funnygirl

Exactly. Accidents happen. And from what we've heard, his sister was aware of the risk she was taking. This really is just a stupid explanation as to why there is tension between Owen and Nathan. It's as simple as that.

I think the reveal and reason for Owen and Nathan's riff is so dumb. So so so dumb. Especially because Owen put six of his colleagues and friends, one being the love of his life, on a charter plane that crashed and killed two, and no one has held that against him like he has held this against Nathan. This is the best that Shonda and her writers could come up with? Really? And this is what they've needed to drag out for however many episodes? I am beside myself with how dull this all is. This, the emphasis on Penny who has served her purpose and is now a waste of space, and the lack of focus on characters and stories that have been setup but are left to pick up the scraps (Jolex, Bailey as Chief, Arizona, Callie, etc etc etc). It's fine that there are no behind the scenes shenanigans going on that are muddling up the season's flow, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the stories they are choosing to tell are all that compelling. Unpopular opinion: Season 12 is boring.

If it wasn't for the nostalgia with Katie Bryce and Meredith's patient of the week, this episode would've been a borderline dud for me. Maggie talking about sex for the millionth time, the cheap dialog for cheap laughs, and Penny Blake have all overstayed their welcome and need to exit stage left. Especially Penny. How much better would the back-and-forth scene had been if it was Jo or Stephanie running interference? Why the show is insistent on wasting the time they have for 16 characters on this dead-weight of a guest star makes no sense to me. April having yet to tell Jackson about the pregnancy is infuriating. So Arizona is only an amputee when the plot or dialog suits, then? At least Alex and Jo had a conversation in this episode, and both were shown processing. That's a start. And I don't even mind Owen and Amelia, it was a welcome change of pace to see them light and easy.

This right here! I think it's going to be to justify having Penny work with Amelia, since they are in behind the scenes pictures for episode 14 together. And that seems to stretch out to episode 18 because of the recent behind the scenes pictures floating around of Penny, Amelia, and Nathan. The thing is, Penny and Andrew aren't 5th years, they are 3rd and Intern, so they should be bouncing around the different specialties with no switcheroo shenanigans necessary. Leave Ben, Jo, and Stephanie out of it, and let them continue to shine in their chosen fields. See? This is what is wrong with this season. Everything and everyone is being shuffled around to service the story of the new kids, and it's ruining the mojo for the other characters.

Only speaking for myself here, it's not just you.

I can't believe that April did not apologize, not once, for leaving. That's the one thing I was hoping for in this hour. However, I'm sure they'll be back together by the end of the season, especially now that April is pregnant. My favorite moment tonight, and maybe even all season, was the dancing. Just having all those characters together in one room, the energy was just right. The only person missing was Bailey. Jesse Williams is a beautiful man. Penny and Nathan were not missed at all.

Yes, because God forbid Penny misses an episode, especially one where the entire focus is on two characters who Penny has hardly, if ever, interacted with.

Exactly! Shonda will push whatever agenda necessary to tell the story she wants to tell, no matter how bad it is. And since Penny is the new 'it girl' of the season/series, she will be thrust upon viewers until she's tolerated or loved, no matter what characters are taken down in the process. ETA: I really enjoyed Cross working with Alex. More of him, less of Penny.

"So done with carpool." Me too, Meredith. Me too. Did Callie and Penny's zero chemistry actually get into the negative? What even is that mismatched relationship? I didn't like that there wasn't a voice over. That's one of the few things left in the series that's sacred.

Between viewer annoyance toward Amelia and most people not liking Penny, episode 18 looks like it's going to be a big winner! /sarcasm

They are filming episode 18 this week.

Because Penny Blake and Nathan Riggs are such an exciting draw to the show. Said no one ever.

That would be horrible, and I would feel bad for Arizona because just like with Callie, Penny has chemistry with no one. And I thought Arizona's behavior in episode 5 was because she was drunk, and not because she actually was digging Penny. But I guess you never know with these writers nowadays.

If that's the case then they need to create a more interesting character and get a better actress because this girl is just not cutting it, or they can have Andrew DeLuca go into General and work under Meredith. It's enough that Derek's memory lives on through his kids and Meredith wearing his scrub cap. Penny is just a bad character who will always be a bad memory of that horrible loss.

