Grey's Anatomy Season 12 - It's Pretty Awesome So Far

Hey Grey's Addicts,

Hope you are all enjoying Season 12. I have not written much here lately, as is the case when I am writing for clients, however I thought I should drop in and talk about the 12th Season that recently premiered in September. 

I try to stay clear of spoiler and living in Australia, we are a few weeks behind the US, so therefore I have not been visiting the usual Grey's Anatomy spoiler sites. One site I visit all the time though, is Spoiler TV, I just love that site. I have been keeping an eye on the ratings and I gotta say, I take back what I said about Derek Shepherd's death tanking the ratings. The ratings seem to be steady and quite impressive in the demographic.

Shonda Rhimes is literally on fire this season with Grey's, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder. These three shows have finished in the top three for Thursday nights for the last few weeks, and that is a huge achievement. I can see Grey's Anatomy being on ABC TV for a few more years to come yet if these numbers are anything to go by. ABC seem to know how to get high numbers in their prized time-slots.

As for the show itself, Season 12 has made an excellent start. I am certainly intrigued to see what is coming and it would seem as though I am not the only one. I have so far watched three episodes and have enjoyed them all.
   
I guess a few fans left when McDreamy passed on, however it would seem that I was right about Ellen Pompeo. She has a huge fan-base, which is great as Grey's Anatomy for me has always been about Meredith Grey and her story. It would seem as though this is where Shonda plans to take the show too. 

Right now, Jackson is bugging me, as I agree with April that you fight for a marriage. And agreeing with April is not something that I do on a regular basis, but I feel for her. Jackson needs to think about why he got married in the first place. 

Bailey is kind of bugging me, and I cannot put my finger on why, it will come to me in the next few episodes. Alex and Jo bug too, but that's nothing new. Jo's whining is starting to annoy me. 

A taste of things to come perhaps?

That's really about it, it is early days yet. I will be back toward the end of the fall/winter season to review what I thought of the first eight to ten episodes of Grey's Anatomy.

Now it is your turn to have your say. What do you think of Season 12 so far? Let me know in the comments or join me on Twitter or Facebook.





Follow Grey's Anatomy Addicts on Facebook and Twitter

Find out more about the author of this blog at: Jel Writes




Copyright © 2015 Janelle Coulton

Grey’s Anatomy Season 8 Rant and Rave - Part 1

Season 8 of Grey's Anatomy in mine and many fan's opinions' totally kicked ass over Season 7. The general feeling from the first nine episodes was that the creators were well aware that they may lose some of their major players; the six original stars whose contracts were up at the end of Season 8. 


This is most likely why most of the focus was on the original characters: Meredith and Derek, Cristina and Owen, Alex, Richard and Bailey. In the first couple of episodes the focus was squarely on Meredith and Derek's marriage and story with Zola's adoption. Cristina's story arc was focussed more on her career, rather than her personal life, with Shonda saving Owen and Cristina's drama for the later part of the season. Callie, Arizona and Mark were mostly back stories throughout the first few episodes. Richard and Bailey also took a bit of a back seat, with Bailey being portrayed as very angry and upset until sorting out her differences with Meredith in Episode 8, Heart Shaped Box. This annoyed many Bailey fans, as they had to sit through many episodes of her being less than happy. However we all know Shonda Rhimes does not do happy.




Meredith and Richard 


Season 7 also started out well; however the time jump of a month after the shooting upset many fans. I was on the verge of forgiving Shonda as the first half of Season 7 was pretty good until the Callie, Arizona, Mark triangle.  So many fans hated this story arc mostly because it was such a cliché. This seems to be typical of Shonda Rhimes and her team of writers, however the focus on most of the original characters in the first half of Season 8 for me; all was forgiven. It just seems as though Shonda and her writers start out so well, and then don't bring the good stuff at the end. Her finales are always well written and entertaining, however the huge tragedy endings to the season are getting old. Season 7’s finale was actually a refreshing change and yet still a cliffhanger that kept all of us wondering for four, long months. As a fan, I loved it.

