Was Shonda’s Season of Romance Seriously Good Or Did It Suck?
Well I
have mostly positive thoughts about Grey’s
this season; which
surprises me because earlier on when all the stories were centered on
the law suit and the plane crash victims buying the hospital, Shonda
and her writers had begun to lose me. For the first time ever in the
nine years that I have been addicted to Grey’s Anatomy; I actually
missed two or three episodes and took my sweet time in catching up.
And the thing is; I’m not the only one.
Ratings
Were Not As Strong As Last Year
Ratings
were down this year; especially for the finale; which is a little
worrying. While last years finale certainly had more hype surrounding
it and promotion; I still feel that ratings should have been better
as there were so many reasons why ratings should have been higher for
this season’s finale. It’s pretty clear that some Mark and Lexie
shippers and the individual fans of both these characters have
ditched the show given the tragic way in which Mark and Lexie were
written out last year. So attracting new viewers or even the old fans
back is going to be difficult for the network now given the show is
nine years old. The numbers are not terrible, just going down
steadily. Grey’s Anatomy averaged a 4.1 in the demographic ratings
which makes the show as the highest rating drama in the 18-49 demo this year.
While
Season 9 revolved mostly around the recovery of the plane crash
victims and their loved ones; it was also a season of changes for
just about every character. The only part of the season that became
tedious for me was the legal stuff, the sale of the hospital and Alex
and Jo (which I will discuss later on in this post). A lot of my
dislike with those stories was that they weren’t convincing and
this is probably because there were so many other ways that these
arcs could have been played out.
Anyway
let’s talk about the characters’ and their story arcs for this
season.
Meredith
and Derek
I
think most fans will agree that we have to start with Meredith and
Derek. Their stories began pretty much as predicted last year.
Meredith was holding it all inside and trying to support everyone
else, which is what she does. Things came to a head for her in
episode five, where she finally broke and took a moment to let it
sink in that she had lost her sister. Not long after this there is
happy news about the pregnancy, and I could not have asked for a
better outcome for these two.
Happy MerDer
Derek’s
sister came into town to donate a nerve for Derek’s hand surgery
and he stubbornly refused the surgery at first. It was his sister who
finally convinced him that he needed the surgery. When they found out
the Meredith had the Alzheimer’s gene, it came as no surprise. The
birth of ‘fetus’ who was later named “Bailey” was wonderful,
but the drama of possibly losing Meredith was way overdone. We all
knew Meredith was not dying; so I found it to be a little ridiculous.
Cristina
and Owen
Wow,
this couple have had quite a season. It began with Cristina working
miles away at her new fellowship position at the Mayo clinic in
Minnesota. She then returns after losing yet another mentor, Dr
Thomas. His death told her that she needed Owen and her people and so
back to Seattle she came. Owen filed for divorce partly due to the
conflict of interest with the law suit and because he felt it was the
right thing as he felt that they would just keep hurting each other.
Baby Issue Still Stands Between Crowen
Cristina
reveals that she wants Owen back and from then on we see Cristina
really step up to be Owen’s person, which is what he asked her to
be in counseling last season. However there is a case of two parents
who are critically injured who have a ten year old boy, and it’s
looking like this kid is about to become an orphan. Owen starts
getting ideas about adopting the kid. It brings the baby dilemma into
the lime light again and they realise they have to face this
difference in needs and wants. Owen says he wants Cristina, but does
not sound convincing. In the season finale Cristina walks away and
Owen does not follow, therefore leaving fans wondering what will
happen to them. More than two seasons of baby drama and it’s still
unresolved. I have no comment here, except that I loved these
characters this season and I love Cristina no matter what she does.
Arizona
and Callie
Well
this couple’s story threw everyone for a loop. No-one ever expected
Arizona to cheat on Callie, at least until skanky Lauren showed up.
And even when it happened in the penultimate episode, I still could
not believe it. In the season finale, I totally got it and I am still
trying to wrap my head around this. Bottom line is Arizona was in
pain, emotional and mental pain, but she dealt with it in a very
stupid and cruel way. I don’t believe she deliberately took revenge
on her wife, like some are saying. But she made a terrible mistake
acting on impulse like that. She and Callie need to go to marriage
counseling for some serious therapy and finally deal with the ‘leg.’
