S11.E04: Only Mama Knows

[iMonrey]

Its too hard to suspend disbelief that Maggie would just take a job there like a stalker instead of, like, writing them a letter introducing herself or something. They could have set this up better - she finds out her mothers name after already accepting the job, or something.

 

That's my issue too. Maggie is pissed off at Richard because he didn't tell her, like, immediately, that he was her father. But - Maggie did the same thing to Meredith! And neither Richard nor Meredith had any idea this woman even existed. Maggie's state of delusion is rather astonishing considering what a genius she's supposed to be. She knew she was Ellis's daughter, she knew neither Meredith nor Richard knew who she was, and yet she accepted a supervisory position at this hospital planning to spring herself on them. She's like a villain in a soap opera. She's Adam Carrington! You don't just show up and go "Hey there, I'm your sister/daughter, accept me!!!" and then get all pissy about it when the sister and father are all "Wait, WTF?"

 

I'm a little tired of the "no I have to talk to you about something but you assume it's something else and walk away before I can explain" trope.  Seems to get used a lot in Shonda-land.

 

Replace "a little tired" with "sick to death" and I'm right there with you.

[Stardancer Supreme]

I just love that Maggie announced her quitting in an email... then went to work! Having doctors chase her around the hospital all day was a bit grating, but that is what usually happens in the hospital.  

 

I didn't want Bailey to get the board seat, but being a master administrator I expect her to whip the hospital into some semblence of shape!

 

As for Mer suddenly remembering the baby, I took it as pieces of the puzzle that never made sense to her 5-year-old self suddenly falling into place.  You're a small child snatched away from her father and was basically bobbing in the wake of her mother's turbulent life.  She vividly remembered the suicide attempt, which was frightening.  The rest of that period was basically in bits and pieces.  Now when she is older and able to place into proper context to what happened then, now it was clear what was going on.  Hindsight always being 20/20 and all!

 

So the next time we see Maggie, hopefully Mer would have told her not to judge Richard too harshly.  Ellis told Thatcher to get gone, Richard didn't say anything to Adele.  I'm sure Ellis was devastated when Richard left her, but I didn't think that she would have given up so easily.  She found out she was pregnant and she didn't immediately try to use the baby to get him back?

[Chicken Wing]

She found out she was pregnant and she didn't immediately try to use the baby to get him back?

 

I would say that maybe Ellis was too proud to "trap" him with a baby, but then, she did slash her wrists in a "suicide" attempt for the purpose, Meredith realized later, of making a big scene that would bring Richard running back to her. So who knows what went through the mind of hers.

[DrLar]

Now that phrase that Ellis said to Mer made sense, we all though back then it was the Alz, but she was referring to Maggie "you remind m e so much of my daughter".

 

So can we call it quits on the Maggie/Mer drama? a new story please..

[AriAu]

Yes, everyone in my house yelled, "why is the 5 year old standing there by herself", but overall, I enjoyed the episode since I like getting the backstory. What I did not like/expect was Richard's revelation that his decision not to follow Ellis was not based on feelings for Adele, but instead on his own ego not being able to handle Ellis' success.

 

One thing I had never quite thought about-if Ellis and Meredith lived in Boston for 20+ years and Meredith  moved Ellis to the Alzheimer facility in Seattle, why did Ellis own that big house in Seattle?

 

And yes, I did appreciate her going "where were we" as a harbringer of the onset of the Alzheimers

[CleoCaesar]

Now that phrase that Ellis said to Mer made sense, we all though back then it was the Alz, but she was referring to Maggie "you remind m e so much of my daughter".

 

Nah, I still think that phrase was about Meredith, and that the writers pulled this love child story out of their asses this season and it's full of holes...

 

She found out she was pregnant and she didn't immediately try to use the baby to get him back?

 

...this being the main one.

[Stardancer Supreme]

From my understanding, Ellis was based in Seattle. She only ran to Boston to hide while she was pregnant.  Some time after Maggie's birth, they came back to Seattle. 

Edited October 17, 2014 by Stardancer Supreme

[choclatechip45]

I thought Ellis didn't find out she was pregnant until she went to the hospital for the suicide attempt? So how would she have been able to tell Richard before the suicide attempt?

[funnygirl]

 

I just love that Maggie announced her quitting in an email... then went to work!  Having doctors chase her around the hospital all day was a bit grating, but that is what usually happens in the hospital.

