S11.E22: She's Leaving Home

[SGfan]

I wasn't going to watch, but I did and that was it for me. The end of the episode may as well have been the series finale. It was for me anyway. The first hour was a complete waste of time. I do not care about any of the storylines anymore and I've never actually felt that way before. All of the flashbacks in the second half only reminded me of how great this show used to be. I never watched Private Practice, so maybe that's why I've never once cared for Amelia, but I really didn't care if she took the drugs or not. The mean part of me was actually thinking, "so, take them and just stfu already." What a mess. I really feel like next season is the last, but I won't be watching. It's just sad.

[jjj]

I thank you all for posting -- sounds like this West Coast viewer will watch the first and final ten minutes, and write a grant proposal in between.  It's pretty stunning to read the summaries here! 

[Bobbie2120]

Agreed he said Cristina said she had t heard from her since the funeral so it could be that was the last time she saw.i think the hidden face to the head of dark hair was meant to make you think it was Cristina. Crazy how much those kids aged in 8 or nine months.

Its like they were aged too much Bailey was like 5 I thought he was like 1

PS I am still bitter about the whole thing. After tonight thinking the chief or bailey is next

[Primetimer]

Meredith takes the kids and bails on Seattle for a year without telling anyone. In that year, we miss many seasons of love and even more seasons of annoying.

Read the story

[sayonarag]

While this episode was a chore to watch, I kind of appreciate what I think the show was trying to say.  I think the point of this episode is to let fans know that Grey’s is going to start over again and its time to say goodbye to the show that was.  If that’s the case, thanks for letting me know.

 

Like the burn victims who had to endure the pain of the skin debriding to get to new healthy skin, the show is painfully shedding its skin to go somewhere new.  And like the husband that walked away because it wasn’t what he signed up for; if old fans walk away because the new show isn’t what they signed up for, that’s ok and understandable and an opportunity for the show to pick up new fans who are interested in happenings at Grey + Sloan Memorial - because Seattle Grace doesn’t exist anymore.

 

I’m a “since day one” fan that will be saying goodbye now.  I was watching all these years to find out how five interns and their resident were going to become doctors and grow up.  I have the ending to the show/story that I was watching.

 

Meredith’s life continues to filled with personal hardship but she will continue to stand and move forward like Derek said she would, not be alone like Derek feared but instead surrounded by the pretty babies they made

 

Cristina is pursing her dream career in Zurich.

 

Alex has turned into a really wonderful person and friend, is in a happy relationship with a home of his own.

 

George got hit by a bus doing a really heroic thing.

 

Izzie is hopefully resuscitating a human instead of a deer somewhere.

 

Bailey had a personality transplant and has become pretty annoying but is apparently in a happy place professionally and personally.

 

Ditto for Webber as far as happy place goes.

 

In terms of the rest of the characters and the show itself, I wish them well but watching the travails of Amelia, Stephanie, Jo (and the new interns they are likely to hire with PD’s former salary) at Grey-Sloan Memorial isn’t the show I signed up for, so its time to walk away.

[choclatechip45]

 

After tonight thinking the chief or bailey is next

Or Ben even though I thought it was in character for Bailey to freak out about something like that. It really wont surprise me if Ben is killed off.

[Madding crowd]

What the hell was that? Amelia making jokes, actual jokes about her dead brother? And where was Meredith supposed to be where she couldn't be found? If she was a practicing physician anywhere they would have been able to find her. I hated the constant scenes of the carousel and of Ellis. Meredith is not and has never been Ellis. And I hate that she named her baby Ellis. Why do TV characters always name their children after other people in the show. In real life some people do this, but most people just use names they like.

 

I was also kind of annoyed at April for just leaving her husband for what 8-9 months. That's a long time in a marriage, especially if she just surprised him with her decision. He lost a baby too. So he is supposed to go for almost a year without companionship, sex, affection. I really like them as a couple too so at least she came back.

 

The Bailey stuff was just filler. I liked the burn women but in this day and age do they not have sufficient pain medications to either put the patient in a twilight sleep or at least have them doped up while they do the debrading? I know it was very painful in the past, but I thought pain medications are more useful now.

