Tuleh2

I agree, Windsprints: it could easily have been brushed off with a "he misspoke" statement. That happens all the time. And that's why I think this really was a creative dispute that became personal, versus a personal dispute that resulted in a change to the character's arc. That is, Shonda wanted Derek to die in S11, PD (and ABC?) disagreed (he did have a contract, and maybe PD tried to play ABC against her or something) and that's when their relationship soured, not before. It would explain the "what changed?" and the timing of everything.

That makes sense. He said he'd be "leaving soon," and everyone outside the show thought he meant he wanted to leave. Instead he was leaking, because he didn't want to leave: a Fuck You to Shonda. So she benched him. Gotta say, I love it... ETA: I think Shonda completely overreacted. And that was BEFORE she wrote such a horrible exit for him.

My problem with this is that it's easy speculation (it doesn't sound any more evidence-based than that) given Shonda's reputation and history: yes, the world knows she doesn't put up with problem actors. In the absence of anyone speaking out, (and given the barely-cordial statement Shonda made, the nasty episode she wrote) it's the conclusion you're going to come to. And I would have no problem with that, if it jibed with PD's history with show (and his reputation) and the fact that ABC renewed his contract just last year. And Shonda saying in October, "There are no Heigls here." I still think she wanted him out for creative reasons: she wanted Derek gone. She'd rather be portrayed as a "tough" boss than the "MerDer" killer, and that really couldn't be discussed publicly anyway - too "spoilery." Plus, the publicity resulting from the speculation boosts ratings.

I can see them providing a single cast "spokesperson" for the interview with EW, but when the IW incident happened, the cast weren't all on Twitter. Now most of them are. So their silence says something. In the absence of any information as to why, I think it makes them look classless. YMMV.

The joke is that she is Dr. Shepherd. Hearing her called that on GA has been irritating me since CS arrived. Now it will make me absolutely livid; so I won't be watching.

It sounds like PD got caught in the middle of what was basically a dispute between ABC and Shonda. It could explain why ABC's statement on PD leaving was so much more gracious towards him than Shonda's.

This makes sense... Shonda brought CS on board and I don't think that was just because she likes her. I think she was hoping PD wouldn't come back and CS could just replace him. Having two Dr. Shepherds (both brilliant neurosurgeons) always seemed silly to me. But if EP really is leaving at the end of S12 (and they could have just sent Derek to DC), then there's no excuse for killing him, IMO. Why does she seem so pissed at PD, when it was ABC's decision to grant him the contract?

PD has a race in Belgium next weekend. I chuckle at the thought of the entertainment reporters fighting with the sports reporters over who gets to interview him.

I agree this probably goes down really badly in Hollywood. Not a lot of sportscar racing fans, and so many unemployed/underemployed actors who would kill to have his job. (Probably among the GA cast as well... which, in itself would be enough to generate the "diva" rumors.) I always though it made him more interesting, because I find actors talking about acting the most boring thing in the world. But YMMV. Surely that reference to S13 must have been an error or typo? That seems odd. But she doesn't sound like someone who intends to stay with the show after 12 seasons. And she doesn't sound any more in love with doing the job than PD. "For the place I am in my life… I don't necessarily want to work for other people." I'm surprised no one tried to paint that as a veiled criticism of Shonda.

I think you've nailed it with the cherry pie reference. He went through North Bend, "Twin Peaks" territory. That explains everything. Hell, he'll probably be alive next week.

It could just be that that's what Shonda did, too. The writers have been recycling stuff pretty heavily all season.

He does have more direct contact with fans, and they matter to him. (Plus he has the Dempsey Challenge, which relies on people's goodwill toward him.) As I look at the venom being directed toward Shonda, I can't help thinking: "My God, if that was being directed at PD, he would kill himself."

We might not hear from anyone. As Greysaddict says, GA hasn't seen this level of interest in years. And even though people are pissed, I'll bet a lot of them still tune in for next week's episode. (I wouldn't be surprised if ratings weren't higher than last week, the live ones at least.) And then their anger (remember the stages of grief - Ha!) will subside, and many of them will keep tuning in.

Couldn't that be referring to the fact that Derek dies (i.e., the episode script), not necessarily the decision to write PD out?

