Grey's Anatomy Universe

[VicePresidentJocasta]

I LOVED the Amelia/Monica storyline tonight. I officially ship them and I'm really hoping that they make Monica permanent. Natalie Morales has been a fantastic addition to the show.

Were they teasing... a Jules/Yasuda connection with that wake up at the end? Obviously it won't go anywhere now, but that took me by surprise. I wouldn't have been mad at it if Yasuda was sticking around.

The Bailey/Simone/Lucas surgery was great. I'm wondering what the heck the plan is with Damien? I find it hard to believe that he'll make it out of this season alive.

Interesting that Owen's season-long restlessness is actually just a catalyst to expose Mer's research. I like that they're going to have the storylines converge.

I was super surpeised to see Maggie in the promo for next week! Usually they'd announce that way in advance.

 

[stopthestatic]

Yeah, Monica is lowkey a breath of fresh air. She feels like the Grey's of old - distinctive + similar to a Koracick where she's not one of the boring later years characters (I'm looking at you most of the new interns).

Cute episode but next week looks great. I really hope we get at least one scene with all three sisters but sadly it looks like Amelia visits Mer in Boston as opposed to Mer coming to Seattle.

Can't believe there's only a couple of episodes left. Nothing happened this season huh? ddd

Also - do we think there's going to be more departures? It seems like negotiations are still taking place so we may have at least one more exit?

 

[Trinu 3.0]

I now stan Yasuda and Mills. The rest of the interns can get fired <3

Also... a surrogacy subplot? After the whole storyline with Bailey and Addison fighting anti-abortion laws and whatnot... using such a exploitative practice seems off. I know it's kinda mainstream in the US, but uggg thank god it's forbidden over here.

 

[Laurent]

I now stan Yasuda and Mills. The rest of the interns can get fired <3

Also... a surrogacy subplot? After the whole storyline with Bailey and Addison fighting anti-abortion laws and whatnot... using such an exploitative practice seems off. I know it's kinda mainstream in the US, but uggg thank god it's forbidden over here.

I know it’s a hot button issue for some but please refrain from calling something exploitative.

As someone who’s had to use surrogacy to become a father, I can guarantee that surrogacy isn’t exploitative when done correctly. The US has expansive guidelines on ethical surrogacy where both gestational carriers and intended parents are rigorously screened (both psychologically and physically). These guidelines make sure that everyone voluntarily enters into surrogacy agreements, has independent legal counsel, is doing it for the right reasons and that risks are mitigated as much as humanly possible (due to the fact that every pregnancy on its own comes with risks).

 

[Trinu 3.0]

I know it’s a hot button issue for some but please refrain from calling something exploitative.

A womb is literally rented while money exchanges hands. There is no other way of calling it.

I will not comment further on the issue, hot button indeed.

 

[Laurent]

A womb is literally rented while money exchanges hands. There is no other way of calling it.

I will not comment further on the issue, hot button indeed.

A womb is not rented. These comments are highly derogatory of both the women who voluntarily choose to help bring new life into this world and the intended parents who have often been through hell and back, suffering miscarriages, still-births and barely made it out with their own lives.

It is indeed best for you to not comment further on this issue if you refuse to educate yourself regarding ethical surrogacy and the decades of research that has gone into it.

 

[stopthestatic]

Thoughts:

Station 19 - The last two episodes were GREAT! And overall a very satisfying conclusion to the show. A little bit cheesy and ham-fisted with the flash forwards, but I thought it worked well and I liked where everyone ended up. I just hope they remember some of those plot details (like where Tuck goes to school, etc) in the next couple of seasons on Grey's. I love that they brought things full circle in a way with Andy and Jack ending up together, and with Ben going back to finish his surgical residency. It's convenient, yes, but I think ultimately his arc makes sense the way they did it - we saw the beginning, middle and end of his firefighting career throughout the course of this spin-off. I did have a tinge of sadness that Vic/Ruiz and Travis/Emmett didn't end up together, but it's fine I guess. The forest fires (and yellow color-grading) were also visually just such a cool, distinctive setting for the endgame of the show. Overall, I won't miss it at all but I do think it deserves some credit for creativity and writing in the later seasons. Also the insanely hot men. But yeah, will probably never rewatch this either so goodbye ddddddd

Grey's Anatomy - A creatively bankrupt show. I can't believe we got ANOTHER "I'm getting fired/I no longer work at this hospital/the Fox foundation is mad at us" storyline paired with another stale "I'm going to do something questionable that could cost me my career" storyline. It's ENDLESS. We just had this last year with Towen, in the season 18 finale with Bailey and Richard leaving, the end of season 15 when a bunch of characters also similarly got fired in the finale, and so on and so forth. Please, come up with something new. Speaking of which - another pregnancy too... Like REALLY? Is that the only storyline we can come up with? JoLink are cooked and fried as a storyline. I'm not even going to talk about the random-ass Winston/Monica pairing or weird false start with Jules and Mika. Pointless. All pointless. Cute of Richard to say he's retiring, but I'll believe it when I see it.