 

I didn't care about Amelia even after she broke down at the end. She is not the only person who has lost people. I really hate her tough chick act although I continue to like Owen and appreciate him and Alex.  Speaking of Alex, I just love him and want a real life Alex friend.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Madding crowd

[Erratic]

Huh?

[brightside]

I like that this show doesn’t even try to make you feel anymore, they just play the songs they played when they made you feel something years and years ago and hope for the best.

[funnygirl]

George's funeral scene was longer than Derek's. Meredith was MIA for most of the episode, and what scenes she did have mostly consisted of flashbacks. And I hate that they jump forward a year. 

[Tuleh2]

 

Meredith takes the kids and bails on Seattle for a year without telling anyone. In that year, we miss many seasons of love and even more seasons of annoying.

I won't watch the show anymore, but I knew I could count on you to fill me in, Lilit Marcus. I will stick around the board just for your recaps. "Ourobouros of awful..." Ha! As Cristina Yang would say: "Thank you for all you do."

[jschoolgirl]

Well, if April lost a leg, at least we didn't have to watch it for a whole season.

So, there's that.

[noname1]

sorry wrong thread

Edited May 1, 2015 by noname1

[noname1]

April losing a leg was a metaphor, Arizona meant that April loosing her son was like what Arizona went through when she lost her leg.

On another note:

I saw a bunch of tweets from confused people saying that baby better be Derek junior. I say confused because if I recall correctly Bailey is Derek Bailey shepherd.

[AnitaM86]

STOP. WITH. THE. DAMN. CARROUSEL. 

 

Even they stop, they need to be repaired or cleaned. As this show.

 

The flashbacks accomplished one thing: to remind us how great this show used to be. Also, how the hell did Derek's death brought everyone together? I saw no different than before. 

 

Baby Ellis? The minute I saw she was pregnant I knew this whole thing was bullshit. It was. 

 

The only good thing was Meredith putting Derek's scrub cap. I bet next week she or Amelia will start using "It's a beautiful day to save lives." 

 

God, I hope Patrick collected his $400,000 for this mess. 

[Bama]

What a hot steaming pile of overwrought shit that was.

 

When Callie - fucking CALLIE - is the only one who made me feel like she was actually grieving, then something is wrong.

 

Here's to hoping this episode was Shonda's living will for "Grey's Anatomy".

 

Just plug the plug already Dr. Rhimes.  And please don't donate the show's organs - it's all rot.

 

Gross.

[sharz]

I appreciated the time lapse and Meredith being absent from this episode feels right as old Meredith is likely gone. The show didn't make it clear though, was she contemplating suicide or adoption?

As for the rest of the episode, I was irritated by the whole bailey and her husband dialogue. It's seemed too laizze faire. I get that sometimes hard, awkward conversations turn silly due to the seriousness of their nature, but they were going on and on as though this were purely hypothetical and not something two cherished friends just went through.

As for Emilia - meh. She is a drama llama but she has defined and embodied her character well. Owen is too much of a hound dog and just comes across as a player to me - nongenuine. As though he's putting on a role that he imagines his conquest desires. Like he really has no strong sense of Self.

Anyway, Meredith's grief was palpable. You could sense her absence of him in every word, gesture, and glance she made. And not only could you sense the absence of him in her, but her resoluteness in functionality, but also eternal brokenness.

Edited May 1, 2015 by sharz

[Guest]

That was crap from beginning to end.

Shonda, music can add to the emotion but isn't a substitute for an actual plot line.

Enough with the freaking carousel and everything being Ellis centered. Remember when it seemed Mere had moved past her mommy issues? I liked that.

Bailey's last scene reminded me of the doctor with Aspergers (can't remember her name). The rules and order speech, the phrasing and repetition- it was weird.

[william0102]

I wanted more Meredith, but they've lost the few people she talks to over the last two years.

