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The problem with that is that none of the male regulars are really friends. They rarely share scenes. I mean, what would Owen, Alex, Ben, Jackson, and Richard talk about? I wish they had kept some focus on an Alex / Jackson friendship, but that was left totally unexplored. I don't really think of any of the guys as more than colleagues, and I don't think the writers really ever focus enough on their interactions.

THIS! I've watched Grey's since it premiered, and I always remember fans despising Meredith back then - many saying they watched the show in spite of her. So yes, of course they had a ton of fans, and they were the 'central' couple of the show, but it has always been Meredith's show with an ensemble cast. In season 1, my favourite characters were Bailey, Cristina, Burke and George. In season 2 I loved Addison, Alex, George, Izzie, etc. etc. Derek / Meredith has never meant much to me, mainly because I never found Derek's character to be particularly interesting. He was fine, and I never hated him (I certainly found him annoying in a few instances) but he was never a draw for me. I think as a couple they've been boring for a while, and I feel like the writers weren't always quite sure of what to do with Meredith and how to give her existing stories outside of the marriage, so they created phoney drama. I'm excited about the possibilities now for Meredith, and to not see her tied down to stories with Derek. I'm incredibly unenthusiastic about her living with Amelia, but otherwise I'm more excited than I have been in a long time to see Meredith's journey this season.

A review of the second season: http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/09/youre-worst-season-2-review.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

First photo of a new set, a "high tech new cadaver lab that will be home to a new anatomy class at Grey Sloan this season." http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/08/greys-anatomy-season-12-cadaver-lab-set-spoilers

I hope the fact that they're not giving us much new info means some stuff is being kept under wraps. Everything we know was pretty obvious from the finale (Mer / Maggie / Amelia living together, more Alex / Jo stories, Bailey fighting for chief, Callie and Arizona dating, etc.)

Amelia literally spends season 11 yelling at and condescending nearly every other character. Derek, Meredith, Callie, Herman, Steph, Owen.. the list goes on and on. Do the writers think that's endearing? She's absolutely unbearable, delivering pompous speech after pompous speech in her quivering voice. It's a shame because aside from the middle section, S11 had a lot of potential and some really enjoyable stuff. She totally ruined the season for me.

I totally forgot about the storyline with Owen's mother and her younger boyfriend. Did the writers forget they had done this storyline with Thatcher just a few years before? Owen goes completely insane, it's awful. "I'll be changing her passwords, her locks, her phone numbers!" Lol okay Owen..

I think the Dempsey thing is sort of being taken out of hand. Just days ago EW posted quotes from Shonda praising Dempsey's work in his final episode. She acknowledged his impact and importance to the show. I agree with her and Ellen, though - he was NEVER a major focal point on the show, certainly not more so than Izzie, George, Cristina, etc. and especially in the past several years. Rewatching season 9 and on lately has driven that point home even more. I don't think Shonda had any choice but to kill him off given his desire to be elsewhere, and I don't think Ellen is wrong to be a bit jaded with the twitter backlash. It's true that his show has always been Meredith's story, at the heart of it. Actors come and go; I respect her point that when a man goes, it doesn't automatically mean a woman's life is over. It's a rare story for a show to be able to tell, especially since Derek and Meredith were together for so long. Ellen has stuck it out, and I respect that she's still excited to tell new stories and keep the show moving forward.

My guess is maybe April, since she returns after 3 months in the field, and maybe Jackson doesn't want her back at the apartment.

Hah, yea I've seen them all before, just rewatching on Netflix now. I'm halfway through... cringing. The docs singing Staying Alive? Blegh. The middle section of S11 is a total mess, awfully written, boring, and ridiculous.

Small scoop on each character here, from EW: http://lavenderandindigo.tumblr.com/post/128315434981/ellen-pompeo-greys-anatomy-in-entertainment

From EW: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/04/ellen-pompeo-greys-anatomy-mcdreamy-shondaland

I totally agree. I can say without a doubt that the middle of S11 is easily the worst bunch of Grey's episodes ever. Poorly written, awful dialogue, and just downright boring. Honestly, it feels like a parody in parts. There's absolutely no joy in watching the episodes. Amelia literally screams at everyone, all the time. Her talk of being "legendary" is not endearing. It really feels like the episodes were written by people who have never watched the show, or only had a passing glance at it. These episodes were the confirmation I needed that Grey's will be unwatchable if Ellen leaves. And I'm DREADING watching the next episode... the "Owen helps a kid over the phone" one. Ugh.

Amelia and Stephanie exchanging pompous, screamy speeches is SO RANDOM AND INSANE. Lol this episode is driving me insane.