Arizona is still blaming Callie for cutting off her leg, because they
never dealt with it. What will happen here I wonder? I don’t think
Lauren is going away anytime soon, since she deliberately revealed
Arizona’s wedding ring pinned to her scrubs. So we may see more of
Lauren trying to break up Callie and Arizona. Not sure I want to see
that.
Calzona's Troubles Are Just Beginning
Alex
and Jo
While
I love seeing Alex in a happy place I am worried where this story is
going to go. It is about time Alex found love. He has not really
truly loved someone since Izzie and she was better for Alex than this
intern is. Izzie may have left him when all he did was worry about
her pushing herself so soon after having cancer treatments and the
like, however she did come back and wanted to repair their marriage.
When Alex told her to go, I understood it; but I really felt that she
was the one for him. Jo Wilson is not and she worries me. The assault
on her ex boyfriend is a worry, she seems to have issues and I think
Alex has had enough crazy. And why are the writers shoving that
storyline under the rug? Or are we going to revisit it next season?
April
Jackson and Matthew
While
I like April and Matthew, I prefer her with Jackson. They look good
together and they are best friends in every sense of the word.
Jackson is more tolerable when he has scenes with April. Matthew has
already figured out the she has something going on with Jackson, so
that relationship’s days’ are numbered. Then it will likely be
more of the same with her and Jackson. I hope not actually, I hope
they get married. Jackson is in love with April, but he just could
not handle the crazy way she carried on when she thought they were
pregnant. He had decided he would marry her if it were they were
pregnant and that’s when Jackson realised he was in love with her
and could not deal with the crazy. She just does not get it and I
think he believes she is not ready for marriage. But now that she got
engaged to Matthew, he is likely having second thoughts.
Miranda
Bailey
What
to say about Miranda Bailey? She had quite an interesting year. He
subsequent melt down over the infection to her patients surprised
many fans. She married her darling Ben, which was lovely; although I
thought that she was going to make a run for it early on in the
piece. At the end of the season when she came through for Meredith
and saved her life was awesome and brought her out of her funk,
however I could have slapped her when she burst into tears before
telling Derek and Cristina that Meredith was okay. No self respecting
doctor does that; the first thing you say to a patients family is
that the patient is fine. That was the writers’ attempt at creating
more drama. We know Bailey has been upset, we know she would have
felt overwhelmed operating on Meredith. We are not stupid, we get it.
I know, it‘s TV; suspend my belief before I watch, but seriously it
annoyed me.
Bailey Gets Her Ben
The
Interns
I
can’t really say much here as I cannot make up my minds about them.
I do like Heather and Leah. I just heard recently that they have all
been offered regular contracts, so this tells me they are here to
stay. The show needs them. Meredith, Cristina and the gang have to
have someone to teach. That’s the whole point of the show. But does
this mean that they will become the next Meredith, Alex, Cristina,
Izzie and George. Are they grooming these guys so that the show can
go on without the main stars? Grey’s Anatomy would not last past
five episodes if there was no Derek, Meredith or Cristina. Anyway I
don’t think that’s what they are doing. In any case I would love
to see more of Heather and Leah, so bring it on. The others I don’t
really care for.
Richard
Webber
I’ve
saved the best for last. Richard had an extremely interesting year
and a heart breaking one too. His wife Adele passed on, and he spent
months feeling guilty that he was not there. He stopped seeing
Katherine Avery and she got concerned. Meredith dragged him back into
an OR in the hope he would start to snap out of his funk. He was
supportive of everyone this season, like a father figure is how it
felt to me. So I really hope he is not dead, Bailey will be
devastated and I don’t want to see that. Meredith will be
devastated and I definitely don’t want to see her lose another part
of her family and let’s face it Richard might as well be her
father.
So
that’s my wrap on the characters and their stories this season. As
far as rating this season, I would go as far as saying that is was
better than Season Seven or Eight and I thought Season Eight was
pretty good. I’ve never been one to compare, but Season 7 was
ruined with the Callie, Arizona, Mark baby story. Season 8 was
fabulous, until the plane crash happened. Season 9 was really
awesome, except for the law suit/hospital purchase. And as far as the
Season of Romance, I felt that Shonda did give us the romance
promised.
RIP Mark Sloan
So
fans, what do you think about Season 9? I would love to hear your
opinion.
Visit My Website: Janelle Coulton; Freelance Writer
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