I like April. I liked her and Jackson reuniting, but jeeze, did it not occur to them that it might be better to let us see her helping soldiers and teaching medics? Just one quick scene. I mean I like Jackson, but I could have done without seeing him not answer his phone, or lose half of the Bailey and Ben crap. Or idk, the pointless scene where Jackson was upset and talking to Arizona. Arizona who us an army brat, whose dad served, and they could have easily had her say she would have him ask, which would have made the scene a little more purposeful. (I know April wasn't enlisted, I know it's not likely that Arizona's dad could have found out anything, but this is Grey's and I wouldn't put it past them). I did not need a repeat of April's hurt, Jackson doesn't understand. Just like with every other storyline.

 

Can someone explain to me how Jackson's mom proposing was supposed to make Richard feel better? She's messed up two of his proposals, and turned him down twice, so how was her proposing to him, in the middle of the hospital he was temporarily running, supposed to make him feel better? And it not emasculate him like how Ellis did, or how Jackson's mama usually treats him? Please explain it for me.

 

I could care less about Bailey and Ben. It was interesting once because Derek died. I didn't need five takes of it. Especially when she didn't want Ben to give up being "miracle man".

When they switched to Christmas and Jo wasn't with Alex, I honestly thought they had broken up, but no, just separated for the stupid burn story- one that I called the ending on as soon as I saw Nicole Sullivan, so another waste of time.

Between the burn story, even though it was a waste of time it was still more interesting than Bailey and Ben, Bailey and Ben, and all the flashbacks, they could have cut it all and we wouldn't have needed the extra hour. I would have preferred all of that gone. I can't even get into Amelia/Owen and Callie because I do not even give a eff about any of them. Although I did like Amelia this episode when she wasn't with Owen.

[izabella]

I thought the first hour was a jumbled mess, and enough already with that carousel!  Way too many flashy flashbacks and way too much Ellis in therapy.

 

April was infuriating.  I get why Jackson's glad she's back, but if her just abandoning ship for 9 months doesn't cause a ripple of any kind in their relationship, that's bullshit.

[Maharincess]

Only good scene, really, was (surprisingly) Owen and Amelia near the end. YouTube it: she at least GAS about Derek.

Oh god, another one. What is GAS?

[Guest]

Oh god, another one. What is GAS?

Gives/Gave a S*t

[noname1]

Regarding the kids being aged up I think Bailey was originally somewhere between 1and 1 1/2 (timeline from end of season 9 to now is wonky as season 10 started just an hour after season 9 ended same for time lapse between season 10 and 11 where there was no passing of time but who knows how many months passed during the actual season. He now seems to be a three year old.since infants grow faster I think it would have been ok to age bailey but leave Zola where she was.

[brandyelf]

My DVR flat out refused to tape the second hour, even though the recording thinks it's two hours long. Right at 60 minutes in, it refuses to play any more of this crap. Thank you, DVR, for having the strength to do what I could not.

I no longer care about any of these people.

[SiobhanJW]

I appreciated the time lapse and Meredith being absent from this episode feels right as old Meredith is likely gone. The show didn't make it clear though, was she contemplating suicide or adoption?

I didn't think either. I think they were just trying to show that she might react sometimes like her mother but she wasn't going to try and hurt herself. She has children to live for, I think she just needed space. At least that's what I'm telling myself haha.

I think this was my last episode. It just won't ever be the same.

[crashdown]

My DVR had the same glitch in the same place--interesting.  Do you have DirecTV?  I was able to switch to live and rewind back to a few minutes into the second hour, since I found the glitch at 9:45.  But yeah, the DVR was right.  Terrible writing, terrible episode. And to think that I had been hoping all week for Cristina and Addison to show up!

[bluebonnet]

It's such a weird choice for them to include so many flashbacks to remind us that this 'epic love' was between two people who had zero chemistry in a relationship with almost no substance.  The lack of belief I had in MerDer is what made me stop being a regular watcher.  The writers and the actors never gave me a reason to believe these character actually meant anything to one another beyond them telling me I'm supposed to think that.  Without believing in this love, all the drama looked absurd.  So this mass of flashbacks was just weird.  

 

Next time I see a carousel, I'm definitely punching it.  I watched a couple of episodes this season to catch up before tonight's episode and I swear, that damn carousel had at least 30 minutes of screen time.  