         

Never get tired of seeing these two


Baby Zola was the cutest and the scenes with Meredith and Derek were so adorable. The first two episodes where they lose Zola was heart breaking and I didn't expect it to happen so soon, I was expecting trouble with Meredith and Derek's marriage and the adoption process, but it was a shock it came so soon and that baby Zola was given to them about three months later according to Shonda's timeline. That seemed a little fast for an adoption, however I know nothing about the process so who knows?





Meredith is so pissed at being fired


Meredith's firing came as no surprise; it's what should have happened in the circumstance and very real; however Chief Webber stepping up to take the blame kind of threw me for a loop, I was not expecting that, I was actually expecting Alex to step in; in what capacity I do not know. Then when Dr Webber resigned as the Chief of Surgery, basically firing himself; Derek and Meredith's marriage seemed to be in all sorts of trouble and Derek's 'holier than though' attitude upset many fans. It almost seemed to me that Shonda was trying to create dislike for Derek amongst his fans, should Patrick Dempsey decide not to re-ink his contract, because at the time he was misquoted as saying he was not coming back in Season 9; however as it stands right now, all the original cast have signed new contracts for two seasons.





Bailey and Torres Supervise a Gunther


The Gunther was the best part of the Season Premiere, it was the funniest thing I've seen on TV in a long time; especially the part with Cristina and Alex when Cristina accidentally stabs with a syringe in the OR and he codes. Alex yelling "You Crazy Bitch!" "You almost killed me!" at Cristina was hilarious, best scene from episode two, by far. And when Alex helps Meredith after her and Derek lose Zola was beautiful. I was in tears when they walked out together. 


April never quite got the hang of Chief Resident by the mid-season hiatus she was still struggling. However by season's end I guess I got used to it. All the other residents still gave her trouble no matter what she did, however who could Owen have chosen realistically? Not his wife, not Meredith (after what she did with the trial), not Alex after he narked on Meredith, not Jackson who walked away from Dr Webber's trial. So April with her checklists and procedures was the logical choice. Even in the OR in Suddenly, Episode ten when Cristina bags her out to avoid talking to Teddy about Henry; she lets it go and takes orders from Cristina later when the surgery is done. A Chief Resident does not do that; Bailey would not do that.

                

Derek, Mark, Webber and Owen after he punched someone

Meredith and Derek finally make it back to each other and a happy place, no matter what happens with Zola. However; Cristina and Owen are avoiding the fact that she has just aborted their child and this story arc continued on through Season 8; with no resolution. Meredith's solution to saving her marriage is migrate over to OBGYN for a while, and not work with her husband who says he cannot trust her. She thinks that she is enjoying delivering babies and making life however, she is really marking time trying to figure out what kind of surgeon she wants to be.

                             

In Put Me In Coach  Meredith gets a dressing down from Bailey and Webber and she ends up on Bailey's Diabetes Trial, even though she was working on it in secret the whole time. Webber tells her to get out of those ridiculous pink scrubs and get back to the work you were born to do; being a surgeon. He forces Bailey to put Meredith on the trial, and in Hope for the Hopeless; the halfway mark of the season, she decides to be a General Surgeon like her mother and Chief Webber who is already her mentor anyway. Many fans were against this choice and were hoping to see her working with Derek, including myself; however I got to like the fact that Meredith was forging a career of her own instead of being in Derek's shadow, which is what would happen if she'd stayed working with her husband as he is the famous neurosurgeon on the show.


So when all is said and done; I felt that the first part of Season 8 was excellent. I felt that Shonda and her team were really giving their all, however as you will see in my next post: Part Two of my Grey's Anatomy Rant; my opinion is less than flattering. Part Two will be posted in a few days.


