S16.E16: Leave a Light On

[Daisy]

12 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

I can't figure out what the title is supposed to refer to. Leaving a light on implies that someone will be returning. I doubt that Alex will ever come back to SGMH. His exchange with Izzie when she left didn't suggest that he was leaving any light on for her to return, and she didn't contact him to tell him that she was having his children either.

If it's true that they created the whole Pac Med affair so that JC didn't have to work with the GA regulars then it was serendipity because that was the best storyline the show has done in two seasons. It's too bad it's over.

This is the best explanation I've read. It still makes no sense that Alex ghosted his wife and then broke up with her by letter instead of asking Jo to come down to Kansas and talk thing over with her. It makes even less sense that a single parent of two pre-schoolers lives on a farm more than an hour's drive from the nearest hospital where she could work, meaning that she would spend 10+ hours a week commuting in addition to her surgeon's work to support her family, while still finding time to take care of the kids, farm, and decorate in cutesy fashion.

But hey, sunshine and horses and Alex in a cowboy hat riding a tractor with kids dancing around.

i think someone just found some cute stock footage and went "hey this works."
 

[Chas411]

I just can’t buy them being happy though. Even at their happiest i always felt both of them thought she could do better and that impacted how they treated the relationship. He had her on a pedestal and she was all about herself and never really took him seriously. I can’t imagine her ever really offering him any sort of genuine apology over how she treated him back then and how she had his kids without telling him. I could actually imagine her passive aggressively blaming him for moving on and remarrying. 
 

The only thing this episodes has solidified for me is that we need to stop watching ASAP. No matter how many years they put into a character at this stage in the game they are likely to be dropped at a moments notice and without any satisfactory ending that is true to the character. Character development means nothing because it can change and be reversed at the click of a finger. 

Edited March 9, 2020 by Chas411

[taanja]

On 3/8/2020 at 8:52 AM, lorbeer said:

If Pompeo really believe in what she wrote about this being the best send off for Alex, The Sun's ending might note be that decent. 😉

C'mon! It was basically written in the very first ep-- Mere will end up with Alzheimer's --she will end up in the same home as her mother -- unable to remember her own name. 

What an actor thinks and says about a show (in which they are the star) is different than the character they portray.

[StaceyNotStacie]

18 minutes ago, taanja said:

C'mon! It was basically written in the very first ep-- Mere will end up with Alzheimer's --she will end up in the same home as her mother -- unable to remember her own name. 

At this point, they’ve killed off so many characters and such that I fully expect the Grey’s series finale to be Meredith walking into the hospital being greeted by Derek and every other deceased character just like Rose in Titanic. 

[christie]

On 3/6/2020 at 10:17 PM, pally said:

The producers don't have to have permisson.  Anything already filmed belongs to them to use as they please in the show

I don't think this is true and as evidence I present Shannen Doherty and Charmed. After her exit from the show, Shannen Doherty didn't allow past footage or even her image to be used.

[Bort]

34 minutes ago, christie said:

I don't think this is true and as evidence I present Shannen Doherty and Charmed. After her exit from the show, Shannen Doherty didn't allow past footage or even her image to be used.

Different circumstances there. Shannen had the clout to have possibly demanded that up front when she first signed the contract. Or, since the show was firing her and was the one breaking the contract, the producers may have conceded that to her as part of the deal when they let her go. 

[Pallas]

 

3 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I can't figure out what the title is supposed to refer to.

I took it as Alex and Izzie leaving a light on for visitors from Seattle. I wonder, though, if "eave a light on" because a phrase used by the procuiers and writers to describe their goal: to make it possible for Chambers to return for an episode or the finale. And then somewhere along the way, that became the title.   

Izzie doesn't have to work in Kansas City; the farm is less than half an hour from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, which has a specialized Cancer Center. And the farm may only grow grass for haying two or three times in season; she may also lease out some or all of the field, or the barn for horse boarding. 

That said, about the farm footage...Maybe what they had in mind, and missed by a mile, was Days of Heaven. 

[lorbeer]

23 hours ago, taanja said:

C'mon! It was basically written in the very first ep-- Mere will end up with Alzheimer's --she will end up in the same home as her mother -- unable to remember her own name.

Yeah I think that's possible. Even more that it was brought up in the show lately.

Quote

What an actor thinks and says about a show (in which they are the star) is different than the character they portray.

Of course that's true. But doesn't Pompeo have a say in this now that she's so important and cashing this big 20 mln dollars paycheck? 😉 All I'm saying that she propably has a big influence on the show now. But of course I don't know it for sure. I realy hope for some tell all book about this show. I even think this might be the first and last celebrity book I'd buy. 😂

Edited March 10, 2020 by lorbeer

[sbfan81]

I LOVED this episode!
The only thing wrong with it is that Chambers and Heigl weren't actually in it. It would have worked better as a storyline onscreen than just a revelations through letters.