[windsprints]

I think it would have been much better if it was an hour and cut some of the repetitive scenes - Ben/Bailey had pretty much the same conversation several times, so much of Ellis in therapy, etc. I get Ellis was shown to contrast Meredith working through her grief but after awhile it all felt the same. I have no issue with the time jumps. I do not blame the show for wanting to move everyone to a point of time where characters weren't grieving in real time. Personally I would find it really depressing if it was multiple episodes of people just after a funeral.

 

I'm not a fan of Meredith and am usually eh on Ellen but I thought she was wonderful. I thought Meredith's grief came through loud and clear without a lot of dialog.  I thought her being pregnant was a bit much. Other than giving her parallels to Ellis for this episode I'm not sure what it adds to her story. She already had 2 children with Derek.

 

I was most disappointed in the lack of reaction from Richard. Richard brought Derek to Seattle and IIRC knew him in NY years before that. They've had their differences but were fairly close yet Arizona reacted more than Richard. 

 

Both the baby and Catherine's necklace were huge. That baby looked like a 10 month old.

I saw a bunch of tweets from confused people saying that baby better be Derek junior. I say confused because if I recall correctly Bailey is Derek Bailey shepherd.

 

I thought his name is Derek Bailey too.

STOP. WITH. THE. DAMN. CARROUSEL.

 

Agree.

 

[ChicksDigScars]

I didn't watch, and after reading an episode recap online, I am SO GLAD. 

 

Why in the HELL would Meredith name a daughter after a mother that was in all intents and purposes, mentally, verbally and emotionally abusive? If anything, the baby should be named after DEREK'S mother, a nurse, who raised four kids on her own after her husband's murder, all four of which became surgeons. THAT is a heroic mom, Not Ellis. SO glad I didn't watch this tripe.

 

And I'd like to throw that carousel (and Ellis) under the bus that killed George. 

[Lillybee]

I didn't mind the absence of Mer this episode. She ceased being a character I cared about a few years ago. It was the fact that she originally was so mean to both her sisters and also that her children were in the 24/7 day care at the hospital.

 

However anytime that my favorites, April, Avery, Alex and Callie get air time is good for me.

[Starscream]

That was a massive newborn baby that Meredith had.

 

I think she was a little smaller than Charlotte's giant preemie triplets on Private Practice.

 

Alex is apparently Mer's new person, and that's literally all he gets to do anymore, so ... I think I'm good.

 

That and be weirdly intimate with Maggie.  I swear, I thought by the time they flashed to New Years we'd see those two kissing at midnight.

 

I was somewhat amused that the baby was named Ellis.  I'm guessing that the final scene in the series finale will probably have little Ellis Grey Shepherd graduating from medical school and starting rounds at Grey Sloane Memorial Hospital and becoming the most extraordinary surgeon ever.  After all, she is Ellis Grey's granddaughter and Derek Shepherd's daughter.

 

Then she'll visit her mom and aunt Maggie in the home for Alzheimer's sufferers.

 

 

I liked it overall.  My only real problem with it is that there's no way in hell Cristina would ditch Meredith right after the funeral.  She'd let Shane run billionaire's hospital into the ground before she'd abandon Meredith at a time like that.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Starscream

[Brooke0707]

I am only about 20 minutes in but what the fuck??

Did they just skip over everyone's reactions to Derek's death?? It is like they zapped all the emotion from it and just spliced together a bunch of choppy scenes about random shit.

Umm.......what is this?? Is this all a dream?? This is so bad I'm wondering if it is a dream.

[P2C2E]

I haven't watched this in years but I have to know this one thing.

Why was Mer in stripes in every scene?! I was so distracted by it! Is this a normal wardrobe choice for her?

[chocolatine]

It's understandable that Amelia would avoid dealing with her grief for such a long time, but cracking jokes about whether Derek could actually turn over in his grave?! No. Just no. I couldn't take her breakdown in front of Owen seriously after that.

 

When we saw Baby Ellis (blech!) for the first time, I thought Meredith must have fallen into a two-month coma after her emergency c-section. That baby was holding up her own head, for Pete's sake!

