempted suicide in front of her & was emotionally unavailable - Boyfriend turned out to be married... then went back to his wife (they all worked at the same hospital) - Had her hand on a bomb inside a patient and watched the bomb squad guy explode in front of her - Mother became lucid after battling alzheimer's and told Meredith she wasn't good enough - Nearly died after a patient pushed her into the water onsite at a ferryboat accident - Her mother died while she was unconscious - Failed her intern exam after her father slapped her & blamed her for her step-mother's death - One of her best friends battled cancer; her other friend died after getting mowed down by a bus - A shooter entered the hospital and gunned down her friends and husband; she miscarried her baby - Martial issues nearly compromise her adoption of Zola - A plane that she, her husband, her sister, and several friends are on goes down; they're stranded in the woods for 4 days (!!!). Her sister and her husband's best friend both die as a result - She falls down stairs while pregnant; later gives birth to her second child in the middle of a power outage with major surgery needed - Her husband leaves her with two children to work in D.C; while there he kisses another woman - Shortly after returning home her husband is killed as the result of poor treatment by surgeons after a car accident - She gives birth to her third child after her husband's death Edited: I forgot the time she was in an ambulance crash with Alex in S7 lol

I hope it isn't. It's way too early in the season for that... It seems to me like 8 / 9 are obviously connected by a cliffhanger event. I don't think they'd have Denzel come in and do an alternate reality episode, especially not when there's already so much going on. But I could be wrong. You never know with Grey's.

Yup - her voice was muzzled for sure. Something in her mouth or maybe that mask on. But it doesn't appear that her face was badly burned? Though it was blurry, so who knows. There's definitely tears in her scrubs and it looked like maybe her arm was broken? Maybe Meredith finally has a mental breakdown? Something triggers her to really lose it, and she ends up getting hurt.

I really wonder why they went this route. I don't think they would unless they have a very specific story to tell... I mean, the season has been deliberately much lighter in tone. I don't think anyone involved would say "Okay, let's just have a disaster for disasters sake." Why Meredith? After everything? I'm actually sort of excited. I hope they pull this off well.

Well damn...

This. Remember how outwardly awful Izzie was to Callie when she started dating George? It was what initially made me start to really dislike Izzie. It got so intense in the early part of season 3.. but it ended. It's so strange how they've still neglected to integrate Jo into the Meredith / Alex dynamic. Why has she still not bonded with Meredith? First it seemed like Alex was going to hook up with Maggie at the end of last season, and now we have him basically ignoring Jo. She has gotten 0 character development, made no progress as a surgeon... I expected some major Alex / Jo stories when the season started, but again we've gotten basically nothing. And with so much going on in the next few episodes, (Penny, Henderson's new character, Owen's story, Callie / Meredith, etc.) I doubt we'll see more than a scene or two per episode of Jo and Alex.

Do we know if Owen's mom is back, or is it just the boyfriend? That seems sort of random. I wonder how he figures into the story.