Watching the finale of Grey’s Anatomy last night was an experience long time fans of the show aren’t soon to forget.
If you haven’t watched the episode, step away from the post. Spoilers Ahead!
As it will probably go down in history as the most disturbing and suspenseful episode of the series, creator Shonda Rhimes had a lot to answer for this morning. But if you thought watching it was difficult, try writing it!
Shonda revealed that the shocking episode was one she was “nervous” for audiences to see. Her intention was to write it as almost a “stand-alone movie” that coincided with the series. Though she admits she has gotten mostly positive feedback, the fact that Meredith has a miscarriage in the episode is something a lot of people were upset over. She explains that it was always her intention to have the events of her pregnancy play out this way, but that now that Meredith knows what she wants (i.e. Derek and a McFamily), having a baby will be something that will be explored in the coming season.
Here are some other excepts from her interview about the finale:
Where was Bailey’s beau Ben in this episode?
RHIMES: Ben was not working that day. There was a great debate in the writers’ room that we should have Bailey say something about Ben not working. And I felt like, no, we only see Ben sporadically as it is. He’s not at work that day. And I didn’t want to spend time — because we have so little of it and I had to leave 18 minutes on the cutting room floor — chatting about where Ben was. I felt like you knew Ben wasn’t there because you didn’t see him there. [But] I think there’s going to [fallout] about that later.
Had Katherine Heigl not left the show, what role would Izzie have played in the finale? Would she have been killed?
RHIMES: I have no idea.
Really?
RHIMES: Really.
Talk to me about the decision to have Alex call out for Izzie after he was shot.
RHIMES: I really wanted to find a way to deal with how much Alex is missing Izzie. And it felt really poignant to me that if he was lying on a table dying he’d be calling for her.
Lexie confessed her love for Alex, but some fans aren’t buying it. She didn’t really make a decision between Alex and Mark in that moment, did she?
RHIMES: I don’t think she could have possibly made a decision in that moment. The thing I think is interesting is that Alex definitely made his decision. So I don’t necessarily know that there’s a triangle there. When Alex called for Izzie — when in your hour of need you’re calling for another woman — I think he made his decision. So I don’t think there’s a triangle.
In other words, hope is very much alive for Mark and Lexie?
RHIMES: Yes, there’s definitely hope.
You previously teased this episode as a game-changer. How has the game been changed?
RHIMES: Here’s why I said that: When you face a situation like this — when the entire hospital has turned into a crime scene — everyone you know has faced life or death. It’s an incredibly traumatic event. Everything you knew, believed, felt, and required of the characters in terms of what their stories have been or what you believed about them no longer exists. Part of what’s interesting about next season is that we can start anywhere — in any emotional state — and almost anything can happen because we just came out of this. It’s not like tomorrow they come back being the exact same characters. They’re all sort of fundamentally changed.
Phew! Maybe this is the start of bigger and better storylines for Grey’s next season.
Maybe that will be enough to get Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo to stay.
Honestly, if they got material like that every week, why would they leave???