Shonda Rhimes Talks Grey's Anatomy *****SPOILERS****
Did you watch the finale of Grey's Anatomy? Well, if you did you are probably in a little bit of shock and Shonda Rhimes feels your pain and talked about it on her blog.
Okay. Callie said it best tonight: Life changes in an instant. Turns on a dime.
This finale was incredibly hard to write. I did not enjoy it. It made me sick and it made me sad. We end the season not knowing ANYTHING about the future. Except for two things. We know we are definitely saying goodbye to two of my favorite people: Chyler Leigh (Lexie) and Kim Raver (Teddy).
I know this season’s finale had some surprises for viewers and the exit of Kim Raver was one of the big ones. But Kim’s series option was up and she was ready to give Teddy Altman a much-needed vacation. It’s been a pleasure working with someone as talented and funny and kind as Kim; everyone is going to miss her terribly. I like to imagine that Teddy is still out there in the Grey’s Anatomy universe, running Army Medical Command and building a new life.
I love Chyler and I love the character of Lexie Grey. She was an important member of my Grey's family. This was not an easy decision. But it was a decision that Chyler and I came to together. We had a lot of thoughtful discussion about it and ultimately we both decided this was the right time for her character's journey to end. As far as I'm concerned Chyler will always remain a part of the Shondaland family and I can't wait to work with her again in the future.
I'd write more but I'm honestly too sad. I don't like life changing in an instant and turning on a dime.
Thanks for watching Season Eight. We are, as always, grateful that you joined us for the ride.
Blah. I hate "very special episodes" and finales of Greys. They are ridiculously over-the-top and emotionally manipulative. Also, Rhimes writing style drives me absolutely nuts. None of the characters have their own voices, they all restate a thought 3x, it's grossly formulaic and mediocre. I wish I hadn't gotten invested in this show back when it was still good, I'd really like to drop this bad habit.
ReplyDeleteNot sorry to see Kim Raver leaving, what a dull character Teddy was.
Do we still think it's someone from another show that was the object of the blind about a female character leaving against her will (because she wouldn't continue sleeping with a co-star)?
ReplyDeleteI should have said actress, whose character was being written out (because she wouldn't keep sleeping with someone).
ReplyDelete@SkittleKitty - I don't remember that, but wasn't there a blind about a married actor (who had a pregnant wife) sleeping with an actress from the show, who was also pregnant, or something to that effect?
ReplyDeleteHaven't watched this in years - no idea who Lexie or Teddy are!
ReplyDeleteI tried to watch this show when it first started. Ugh. Whiny, self-obsessed characters and plots that are just recycled over and over again. I don't understand the popularity of this show.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of the same blind as Skittle, it was recent, about the actress who felt harassed by a male costar, and wanted to leave, but felt bad about leaving a successful series. Or something like that.
ReplyDeleteThe last episode of this show I saw was when they killed Denny, during the ridiculous hospital prom. Bastards. I can't believe it's still on the air.
ReplyDeleteWatched Grey's for a season before their episode formula became obvious and predictable. Not to mention oversaturated with cheese. I was thinking that this applied to the blind in which a star was making a surprise exit before no one on the show could stand her...
ReplyDeleteI last watched the show on a regular basis when Heigl died and her supposed bestie (in real life and on the show), "George" died. I have watched it on occasion since, but never more than 1-2 eps per year. Last show I remember was when Mer/Der got married by post-its...
ReplyDeleteCouple questions, are they legally married now and what is the story on the baby they were adopting and where was it last night. Also, who is chief of staff?
I did watch it last night, thinking Arizona or Callie would die, or the Christian girl would commit suicide. I was soo wrong. However, I am going to be sucked in to the season opener, because Miss Arizona did not look to be in good shape. She could still possibly die in the first ep of next season...
Season premieres and finales do me in every year! I wind up watching shows 2x a year due to the hype - and my favorite show being in re-runs...lol
Ps
Now that I am thinking about it, haven't seen former besties together AT ALL since they left the show. Wonder if George O'Malley is wishing he hadn't stuck up for Izzie and lost his job. What has he done since, besides one
Broadway show?
I think you guys are right about this being the answer to that blind item.
ReplyDeletep.s. Here's the blind. So is it Chyler Leigh or Kim Raver? And who is the tormentor. No surprise, actually, this set has been plagued with big problems since day one.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2012/05/todays-blind-items-why-she-is-really.html
"Over the next few weeks, this B- list television actress will be scrutinized for why she is leaving a hit show. She has not been asked to leave the show and she is a firm believer in the policy of not voluntarily leaving a hit show. So, why is she leaving? Because of one of her co-stars who will not stop saying things to her which have caused her to seek therapy. It all started out a couple of years ago when she started working on this hit network show. Things happened and one thing led to another and she ended up sleeping with her B list co-star. He soon started sleeping with another co-star and our actress was hurt but moved on. Then, the actor wanted another go with her and she said no and for the past two years has been talking smack about her to anyone who will listen. Truly awful and horrible things about how she is a drug addict which she is not. How she hit on married producers and crew members which she has not. Anything he can think of, he has said. The one time she confronted him about it, the actor said all she had to do was sleep with him again and it would all go away. So far she has refused and because he is a bigger star than her, the producers have told her to stay quiet and that they will give her a bonus if she leaves the show and does so quietly. If she makes a fuss they have told her she will have trouble getting work on any show and that perhaps if she just had sex with the actor again then things would be all better. Yeah. She was pretty disgusted too."