Best Scenes: Teddy and Cristina in Suddenly when Cristina breaks the news about Henry.
Alex and Cristina in She's Gone - all their scenes.
Meredith and Derek's reunion with Zola in Suddenly.


Best Quote: Alex's "You Crazy Bitch.....etc." 
Meredith's speech to Owen about Cristina wanting kids.


Worst Scene: Owen's confrontation with the patient in What Is It About Men?


Shonda and her writer's really rocked it with the first half of Grey's Season 8, however the closing part of the Season did leave a lot to be desired. However I will discuss that in my next post. Thank you all for reading.


Until then; have your say in the comments or connect with me via Facebook or Twitter





To read more about Grey's Anatomy: Please visit me at: Janelle Coulton@Suite101 



Get your copy of Season 8 at Amazon


 



Copyright © 2012 Janelle Coulton

Heart Shaped Box - Grey's Anatomy Season 8-8 - Postmortem

Be Inspired By The Miracle


Australian Screening: 12 April 2012.  US Screening: 03 November 2011.


This weeks episode was all about some of our favourite medics being inspired by the miracle of a live beating heart in a box. They decide what is really important and every character at Seattle Grace was faced with matters of the heart.


Clearly Teddy was the very first of the group to  understand the magic of heart in a box. She invites her husband Henry (Scott Foley) to watch the surgery from the gallery, telling Cristina that if Henry is going to watch a surgery then this is one to see. As they hook up the beating heart to the equipment within the box, Teddy orders Cristina to babysit the heart, she objects saying she'll arrange for an intern to monitor, but Teddy is having none of that. She tells Cristina to work on her list while she monitors Heart in a Box. It takes a speech from Dr Webber and some serious soul searching to get through to Cristina. She eventually comes up with a really great list. I have to say here that I am totally loving this mentor role that Dr Webber is taking on with the residents. Last week he was the referee for Meredith and Bailey's blow up on the softball field and it would seem that Bailey and Meredith have listened to Webber. This week he seems to be mentoring a few of the residents.

Jackson ditches a surgery because of the thing between Lexie and Mark, and after the softball in the boobs incident at the game; Jackson's fear has been confirmed and the last place he wants to be is in the OR with Mark. He decides after realising that he is sabotaging his career that he must break up with Lexie. Lexie has an epiphany of her own. While helping a patient finish her book so she will have the brain surgery she desperately needs, Lexie realises that she does not love Jackson and she is in love with Mark. Lexie says none of this out loud, but her reaction to her patient's choice of ending for her characters in the book really upsets her and it's clear she is relating the characters in the book to her own life.

George O'Malley's mum is admitted to the hospital due to a botched surgery at Seattle Presbyterian. Meredith and Bailey are on Mrs O'Malley's case. As it turns out the surgery is a simple repair caused by a mistake made during Mrs O'Malley's gall-bladder surgery. Meredith and Bailey are still slightly at odds with each other, however they made some headway during the surgery when Bailey admitted that George O'Malley was her favourite intern. Meredith agreed that George was the good one. If the writers of this episode wanted to tug at our heart-strings, then they did this beautifully. Meredith is also stressing out about having to go to court to get her kid back and doesn't know what she should wear. She tells Bailey that she is useless at the mummy stuff, but not useless as a surgeon. Bailey helps Meredith by suggesting she wear a sweater set to court. Meredith thanks her mentor, and the rift between them looks to be healed. Not all of the doctors saw the beating heart in the box, but it was obvious that they were inspired by it nonetheless.
Derek with his hopeless cases idea; and Mark deciding that teaching his resident is important to him.


The ending was a cliff-hanger. What is with Henry coughing up blood? Things do not look good for Teddy and Henry. If the promo for next week is anything to go by, it is assumed someone dies, as we hear Cristina calling time of death, however we don't see anything. But quite often these scenes are weeks away in a future episode. In any case coughing up blood is a serious medical complication, which usually does not end well for the patient. It also looks like Alex and Meredith get into an accident; so who knows what's going to happen next week and in future episodes.