It's been 4 episodes and I'm at the point where I find Maggie extremely needy.

 

Don't get me wrong, all of those docs have their moments for sure, but she's brand spankin' new and she's barged in there, consequences be damned, expecting to be treated like the second coming. 

 

However, the end with Meredith and Maggie was nice. Mostly because I hope they're wrapping up that "feud" so Meredith's story can expand to other stuff. Let Richard deal with his daughter. 

[iMonrey]

Did it sound to anyone else like Ellen Pompeo was dubbing in the voice of younger Ellis in the flashbacks?

[AriAu]

From my understanding, Ellis was based in Seattle. She only ran to Boston to hide while she was pregnant.  Some time after Maggie's birth, they came back to Seattle.

 

So, will there be more back story on how Ellis and Richard co-existed in Seattle? I assumed she stayed away from Seattle, especially the way Richard greeted Meredith in the first episode. Also, I seem to recall Meredith saying that she moved her mother into that facility, so I assumed they had not returned to Seattle.

 

Nah, I still think that phrase was about Meredith, and that the writers pulled this love child story out of their asses this season and it's full of holes...

 

Yup, that's my read too

Edited October 17, 2014 by AriAu

[Tuleh2]

 

From my understanding, Ellis was based in Seattle. She only ran to Boston to hide while she was pregnant.  Some time after Maggie's birth, they came back to Seattle.

No, I don't think so. When Meredith showed up at SG as an intern, Richard indicated that he hadn't seen her mother for years: "Is your mother going back to the UN?... Writing another book, I suppose" is what he said. It seemed like he was only following her career from afar.

 

I had the impression they never saw each other again after "Carousel Day," until Ellis was brought into the hospital with Alzheimer's (in S2).

 

 

One thing I had never quite thought about-if Ellis and Meredith lived in Boston for 20+ years and Meredith  moved Ellis to the Alzheimer facility in Seattle, why did Ellis own that big house in Seattle?

 

She could have kept the house and rented it out. I think all Ellis's stuff was in boxes (in S1) because Mer was moving back from Boston and putting Ellis in the facility?

Edited October 17, 2014 by Tuleh2

[AriAu]

I had the impression they never saw each other again after "Carousel Day," until Ellis was brought into the hospital with Alzheimer's (in S2).

 

Wasn't there a scene in Season 1 where Meredith showed up at the facility and Richard was there talking to her or was that only after the hospital scenes?

[PrincessTT]

From my understanding, Ellis was based in Seattle. She only ran to Boston to hide while she was pregnant.  Some time after Maggie's birth, they came back to Seattle. 

 

I thought form various comments over the past 10 seasons that they hadn't come back to Seattle until Meredith started at SGH and moved Ellis into the facility she was in.

 

I thought Ellis didn't find out she was pregnant until she went to the hospital for the suicide attempt? So how would she have been able to tell Richard before the suicide attempt?

 

Considering that the suicide attempt was actually an attempt to get Richard to come running back to her, it's a bit unbelievable that Ellis would have just run off to Boston after finding out about the pregnancy rather than trying to use it to get Richard back.

[Tuleh2]

All the retconning is making my head hurt.

 

 

What I did not like/expect was Richard's revelation that his decision not to follow Ellis was not based on feelings for Adele, but instead on his own ego not being able to handle Ellis' success.

This - and his saying to Meredith "I made the wrong decision" - doesn't jibe with all the "I have to get my wife back" shenanigans from S3 when Adele kicked him out, and the crocodile tears we saw when Adele died.

 

When I heard it, I wondered whether Richard now saying he was jealous of Ellis was an anvil for Meredith to acknowledge that she was afraid she'd never be as good as Derek? (Probably not, since She's The Sun...)

[Featherhat]

Yeah I always got the impression that Ellis and Meredith were generally East Coast based until the Alzheimer's issue (or Mayo for Ellis) regardless of why they first went there. There are plenty of places that apparently loved to have Ellis Grey working with them why would she return to the "best teaching hospital west of Harvard"? (from her POV). Partly IIRC this was supposed to be an in story reason for EPs strong accent slipping through (not that it did too much).