ReplyDeleteStill don't know which one it would be, though Kim Raver certainly could have a policy of "not leaving a hit" since she's actually had a couple (24 and Third Watch) versus Leigh's one-after-the-other cancelled series prior to Grey's.
Chyler Leigh has been married for almost 10 years, long before she joined Grey's, so I doubt that this applies to her. I read that she wanted to spend more time with her three kids (and that one or two of them might be special needs?).
ReplyDeleteI have to confess. I only watch greys to see the scenes of Seattle. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. and miss it......
ReplyDeleteI love Grey's and was so sad Lexie was killed off.
ReplyDeleteShould have gotten rid of the boring lesbian couple (no offense towards lesbians), but their story line is BORING. Good call on axing Teddi. No where character.
Chyler Leigh and Kim Raver are both married. Thing is, Chyler is a former drug addict, clean for many years, but that makes me think it was her since the asshole actor was spreading that story.
ReplyDeleteIt also explains why ENTy is re-posting anything from Shonda Rhimes blog.
I had forgotten about that blind! In case it helps, Aussiello at tvline keeps track of which characters leave/die during May sweeps:
ReplyDeletehttp://tvline.com/2012/02/27/may-sweeps-2012-scorecard-glee-greys-anatomy/
I might actually watch the finale now. I can't stand Lexi.
ReplyDeleteI don't respect any show that has such a shitty season but it's apparently all worthwhile because the finale is earth shattering. This is is terrible. And yes, this whole post is not newsworthy, so I'll bet this is the answer to the blind. Although I don't consider anyone other than Dempsey and Pompeo and Oh B- list. Nobody who doesn't watch this show knows who these killed off people are.
ReplyDeleteHow many more perils can befall these doctors? Seriously. But it's a neat wrap up. Mark's hurt, Jackson must stay. (Scene w/ Lexi was heartbreaking) Derek is in rehab for his hand, he and Mer stay. Teddy gone, Christina stays. Arizona terribly hurt, Karev stays. April has a job because so many docs are now out of commission. And Bailey's foxy man leaves for internship but Bailey marries him anyway. Her thong references were priceless. But still. Can anyone say "jump the shark"?
ReplyDeleteI started watching Grey's when they were removing the bomb from that guy. I stopped watching Grey's at the end of I think Season 3 when they broke every single couple up in the finale. Every one. It's like the season never happened. Never watched it again. Luckily, I see Seattle every day. :)
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the show, but my ears perked up at the phrase "hospital prom" - sounds hilarious!
ReplyDeleteHaven't watched Grey's in years and even then only in snippets as my husband watched it - but don't think this is Kim Raver, she's been married for a long time, and also working since she was a kid, her reputation is excellent and I don't think any one actor could smear her so easily.
ReplyDeleteHamster party -- it was totally stupid. The chief of medicine's niece was going to be in the hospital for chemo and would miss her prom. So the doctors, since they have nothing better to do with their time than indulge a teenager they've met for two minutes, decided to hold a prom in the hospital. They all got dressed up like they were going to the prom and slow-danced to power ballads and probably spiked the punch because they are really 17 years old and not people who save lives on a daily basis. It was so, so dumb.
ReplyDeleteAnd the yummy Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who played Heigl's One True Love Denny, died because bitch was too wrapped up in party planning to actually take care of her patient.
I like how characters always have to DIE because the actor leaves. Nobody can get transferred or change shifts or get another job or just plain fired?
ReplyDeleteI finally gave up the Grey's ghost this season in favor for something more interesting on Bravo.
ReplyDeleteSoooo, I decided to tune in last night for the finale and I honestly did not know who the dark haired doctor was. When the plane crashed (the filming of that sucked) I kept trying to get a good look at this guy and when his character's name was said I thought WTF did he do to himself?
It was Eric Dane.
Cathy said...
ReplyDelete@SkittleKitty - I don't remember that, but wasn't there a blind about a married actor (who had a pregnant wife) sleeping with an actress from the show, who was also pregnant, or something to that effect?
This could very well be Eric Dane, married to Rebecca Gayheart, who was pregnant at the time. Chyler Leigh (Lexie)was pregnant at the time too, they tried to hide it on the show, but it still was very obvious:O Think the blind is about her! Since no one saw it coming that Chyler was leaving, I didn't expect it at all! I thought April would leave, because she failed the boards
@Texshan - you win for best recap. Congrats! Nailed it!