Some of it might just be a reaction to the tremendous (OTT?) praise Shonda has been getting this year. People get put on a pedestal, then knocked down. I hope it dies down on Monday when everyone goes back to school/work; it's pretty unpleasant. And I REALLY hope that Thursday's episode doesn't repeat the same mistakes this one did, but leaves everyone feeling like Derek/Patrick was respected.

Relative to EP's interviews, I also think PD gets penalized for the amount of interviews he has to do. He is always interviewed at all of his racing events, and the journalists always ask about GA, but he's there to talk about racing, and he has to mention his sponsors (that's why they sponsor him), so he tries to get the GA questions over with quickly: standard responses, etc. It's easy to see how when it gets translated into print (and quoted in other articles) it comes across as less-than-enthusiastic. But also at those racing events PD sits there at a table for hours, while hundreds of fans come up to say hi and have him autograph their GA posters, DVDs, their butt or whatever. But that doesn't get any attention in the entertainment media. You shame me, Pennben. I'm in Seattle and it's a gorgeous day. How boring and lame am I?

The Year of Meredith and the TGIT promotion of EP, KW and VD and "their" shows certainly gave her an opportunity to shine. And she can't help but come off better than PD when she says she doesn't care if she ever plays another character besides Meredith Grey. For "fan service," no one can compete with that.

I must admit, this boggles my mind. She has two kids now, she's got real producing projects (not just an office), she's made tons of money... TV acting is a grind. Why would she want to keep working on the show? Maybe she'll be written light/recurring after S12?

I agree, Windpsrints, none of this makes any sense if EP has indicated that she will stay with the show past S12/hasn't said she will leave after S12. Could it just be that they knew PD wanted to leave but couldn't as long as the fans would be pissed off at him so they reached a mutal agreement to let him go without saying he wanted to? (It would explain the vagueness/lack of information provided by both sides.) Both sides would gain something: PD would get his freedom (which I think he's earned) without the fan backlash destroying his career, and ABC saves a lot of money which they can use to hire new talent to help re-energize the show for post-S12? (I could see Shonda resenting the fact that he doesn't want to stay on the show forever, though.) If that's the case it will eventually come out, but hopefully by that time the the fans will have gotten used to the idea or at least put away the pitchforks. No matter what, I think "killing Derek" versus sending him to DC or having him disappear into the kitchen is Classic Shonda, and not necessarily the result of some irreconcilable break between PD and ABC, or Shonda. I think she goofed and let the sensibility behind the cartoony violence on Scandal and HTGAWM bleed into GA (it's the same stuff we saw in the hospital shooting). It also seems to be a case of "the straw that broke the camel's back." I just don't think they anticipated this level of critical outrage. ETA: I'm not saying that he broke his contract or quit, but that it may have been under discussion since his contract negotiations last year.

Maybe what changed was that EP decided she wouldn't be coming back after S12? I may have made it sound like I think Shonda hated Merder, but that's not the case. I don't know what she had envisioned for Meredith when the show started, and I think Merder was clearly something of a juggernaut created by fans responding to the chemistry between EP and PD. But I do think Shonda loved them together. But if I'm right and EP is done at the end of S12, killing Derek might be as much about the exit Shonda wants for EP, her star. EP gets new, heroic material to play in her "victory lap" season (in addition to not "sharing" her exit with PD). And I'd agree with her that EP deserves an ending at least as good as, if not better, than SO's. EP's acting has been consistently good (and she's had some serious crap to sell, at times) and she's always been a true professional in front of the camera, as a representative for the show and — reading between the lines — probably a huge support to Shonda BTS. (And I'm saying that as someone who has found Meredith completely unbearable since S5.) ETA: And I'm sure ABC feels the same way about EP.