 

The Molly Issue. I know its been 7 years since she was on the show. I know she's living the life of a military wife and Meredith only saw her for a short time but I really hate that the show has forgotten her. I hated it after Lexie's death that she never showed up. I mean Maggie is definitely a reused plotline if those S5 sides were anything to go by (and since the diaries were such a massive thing that went nowhere I think it definitely was meant to lead to a sibling.) If she got reused why can't they even acknowledge Molly?  

 

Richard was already ruined when he refused to take any responsibility what so ever for his *drinking and cutting* and blamed the guy who was doing his utmost to be loyal. He's been all over the map re Ellis and Adele, the writers treat his emotions plotline by plotline so I guess he's stuck in a permanent adolescence regarding these two.  

Edited October 17, 2014 by Featherhat

[ElectricBoogaloo]

As for Mer suddenly remembering the baby, I took it as pieces of the puzzle that never made sense to her 5-year-old self suddenly falling into place. You're a small child snatched away from her father and was basically bobbing in the wake of her mother's turbulent life. She vividly remembered the suicide attempt, which was frightening. The rest of that period was basically in bits and pieces. Now when she is older and able to place into proper context to what happened then, now it was clear what was going on. Hindsight always being 20/20 and all!

Meredith's voiceover at the beginning of the episode was about how you remember things but that you don't always remember them correctly. She had bits and pieces about Ellis at the carousel and her suicide attempt and Ellis yelling while being treated at the hospital, but she didn't realize she had melded together Ellis's suicide attempt hospital trip in Seattle with Ellis being in the hospital for Maggie's birth in Boston.

She also didn't seem to put together that Richard's fight with Ellis at the carousel was followed almost immediately by Ellis attempting suicide until she re-read that journal and talked to Richard about it.

Once she put those all together and realized the sequence of events, it jogged her memory. Something similar just happened to me earlier this week - nothing as traumatic or dramatic though. I mentioned a trip my family took almost twenty years ago and my sister said she didn't remember it at all. My main memory was that we went but as I tried to remind my sister about it, I started remembering more specific things about the trip (places we went, things we ate, where we stayed, a book I brought with me, people we visited, a mug I bought at a museum as a souvenir, etc.). We were much older than five and even after all the details I gave my sister, she STILL doesn't remember this trip at all. Meanwhile I have remembered a bunch of stuff that I had forgotten about this trip!

[photo fox]

All the retconning is making my head hurt.

Seriously. I've never seen the Ellis years, and even I know most of this is bullshit.

Speaking of, ITA with the poster upthread who said if they wanted to do this, they should have done it sooner. I'm sure I'm not the only late-comer to this series who is wondering why I'm supposed to care about any of this. I realize it informs Mer as a character, but I'd rather see her have a current story. All of this is kind of losing anyone who's a newer viewer.

[LakeLover]

All the retconning is making my head hurt.

 

This - and his saying to Meredith "I made the wrong decision" - doesn't jibe with all the "I have to get my wife back" shenanigans from S3 when Adele kicked him out, and the crocodile tears we saw when Adele died.

 

When I heard it, I wondered whether Richard now saying he was jealous of Ellis was an anvil for Meredith to acknowledge that she was afraid she'd never be as good as Derek? (Probably not, since She's The Sun...)

 

 

I think you're right about the "anvil," because he characterized it as, "...hateful, hopeless jealousy." Sounds about right.

[oceanblue]

If the ambulance didn't take Ellis to SG then it's possible that no one knew how to contact Thatcher.  I could see Ellis refusing to give his number and Meredith not knowing it.  As weak as he was, I can't see him getting a call and not showing up.  He'd been Meredith's primary caretaker.  It's never been explained why Ellis wanted to keep her.  She seemed to hate being a mom, and now we see Richard implying it was because she had a child that he rejected her.

[anna0852]

 It's never been explained why Ellis wanted to keep her.  She seemed to hate being a mom, and now we see Richard implying it was because she had a child that he rejected her.

I think there was a part of Ellis that felt she couldn't risk being known as the woman that abandoned her child in order to press forward with her career. She was already facing heavy pressure as 'a woman in a man's world'. If she walked away from Meredith, she could have felt it was an admission that she couldn't handle everything.

 

Also, I know Sarah Paulson is busy but I liked her so much more as Ellis than Sally Pressman.

[choclatechip45]

I thought Bailey meddling with Pierce was in character. She likes to meddle she meddled with Arizona after the amputation.