 

Bailey & Ben, Richard & Catherine, Callie & amputee cop, Jo & burn victims, I don't care. April is a jerk for leaving Jackson for so long. I know she's grieving for her dead baby, and she wants to be useful, and yadda yadda yadda, but marriage means including your spouse in such major decisions. When she finally came back, part of me was hoping Jackson would serve her with divorce papers.

[Muffyn]

I hope Mere arranged to have someone clean the house before she came home.  Sleeping in a bed with 9 months’ worth of dust would be pretty nasty.  If she gave birth to that baby, I hope it was a C-section.  She wouldn’t be able to walk if that melon came out of her birth canal.  That is one big baby. 

 

Did you know there is such a thing as a carousel?  And sometimes you want to get off of the carousel?  I feel like I may have heard tis about 6000 times in the last two hours.

[chocolatine]

I hope Mere arranged to have someone clean the house before she came home.  Sleeping in a bed with 9 months’ worth of dust would be pretty nasty.  If she gave birth to that baby, I hope it was a C-section.  She wouldn’t be able to walk if that melon came out of her birth canal.  That is one big baby. 

 

The Bainbridge Island house wasn't empty while Mere and the kids were gone, Amelia was living there, and by the looks of it she's kept it very clean.

 

I'm pretty sure Mere had a c-section, because she was in an OR and was put under. AFAIK, that doesn't happen during natural births. (Also she had complications when giving birth to Bailey that resulted in an emergency c-section, so it's possible that a natural birth wasn't even an option for her after that.)

[LizardQueen]

I like that this show doesn’t even try to make you feel anymore, they just play the songs they played when they made you feel something years and years ago and hope for the best.

 

Yes yes yes. It's just the laziest damn show on TV, isn't it?

The rest of you did a fantastic job of illuminating all the shortcomings of this ridiculous phoned-in waste of time before I even finished watching it here on the West coast, so I'll just bitch about one particular bit of dialogue that was straight out of an MST3K "They just didn't care!" feature: Jackson talks to April on the fourth of July, having not spoken to her since Memorial Day, and explains that he's recently replaced their couch due to a spill during "a really exciting National-League playoff game"....NEVER MIND THAT NATIONAL-LEAGUE PLAYOFF GAMES TAKE PLACE IN OCTOBER.

[Brooke0707]

That was horrible. It was like a dream episode minus it all being a dream.

None of that felt like it really happened.

Cool Meredith gave birth to like a 20 pound baby.

Why the hell did they skip over the emotional fallout? It is like they intentionally did the shittiest and coldest way to deal with Derek being dead. What was that? No seriously what was that?

Edited May 1, 2015 by Brooke0707

[Daisy]

To quote Meredith. "it's over. You can all go home. It's over. It's over. It's so over."

What the merry, bloody crap was that? I mean seriously? I was so mad last week that Derek Freaking Shepherd (someone I don't even really like, SHONDA) got killed by doctors who had no bloody idea what they were doing, and he couldn't even die properly. but he only got ten minutes? If that? Basically. "Hey, Derek's dead!" and a slipshod funeral?"

 

Naw, boo - it don't work like that. the first hour should have been everything leading up to the funeral. We should have seen the dead brother jokes, and Amelia (still don't care about you, Amelia), struggling, Meredith holding firm, Zola wondering about Daddy, everything. Christina Freaking Yang coming to Seattle to be with her Person, thank you very much. (no, Shonda - the back of someone's head and someone holding her hand does not count). I expected bed action. Like. actual, Christina, (And Alex) kicking down doors, and climbing in bed with Meredith and her not being alone. and then you could have had Meredith run away. 

 

Also. I call bullcrap that these people would have allowed Meredith to have ninjadusted for a year. Bull. Crap. But we'll work with that. Why on earth was the entire episode basically a re-cap episode? Are you trying to remind everyone that you used to be good? This episode makes me so angry. 

 

And she named the baby (man. I watch too much Call the Midwife - that was one honking huge baby, CTM uses real babies). Ellis? In what world would she name the baby Ellis? there are a bazillion names that Meredith could have named the baby. 