Shonda Rhimes? I'm sorry, but I can't think of a single reason why she would "carry the can" for PD. She's had disputes with actors before that ended up with their leaving the show; it was always made pretty clear why. Maybe all the "shoes" haven't dropped yet. But I think that if he were entitled to the blame, they would be publicly lobbing it at him. It sure sounds as though you are (trying to blame him). And I would expect Shonda and ABC to do the same, if they had cause. Ending Merder was always going to blow up in someone's face. PD might have wanted out for years but accepted that his career would never survive the backlash from fans. Same with EP. He's probably lost money by not being on the show for S12, but he's also dodged the bullet of being the one to pull the plug. He's free. And he WAS probably pissy on set at times. (He had a reputation for impatience that I remember them joking about in a BTS video. Which jibes with his "need for speed.") And his time off for racing might have engendered a good bit of resentment over the years. But ABC renewed his contract for 2 years last spring: they didn't have to do that. ABC could also have stipulated that he couldn't go racing (it's amazing to me they've always allowed him to). No one would have criticized them for that. Instead, they wanted him to come back. I just can't imagine that something SO SIGNIFICANT could occur at the beginning of S11 that would cause ABC/Shonda to want to get rid of him AND it not become public. Or not be made public now.

I think you're right, JayCeeJ. I'm a PD fan, (and I hated Derek's death - both the idea and its execution) but I actually admire Shonda for it. Doing this took guts. I expect they'll all survive. Shonda's been a little scuffed up... but she can afford that. She's had a hell of a year. GA fans will be pissed for awhile, and yes, some of them will leave. But a lot more won't, and they'll probably spend a bit more money on some new hires (maybe not just new interns) to try to reboot for post-S12. ETA: GA doesn't need to keep its existing ratings to survive for a long time. It has to do better than the reality show crap ABC had in this timeslot before (Shark Tank, anyone?) It can do that without breaking a sweat.

Based on what? How do you know that? Shonda is taking a beating for this. If PD asked to leave or broke his contract, why isn't Shonda/ABC saying that?

You're right, Deanie87. Shonda would have had to discuss this story arc with him early in the season (unlike others in the cast), and I think it would have been pretty much a done deal by October/November. It could also explain why they added the extra episodes around that time period: they knew they'd kill Derek/PD would be done by mid-April, but they didn't want that to be the end of the season. They would want extra episodes to try to get past Derek's death and establish some reason for viewers to tune in for S12.

Here's what I said (it's not really a spoiler anymore): "Creatively (believe me, I use that term loosely where Shonda's concerned), I've always thought Derek would die. I was surprised to hear that both EP and PD were signed to two more years. I could never see Shonda having Meredith share her exit with anyone (except maybe Cristina, with a brief return by SO.) And EP has to leave eventally. So I think that was an easy decision for her." For Shonda, this show is all about Meredith's journey. Being part of a nuclear family was only a stop on the road. When Meredith leaves, it will be as a single mother (Shonda's alter ego?) Think about Shonda's statement on PD leaving: "Patrick Dempsey’s performance shaped Derek in a way that I know we both hope became a meaningful example—happy, sad, romantic, painful and always true—of what young women should demand from modern love." Derek was just Meredith's "love object." Meredith is THE SUN (and EP is The Star). You're absolutely right, Eolivet. While I think it was always her vision, Shonda could never have attempted this but for 1) the power she now wields at ABC, and 2) PD's racing commitments. (And the timing assumes that Shonda knows S12 will be EP's last.) Even with that, I'm sure ABC took a lot of convincing. I think the Derek-less early episodes were a trial run to make sure the sky would not fall, ratings-wise. And I think PD would have fought against it (or his agents and their lawyers? - I don't know how actor's contracts/options work) up to a point. What's interesting is the PR strategy. It would explain why ABC/Shonda are so sparing with info about this: they're hoping that PD can absorb some of the blame (for ending Merder) while they don't/can't provide any specifics. Just like the vague "He was being a diva," everyone seems to have heard that "He wanted to leave." But PD has NEVER said that publicly (he's always towed the "I'm grateful to GA, it has changed my life, they allow me to go racing" line). PD did say he'd be "leaving soon" in that interview, and everyone interpreted that as he wanted to leave. But what if he was just giving away a spoiler? Only Shonda and some execs would have gotten that, but it would also explain why Shonda seems to be so pissed at him. It could also explain why PD committed to the 2015 WEC schedule back in November, which will involve a lot of time out of the country when GA starts filming S12: he knew he wouldn't be on the show. Anyway, that's my theory. (Sorry to ramble on, but I'm finding this BTS stuff so much more entertaining than the show...)