Heart in a Box


By the time the heart in a box surgery was over the whole hospital had heard about the miracle of the beating heart in the box being monitored by cardio-thorasic surgical resident; Cristina Yang. By the end of the day, Heart in a Box had received many visitors and admirers. Meredith and April join Cristina for lunch in the room with Heart in a Box. Cristina is still trying to figure out what Dr Webber meant when he told hershe was the key. Meredith asks Heart in a Box what is wrong with George O'Malley's mum, and the conversation turns to George. Alex's heartstrings start to ache, and he gets up and leaves, not wishing to talk about George, especially when it is revealed that George O'Malley was the heart in the elevator guy. April and Jackson are impressed. Jackson comments that it was "Bad Ass." All of a sudden Cristina gets it, and starts mumbling about the heart in the elevator surgery and the heart in a box. She goes to work on her list again.


When April tells the group that Heart in a Box give her the creeps, Cristina tells her not to talk about her that way. April thinks Cristina is nuts, and leaves the room. A bit later Jackson returns to sit and look at the heart in the box after Webber has told him that he is a fool for ditching the surgery with Mark. Jackson wants to know what is so special about Heart in a Box, so he asks Cristina and she explains that once you understand how much of a miracle it is that the heart in the box has never stopped beating, never stopped living, you will truly realise what's really important to you. Cristina shows Jackson her list and says "If I look at my list and that surgery is not half the miracle that Heart in a Box is, then it is not worth my time." Jackson stares at the box and tries to see what Cristina is seeing. After quietly watching the heart Jackson admits to himself that he and Lexie are over. When Lexie answers his page Jackson tells her they are over. Lexie tells him there is nothing going on with Mark, but Jackson insists there is and he will not sacrifice his career anymore and can Lexie really tell him that he should not choose Mark and his surgical career. Lexie is predictably silent. This scene did not leave me sad; in-fact it was a relief to see. Their farce of a relationship that has gone on for almost a year is over and now Lexie has to face her feelings for Mark.

In all honesty, this episode kind of dragged along a little. There no full on drama scenes, except for the brain surgery when Lexie's patient takes a turn for the worse and develops a brain bleed. Not to worry; the next couple of episodes will more than make up for it. Things really start to heat up next week.


Heart Shaped Box was well written and thought out and the intention to grab the viewers heart-strings was achieved with many of the characters. I especially loved the end where Alex admits that talking about George brings back memories of Izzie, and it makes him feel sad and depressed. The cliff-hanger with Henry was nicely done.


Best bits:  Bailey and Meredith talking about George. Meredith's quote: "He was the good one." was so true.
Alex's speech at Joe's bar at the end of the episode.

Worst bits: Henry coughing up blood; I have come to like Henry, but I think we all knew his days at Grey's Anatomy were numbered from the start.


Well that's it for this week. Still no word on the status of the six original's contracts' however some are predicting the Season 9 may be the last, as there are whispers that they have only been asked to sign for next season. Some are predicting that Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey will come back, as they have said they want to return. The big worry is if Sandra Oh and Justin Chambers will sign on again as they are extremely popular and many fans believe the show will suffer without them. The hope is that we have an answer before Season 8 wraps for the summer, which is only weeks away from happening. The last couple of episodes are being filmed now. Shonda Rhimes recently revealed that she has just finished writing the finale as of a few days ago and it's good to go.


I will update this site/blog as soon as I hear more news.






To read more about Grey's Anatomy, Please visit me at http://janelle-coulton.suite101.com/


Copyright © 2012 Janelle Coulton

Poker Face Grey's Anatomy Season 8-6 - Postmortem

Comfort Zones are Tested

So; Meredith is delivering babies and using Lexie to chase a difficult brain tumor that she is certain Derek won't want to resist. At first; the previews and synopsis lead us to believe that because Meredith has been black-balled from most of the attendings surgeries, that she is chasing this tumor for her own gain. Perhaps she is hoping that Derek will see this tumor and ask her to come back to his service, which she left in episode three for the sake of their marriage. They have also made an agreement not to discuss Neuro. Within the first few minutes of watching I realised the beauty of what Meredith is doing; oh yes, this woman knows her husband, but more on that later.