Edited October 18, 2014 by choclatechip45

[Laurie4H]

How is it that Meredith and both her half sisters all became Dr's? Isn't that a little far fetched? I liked the episode. I didn't watch it religiously in the early seasons but remembered some of it.

[LakeLover]

How is it that Meredith and both her half sisters all became Dr's? Isn't that a little far fetched? I liked the episode. I didn't watch it religiously in the early seasons but remembered some of it.

 

Only two of her three half sisters became doctors, unlike Derek's family, where all FIVE of them are doctors ;)

[KaveDweller]

So I'm not sure it's relevant, especially as Meredith has no relationship with her.  Derek did reference the whole thing when saying Meredith was bad with sisters, sort of.

 

I just think it would be natural to say, "I have another sister," or something like that at some point.

 

By then, "Ellis Grey" was already a brand, so to speak, so maybe going back to Ellis Maidenname wasn't really practical for her.

 

Also, this was 30+ years ago, and I think it was much more common to keep your married name then.  If Ellis was around today, she probably never would have taken the name Grey in the first place.

[LeGrandElephant]

I suspect they decided to make Grey her married name when they decided to bring on Lexie. Had they ever referred to thatcher as thatcher grey before leading up to that?

[WalrusGirl]

I suspect they decided to make Grey her married name when they decided to bring on Lexie. Had they ever referred to thatcher as thatcher grey before leading up to that?

Yeah, he was Thatcher Gray by season two at the latest - his younger not-Lexie daughter came in with an OB complication that Addison worked on, and Thatcher and his second wife were there with her. It was after Meredith had her disastrous meeting with him at his house out of the blue/disastrously slept with George when he finally professed his undying love while she was sad about her dad and drunk. Thatcher was Thatcher Gray, asked George about Meredith while she hid in a doorway just out of sight, and confronted Richard a bit in front of the OR board. *just rewatched the early seasons over the summer on Netflix*

I don't think Lexie was introduced until the last episode of season four?

Sometime in the last few seasons, I think with the newest crop of interns/now-residents, they were mooning over Ellis and Richard still had a picture of them together in his wallet celebrating one of her Harper Avery wins. I totally buy that the love child was planned early on (the diaries that are now relevant again and the casting call that season for a mixed-race actor for a new resident) but having to write out George then Izzie sidelined things. But not sure how that fits in with what we learned last night - maybe it was her second Harper Avery win? Or the pre-nomination to winning process is long enough for her to have completed the pregnancy?

[PrincessTT]

And I would love to see Meredith stop taking Derek for granted/remove the stick from her ass. What happened to Meredith's "I was abandoned by my father" issues? Now she wants Derek to leave their kids? What crap.

 

This is why, when Meredith keeps telling Derek that she didn't ask him to stay and that he should just go to DC, I wish he would say ok and pack up the kids and take them to DC with him. 

 

She keeps doing this "I'm the sun" thing with seemingly no consideration for how the decisions are affecting her children. 

 

If the ambulance didn't take Ellis to SG then it's possible that no one knew how to contact Thatcher.  I could see Ellis refusing to give his number and Meredith not knowing it.  As weak as he was, I can't see him getting a call and not showing up.  He'd been Meredith's primary caretaker.  It's never been explained why Ellis wanted to keep her.  She seemed to hate being a mom, and now we see Richard implying it was because she had a child that he rejected her.

 

It was definitely SG that she she was taken to, that's how come Mer and Alex were able to look up the admission information on the hospital computer system last week. The BIB is precisely my issue with it, I can see their relationship falling apart once she was in Boston and he had his new family but I can't see him not showing up to take care of his daughter while Ellis was in hospital just a couple of days after she left him.

 

I know it was such a minor point but that sort of foolishness is really distracting to me.

 

I suspect they decided to make Grey her married name when they decided to bring on Lexie. Had they ever referred to thatcher as thatcher grey before leading up to that?

 

When Addison was treating Molly, and Thatcher first came to the hospital, she was a Grey.

Sometime in the last few seasons, I think with the newest crop of interns/now-residents, they were mooning over Ellis and Richard still had a picture of them together in his wallet celebrating one of her Harper Avery wins. I totally buy that the love child was planned early on (the diaries that are now relevant again and the casting call that season for a mixed-race actor for a new resident) but having to write out George then Izzie sidelined things. But not sure how that fits in with what we learned last night - maybe it was her second Harper Avery win? Or the pre-nomination to winning process is long enough for her to have completed the pregnancy?

