S11.E22: She's Leaving Home

[windsprints]

At the very least, I thought that Meredith was imagining it.

 

I thought she did. I also thought she may have imagined that the nurse said husband. The nurse brought Alex in, he didn't just come in by himself. He would have likely said a few words to her when he asked where the room was or whatever reason she was walking him into the room. I'd think they would have asked if he was the father since its probably noted that the social worker is caring for her children. Also, Alex was listed as the emergency contact where the relationship to the person is noted.

[Clanstarling]

Agreed!  I did note, however, that he appears to hug as aggressively as he kisses!

When you're falling apart, a hard hug, solid and firm, is just what you need. Like those "thunder" shirts (?) for dogs who are afraid of thunder, or tight swaddling on fussy babies. It is comforting, and feels safe.

 

I've always disliked clip shows, and this is what this episode felt like to me. It had very little emotional resonance because of that, in my opinion. I did like the surgical cap (though, being a little OCD, I thought "huh, shouldn't that be washed before she uses it in the OR?).

 

It must be nice to be able to run away and not have to confront your grief in familiar settings made strange by the absence of the person you loved. Most of us don't have that luxury. And I'm not really sure it IS a luxury - dealing with the clothes, the empty space on the bed, the toothbrushes, etc., is all a part of the process. It is painful, but ultimately healing.

 

It seems to me Meredith was hiding just as much as Emilia was (though less annoying about it). Maybe that was part of the point, but I'm not sure I believe it.

Edited May 2, 2015 by clanstarling

[butterbody]

Gives/Gave a S*t

Thanks, I don't know why but I immediately thought, "goes ape shit" and my monthly hormones would go through the roof if I had to endure another of her soliloquies.

Edited May 2, 2015 by butterbody

[runforcover]

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

 

Oh dear lord, Amelia is un-fucking-bearable. The frigging prelude to every emotional gesture.  And they do Scorsone no favours by scoring her sermons with murderporn music.  Yes, the music.  This show and music: it's a thing, right?  Possibly the most creative thing about this episode was the sped up instrumentals of "If I lay Here" during final montage - or was that just an intervention by my streaming website? SO BAD.  And Catherine's wedding proposal.  After twenty seconds into a scene, I would fast-forward.  I was just itemizing moments because their actual duration is intolerable. TERRIBLE.  Oh the cutestness of Meredith greyness when she would cry in the closetness.  So much Nostalgia for episodes where I did get carried away with whatever nonsense they were shilling.  That's how you DO ideology, show!  A MOCKERY.

Edited May 2, 2015 by runforcover

[jschoolgirl]

I might be able to continue to watch if I mute Amelia every time she holds forth.

[runforcover]

I might be able to continue to watch if I mute Amelia every time she holds forth.

It occurred to me during this episode that it would go a long way if they just reign in the writing for her.  She talks too much.  I understand that she's supposed to be kind of mental in affect and a bit dark and twisty herself, but just restricting her dialogue to, well, dialogue and holding back on the music would be a lot less alienating for the viewer.  

[CleoCaesar]

This show is becoming a silent movie for me. I hit mute every time Amelia opens her mouth, any time Bailey is even on screen, Ben, Catherine, Maggie. These are useless, irritating badly acted characters performing dramatic Shondalogues.

[Brooke0707]

The stuff that bugged me was a lot of the inbetween. 

 

Alex gets a text from Meredith.  Did he tell anyone?  How did they react? 

 

Alex shows up after the kids are born at New Years.  He takes her home at Valentine's day.  When did everyone find out about the baby?  Did Alex take leave to be her person for 6 weeks while she recovered and needed help with the baby?  Did he visit?  Did he tell anyone where he was going?  Did anyone else visit before Meredith came home?

 

I'm always bothered when they do the important moments off screen.  It makes me think the writers can't handle it or think the actors can't handle it.  This must be a TV trope but I haven't found the name of it.

 

I see the need to put distance from Derek's death and let Meredith get some peace because they can't wallow in it for a year.  But the pacing of this seemed wrong.  Derek dying should have had some emotional resonance.  It deprived the audience.  They had four hours left this season to do this and so far the first three have not been done well.  It seems like events /disasters of old worked much better than this.  I started feeling like Alex was the only person really connected to Meredith and they realized that the ideal way to structure this wouldn't work because the characters aren't that tight.  I have to think if Cristina, George, and Izzie were still around this would have been a completely different episode.  Meredith doesn't seem to have formed any meaningful ties as characters have left.

 

 

Great points!

 

The stuff you mentioned really bothered me as well.  I get that they don't want to do a year and a half of Meredith being depressed, but the audience needed to mourn too.  Derek has been on the show since the beginning.  We have seen him for more than eleven years.  And again, I am by no means a big Derek fan.  I have never liked Meredith/Derek and I think Derek can be a jerk a lot of times.  But, even I needed way more than what they gave me.  They didn't let me mourn.  They were like "eh it's inconvenient for us to go through the emotion of this so let's just skip ahead."  It was so disrespectful IMO.  You don't want to dwell on it, okay, don't but you can do an episode.  One episode.