I know Izzie has a lot of haters now, but I remember the time when she was of the most popular characters on the show. What I never understood is that Izzie was hated for "leaving Alex" when she only left for a few WEEKS & then came back to make up. Alex rejected her, felt he deserved better (which may have been true at the time) and told her to leave FOR GOOD.

And then it was like that last part was totally ignored and Izzie was the one who turned her back on her marriage for good. That always really bothered me, especially when Meredith said things like "Izzie wasn't your true love" and 'Jo is not Izzie. She won't leave." Even Alex was sorry about sending Izzie away (which came out after he was shot).

So to me, both were at fault for the divorce and since Alex himself regretted his actions, it wasn't a stretch that he felt things were unfinished between them (which is true). It also felt unfinished between Meredith and Izzie since Meredith begged Izzie to stay & she didn't. I hope Meredith does visit the farm and patches things up with Izzie for good.

I don't hate Jo though. In fact, after this episode, I'm more interested in her than ever.

[lorbeer]

On 3/8/2020 at 8:25 PM, dvr devotee said:

This made me think, unless I've missed it, we haven't had any scenes in that huge glass catwalk in awhile. (This photo, from S13E6, shamelessly yoinked from Reddit and u/skeithxyz.)

The hospital looks sooo much different than earlier in the show. I liked it better before.

On 3/8/2020 at 11:35 PM, Jillybean said:

 Put the show out of its misery already. It's a shadow of its former self.

I don't think they will end it unless it stops making money and if "Bold and the Beautiful" thaught us anything....

[Anela]

5 hours ago, sbfan81 said:

I LOVED this episode!
The only thing wrong with it is that Chambers and Heigl weren't actually in it. It would have worked better as a storyline onscreen than just a revelations through letters.

I know Izzie has a lot of haters now, but I remember the time when she was of the most popular characters on the show. What I never understood is that Izzie was hated for "leaving Alex" when she only left for a few WEEKS & then came back to make up. Alex rejected her, felt he deserved better (which may have been true at the time) and told her to leave FOR GOOD.

And then it was like that last part was totally ignored and Izzie was the one who turned her back on her marriage for good. That always really bothered me, especially when Meredith said things like "Izzie wasn't your true love" and 'Jo is not Izzie. She won't leave." Even Alex was sorry about sending Izzie away (which came out after he was shot).

So to me, both were at fault for the divorce and since Alex himself regretted his actions, it wasn't a stretch that he felt things were unfinished between them (which is true). It also felt unfinished between Meredith and Izzie since Meredith begged Izzie to stay & she didn't. I hope Meredith does visit the farm and patches things up with Izzie for good.

I don't hate Jo though. In fact, after this episode, I'm more interested in her than ever.

I don't hate Izzie, and knew that the show was getting rid of her. Otherwise, Alex wouldn't have told her to leave. I could see his side of it, though: they got married, she died on him, was revived, and then he took care of her, as she pushed herself forward for her job, when she should have been resting (I also understood her side of things: her job was just as important as his). She also kept saying the job was all she had, even though he'd been there for her. He was like a puppy around her.

I also didn't think that she saw him as someone she settled for. 

[Chas411]

6 hours ago, Anela said:

don't hate Izzie, and knew that the show was getting rid of her.

Taking this to behind the scenes thread.

[Shellie]

On 3/5/2020 at 9:30 PM, Lady Calypso said:

Seeing as, as soon as Jo finished reading the letter that Link came by and they had flirty eyes for each other (stop SMILING AT JO'S PAIN, LINK), yeah, I'm 100% positive they're going that route.

They may very well go that route, but I personally didn't see them as having flirty eyes for each other.  Especially I didn't see Jo as suddenly having the desire to flirt right after reading that awful letter, and also not with a guy who is an old friend. I figured Linc was being supportive.

[Chas411]

Yeah I think they’re going for more of an Alex/Meredith vibe with Linc/Jo. 

[Shellie]

On 3/9/2020 at 12:01 PM, statsgirl said:

I can't figure out what the title is supposed to refer to. Leaving a light on implies that someone will be returning. I doubt that Alex will ever come back to SGMH. His exchange with Izzie when she left didn't suggest that he was leaving any light on for her to return, and she didn't contact him to tell him that she was having his children either.

 

I got to thinking that the title really does refer to Alex and Izzie.  Even though he sounded like he was done with her for good, that lovely fantasy life he created for her in his mind sounded quite affectionate. I could believe he never stopped loving her.  He was frustrated and felt she didn't value him enough, but may be he always kind of hoped she would return once more. She also left a light on for him in case he ever wanted to search her out, which he finally did. 

[CB-LXX]

22 hours ago, sbfan81 said:

I know Izzie has a lot of haters now, but I remember the time when she was of the most popular characters on the show. What I never understood is that Izzie was hated for "leaving Alex" when she only left for a few WEEKS & then came back to make up. Alex rejected her, felt he deserved better (which may have been true at the time) and told her to leave FOR GOOD.