 

Yeah, and didn't Richard say that he had to watch from the side / backstage as he couldn't sit with her because of Thatcher? 

 

The way it was worded when she found out about her nomination in the flashbacks made it sound like that was he first Harper Avery nomination, so I don't quite get how the timeline fits with the pregnancy / moving to Boston / Richard being at her Harper Avery win.

[CED9]

That's how I feel about the secret love child storyline in general, too. Shondaland said this is something they wanted to do from early on, and I believe them, but it would have been better if they had done it back in the day. At this point, ten seasons later, after so much has happened and so many characters have come and gone and we've had so many "twists" to the Grey's universe already, bringing this up NOW, long after we've stopped even caring about the Ellis/Webber thing anyway, is just like, "Is this really necessary?"

I wonder if their initial intent was for Debbie Allen to be more involved (I assumed that's why they killed off Adele, anyways) but, because she's Debbie Allen and quite busy and then coupled with Sarah Drew's real life pregnancy being written in they decided to hold off on more Weber/Catherine stuff and save Mama Avery (and Debbie's time) for the baby SL.

[Laurie4H]

Wait Meredith has 3 half sisters? Maybe I missed some episodes. I only remember Lexie and now Maggie.

[BizBuzz]

Wait Meredith has 3 half sisters? Maybe I missed some episodes. I only remember Lexie and now Maggie.

 

This might help jar your memory?

[Stardancer Supreme]

Ugh. I guess it doesn't pay to go toe to toe with the continuity fairy!  I could enjoy this show more if the stories they use made even a little bit of sense.  I know I've watched soap operas that were written better than this!  The writer in me just wants to yell "Where is your Bible!?!?!?"   I'll stop there because I don't want my head to hurt. ;)

[gator12]

I wonder if their initial intent was for Debbie Allen to be more involved (I assumed that's why they killed off Adele, anyways) but, because she's Debbie Allen and quite busy and then coupled with Sarah Drew's real life pregnancy being written in they decided to hold off on more Weber/Catherine stuff and save Mama Avery (and Debbie's time) for the baby SL.

April was pregnant before Sarah Drew got pregnant, Shonda and Sarah have talk about that. And now the actress is farther pregnant than the character

I hope they never revisited Richard and Catherine, Catherine no matter what one say about her character deserve better than Richard

Edited October 18, 2014 by gator12

[jschoolgirl]

What did Thatcher do for a living? Did he have any kind of career?

[CED9]

What did Thatcher do for a living? Did he have any kind of career?

I think he was a teacher or professor. There was that scene when Ellis thought George was Thatcher, and she started ranting about not caring about his students or grants. Something like that.

[jschoolgirl]

You would think that Ellis' alzheimer's disease would cause something to slip out about Dr. Lovechild.

[Laurie4H]

This might help jar your memory?

Thanks but the page was blank. I will Google it though.

How as a little girl would Meredith be right there to hear a baby cry?

[dr pepper]

I am the oldest of six. The last came along when i was 9 or 10. I do not remember noticing anything different about my mother at any time. In fact i remember saying to a neighbor, "my mother is in the hospital", which is what my father told me. When the neighbor said "oh, is she having a baby?", i denied it and wondered why they'd ask such a silly question. Obviously, the character of Meredith Grey has superior skills at observation and perception than i do, not to mention a more powerful memory, but for a 5 year old to be oblivious seems quite reasonable to me.

[oceanblue]

Thatcher and Susan, his second wife, had two daughters.  We saw Molly early on as a patient.  Lexie was mentioned then.  Now Maggie makes 3.

[Tuleh2]

 

I realize that they need a "Grey" on the show if Ellen Pompeo leaves.

I think Maggie IS meant to be the new "Grey." And I do believe they've planned to bring her in for years. Maybe not from the beginning, but from very early on, at the point when they realized they had a show with a potential soap-opera-length lifespan (which they do). Lexie never made sense because she was Thatcher's daughter, not Ellis's. (Plus they made her a stammering mess.)