 

Also, I just don't like the time jump.  I don't feel like what happened was real in that Grey's universe.  I didn't really get to see it/feel it.  I know it's not fanfic, but that's basically how I see it. 

[Bobbie2120]

You know I am so scared there going to do Alex and Mer. I just have a feeling

[AnitaM86]

Also, I just don't like the time jump.  I don't feel like what happened was real in that Grey's universe.  I didn't really get to see it/feel it.  I know it's not fanfic, but that's basically how I see it.

I think that was sort of what was supposed to be: not to feel it. A death like Derek's, should've been felt. It should have brought a weight down on Seattle Grace Mercy Death To All Watch Out Especially If It's a Transportation Method Hospital. But they took the easy way out. Don't feel it. Don't watch it. They got a few bits of the characters "missing" Derek (Amelia breaking down, Arizona yelling at the idea of replacing Derek, the flashbacks with Meredith) but that was it. I don't think that we needed the two hours of everyone in bed not leaving it and crying all the time, but taking cue of The Good Wife's "The Last Call" and "A Material World", both episodes felt what it was moving forward with grief. They weren't stuck, but they weren't back to normal in two seconds. It was a good pace and GA could have addressed it in a similar way. Instead, they just moved on. Like many on the media are saying, it even felt like a series finale in some ways. 

 

I think fanfics do a better job. They seem to care a bit more. I felt like the writers wanted to get this out of the way and move on, but instead did a catastrophic job in following the death of someone. 

 

You know I am so scared there going to do Alex and Mer. I just have a feeling

Ugh, I hope not. Alex deserves to have his own family happiness story. But unless they cast a new man for Meredith next season, I think they'll go this way. I hope to be absolutely wrong.

[Elle8]

 

 

I think fanfics do a better job. They seem to care a bit more. I felt like the writers wanted to get this out of the way and move on, but instead did a catastrophic job in following the death of someone. 

 

Ugh, I hope not. Alex deserves to have his own family happiness story. But unless they cast a new man for Meredith next season, I think they'll go this way. I hope to be absolutely wrong.

 

Absolutely agree. 

They couldn't do a "conventional" mourning episode because then you had to acknowledge the enormous importance of the character they decided to kill. The message of that episode was moving on, not give a proper goodbye. They did it to avoid further polemics about the choice of killing derek after last week colossal backlash, but still, it was wrong to the story and the viewers.

 

About Alex and Meredith, I really hope the rumors will stay rumors. It will be a huge mistake, of the proportion of Gizzie, and ghost sex. Awkward as George/Meredith sex. I really hope they won't go there. I don't really want Meredith with anybody actually, I know it's fair for a widow eventually to fall in love again,but not in this context. You can't work on a couple for eleven years, and then change the goal in 10 episodes. The happily ever after part is already ruined, but every solution that implies meredith and somebody else in love at the end of the series feels wrong to me at this point.

Edited May 2, 2015 by Elle8

[izabella]

As Dead Ellis said to her therapist about Richard, he was the love of her life and she couldn't love anyone like that ever again.  And she did not. 

 

I fully expect Meredith to go that route, too.  Derek was the love of her life, and like Dead Ellis, Meredith won't and can't love anyone else like that.  I think they'll end the series with Meredith being super surgeon, but unattached, like her mother.

[Chicken Wing]

I'd hate for that to be Meredith's rest-of-her-life. True, Meredith will never love anyone like she loved Derek, but that doesn't mean she can never love again, period. People move on. People heal. They put the shattered pieces of their hearts back together again and, somehow, find a way to open them up to love again. It'll never be the same as the great love they lost, but that doesn't mean it can't fulfill them and make them happy in a new way. And I think Meredith can do that. Ellis couldn't, or wouldn't. But Meredith isn't her mother. I don't think Meredith will be attached to anyone when the series ends, but I think it'll be clear that her future is open to anything.

[Lnmop]

You know I am so scared there going to do Alex and Mer. I just have a feeling

And then Alex will die.

[StaceyNotStacie]

About Alex and Meredith, I really hope the rumors will stay rumors. It will be a huge mistake, of the proportion of Gizzie, and ghost sex. Awkward as George/Meredith sex. I really hope they won't go there. I don't really want Meredith with anybody actually, I know it's fair for a widow eventually to fall in love again,but not in this context. You can't work on a couple for eleven years, and then change the goal in 10 episodes. The happily ever after part is already ruined, but every solution that implies meredith and somebody else in love at the end of the series feels wrong to me at this point.