I did like some of the MerNick stuff in these last two episodes especially the ending but I don't fully get why they keep them on this hamster wheel of the same issues they've been having since the end of season 18 (Meredith is too strong willed and does what she wants, he's upset about it and wants to be let in/have some agency in their relationship blah blah blah). Again, done to death. And it's even more egregious and feels random and patchy now that they're not regulars and it can't be fully explored. Ellen was right about what she said about them not allowing Meredith to just have a successful relationship. Overall, this was a lacklustre season and that's saying something for Grey's. I'm going to give it somewhat of a pass for being a post-writers strike season, being shortened, and Meg Marinis' first as showrunner but damn, they very very much need to improve in s21. Amelia is the saving grace of the show and almost untouchably great at this point even when they're not giving her a whole lot.

Private Practice - I finished season 4 in my rewatch and it was an INCREDIBLE season of tv from start to finish. I have nothing but good things to say about this show, truly. It's beyond excellently written.

 

[unnameable]

The Jules/Mika thing would be tolerable if we didn't already know that Midori Francis was leaving. The moment Jo collapsed I thought "please don't tell me she's pregnant". I know they're preparing to set up big drama, but this really feels overblown. The best parts were Bailey and Warren, and Meredith and Nick where both couples had scenes that felt real.

 

[Scaper]

We've had too many seasons of the hospital being this endless money pit resulting in innovation and only the best surgeons coming to work there. The Foxes need to go bankrupt, the hospital needs to start facing regular challenges hospitals face and as they introduce new characters, they need to be people who try their best with what they've got at hand rather than people who can create new methods every week. It would be good to have some recurring characters who are nurses, admin etc. People who come from more varied socioeconomic backgrounds so that more of the real world filters through the characters.

 

[VicePresidentJocasta]

I was in Italy for the last few weeks, so I've been dodging spoilers like CRAZY and just caught up on the last 2 episodes of both shows.

The penultimate episode of Station 19 was fantastic. The finale was strong, too, though series finales are rarely my favorite episodes of any show. I have some nitpicks (randomly putting Andy & Jack back together felt very, 'we have no idea what else to do with them!'), but overall it was a cute ending for a cute show.

Grey's last 2 episodes felt very much like I felt about the rest of the season: as standalone episodes, they were mostly strong and well-written, but the overall stories/arcs are confusing to me. Another finale with everyone getting fired just feels so... low stakes. There are so many more ways they can go, and it's odd that they choose to keep so many relationships stagnant all season. I get that with such a large cast, having only 10 episodes likely cut off a lot of ideas, so I'm glad the cast will be trimmed a bit next year and we'll have more time to flesh out stories, but they REALLY need to step on the gas peddle. IMO they need to:

- Commit to Mer & Nick never having a personal argument again (PLEASE). We don't get enough of them to keep having romantic ups & downs. Meg already hinted in an interview that she wants to see them teaming up to work together next year, so I truly hope that's the direction they go. They have Scott Speedman onboard! They need to better utilize him.
- Commit to making Simone & Lucas a main couple. I'm shocked at how non-commital they were about their relationship this year. Fans loved them in season 19, but it felt like they didn't move their story along this year. I felt the same about Jules and Kwan. Grey's needs some sexy, dramatic couples to root for again, and these two feel so obvious.
- Give Jo and Link a meaty storyline. I think it's a bit shocking thatthey've never brought his cancer back. That could be quite an emotional journey while Jo is pregnant (and won't require them to manufacture petty/silly drama). And it'd also rope in other characters, like Amelia, since she and Link share a son. It'd give Chris Carmack a nice chance to shine, too.

I think there were a lot of positives about the season overall, but it was lacking in any big, memorable storylines. I'm interested to see where they're trying to go with the Amelia/Monica/Winston triangle, Meredith pushing forward with the research outside of the foundation, and what it will look like with Ben returning... but I really hope they decide to shake things up and be a bit more loose and messy next season.

 

[VicePresidentJocasta]

Grey's finished the season as ABC's #2 drama in live viewers, just behind 911, but more impressively, it posted the smallest year-to-year declines of any scripted show on the network in the demo. 911 fell 8.5%, Abbott Elementary fell 19%, The Connors fell more than 30%, The Good Doctor & Station 19 both fell around 40%... Grey's fell just 3.18%.

It's also been posting more than 1B minutes watched every single week for the last several weeks on the Nielsen Streaming Chart, and this week, it pushed ahead of Bluey to become the top acquired show across all streaming platforms, with 1.11B minutes watched (!!!). Season 20 has been massive on Hulu, per Deadline:

According to Nielsen, Season 20 of Grey’s is a hot commodity on the platform, with the newest episode during this interview raking in the most viewing across all 428 available episodes. It is incredibly popular among the 18-34 crowd, with almost 40% of its viewership coming from that demo.