I'm on 11x13 in my rewatch. Some of the worst dialogue ever. Amelia: "I don't wanna get my own coffee. I mean, I do. I can. I will. I can get my own coffee all day long, I just.. Owen. Thank you for bringing me the coffee. I really like it." And her speech to the doctors, oh my god... it goes on and on, with literally no real information. She uses 1000 metaphors, several repeated over and over, to basically say that the tumour is tough. It's unbearable. The doctors in the room are gasping and captivated by literally nothing. I remembering being actually excited for a Herman-centric episode, and instead we just got Amelia going on and on with the worlds most boring and useless speech.

I never thought of that, and as much as I sort of like the idea of Meredith becoming chief, I think I'd rather see her focus on surgery. Also, that'd be sort of crushing for Bailey. One thing that's been off about her character for me of lately is that they haven't shown her to be the best doctor. When we first met her as the Nazi, she was a kick ass surgeon with a tough attitude. Not only do we now not often see that kick ass attitude, but we never really see her thrive in surgery either. I think she deserves some accolades and a decent, meaty story... it feels like all of her old students have surpassed her. I want to see Bailey kick some butt again.

Tidbit about Meredith from EW: My thought is maybe Bailey gets Chief and Meredith becomes head of general surgery? What other promotion could it be?

I recall a lot of speculation that they'd try to work her into the season somehow. My only issue is my most common issue with this show - why give her an arc when we now have 15 other regular characters to focus on? I suppose we'll see. I can see Shonda wanting to use the 250th ep as something big for Meredith, so maybe she really does just pop in for one episode. Having Callie or Arizona date her would be super weird..

The EW cover (featuring a nearly-naked Ellen Pompeo!) here: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/03/this-weeks-cover-shondaland-shonda-rhimes-ew

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/02/shondaland-photo-ew

Some bed-hopping in the future; EW has a (very brief) piece with Jason George http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/28/greys-anatomy-season-12-jason-george-patrick-dempsey

I think it works with cases like Cristina, where we got to see several sides of her, and she took no bullshit and was never apologetic about her career being first. We also saw how great she was. With Amelia and Mama Avery, they're just so obnoxious and we were never given real reason to care for them. I know people go on about how "if you saw Amelia on PP you'd love her!", but I didn't watch PP, and I absolutely shouldn't have to in order to make me understand a character. Amelia came on Greys as an obnoxious, preachy, annoying character. At least with Mama Avery, Debbie Allen can act. Scorsone is a total dud, her monologues are so over-wrought that I feel like I'm watching a lifetime movie, and she uses some strange tone to deliver her "funny" dialogue, it sounds like she's a 1940s b-movie detective.

You remind me of something I often forget which is how much I enjoyed Jo while she worked with Callie. I was really disappointed that they dropped that. I find Jo to just be underwhelming... her character is written all over the place and we don't know enough about her. But I found her working in ortho to really make sense, and I liked her dynamic with Callie. I'd be happy to see more of that.

I really love S1, S2, S5, and parts of 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8. I think the larger the cast got, the messier the storytelling got and the less I loved the show. I always loved the chemistry of the original 5 interns... each and every one of them had unique and dynamic relationships with each other, whether it was George / Meredith, Izzie / Alex, Alex / George, Cristina / Meredith, Cristina / Izzie, etc. I also really enjoy Bailey's relationships with the original interns. Burke and Cristina were always interesting to watch, and so was Cristina / Owen in S5 (then it got unbearable). I always thought Callie and Alex would make an interesting couple.

AMEN. I've been saying it for years.. whether you like Meredith or not, I don't understand how anyone can believe that the show doesn't work best when she is at the centre. It now feels like a series that revolves around a bunch of random doctors in a disaster-prone hospital, whereas it used to be a very distinct story about this woman and her group of people. I can't fathom why Shonda thinks it's necessary to keep characters like Stef around, who has been on for 3 years now and we know nothing about her. She isn't tied to anyone, she has never been a fan-favourite or contributed anything to the story. Why is she here? If anything, when Dempsey left they should have cleaned house. Bye-bye Jo, bye-bye Stef, Bye-bye Owen and Amelia. Set up Alex with Maggie, and give him a real, grownup storyline... let Meredith start healing on her own, give Bailey a decent story (chief of surgery!), and get back to the basics of the show. Richard could be relegated to recurring, because he honestly doesn't serve much purpose. Have Callie and Arizona dating other people, give Jackson a real storyline and potentially a new love interest. There's so much going on that I just don't care about, and the stories I am interested in are given such small attention that I find it harder and harder to care about the series as a whole.