 

If they were going to go that route, I would have preferred that they do it in a platonic friendship sort of way (in a Full House type of way).  The only thing that interests me about the two of them getting together is where would they live?  Would Meredith move her children into the house that she grew up in or would Alex move into Meredith's house and send Amelia to the "doctor frat house" to live with Arizona and Maggie (who I'm assuming also lives with them since she is always there).

[Chas411]

I think they're going to go for Alex/Maggie hence why she's costantly in scenes with him and he no longer has any meaningful scenes of any sort with Jo. I don't think they'll go there with Meredith/Alex.

[Elle8]

I'd hate for that to be Meredith's rest-of-her-life. True, Meredith will never love anyone like she loved Derek, but that doesn't mean she can never love again, period. People move on. People heal. They put the shattered pieces of their hearts back together again and, somehow, find a way to open them up to love again. It'll never be the same as the great love they lost, but that doesn't mean it can't fulfill them and make them happy in a new way. And I think Meredith can do that. Ellis couldn't, or wouldn't. But Meredith isn't her mother. I don't think Meredith will be attached to anyone when the series ends, but I think it'll be clear that her future is open to anything.

 

 

You're right, but consider all those merder fans who watched for 11 seasons, watched derek die,  wrote on twitter and Facebook all colors of disappointments, wrote a petition that collected almost 100000 signs and wrote all kinds of bad reviews online. After all that, after a large number of articles that discussed the importance of listening to the fans opinion, after all that backlash for killing one of fans favorite character, can you imagine add the offence of seeing meredith having a happy ending with someone else? Of course the healthy thing to do is moving on and, and if life allows it, fall in love again. I'm not saying either that every fans request should be embraced, I'm saying that this show already shocked his fanbase enough. It would be like HIMYM finale: you can't build a relationship for years and then change the goal in the end. Fans were furious. It ruined everything, I can't rewatch and enjoy an episode without thinking about that awful, unfair series finale. Considering the way they have built merder till season 10, i personally think that would be a wrong thing to do. Fans needs more respect. Probably the right thing to do is imply that she met somebody but not show it on screen, an open finale as you said.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Elle8

[Deanie87]

Personally I don't think that they are going to go with Alex/Maggie or Alex/Mer. However, quite a few contracts will be up after next season and as ALWAYS with this show, I have a feeling that this fact will dictate storylines more than anything else. I just hope to god that whoever is leaving will be upfront about it so we don't have to go through all the drama again.

[CleoCaesar]

Meredith will never love anyone like she loved Derek

 

In real life, that could only be a good thing. They were together, on and off, for 6 years. Most of it was ugly, volatile, dishonest, unhealthy and frankly hostile. (IMO, obviously.) It started off as an affair (he was married), then became an affair (prom sex), then he implied she was a whore for moving on with Finn, then he bailed after he "didn't want to keep breathing for her" (whatever), then they broke up at Cristina's aborted wedding, then nurse Rose (and his snotty "yes you should be worried"), then his being vicious to her (engagement ring, baseball bat), the Alzheimer's trial, suddenly a bullshit Post-It wedding, and out of nowhere she is the sun and not him (totally healthy!). Bullshit, all of it.

 

I'd like to see Meredith unattached as the series winds down. Not because she's cold like Ellis (although that too, maybe) but because being a whole person doesn't always necessitate being attached. Meredith can be extraordinary by herself.

[windsprints]

I'd hate for that to be Meredith's rest-of-her-life.

Me too. I can't remember how old Meredith is supposed to be since they seemed to deage her a couple of times, but I think she is supposed to be around 40. People certainly have the capacity to love more than one person in a lifetime, each love is different and unique. Its been about a year for Meredith since Derek died by the end of the episode. I can see her considering dating again by mid-season 12. Its a real life kind of story. I think its a sad commentary if the show sends the message that you only get one love in a lifetime and if you lose yours, well no more for you ever if you decide you'd like to be in another relationship.

consider all those merder fans who watched for 11 seasons, watched derek die,  wrote on twitter and Facebook all colors of disappointments, wrote a petition that collected almost 100000 signs and wrote all kinds of bad reviews online.

And said they aren't watching the show ever again. If they are not watching it should not matter to them should it?

I don't think that they are going to go with Alex/Maggie or Alex/Mer.

I don't either. We know they are adding (casting announcements) 2 males and I wouldn't be surprised to see 1 more added. I think they will bring in a new love interest for Maggie since there's been a positive response to her character. The audience seems to like her, she has a connection to both Meredith & Richard and is part of the friend group. She doesn't need to be paired with character as established as Alex. As for Alex/Mer - sorry but that is Gizzie-like. They're like siblings.

However, quite a few contracts will be up after next season and as ALWAYS with this show, I have a feeling that this fact will dictate storylines more than anything else. I just hope to god that whoever is leaving will be upfront about it so we don't have to go through all the drama again.