I don't hate Izzie.* For the longest time I kept hoping Heigl would return and we'd have Izzie back. I just accepted the fact that it (much like with Sandra Oh) it was NEVER going to happen. And I wasn't even a major Jolex fan either, but I did get used to it and wasn't bothered by it anymore, and the fact that the two of them had similar backgrounds (abandonment, etc), and he married her twice, and all the other things already previously mentioned by others, it just did not make sense for him to run back to Izzie. To his kids, sure. Izzie? No.

*(though I thought she was quite the jerk for leaving him and dumping her medical bills on him.... like "hey, thanks for jizzing in a cup for me, btw, here you go, medical debt, enjoy!).

[RoxiP]

18 hours ago, Anela said:

I also didn't think that she saw him as someone she settled for. 

Izzie's background was not rich - wasn't she raised by a single mother, and for sure she posed in less than stellar magazines to pay for her way through college.  When Grey's first started nobody knew Alex's background, so I don't think they had a big gap in their backgrounds.

[chitowngirl]

In addition to the above, Izzy grew up in a trailer park and was a pregnant teen. She gave the baby up for adoption. She was a model, know as Bethany Whisper. I don’t remember if that was her “name” or if she represented a lingerie line.

[LeGrandElephant]

I came here to see if anyone compared Alex’s departure to Poochie dying on his way back to his home planet, and I can’t believe no one did! 

[readster]

On 3/11/2020 at 3:33 PM, RoxiP said:

Izzie's background was not rich - wasn't she raised by a single mother, and for sure she posed in less than stellar magazines to pay for her way through college.  When Grey's first started nobody knew Alex's background, so I don't think they had a big gap in their backgrounds.

Alex's background didn't start being exposed until episode 2 of season 2. Where Alex starts talking to a patient about abuse from an alcoholic father. He would go on talking about it from there until about season 5, when we finally met his brother and learned more about his mother's schizophrenia and constant talk about protecting his sister (who we NEVER met during the series). Even though the brother ended up having schizophrenia and then his father showing up and dying and FINALLY meeting his mother last season. 

[Avabelle]

Only watching season 16 now and finally caught up with Alex's departure episode.

Ugh.

I mean I get that the writers were cornered and didn't want to kill him off. But ugh. None of it rang true. I know people have had strong opinions against Jo and Alex but they were too solid a couple for six seasons for me to believe that not only would he up and leave her but also that he actively sought out Izzie before even knowing about the kids.

I was a massive Izzie/Alex fan when the show first aired but I hated it on rewatch - no, just no. Izzie was a massive pain in the ass and her treatment of Alex by the time she left was awful. She never had any regard for his feelings and there was always an overwhelming vibe that she felt she was too good for him. Worse was that he believed her too. I felt the entire relationship post Denny/Gizzie he was always trying to prove how worthy he was of her. I was glad when they finally ended in season six and he told her he deserved better. Even though Jo was written as the generic love interest in season 9, 10 and had basically no writing in season 11 and 12 I still enjoyed them more as a couple and felt they were more equal. Or at the very least she respected him and didn't think she was better. 

I could have bought his exit had he said he had to make it work for his kids and he could see it eventually working with Izzie as part of him still loved her. But no, it sounded like he'd checked out of the marriage by the time of Meredith's trial and had been happily playing house with Izzie for weeks while Jo was worried sick about him. Such a shitty and disappointing ending to a great character.

[readster]

2 hours ago, Avabelle said:

Even though Jo was written as the generic love interest in season 9, 10 and had basically no writing in season 11 and 12 I still enjoyed them more as a couple and felt they were more equal. Or at the very least she respected him and didn't think she was better. 

I could have bought his exit had he said he had to make it work for his kids and he could see it eventually working with Izzie as part of him still loved her. But no, it sounded like he'd checked out of the marriage by the time of Meredith's trial and had been happily playing house with Izzie for weeks while Jo was worried sick about him. Such a shitty and disappointing ending to a great character.

Right and they were constantly throwing in problems with Alex and Jo due to her "super evil, abusive doctor husband, no one would do anything about." That went on forever even before he was shown on screen and then perfectly killed off thanks to an act of God and a car accident. Which was even more eye rolling and it was Jo: "I'm free, die you asshole! Alex and I can now have a life." Then we got... this!

[Tabbygirl]

I loved, LOVED this episode. I am a huge Izzie fan who only tolerated Alex in context with Izzie, Meredith and OG Interns. I never liked Jo or the Jolex relationship. In a review of the episode I read in which the reviewer supported this ending, it was noted that viewers of the show had been waiting 10 years for “the Izzie shoe to drop” or for Alex to find out he had kids.

Yes, it was crappy how Alex went about leaving. I too believe he would have said goodbye to at least Jo and Meredith in person. And I wish we could have seen JC and KH onscreen one more time, but not knowing what was happening with Chambers it is what it is.

 Having not watched the show regularly since Izzie, then Lexie, and finally Derek left, I freaking LOVED all the flashbacks and I love they did not kill Izzie off and gave her and Alex their HEA. And I really hope both Chambers and Heigle return for the series end whenever that is.