 

I can't imagine that they're not trying to figure out a way to lose EP and PD without ending the show, and I think it's significant that this episode - for the first time - didn't include several of the "regulars."

 

ETA: And the whole "Year of Meredith" theme smacks of a "swan song" for EP, like they did for SO.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Tuleh2

[Featherhat]

I am the oldest of six. The last came along when i was 9 or 10. I do not remember noticing anything different about my mother at any time. In fact i remember saying to a neighbor, "my mother is in the hospital", which is what my father told me. When the neighbor said "oh, is she having a baby?", i denied it and wondered why they'd ask such a silly question. Obviously, the character of Meredith Grey has superior skills at observation and perception than i do, not to mention a more powerful memory, but for a 5 year old to be oblivious seems quite reasonable to me.

 

This episode has made me question if I knew my mother was pregnant with the last sib (when I was 5) and I remember "Mummy's having a baby" (slightly) and putting a hand on her stomach (can't remember how big it was) and then holding the new baby. But if a new baby hadn't appeared and turned into my sister, there's a great chance I wouldn't have remembered anything. And I do believe  memory is selective and subjective when when we *know* what we remember. 16 witness statements = 16 different versions.

 

I think Lexie was originally planned as a "name Grey" even though she had nothing to do with Elis. Trouble they went in such an opposite direction from her fleeting moments in S3 where she's a potential sophisticated another "girl from the bar" to a 14 year old in a 24 year old body and never recovered and I don't think CL could have carried it.

 

I don't think Maggie's actress can either and whilst the "Year of Meredith" is a bit suspicious I can't think they'd bother with a "new lead Grey" at this late stage, even if EP left before the end. The Hospital is now GSM after all. And I think it was a lot more likely that EP and PD would want to potentially leave before the end in S4 than it is in S11 when they've signed several extensions. Unless GA somehow lumbers on to challenge ERs seasons, which is possible at this point I guess.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Featherhat

[CleoCaesar]

they realized they had a show with a potential soap-opera-length lifespan (which they do).

 

I think Grey's has burned out and there's no real long-term potential in it anymore. The past few years we've been getting interns that no one really cares about, endlessly repetitive stories about adultery and PTSD (Shonda's favorite two things in the world), stupid love triangles, and now we're being force-fed a retconned long-lost love child.

 

If EP and PD go, it won't really be the same show anymore and I doubt it would last. I mean, does anyone really want a whole show narrated by the Puzzle Whisperer?

[KnitsWithRaceCars]

Only two of her three half sisters became doctors, unlike Derek's family, where all FIVE of them are doctors ;)

 

I know you were being funny, but there is the difference that, as far as we know, Derek and his sisters have always known each other.  As a Patrick Dempsey fan, I think it would be a fun Derek backstory to explore what led them all to be doctors and choose their respective specialties, especially now that Amelia is on Grey's.  Mods, is this something that can be discussed in the character threads if anyone else is Interested?

 

 

I think he was a teacher or professor. There was that scene when Ellis thought George was Thatcher, and she started ranting about not caring about his students or grants. Something like that.

 

Meredith said something about research a couple of times.

 

Maybe someone should tell Maggie that Meredith already had a surprise sister show up and then she died.

Its too hard to suspend disbelief that Maggir would just take a job there like a stalker instead of, like, writing them a letter introducing herself or something. They could have set this up better - she finds out her mothers name after already accepting the job, or something.

 

 

According to this episode, she is also The Email Whisperer.  Email would have been a much better way of introducing herself.  For the record, in case Shonda tries to rewrite this too, she definitely didn't inherit that skill from Richard.  He is very much not internet savvy.  "Twitter?! What the hell is a twitter?!"  "I'm looking at Bailey's teats on the internet."  That one still cracks me up.  He also mistakenly sent Jackson suggestive email that was intended for Catherine, and IIRC, he did it more than once.

 

 

Wasn't there a scene in Season 1 where Meredith showed up at the facility and Richard was there talking to her or was that only after the hospital scenes?

 

 

It was Season 2, after the hospital scenes.

 

 

Thanks but the page was blank. I will Google it though.

How as a little girl would Meredith be right there to hear a baby cry?

 

You might want to try the link again.  It worked for me within the last hour.  Maybe the site was overloaded or down when you tried it.