Agree!

Edited May 3, 2015 by windsprints

[Elle8]

 

I'd like to see Meredith unattached as the series winds down. Not because she's cold like Ellis (although that too, maybe) but because being a whole person doesn't always necessitate being attached. Meredith can be extraordinary by herself.

Good point, completely agree. Didn't they killed Derek to explore the chances of Meredith standing by herself? Right? I think Shonda implied this in her statement (let's pretend to believe that killing derek was a creative decision). If so, I don't see the point of introduce  a new romance for her -on screen at least-.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Elle8

[chocolatine]

People certainly have the capacity to love more than one person in a lifetime, each love is different and unique. Its been about a year for Meredith since Derek died by the end of the episode. I can see her considering dating again by mid-season 12. Its a real life kind of story. I think its a sad commentary if the show sends the message that you only get one love in a lifetime and if you lose yours, well no more for you ever if you decide you'd like to be in another relationship.

 

Totally agree with this. If Richard could move on with Catherine (terrible proposal scene notwithstanding) in his 60s after he watched both Ellis and Adele slowly die of Alzheimer's, then why can't Meredith? I also wanted to say that "moving on" doesn't necessarily mean "finding the new love of one's life right away". Going on a first date after 1-2 years of mourning will probably have a big emotional impact without having to mean that she will have an epic love story with that man. She'll probably take things much slower this time around, both for her own and her children's sakes, and it would be totally fine by me if she's not in a committed relationship by the end of the series.

[noname1]

"I fully expect Meredith to go that route, too. Derek was the love of her life, and like Dead Ellis, Meredith won't and can't love anyone else like that. I think they'll end the series with Meredith being super surgeon, but unattached, like her mother."

I think the hope has always been to show Meredith living a similar life but living it better-balances a marriage and career, unlike Ellis and thatcher --not agreeing to be the other woman (Meredith dumps Derek when she finds out about Addison although of course then delivers the pick me speech and eventually looses her panties--being a great mother--balancing career and motherhood--- now unlike Ellis who attempts suicide and gives Maggie up Meredith embraces the baby she bears after the loss of the love of her life and begins again. while there won't be another Derek there can be another love along the way.

[Lnmop]

About Alex and Meredith, I really hope the rumors will stay rumors. It will be a huge mistake, of the proportion of Gizzie, and ghost sex. Awkward as George/Meredith sex. I really hope they won't go there. I don't really want Meredith with anybody actually, I know it's fair for a widow eventually to fall in love again,but not in this context. You can't work on a couple for eleven years, and then change the goal in 10 episodes. The happily ever after part is already ruined, but every solution that implies meredith and somebody else in love at the end of the series feels wrong to me at this point.

Perhaps Shonda will reveal that Derek had a heretofore unknown brother who is just like McDreamy. He can come in and romance Mer. Lord knows it's possible in Shondaland based on Mer discovering a new sister every couple of years!

[izabella]

Shonda has some weird ideas about relationships.  I wouldn't put anything past her as far as Meredith goes. 

 

Maybe the last episode of the series will be Meredith meeting some new guy in a bar, just like in the first episode.

[noname1]

"In real life, that could only be a good thing. They were together, on and off, for 6 years. Most of it was ugly, volatile, dishonest, unhealthy and frankly hostile. (IMO, obviously.) It started off as an affair (he was married), then became an affair (prom sex), then he implied she was a whore for moving on with Finn, then he bailed after he "didn't want to keep breathing for her" (whatever), then they broke up at Cristina's aborted wedding, then nurse Rose (and his snotty "yes you should be worried"), then his being vicious to her (engagement ring, baseball bat), the Alzheimer's trial, suddenly a bullshit Post-It wedding, and out of nowhere she is the sun and not him (totally healthy!). Bullshit, all of it."

The first 3 1/2 (season four was short due to writers strike)seasons only covered the intern year and six or so months of their residency season 5-11 covered multiple years in that timeline the majority of their relationship was not ugly or volatile. Yes Derek did have an emotional breakdown but recovered the Alzheimer's trial was a marital and professional rough spot it's a drama and can't all be happy but since season four they've tried to show them working on their marriage(there was a legal marriage post the post it debacle) and being together

Quoting windspirits :

"Me too. I can't remember how old Meredith is supposed to be since they seemed to deage her a couple of times, but I think she is supposed to be around 40"

Agreed regarding the capacity to love. Regarding her age: At the start of season 11 she was 35- she tells Derek and Alex she was five when her mother gave birth to Maggie who is identified as a 30 year old. She also has a conversation where she tells Maggie's I'm 5 years older than you . Then months happened throughout the course of season 11 then the almost 1 year time jump she is somewhere between 36 and 37.