 

1: Katie - the name of the first patient Meredith had at Seattle Grace, and that was the first patient Meredith & Derek worked on together

2: Lauren (Jennifer?) - the name of the patient that Derek lobotmized - but it was her that really put the together and prompted the candle house proposals

3: Susan - for the woman that Meredith was actually really starting to like and thought of as a mother? 

4: Delia (a way to honour Adele & Richard - you know, the man that brought Derek to Seattle in first place)
5: Christina -  naming her after her person and Derek's middle named feminized. 

6: Alexandra - for her sister. 

7: Georgie - for George. (sorry. I miss George...)

 

 

but sure.  let's name her Ellis.  Because, why not show?

 

And for God sakes, let the stupid carousel thing go. It was boring and lame the first time. it's not smart or cute then, and it's not smart and cute now. 

 

Other points:
1: April gone for 9 months,. Whatever. there's no way that it's just hugs and kisses

2: Burn-Lady Husband: you suck

3: Burn Lady + JJ y'all were nice, but don't they give real drugs to knock you out (also what killed JJ?)

4: Richard/Catherine - that felt very very A Different World-ish. meh. 

5: Maggie was v. calm for not knowing where her sister was. just saying. 

6: Bailey/Husband. shut up. go away. 

7: Robocop was cool. :) (and Derek's sensors).

 

8: Amelia's almost going back into drugs... ya know. kinda wish she did it. woulda been interesting. oh wait no, I saw that on Private Practice, whatever. (also. I know that wasn't the time or place, but I would have been totally all "wait. so who was the junky doctor?" while comforting Amelia. it's just how my mind works. Also. i wonder if she knew Owen would come... like...        was she waiting for someone to stop her? Also. enough with the speeches. People don't speech-ify in real life. Because what would normally happen is people would start, and then the other person would give a look and walk away. (if they were nice). 

 

 

Anyway. Shonda. boo you, man. 

[DropTheSoap]

only thing worse than Amelia or Owen is Amelia and Owen.

What's with Callie and amputees?

My takeaway for this, and all the episodes of this season is that SaRa is looking good.

[Brooke0707]

No one even cried over Derek really. We have had extras/ransoms die and receive more attention! I mean what the hell was that?? I am not even a big Derek fan but what????

[DropTheSoap]

By the way, Arizona. Yes, your hospital does need a functioning neurosurgery dept. Sorry if that's inconvenient.

[WalrusGirl]

I didn't mind the very brief funeral scenes - they weren't going to pay all of the $$$ actresses who portray the rest of Derek's immediately family, it would have been a horrible waste of Sandra Oh to tease us with her for 30 seconds (whether real or CGIed from George's funeral) then not see her at all for the rest of the ep, and Addison should have been back too. So all they could really do was jump right past it.

I get that Meredith may have posthumously bonded with her mother over their suddenly-single pregnancies (+ young child(ren)) and taking off for the duration, and feeling a new connection and empathy parent-to-parent, but I call BS on naming the baby Ellis. As a middle name, sure, pass on the honor of the name (at least the objective honor to those who weren't close to and hurt by who she was).

I had no issue with her not naming the baby after Lexie - again, Alexandra as a middle name would have been fine, but as someone named after an aunt who died tragically young, I'd never do so with my kids. You can feel that connection via the name with a middle name, and frankly I was always just wary of also suddenly dying at a young age.

New Zola was distracting, but at least with the re-cast Zola will no longer be suspiciously prop-like and non-verbal.

Are burn patients really not more heavily sedated or morphined for debriding?? I get that they're medically pretty fragile, but the pain seems more physically stressful.

I didn't really mind Amelia's inappropriate "humor." (Story-wise.) It went beyond gallows humor, but I didn't mind that aspect of her totally rejecting grieving and feelings. (If I were one of her coworkers, who also knew him, I would, as that's hard to take. But as his sister, she trumps all of his coworkers.)

Liked

- the, uh, implication that Cristina was at the funeral? That was the back of fake Cristina's head next to Mer at the graveside, right?

- delaying the reveal that Mer was pregnant

- that she at least did (eventually) call Alex back, even if she wouldn't talk

- they really built that Alex/Maggie friendship over the last year, and noted her hand on his knee at Christmas. She seemed more comfortable with Jo than Meredith has, too.

