THE NEXT CHAPTER
Where do Meredith and Grey’s Anatomy go without a certain dashing doctor?
Sexy surgeries, even sexier times in the on-call room and a love triangle that kept fans satiated for a decade. When Grey’s Anatomy hit the airwaves 11 seasons ago it was an instant hit.
Though its twisty characters and heartbreaking storylines often kept viewers perched on the edge of their sofas, it was the romantic entanglements that kept seven or eight million fans drinking Shonda Rhimes’ weekly cocktail.
Viewers waned as the series trudged on and behind-the-scenes drama shook up the core cast several times, but Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) — the heart of the show since Day One — carried on with a Post-it note marriage, an adoption and, eventually, a baby of their own. McDreamy and his damaged bride seemed destined to close out the series together, especially when Pompeo and Dempsey renewed contracts for two more years in early 2014.
So it came as a shock when Rhimes killed off Dempsey’s character last spring, leaving Meredith widowed ahead of the 11th season finale. With Season 12 kicking off on Thursday, what does it all mean for Meredith now that she’s without Derek for the first time? And does this mean the show could actually be on its way out? Dark & twisty no more Over the years, viewers have seen Meredith deal with her inability to commit, her fears of not being good enough and her inability to take any situation for granted. Now that she’s lost everything, the character will take on a much lighter tone. According to Rhimes, that’s one reason the series jumped forward an entire year; so Meredith could mourn. When the show picks up, she’ll still have that dark edge but, tonally, the writers are aiming for a natural, funny humour to emerge from that “I’m dead inside, I’m not interested in men” vibe. “She’s surrounded by women who are dating and having a whole life, and she’s not interested in any of that,” Rhimes says. “We do have this world in which Meredith is single and she is living this life she hadn’t thought she was going to be living again.” The jury is still out on how audiences will react, but according to the showrunner the entire room was laughing during the inaugural table read. Funny femmes It would be too painful for Meredith to continue living in the dream home that Derek built for her, but it makes perfect sense for her to move back into her mother’s house now that Jo (Camilla Luddington) has found somewhere new for her and Karev (Justin Chambers) to live. Meredith has never been one to live alone, though, which is why her sister-in-law Amelia (Canadian Caterina Scorsone) and half-sister Maggie (Kelly McCreary) move in with her. Unlike previous roommates, Meredith can’t ask them to leave when the going gets tough; they’re family and she still needs emotional support. The Three’s Company pairing enhances the lighter tone, especially given how different these women are. Eternal love Why did Rhimes feel she needed to kill off McDreamy? It was either that or have him cheat on Meredith, given the way the story was going. And that, according to Rhimes, would mean that McDreamy wasn’t actually McDreamy. “Meredith and Derek’s love had to remain Meredith and Derek’s love. So as painful as it was for me as a storyteller, the only way to preserve what felt true to me was that Derek was going to have to die,” Rhimes says. “I really couldn’t have the idea that he just turned out to be a bad guy and walked out on his wife and his kids be a true story. So to me it felt like that was the only way to make Meredith and Derek’s magic remain true and sort of forever frozen in time.” A professional edge Rhimes might not want to focus too much on Meredith’s love life this season, but that doesn’t mean the character’s professional life won’t blossom. As someone who has always valued her career and strived to exceed her mother’s expectations, Meredith might finally catapult herself to that next level. “What I’m excited about is the medical growth that she’s experiencing as a leader, who she’s becoming as a person, and the evolution of that woman and where she’s going,” Rhimes explains. “In a weird way, the theme is rebirth — for all of the characters, but really for Meredith.” Grey’s Anatomy returns Thursday at 8 p.m. on ABC and CTV.