Edited May 3, 2015 by noname1

[AnitaM86]

Didn't they killed Derek to explore the chances of Meredith standing by herself? Right? I think Shonda implied this in her statement (let's pretend to believe that killing derek was a creative decision). If so, I don't see the point of introduce  a new romance for her -on screen at least-.

Wasn't that the point of his absence earlier in the season as well? Both Derek and Cristina were gone (not dead Derek) and she had to do things on her own? How many more people will SR kill to prove this? We know she can. 

 

True, Meredith will never love anyone like she loved Derek, but that doesn't mean she can never love again, period. People move on. People heal. They put the shattered pieces of their hearts back together again and, somehow, find a way to open them up to love again. It'll never be the same as the great love they lost, but that doesn't mean it can't fulfill them and make them happy in a new way. And I think Meredith can do that.

Of course she can. And sure, that will eventually happen and even in some way, surely Derek would want her to move on and yes, Meredith will never love someone the way she loved Derek but she will love again. And then Shonda will kill him again, after being shot and going through a plane crash. Same old same old.

 

I don't think it will be very well received by a good part of the audiences, but since they don't seem to matter much to SR, I guess we can expect this to happen in S12. Given that it's 2016 there, I'm guessing S12 will take place almost 2 years after Derek's death, so I agree with the poster that said that she will probably consider dating again. 

 

Unless we keep the damn carousel turning with the constant Ellis parallels and obviously, never getting off and blah blah blah. This metaphor is getting as stupid as the sun one. 

Edited May 3, 2015 by AnitaM86

[Chicken Wing]

I just don't want the show to end with the implication that Derek was it for Meredith and she can never, will never, find love again. I would like some indication that she at least can find that kind of happiness again, if she so chooses. She doesn't need to find someone else. She can be alone, stand on her own as a person, as a surgeon, as a mother, without needing a second half to complete her. Much like Meredith realized, when Derek first came back from D.C., that she doesn't actually need him but she wants him, I want her story to close with the same idea: she doesn't need to find someone new to love, she can live without it, but she knows that that part of life is still open to her if she chooses.

[windsprints]

At the start of season 11 she was 35

I guess it was another de-age. She was 32 in the pilot. LOL, its been really, really long 3 years!!! Every time a sister pops up she loses a few years. 

I want her story to close with the same idea: she doesn't need to find someone new to love, she can live without it, but she knows that that part of life is still open to her if she chooses.

I think that would be a great ending but I think it will depend on EP. If the show continues beyond season 12 and she chooses to stay on, I think Meredith will eventually move on. If they know the status by mid-s12 I can see the second half of the season building to that. If they move the season along timeline wise it will be almost 2 years since Derek died by then.

Edited May 3, 2015 by windsprints

[runforcover]

You know I am so scared there going to do Alex and Mer. I just have a feeling

Oh, they are doing that.  Be afraid.

[Greysaddict]

Yeah. What was that? 2 hours of all over the place!

Is Greys technically in the future now? A year ahead of us? This timeline got screwy. New years, what year?

  

Trying to make sense of the timeline of the entire show is fruitless, but technically they were "behind" real time since seasons 1-3 were 1 year and I think seasons 4-5 was also 1 year. After that they pretty much went to season= year except season 11 picks up right where 10 ended...but then we skipped ahead a few months during Hermans surgery (God that doesn't even feel like this season anymore). So yea, who knows?

Me too. I can't remember how old Meredith is supposed to be since they seemed to deage her a couple of times, but I think she is supposed to be around 40.

Did they really say Maggie and Mer were 30/35? Because I agree with Windsprints. Meredith should be about 39-40 (well I guess maybe 41 since we just jumped a whole year).

I think I'm ok with Meredith having a new love interst mid/end of season 12. But if she hooks up with either alex or Owen I am so done with this show.

[noname1]

Trying to make sense of the timeline of the entire show is fruitless, but technically they were "behind" real time since seasons 1-3 were 1 year and I think seasons 4-5 was also 1 year. After that they pretty much went to season= year except season 11 picks up right where 10 ended...but then we skipped ahead a few months during Hermans surgery (God that doesn't even feel like this season anymore). So yea, who knows?

Did they really say Maggie and Mer were 30/35? Because I agree with Windsprints. Meredith should be about 39-40 (well I guess maybe 41 since we just jumped a whole year).

I think I'm ok with Meredith having a new love interst mid/end of season 12. But if she hooks up with either alex or Owen I am so done with this show.