Callie, Mark and Arizona are all great friends now, however Mark and Arizona's budding interest in cooking for Callie is wearing thin on their relationship as they are not getting any time alone. But for the moment Callie is trying to be happy that Mark and Arizona are finally good friends and keeps her mouth shut.

Pink Vagina Squad Scrubs

Meredith is running around the hospital in the pink scrubs delivering babies and kidding herself that she is doing something worthwhile. Alex thinks she's working as an OB because she misses Zola, however as she tells Cristina during their meeting with Chief Hunt "I'm making life you know." I like this storyline; Meredith's career being in a lull for awhile is a good direction given what she did when she destroyed the clinical trial. Cristina tells Meredith that she cannot wear the pink scrubs in public, "We have standards Meredith." At the same time Cristina is sending sexy text messages to her husband. What did I say last week? These two are never going to talk by the looks of things, Cristina would rather bury their issues and have sex and it seems as though Owen's not complaining. Owen has just finished lecturing the group about bad outcomes in their OR's and how these bad outcomes can affect their boards later on. In-fact it is because of this lecture that Cristina and Alex both stuff up during their surgerys'.


                                                  




Later on when Cristina is discussing a case she is on with Callie, the issue of hot, dirty sex comes up and Callie confides that her and Arizona are not getting enough alone time. She admits that she's jealous of Cristina. The bringing together of Callie and Cristina was great and way overdue. I have missed the friendship between these two. If we think back, they were room-mates for quite awhile. In the OR when Cristina's phone goes off and Callie insists that the scrub nurse read the message aloud in case it is urgent, Cristina's obvious panic when she tells the nurse not to touch the phone, but to turn it off is hilarious.





Derek complains to Owen about Lexie, she is not cutting it as his intern. Lexie asks Meredith for help, but Meredith tells her that she has to learn his quirks, and she needs to learn on her own. Derek is frustrated and probably regetting agreeing to Meredith leaving his service, however at the end of this episode, it is clear that her decision is best for their marriage. Lexie tries to get Derek to see her tumor patient, however Derek refuses saying the tumor is inoperable and that Lexie needs to do what he tells her, so Lexie gives up. Meredith confronts Lexie naked in the shower and explains that Derek needs to see the scans and meet the patient. So the next day Lexies shoves the scan in his face saying "Butterfly tumor!" Derek looks at scan and the next thing we know they are consulting with the patient. Derek orders new scans be run, and when they come back he tells Mary the patient; that he can remove the tumor. It's risky, but he thinks he can get it all. Mary's husband freaks out and says No. Meredith tracks him down later on and convinces him to let his wife fight for more time with her family. So no thanks to Lexie, this surgery happens and it turns out to be successful. For the first time this season with the exception of episode 1 and 2, we were treated to an emotional case in which we got to know the patient and their story.

            

Derek and Lexie meeting with Mary and her husband and Derek after a difficult surgery

                                             

Unfortunately Cristina and Alex did not do so well. They were both so afraid of getting bad outcomes that they put their fears first and the patient's well being second. Cristina constantly nagged Callie to do a more conservative procedure on their neck patient, and Alex refused to do a TAVI on his heart patient. Cristina became so freaked about the neck surgery that she asked to be taken off the case. All goes well and the patient's neck surgery is a success. Callie lectures Cristina in the scrub room after the surgery, simply telling her not to let fifth year get to her. Alex on the other hand ends up getting kicked off his surgical case. His patient going over his head to Teddy and asking her to look into doing a TAVI on him. Alex did not put his patient first when researching options for the procedure, Teddy obviously decided that the patient was a good candidate for a TAVI and chose to do the procedure. By the way, did anyone recognise the patient, it was Lee Majors, probably most famously known as the 'Six Million Dollar Man' in the seventies. He's still looking good.