- the burn patient plotline, lack of sedation/heavy morphine aside. That kind of story (and Callie's patient's) can get mundane if they're done in real-time, so it was a good use of the episode structure.

- meh to Richard and Catherine, but at least we got past their relationship back and forth

- interesting and realistic-enough story for April (and Jackson), and an interesting use of the time jump

- I actually did mostly like Bailey and Ben's plot thread, especially the bit about Jesus taking the wheel! I accept that they were the episode levity.

- the blatant recycling of emotionally-manipulative songs from the show's prime

- Ellen Pompeo did really great work, both last week and this week

- Alex being her emergency contact

- Lots of Alex in general!

- a lot of the flashback scenes, even as filler to pad it to two hours - I don't think condensing it into one hour was really an option, in terms of resetting Meredith, April/Jackson, and Alex/Maggie's now close and established friendship. There was too much for an hour.

Didn't Like

- the writing for Amelia was much better on PP - I really liked her on-screen there, and not just because there were so many awful characters around her. They can't quite capture the same character - either the writers or Caterina - on Grey's.

- I too wanted Amelia to take the oxy if it would shut her up, which probably indicates that they weren't writing or acting her character as successfully as they intended. They eventually got me past wanting April to be the one offed (when she was driving me crazy after their boards), so hopefully they figure out writing Amelia.

- the confirmation that Amelia didn't even know what was going on while waiting to confirm Derek's brain death (and from the sounds of it, impending organ failure). I call BS on the magical idea that she could have saved him at that point (in any way he would have wanted saving), as he knew full well it was going to be too late and no one was chilling him to protect brain function, but I'm not sure not having called when she was local, so she could say goodbye, is forgivable. Since these two know each other well enough. (But again, for story purposes, I really appreciated the decision not to have the others at the hospital with Meredith, especially a new cast member.)

- Ellis' awful wig

- not really a "dislike," but as I noticed how long Maggie and Alex had been chilling, I had to go back and think to confirm (Thanksgiving) we even had confirmation they hadn't split off-screen somewhere in there. (My mom doesn't watch regularly, but watched this one and texted to ask if they were dating during the porch swing/fireworks scene.)

- I don't dislike Meredith having been pregnant or having another baby, but it seemed a bit saccharine that the couple with serious fertility problems managed to basically conceive as Mer was turning off life support. Presumably they weren't using birth control those few days prior to talking about another baby (given her fertility struggles and not being "definitely no more kids"), but they only had one go after the baby talk. Just a bit too neat.

- that was one huge newborn

Having Arizona of all people - someone who had the least connection with Derek - be the one snapping in the cafeteria irritated me.

I didn't feel that way (or even think of it) - she was the only one of them there who was a board member (the girl was griping about the board not hiring someone yet), and she and Derek were in the crash, lawsuit, and hospital buy-out cluster together. They didn't have other friendship storylines together, but I think they went through enough together for Arizona to legitimately snap. (And Maggie only knew him for less than a year, even if she was his sister-in-law, and Alex and Derek never had a friendship or bond apart from than via Meredith.) Plus Bailey, Richard, Callie, and Amelia had other storylines, and Arizona was the lightest on screentime. :-P

if I recall correctly Bailey is Derek Bailey shepherd.

I don't remember this at all, just Bailey Shepherd, but Wikipedia and some other sites say you're right! I now like his name even less - no matter which name you call him, it's not just his, since neither has a real nickname or kid-version. (I have a cat named Bailey, pre-Grey's, so I like the name, I just think it's...not terribly realistic when characters only name their children after other close characters. Yay for Sofia! Benjamin George was also just fine, since it was a middle name.)

April was infuriating. I get why Jackson's glad she's back, but if her just abandoning ship for 9 months doesn't cause a ripple of any kind in their relationship, that's bullshit.