Yes it comes up a few time in episode 11/1-11/4 Edited May 3, 2015 by noname1

[WalrusGirl]

I feel like I must be a crappy since-the-pilot fan - while I loved MerDer (except when he was being a hateful asshole), honestly the episodes haven't been about them in so long that that's not all I'm watching for. Much like George's last season, their scenes together have dwindled so much (prior to this season's Derek-less episodes) that it's not the massive shift to the feel of the show it would have been six years ago. While his exit changes Meredith's storylines more completely, Sandra Oh's exit had a much bigger effect on the "feel" of the show and individual episodes than I think PD's will. (And I liked Meredith with Finn/McVet and tumor-causing-priapism one night stand, and her flirtation with Mark before she knew he was Mark, so while I love MerDer and their early year scenes and post-it wedding, I'm not insulted at the idea of them ever writing a new love interest for her. I just think the writers who would have made me fall for a flirtation or relationship are long gone, so it would fall as flat as all the other romantic relationships now do for me.)

On the one hand, it's wonderful when shows give clear gifts to the longtime fans who have helped to make the show a success (eg, ER's exit for Carole). On the other hand, the writers don't owe us the plot we want - it seems like this argument doesn't really happen with massive serialized book plots, like Harry Potter, etc. The most ardent shipper fans who are the most upset/boycotting are such a small percentage of overall viewers determining the ratings - don't get me wrong, actors and writers should pay lip service and have genuine appreciation for the fans, but it's their (Shonda's) work/art/story. If she wants to lower what's going to be part of her legacy with an episode full of inside insults to one of her actors, that's her prerogative. It's hers.

So those are my (unpopular) thoughts. :-P

- Why is Alex Meredith's Emergency contact? Would it not have been Derek? I guess maybe she changed it at some point?

I'm sure she would have been getting prenatal care wherever she was, so it would have been in her chart when they contacted her OB (or when they checked for her chart in their computer system; in my area, my nearest several hospitals can access my PCP's routine medical files for me) whether or not she'd actually been to that hospital before. Since she'd have been a new patient with both her local OB and the hospital, her new patient paperwork to list an emergency contact would have been done after Derek died. Her Seattle chart would still list Derek until she changes it.

There was no real reason to recast Zola. They didn't recast Sofia so they have now made the age difference between those two children larger than it should be. And there is no real reason to age Sofia at this point, because we see her at Christmas anyway, so she wouldn't change that much between then & Valentines Day.

Given how Zola's been conspicuously non-verbal (since she aged past adorable baby/toddler giggles and babbles) and suddenly got lines when re-cast, my guess is that the adorable little girl(s?) playing Zola couldn't really recite lines adequately. (Who knows if the little girl(s?) playing Sofia can or not, but I'd guess they don't anticipate spending enough time with Callie or Arizona at home with her to feel the need to re-cast for the purpose of lines.) But it does screw up their being close in age.

It would be like HIMYM finale: you can't build a relationship for years and then change the goal in the end. Fans were furious. It ruined everything, I can't rewatch and enjoy an episode without thinking about that awful, unfair series finale.

Actually, the final bit of that finale wasn't "changing the goal" - that was their plan since early in the series, hence taping the kids' finale scenes ahead of time in something like the start of season two. The problem was that the show went on for so many years longer than they expected, and what would have been a perfect ending in seasons, say, 2-4 no longer was as the show went on. They supposedly thought about changing their plan/that ending when the time actually came, but decided not to. (Which I think is even worse than just being blind to how the show and characters ended up evolving - they just could.not.let.go of using that pretaped footage with the kids and adjust to non-speaking/generic comments from them as the new final sequence would have required.)

In this case, Shonda probably had her original "goal"/endgame changed for and dictated her to by the network when they made her stop going back and forth with their relationship. I don't think she ever wanted a happy ending for them forever. Then her level of control changed, and situations with actors changed, and this is how she's getting back to some version of what she'd originally intended to be Meredith's series-long arc.

I hope that someday, she reveals what she'd originally wanted for Meredith/MerDer from the beginning, or if it was on-and-off, needing-vs-not-needing him indefinitely while Meredith remained largely (technically) single? Because I think it's definitely ABC that gave MerDer fans our lasting (until death do they part...) happy ending - that may have never been Shonda's goal, let alone as it happened.

Edited May 4, 2015 by WalrusGirl

[noname1]

 

In this case, Shonda probably had her original "goal"/endgame changed for and dictated her to by the network when they made her stop going back and forth with their relationship. I don't think she ever wanted a happy ending for them forever. Then her level of control changed, and situations with actors changed, and this is how she's getting back to some version of what she'd originally intended to be Meredith's series-long arc.

I remember after the bomb episode when everyone started reaching out to Shonda about why he couldnt have just stayed with her at the end of the episode and she said because then the show would be over. I do think the end game was to have them together but a bumpy road getting there.

[windsprints]

I do think the end game was to have them together but a bumpy road getting there.

I agree. I found the quote that Shonda made about the ending of Grey's in S10 when she was speaking of knowing the ending to Scandal:

Rhimes said she once felt the same way about Grey's Anatomy, which is currently limping through its 10th season, but later changed her mind. "I knew the end of Grey's Anatomy, and then we kept going, so that I finally just had to write that and move past it," Rhimes said. "Who knows, at this point, how long that show's going to go? It's going to go as long as I feel interested in what happens to those characters."