 

Good point about little Meredith, especially since in 1983 "No non-essential people" was still pretty much the norm in delivery rooms.  Someone as little as Meredith almost definitely wouldn't have been allowed.  But this is Grey's Anatomy, and that wouldn't be an interesting enough story.

 

Regarding Ellis Maidenname (LOL!), I agree that Ellis Grey was a Brand, and it was a Brand that she would not want tarnished by being the mother who abandoned her daughter.

[Tuleh2]

 

I think Grey's has burned out and there's no real long-term potential in it anymore.

No question it's burned out creatively, but it's a soap opera (no matter what Shonda says, that's the formula she's using): it can chug along for years on "endlessly repetitive stories." And with Netflix and Hulu, viewers who normally wouldn't start watching something so old can get interested (after all, the first season was great) and catch up. I'm sure that's why the ratings are still so high.

 

Some characters that I couldn't stand when they were first introduced I've come to tolerate, sometimes like. If she would stop recycling actors/characters from her other shows, she might even find new actors who would attract viewers the way EP/PD did in the beginning (although repelling viewers works too - I hate Meredith with the heat of a thousand suns.)

[BizBuzz]

Mods, is this something that can be discussed in the character threads if anyone else is Interested?

 

Have at it!  And have fun!

[Goodnight]

I have a hard time believing Ellis would kill herself over a man. She was a badass surgeon and didn't give a shit about her own daughter. She's going to throw it all away for lo-o-o-ove? THAT'S ordinary, lady.

[PrincessTT]

I have a hard time believing Ellis would kill herself over a man. She was a badass surgeon and didn't give a shit about her own daughter. She's going to throw it all away for lo-o-o-ove? THAT'S ordinary, lady.

 

She never intended to kill herself, as Meredith worked out when she was in therapy in season 4, if Ellis had wanted to die then she would have known where to cut but given where she did cut it was obvious that she didn't intend to die she just wanted Richard's attention.

[Laurie4H]

And would a woman that unstable that pretended to kill herself for attention be able to be a surgeon? Just curious.

On another note, I didn't realize that Ellen Pompeo plays a character almost 10 years younger than she is.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Laurie4H

[LeGrandElephant]

Yeah, he was Thatcher Gray by season two at the latest - his younger not-Lexie daughter came in with an OB complication that Addison worked on, and Thatcher and his second wife were there with her. It was after Meredith had her disastrous meeting with him at his house out of the blue/disastrously slept with George when he finally professed his undying love while she was sad about her dad and drunk. Thatcher was Thatcher Gray, asked George about Meredith while she hid in a doorway just out of sight, and confronted Richard a bit in front of the OR board. *just rewatched the early seasons over the summer on Netflix*

I don't think Lexie was introduced until the last episode of season four?

I also rewatched them recently, and in that episode, Molly says she has a sister named Lexie who is in med school. So that may have been planned as an option by then. Anyway my point was they chose to have Ellis change her name not because it makes sense for her character but because it maximizes the number of people with the last name Grey.

[windsprints]

I just watched and thought it was well done. I really liked the way they moved in and out of the flashbacks. It was nice to see Richard have some real material instead of being comic relief. Bailey is inching up on Meredith for the character I can't stand the most. I hope there is something coming that evens her out a bit because she's insufferable as a board member already and its 1 episode. I liked Amelia and Derek, Derek and Maggie, Meredith and Maggie at the end and all of Richard's scenes.

 

What annoyed me was that absolutely no one voted for Alex. I hate the condescending way Meredith speaks to him. When she told him that his presentation was good but not as good as Bailey's I wish he would have told her he didn't have the day to prepare because she placed her problems over him (no shock there). I also wanted him to say that at least he'd show up sober but never happen. My hope going forward is that he'll remember that Cristina was the person that believed in his abilities and that Jo is the person in Seattle who is there for him.

 

And I would love to see Meredith stop taking Derek for granted/remove the stick from her ass. What happened to Meredith's "I was abandoned by my father" issues? Now she wants Derek to leave their kids? What crap.

 

Agree. She only thinks about herself. She doesn't consider how Derek being away from his family would be for him or how it would be for her kids to have their father gone all the time.

 

would a woman that unstable that pretended to kill herself for attention be able to be a surgeon? Just curious.

 

Meredith was unstable enough to let herself drown, died, came back to life and returned to surgery a week later.  So, in the world of Grey's - absolutely!