 

[VicePresidentJocasta]

Looks like Stefania will not be making the move over:

For now, there are no plans for her to return to the mothership but there is a possibility for her to pop in as a guest star, something Grey’s Anatomy does frequently with its alums.

 

[OceanBlue]

https://tvline.com/casting-news/gre...turning-cast-season-21-ben-warren-1235266403/

His return, as a series regular no less, seems to fly in the face of a mid-May report that the long-running medical drama has been tasked with trimming its budget in par by dialing down the number of episodes in which actors are guaranteed to appear. TVLine recently asked Disney Television Group chief Craig Erwich if Grey‘s might look a bit different next season given such rumblings, but he deferred, saying: “Look, we just celebrated the 20th season, it’s the longest running medical drama on television, and the show is firing on all cylinders creatively. I’m looking forward to next season.”

 

[DreamlessNights]

Looks like Stefania will not be making the move over:

Damn it, I want Stefania and Midori.

And Jessica. I just want wlw to stay on the show. Sigh.

 

[VicePresidentJocasta]

Damn it, I want Stefania and Midori.

And Jessica. I just want wlw to stay on the show. Sigh.

Well, there's Amelia, Jules and (likely) Monica still. And I guess Teddy, though I doubt she'll ever fuck anyone but Owen again dd.

I'm really interested to see if they're actually going to push ahead with Winston/Monica when the fanbase was overwhelmingly into Amelia & Monica's flirtation.

 

[DreamlessNights]

Well, there's Amelia, Jules and (likely) Monica still. And I guess Teddy, though I doubt she'll ever fuck anyone but Owen again dd.

I'm really interested to see if they're actually going to push ahead with Winston/Monica when the fanbase was overwhelmingly into Amelia & Monica's flirtation.

I am ridiculous, thank you for the reminder! I have been shipping Amelia and Monica and that damn tension between Jules and Mika.

 

[stopthestatic]

A few episodes into season 6 of Private Practice rewatch

Hands down this rewatch confirmed PP is my favourite Shondaland show even above Grey's. Just so solid.

Some stray thoughts:

-Even though season 4 had the Charlotte storyline, season 5 felt darker and sadder to me. I will say it felt like a bit of a ~frustrating watch but I think that was by design given what was happening in the characters' lives. With Addison's fertility issues, Amelia's addiction/pregnancy, Pete and Violet's marital issues/separation, Mason coming into their lives and then Erica dying, plus the Addisam slow trainwreck, it was just a ton of really heavy stories all at once. But the show handled everything beautifully.
-I think one of the best things to come out of the season was the relationship between Charlotte and Erica. It pushed Charlotte into god tier character status. What a woman.
-The vibe of the show certainly feels different into season 5 with the departure of Naomi and addition of Jake, and then again into season 6 with the loss of Pete. I think Naomi added WAY more to the show than anyone realized, the show tonally feels a lot less...warm? without her in it. I really do miss her, and I think the show could've maybe done with adding another female character to balance the loss. But they were smart to make Addison and Violet closer friends and nurture the Addison/Amelia relationship a bit more too.
-The Addison of seasons 5 and 6 weirdly feels a lot more like early recipe Addison for some reason. I think it was smart of them to introduce the therapy device in season 5, and getting back to the fertility storyline which is how the show started really felt like a good way to bring Addison back to her old self in some ways. On a more superficial note, I think the longer hair also helped it feel more like old Addie.
-They lucked out with Benjamin Bratt, Jake/Addison are so cute together.
-I totally forgot Stephen Amell did an entire arc playing Violet's FWB.
-I'm still finding it funny how some things have aged well and some haven't. There's an entire episode about a throuple and how crazy! and shocking! it is - the word throuple clearly wasn't a thing yet, so they keep calling them 'the triad' ddd.

Will report back once I finish the show soonish - I'm itching to rewatch LOST now that it's on Netflix but I really need y'all to chime in with some PP love! Grey's feels so dead in the water after that snoozeworthy season.

 

[stopthestatic]

UGHHHH...I love them. I love this show.

 

[stopthestatic]

Justin and Chyler together:

 

[Rain]

I’m rewatching Private Practice for the first time too, just started S5. It’s just as good, if not, better than when I first watched it. Consistently great storylines and amazing acting. KaDee Strickland was the clear highlight and it’s a shame she never popped up in Grey’s later considering she met a few of the characters. It would be great to see Charlotte and Amelia interact or bump into each other at a meeting.

In terms of Grey’s, at this point I’m very bored with it but watching out of habit and to see it through. The new interns are not interesting enough to carry storylines (they need to make them interact with the main cast more) and even the longer serving characters just feel tired at this point. I seem to be one of the few people not excited about Ben returning at all. His flip-flopping between careers just to suit the show feels so forced and he’s just not an interesting enough character to add anything.

They need to bring back some true fan-favourites but actually integrate them properly. Arizona’s cameo this year was completely pointless and could have been any character, there was nothing about her history or what she has been up to since leaving which was a real missed opportunity.