I think Meredith marrying and becoming a mother was the original ending.

Edited May 4, 2015 by windsprints

[Aethera]

My first thought while watching this episode was: does Alex get a board seat now, please?!

 

Agreed with a poster upthread who didn't understand how Neuro was suddenly shortstaffed.  Amelia appeared, at that point, to be handling it, and Derek had been gone for ages, anyway. What is the problem?

 

I completely get why the funeral was going to be tough logistics-wise without the other sisters, Addison and Cristina. It was weird, but I think the idea was that Mer was so disconnected - we did see the brief scene of her at what was clearly the after-funeral thing at her house, looking totally checked out. I think Meredith felt like it all passed in 10 seconds, so that's what we got, too.

 

1000th 'me too' on the carousel, Kate Burton's wig, and that GIANT baby. I really wish they'd relaxed on the Ellis stuff - some was expected, but it was way too much. I was also distracted by all the striped shirts; glad I'm not the only one.  And I was hoping she'd just name the child some lovely random name. Ellis, no.

 

I really liked Owen having that realization as he lectured Amelia that he was doing the same thing too - running away. 

 

The Ben/Bailey storyline was the worst one, for me. I thought they played terrible writing/storyline as best they could though.  Every time they showed up again, I cringed for them both. The best Bailey moments were her touching Mer's arm in the elevator and then being there to watch over her as she started her first surgery back.

 

Alex and Mer's scene in the hospital was good.   Though, yes, floating Derek head was very creepy.  I looked away and looked back just in time to see it fade, and had to rewind to make sure I hadn't imagined it!  Ellen Pompeo has made me like her more this season than I ever did - I used to watch this show for everyone but her, but I think she's really done well.  Perhaps it's that she does her best work with no lines.

 

Amelia 'gliding' (that is the PERFECT word) in with the baby and that beatific expression made me laugh out loud. I'm not an Amelia hater but that was just ridiculous. Felt like the end of a bad movie. I didn't see the previews, but it does sound like they're going to move backward. I'm trying hard to like Amelia, but I am sick of her ranting as well. It would be nice to get a break from her for a few episodes.

 

I thought Catherine's proposal was silly and not what Richard wanted, but I'm glad we're done going back and forth with these 2.

 

Overall, I think it was disjointed, and felt like the production was rushed.

[ChicksDigScars]

I can't decided if it's a bad or a good thing that I'm home from work today and am watching Season 2 reruns on Lifetime. Kind of emphasizes how great it once was, and how craptastic it is now.  (Current episode: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Derek!  George!  Cristina!  Addison! Even excited to see Izzie!)

[proserpina65]

That was weird.

Also mrs questionfear threatened to throw me out when I couldn't stop laughing at Amelia gliding into the room holding baby Ellis. Something about how she was filmed and blocked made it look like she'd wandered in from the set of a somehow even worse show, and I couldn't stop laughing.

Given that both the actress and the character came over from Private Practice, this is actually true.

[Anela]

I can't decided if it's a bad or a good thing that I'm home from work today and am watching Season 2 reruns on Lifetime. Kind of emphasizes how great it once was, and how craptastic it is now.  (Current episode: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Derek!  George!  Cristina!  Addison! Even excited to see Izzie!)

I didn't know they were still showing reruns. I love that episode. "It looks like Santa threw up in here." I really miss George.

[statsgirl]

I thought there was some awful stuff, and the occasional decent scene.

 

The worst was Bailey/Ben's conversation that seemed to go on for over a year.  Same thing, over and over again. And then when Ben finally does what she wants, she says it's the worst thing he's ever done to her. RME I miss the days when Bailey was awesome.

 

Arizona's outburst in the cafeteria was why I stopped watching this show. Everyone, but Arizona most of all, seems to act like five year olds and the show pats them on the head for it and says 'good job, we know you' care', instead of saying "grow up and be a professiona"..  Hiring another neurosurgeon is not disrespecting Derek, Arizona, it's respecting what a great department he created in the hospital.

 

I still don't like Jo but she was tolerable here.  Alex needs to have a life apart from Meredith and her family.

 

April's breakdown speech was just... weird.  I felt like I was watching an acting class where everyone brings a monologue they've learned and tries to deliver it.  Catherine Scorsone tried her best the the writing was pretty bad.

 

I don't know why Richard wants to marry Catherine.  The sex must be great because the woman is very unpleasant at time.

 

Owen is excuse for going away for 9 months. April isn't, especially as she just abandoned her grieving husband instead of trying to help him.

[DrLar]

What I was scratching my head about: So the hospital just lost a Doctor, Derek, and Meredith leaves, that's 2 Doctors, so the CHIEF of surgery decides to go on tour? for 9 months? and take another doctor with him? who the heck was the Chief in the meantime?  I FF all carousel and Bailey scenes.. just cringeworthy IMO.