Yes and no. I don't think it was ok for her to sign up and continue to re-enlist without even telling him before doing so, but liked Arizona helping him to understand it was something she needed to work through her loss. (But, obviously, totally abandoning him after his loss, and compounding it with the loss of his wife.) But they were going to have "a ripple in their relationship" after losing their baby anyway, and honestly this fight is less depressing to watch than grief in real-ish-time episodes.

the first hour should have been everything leading up to the funeral. We should have seen the dead brother jokes, and Amelia (still don't care about you, Amelia), struggling, Meredith holding firm, Zola wondering about Daddy, everything. Christina Freaking Yang coming to Seattle to be with her Person, thank you very much. (no, Shonda - the back of someone's head and someone holding her hand does not count). I expected bed action. Like. actual, Christina, (And Alex) kicking down doors, and climbing in bed with Meredith and her not being alone. and then you could have had Meredith run away.

YES. THIS. Edited May 1, 2015 by WalrusGirl

[LADreamr]

If I never hear another word about carousels in my life, it will be too soon. Most of the episode felt cold, despite all the flashbacks to better-written times. Speaking of, the sad Thanksgiving made me miss the Izzie/Burke Thanksgiving episode, and the sad Charlie Brown Christmas tree made me miss Izzie, Cris, Meredith and George lying under their tree looking at the lights. I always miss George, but when I miss Izzie, there's a problem.

[Racj82]

I'm sure a lot of Grey's fans went into this just waiting to hate it so it really didn't matter what they did. I enjoyed it for what it was. Derek's passing effected everyone in different/profound ways. He will be missed. But, that preview. Shut Up, Amelia.

[Lnmop]

I really really really really really really really really really really really hate Amelia. The only time I liked her was when she blew up at Richard and kind of broke down the same time.

New Zoe? Meh.

Naming the baby Ellis? Threw up in my mouth a little bit.

Christina not showing up? What kind of person is that?

I'm glad that Alex is now Meredith's person. They're the only two of the original interns who started the show. And their scenes have always been so good together. He'll be a great surrogate dad for the kids. And maybe he'll get some kind of storyline out of it.

Richard and Catherine? Forget it.

April and Jackson? Who knows?

0wen? Still hate him.

Callie made me cry when she helped the guy who walked. That was the only real tribute to Derek.

I'll bet big money on Ellis Gray Shepherd winning the Harper Avery Award in the finale and thanking her parents who were extraordinary surgeons. Count on that as the series finale

[Muffyn]

There was just not enough STFU in the world for that scene.   The doctor was complaining she had to wait two hours for a neuro consult.  Derek died because there was no neuro consult at Podunk hospital and, when the neurosurgeon was finally called he took too damn long to get there.  (Okay, in Derek’s voiceover of death he said it was already too late, but still.)  Then again, Grey Sloan Whateverthefuck features departments with only one surgeon.  Callie cannot head off to unnamed foreign war one because there will be no ortho surgeons left. 

In my ideal world, Amelia takes the entire bag of Oxy and overdoses so I don’t have to see her on the show anymore.   So many crappy soliloquies, so little caring.

[Chas411]

They're so doing Maggie/Alex next season. I knew it. In going to hate it as u really liked Alex/Jo.

[pennben]

 

Like the burn victims who had to endure the pain of the skin debriding to get to new healthy skin, the show is painfully shedding its skin to go somewhere new.

 

That's an interesting perspective sayonarag.  I guess maybe that was part of the burn victim arc, but I also saw it as a parallel to the recovery from grief that Meredith had to go through, from agonizing pain, to ultimately getting closer to healing so many months later even though scarred.

 

All in all, I thought they did a pretty good job with this episode.  They clearly had to do the time jump so we weren't stuck in the overwhelming grief stage for many episodes.  So, that's were I think your points are quite on the mark, we are moving into something new.

 

 

Both the baby and Catherine's necklace were huge.

 

Yes to both!  No wonder she started bleeding when that baby was getting ready for birth.  Thank god for c-sections!  No telling what would have happened to her otherwise. 

Edited May 1, 2015 by pennben

[Trichromatic]

It's good to know that when my personal life is in a mess I can simply up and leave my job for an undisclosed amount of time, only to come back whenever I feel like I have dealt with my internal demons. They'll just keep my job on hold. Yeah my boss is totally like that.