I think Richard said on Penny's first day that she is a 3rd year resident. A crappy 3rd year resident, but I digress. So, no, she's not on Jo, Ben, and Stephanie's level. She's not even on 1st-year DeLuca's level. She's the mess in the middle. I vote for Penny leaving by any means necessary. Parking lot, death... there are plenty of options!

Penny probably is on that case, simply to sully something from the great days of Grey's Anatomy just so she can be part of a patient's case that was once connected to Derek and Meredith. Maybe scrubbing in on the surgery with Amelia will indicate more progress in the mending of Meredith and Amelia's relationship. Because I don't see Meredith sitting out on this patient, who's going to tell Penny stories about how Derek taught her her first day? (rolling my eyes already) Same.

I wish all of Penny's scenes were Jo's, because I feel like it would have been more meaningful for Jo to have been on Meredith's case and be there for her, seeing as they never really warmed up to each other, to go along with Meredith witnessing Jo covering Alex with the blanket. It would have tied nicely to Meredith's conversation with Alex at the end. But, nope, just like the episode where Derek died, Penny gets the bulk of the face time during a major character's big episode, when that time would have been better spent on incorporating others.

Call me optimistic or delusional, but I got the feeling that Ellen not saying anything about Meredith/Alex is because she doesn't want to spoil what will happen with Alex/Jo. I also think it's all but inevitable that Meredith is going to end up in a relationship with Nathan, because I still find it odd that they added Martin Henderson to the cast right after season 11 and without having even tested the character on the show like they do with every other character they've ever added. Maybe it won't happen this season, but eventually. In the meantime I think the guy from Young and the Restless, Scott Elrod, who was only supposed to be in one episode but has since filmed four, will be someone Meredith dates. I don't even know what to say to Ellen's comments about Penny. She, and quite possibly ABC and Shonda, are clearly not paying attention to fan reaction because she couldn't be more wrong. Or maybe they just don't care.

Guess what! Meredith is going to survive and live on through the next 2 1/2 seasons (at least)!

This! I feel like once this episode is over, the rest of the season will really start. The hype and the spin and the saying the same thing five different ways has become exhausting.

This. After episode 9, there are still 15 episodes left of the season. They could have at least extended Meredith's recovery and care for a few episodes and at the same time deal with those cliffhangers in a timely manner. Instead, let's say 3 months is going to go by in this one episode, then we get a regular ol' day at Grey Sloan in episode 10, then 11 is centered around April and Jackson and flashes back and fills the holes in their relationship to where we are now, and after all of this time passes we still won't get info on Owen and Nathan's beef until episode 14. To progress some characters' stories but not the others really makes no sense and is actually quite lazy and sloppy storytelling.

Penny is the bleeping worst! Happy Friday, everyone!

WTF do they need a military oncologist for, for more than one episode? Before we know it, this is going to be a cast of 20. And they can't even manage to tell stories with the characters they've had on contract for years now.

What's most annoying about this arrangement is that wasn't the reason for Maggie and Amelia living with Meredith, and the big push for their "sisterhood", so that they could help Meredith out with the whole work-life balance and be there for each other? That didn't last very long before they put an unnecessary rift between her and Amelia on account of an uninteresting character in Penny, while occupying Maggie's time with her new relationship with Andrew, just for the caretaker/support system role to conveniently fall back on Alex.

I'm pretty sure this is for episode 9 not 10... since, according to the press release for 10, the hospital will be dealing with the aftermath of Meredith's attack. The overdone use of carpooling is to this season what the overdone use of flashbacks was to last season. What will next season's gimmick be? I actually don't mind that they tell us Jo's answer/the state of Jolex early in the episode, since we know that once Meredith get's attacked it's going to be all-Meredith all the time and any information at this point is better than no information. And I'm glad Jo said "no", because what does Alex do? Run back to Meredith's house, which isn't that Jo's point? Prior to the proposal Jo said she was going to stay at Stephanie's, and even if Alex is being chivalrous in leaving their home instead, him going to Meredith's is not going to help his case with Jo. I know I know, where else would Alex go? I'm just trying to look at things from Jo's POV.