             

Teddy and Alex talking to their heart patient and Callie and Cristina's neck patient



Hot, Dirty, Stand on my Head Sex


Given Cristina and Owen's obvious issues regarding the abortion, obviously now is the time to sex it up and sex it up they did, getting caught by the ex-chief twice. Anyone get the feeling Webber was feeling a little nostalgic about his younger days getting in on with Ellis Grey. I did; maybe that's my overactive imagination. When Meredith asks if they are talking or just having sex, Cristina says "Who cares if we talk." Meredith can't help but ask if Cristina really does stand on her head and Cristina answers "I'm very talented." As nice as it was to see them getting along for all the Crisowen fans and shippers, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Make the most of their short lived happiness because certain events will cause their marriage to go to a very dark place.







And I can't end this review without mentioning Bailey and April. I am starting to get fed up with Bailey's cranky mood, and April; while I am still not comfortable with her as Chief resident, she is certainly getting some of the residents to listen to her. Forcing Meredith to work on the diabetes trial was classic, however I don't think it took much to convince Meredith to do it, she loves a challenge and when Bailey discovers that Meredith is doing April's work, well she is furious, however after Meredith imploring that Bailey read her research, Bailey pages Webber to tell him that some of the mice are sick and Meredith Grey figured it out, unaware that Webber and Meredith are working behind her back. Webber sends her home telling her not to worry, that help will turn up. I am also less convinced now that there will be a romance with Alex and April after their interaction over Alex covering the ER and I have to say she successfully put Lexie, Jackson and Alex in their place later on at Joe's Bar, so perhaps April needs time, she does do the funny so well however, and I would really like to see more of that.


So Meredith ends up with a happy husband who almost wants to break their rule and talk about his day, however Meredith knowing better; discourages him and they start making out instead. Looks like this marriage is back on track; finally. So Meredith's goal was marital harmony for her and Derek and given they are trying to get Zola back, she is behaving like the smart woman we know she is at the moment.


Alone and together at last


Callie arrives home after a successful day at work with beer and pizza. Mark and Arizona have just finished making dinner, but Callie dumps the dinner in the bin and nicely tells Mark to beat it. She tells him he's babysitting so that she and Arizona can eat pizza, drink beer and talk about Callie's surgery and have sex, not necessarily in that order because Marks gets it and leaves and as soon as he does they start making out.


Cristina meets Owen in the ambulance bay where he informs her that they can't have sex in the hospital anymore. She says "Whatever." Owen suggests they go get dinner, which suggested to me that he wanted to talk; however Cristina's suggests they go home and have sex, Owen agrees. The opportunity was there for them to talk; obviously they don't want to. Oh dear.




Derek and Meredith happy together finally



Highs: Derek and Meredith being in a better place now. Cristina's quote "Hot, dirty stand on my head sex." and then "I'm very talented." She truly does get the best lines and I know I say that every week but it's true.

Lows: Cranky Bailey, she and Meredith need to make up now.


Yet another great episode, Season 8 is looking very good and given that I know what's coming up, my advice is not to miss this season, as Shonda and her team of writers are doing a great job. Grey's creator Shonda Rhimes usually pitches the season finale to the network before even writing the first episodes of the season, however this year she is in a different situation. Shonda Rhimes has actors who contracts are up and she is in a difficult position of having to write a season finale without knowing the fate of six characters. How does one do that?


Coming up next week Grey's brings more of the funny with the docs playing Softball. Cristina gets a surprise; and Meredith and Bailey face off. Don't miss "Put me in Coach." Thursday, 8.30 pm, 22 March 2012.




To read more about Grey's Anatomy, Please visit me at http://janelle-coulton.suite101.com/



Copyright © 2012 Janelle Coulton