ReplyDeleteBtw, I am afraid Arizona is gonna die in the first ep, she looked very, very bad. No one knows their location, so they have to stay in the woods for probably days. I think McSteamy and Caly are gonna raise the little girl together.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Patrick Dempsey said he is gonna leave after season 8, which is now. So he either dies or leaves alive. Because they have to stay in the woods for so long, maybe he dies of infection of his wound? Because I can't imagine Meredith staying in Seattle Grace without him (they have a kid after all, so probably won't split up), so I can't believe he is gonna leave alone, leaving Mer and Zola behind (which implies he is gonna die). As far as I know the actress playing Meredith stays, and with Dempsey leaving its gonna be weird for them to break up (him working in different hospital/never able to work again because of his hand)So chances are he is not gonna be alive the next episode. I hope they don't turn it into the same thing with Burke; him being unable to use his hand. That has already happened -.-
tbh, Shonda being all talkative about the finale doesn't say a lot. Still more people can die. I hope not. But the face that P.Dempsey is leaving makes me think it's not over yet with all the drama-.-
I think that blind might be Lexie! I keep hearing that shonda said "respect her privacy" and it was a difficult decision, but we (shonda & Chyler) discussed it & decided it would be for the best....
ReplyDeleteHeigl's character died?! The prom episode was the last one I watched. As if the whole disconnecting Denny thing wasn't ridiculous enough, the fact they all covered for each other did me in. I'm all for suspension of belief, but her ass should have been SO fired.
ReplyDelete@ 0_0: they used to send characters TO Seattle when getting rid of them (a la Dr. Ross in ER)
Heigl didn't die, she left after marrying Karev, never to be seen again:P
ReplyDeletePatrick Demsey just signed another 2-year contract, along with the majority of the cast. He's only going to be on 15 eps next season, though.
ReplyDeleteI think Chyler is probably the answer to the blind, and I bet the dick actor is Patrick Demsey.
Shonda is such an egotistical hack. The show is carried by some good acting, and viewers who are too invested at this point to stop watching, no matter how bad Shonda makes things. Ugh.
Snowstorms, in answer to your questions...
ReplyDeleteMeredith and Derek are legally married now - they went to a courthouse around when they were talking about adopting Zola, since that improved their chances or something. April mentioned at some point last night that she was supposed to be watching Zola. Not sure who was watching her when April was at the dinner thing.
Chief-of-Staff is Owen Hunt, formerly head of trauma, an Iraq War vet (trauma doc) who came on in like, season 4 or 5? He and Christina had a brief thing, then he went back tO Iraq and got PTSD, came back and they had a crazy effed up relationship that ended with them getting married while Christina was suffering from PTSD from having a gun pointed to her head.
So... yeah, I just did a re-watch, and damn if the show didn't pull me back in. And those shooting episodes at the end of Season 6 were pretty freakin' tense and very well done. Very nerve-wracking. But I agree, the first two seasons are the best, by far.
Thanks, Polly. I'm curtseying to you now.
ReplyDeleteMooshki, thanks for clearing that up! See it on IMDB now, feel stupid hahha
ReplyDeleteThanks Lian! I thought he was the new chief, but last I saw the old chief was making them fight for it and I think someone had just been declared the winner? This was long before Owen.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I had no idea he was on the show before he had PTSD! Never saw the shooting, didn't know about Christina, wow! The one thing I did know was Tedi was his ex, and she was married to a patient who was foreign - Canadian perhaps?!? - so that he could get healthcare. And, Christina was the reason he died - I love Scott Foley, so I tried to get back into it and couldn't. First episode I have watched in full in years was the finale, and I caught up to most of the stories - just like a good old fashioned soap opera...lol
The show killed off the wrong sister, in my opinion. The character of Lexie could have been fleshed out so much more. Meredeth is, and always has been, such a whiner. I got tired of it years ago. It would have been a nice twist/change for the show to focus on a different Grey family member.....
ReplyDelete@Unknown, i think it's also the actress.. she has a whiny voice, and sometimes when she says something i just cringe.. 'you are my person' and then the whiny voice and needy eyes. Meh. I don't dislike the character, i do dislike the actress in this part. I wish Lexie would have gotten back together with her man instead of dying. Meh. As long as Christina stays on till the end of the show i'm happy, I love that character :P
ReplyDeleteI'm still watching but I've said for years that the show jumped the shark when Meredith fell in the water. The hospital prom is another good example. I can't stand the character of Owen Hunt so I wish they'd gotten rid of him instead. And Katherine Heigl should be brought back at least once before the show ends. I heard her say she'd do it.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure that Owen Hunt had PTSD the moment he came on. The reason he joined Seattle Grace is because he left the Army trauma unit. I do not believe he met Christina prior to that and I recall that early on when it was just a fling, his PTSD came to light
ReplyDelete