[windsprints]

Richard was acting Chief. He took over for Owen. But you're right - the hospital was left without both trauma surgeons and 2 of the general surgeons + one who was taking on Chief duties.

Edited May 6, 2015 by windsprints

[kingshearte]

Along with this, every one touches faces and hold heads when they kiss.. Who does that in real life?

Haven't you seen the episode of Friends where Joey's taking over for Susan Sarandon's character on Days, and she explains why they do that?

 

There were aspects of this episode that I rather liked, and aspects that I really didn't. The Ben-Bailey scenes were terrible. All of them. The endless flashbacks were annoying. The jumping forward so they could avoid dealing with too much grief and explaining the absence of various people who would certainly be around sucked. Really hated April abandoning Jackson like that. I understand that she just lost a baby and is trying to deal with that and everything, and maybe it really is different for mothers than for fathers, but seriously, he did also lose a baby, and he's grieving too, and to run off like that was just appallingly selfish. I almost liked the whole situation surrounding Amelia finding out, if she hadn't gone off about how obvious it was that Owen was there to tell her that someone had died. Her speech almost implied that people who have to deliver news like that take some kind of joy in being "the first to look at you like that," and she feels very smug in informing them that they're not the first. I've been largely indifferent to her; this was the first time that I came close to actively disliking her the way some people seem to.

 

I did like other elements of that, though — the protocol of not telling her until she got out of surgery, as hard a decision as that was; the fact that (at least as far as we saw), she didn't get pissy with Callie when she inevitably realized that Callie arrived at that surgery knowing and didn't say anything; Owen in the scrub room; seriously, I liked most of that whole scenario except her big speech. I liked the beginning, with Meredith arriving back at the hospital and trying to formulate the words, and the way they just ended up getting blurted out like that. I actually kinda liked the comparisons with Ellis, although I do think they went way overboard with them (for some reason, I found the juxtaposition of Ellis telling Meredith to wait before phoning 911 and Meredith telling Zola to call now particularly compelling). I also liked Meredith appropriating Derek's ferry boat scrub cap (that may have been the part where I teared up just a wee bit).

[taanja]

 

. It was weird, but I think the idea was that Mer was so disconnected - we did see the brief scene of her at what was clearly the after-funeral thing at her house, looking totally checked out. I think Meredith felt like it all passed in 10 seconds, so that's what we got, too.

 

De-lurking to reply to this:

 

Yes. My husband died suddenly and tragically and I have hardly any memory of the funeral---or the days immediately following. In fact years went by in a dream-like state. I thought Ellen Pompeo did an excellent job portraying the shock and massive soul crushing grief that the character Meredith was experiencing. Kudos to her.

 

[Deanie87]

So sorry for your loss, taanja. These episodes must be harder for you to watch than the rest of us.

[mythoughtis]

This maybe the worst episode of Greys anatomy I have ever seen.

And is Derek's extended family ever going to get to see those kids?

Edited May 8, 2015 by mythoughtis

[walnutqueen]

De-lurking to reply to this:

 

Yes. My husband died suddenly and tragically and I have hardly any memory of the funeral---or the days immediately following. In fact years went by in a dream-like state. I thought Ellen Pompeo did an excellent job portraying the shock and massive soul crushing grief that the character Meredith was experiencing. Kudos to her.

 

Thank you for de-lurking and sharing this with us, taanja.  I am sorry for your loss and empathize with your grief.  It is, perhaps, the most impossible of emotions to articulate.

[Nobodysfan]

That 20 sec scene was Derek´s funeral??? Are you kidding me? This all makes you think how terribly Rhimes must hate Dempsey. I applaud him for leaving Greys with his head held high,thanking fans on twitter and moving on,closing the chapter. Rhimes is so full of personal revenge.

[PrincessTT]

That 20 sec scene was Derek´s funeral??? Are you kidding me? This all makes you think how terribly Rhimes must hate Dempsey. I applaud him for leaving Greys with his head held high,thanking fans on twitter and moving on,closing the chapter. Rhimes is so full of personal revenge.

 

To be fair to Shonda, the funeral was going to be problematic.

If they had done a proper funeral scene it would have been ridiculous with no Cristina, Addison, Derek's mum, Derek's other sisters.

[Nobodysfan]

To be fair to Shonda, the funeral was going to be problematic.

If they had done a proper funeral scene it would have been ridiculous with no Cristina, Addison, Derek's mum, Derek's other sisters.

 

Well, invite those people on the show for a guest spot then and pay due tribute to the character who in the duo with Mer brought fans and ratings for 11 seasons long.

 

But Rhimes could care less.

 

This and last episode that is such a  f.... y..... from Rhimes to MerDer fans, unbelievable.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Season5OwenHuntfan