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Grey’s: From Post-Its To Pacifiers?

This week two couples on Grey's Anatomy were talkin' babies.  Will it go beyond the talking stage?  Will the stork drop off a bundle or two to some of Seattle Grace's finest? 

Yeah, yeah, I know that when Ellen Pompeo was pregnant she and Patrick Dempsey sat down with Shonda Sunshine and suggested that Sunshine write the blessed event into the show. And yeah, I realize that Sunshine said no.  I've heard that she's hinted/said/implied (take your pick) that there wouldn't be a McBaby.  But I've heard other things too, and Sunshine does like to keep the fans guessing. 

Recently, on the March 25th edition of the Ausiello Files, Sunshine did a guest blog post about this season's finale.  And she who created the McDreamy world says that it's "the kind of finale that changes everything."  She called it a "GAME. CHANGER."  Emphasis and punctuation - Shonda's.   

Anybody who's ever given birth knows that one of those tiny little bundles of joy changes everything.  Everything.  A little babyfish gives a lot, but it takes a lot too.  It takes your schedule and your sleep.  America's favorite couple would find that their McBaby would take away their ability to stop by Joe's for a drink.  No more deciding at the last minute to run out and have a nice dinner.   A little meal becomes a big production requiring either planning (a well-screened sitter) or packing (lots of baby gear) along with your patience and diplomacy (for fellow diners who don't find a whining infant soothing).  And quick, romantic little weekend getaways?  Gone baby, gone. 

But you know what?  Here's a little secret that seems to have escaped the entire TV drama community - LIFE DOESN'T END WITH PARENTHOOD. 

A lot of a couple's old way of life may end, but if they make the transition smoothly, then a new way of life, a better and more stable way of life, is just beginning.  But any couple making the change is gonna have a few little bumps along the way.  Mer/Der?  Nothing has come easy to those two and "the couple" growing into "the family" would require them to scale the Everest of challenges and cross the Grand Canyon of despair, of temptations, of lures to the dark side.  But it would be a logical, a natural next step.

I don't think any television drama has dealt well with a principal couple becoming parents.  But in the traumas and triumphs of that task, Sunshine could soar.  With a busy surgeon and hospital administrator, there are problems of schedules and egos.  How could each of them hold onto a piece of themselves?  What happens when they're both dealing with last minute emergencies?  Lately, Derek's fires have been administrative. Mer's would be matters of life and death, of being in the midst of some surgery she couldn't walk away from without costing someone their life.  That would require Der to surrender his male ego and be the one to walk away from the meeting to get back to the little one.  It would make Der jealous of Mer being in that surgery because at heart, Der's a surgeon, not a desk jockey.  And a world class surgeon having to act like the "little man" would make Der prone to bask in the tempting adoration of an assistant with a big old crush, especially, since that assistant would remind him of the past.  It would remind him of the old Mer/Der days when he was still the man he knew. 

He'd accuse Mer of turning into her mother.  And no matter how much Mer tried, that vision would always be in her head.  The vision of herself becoming the best at what she did and the worst at what she was.  Even if Der's temptation led to infidelity, Mer wouldn't walk away.  Even if Mer crossed the line herself, she wouldn't walk away.  After all, her mother walked away.

So a baby would be a Game Changer for Mer/Der sure enough.  But a pregnancy would also be a Game Changer.  A troubled pregnancy would explain why Shonda said no to writing Ellen's real-life pregnancy into the show.  Sunshine would never ask a healthy pregnant woman to court bad karma by playing an unhealthy pregnant woman. 

First, just imagine a pregnant Mer.  She's been a little too even-keeled, happy and whole lately now, hasn't she?  What happened to the dark, twisted lass we all loved?  We want Mer happy, we just didn't want her to lose everything that made so many of us identify with her, to find her real.  Well, all the moods and hormones of pregnancy would bring back a twistier Mer than we have (or Derek has) ever seen.  And Mer with a problem pregnancy that risked her life?  DRAMA. CONFLICT.

Both of the couple would fight for their baby.  But when the risks became too high, Derek would choose Meredith.  She'd never choose herself.  Not after her Mama chose herself over and over.  No, Mer would choose the baby.  In a life or death showdown, the Post-It wedding wouldn't count to the Courts.  The choice of Mer's life or her baby's would be in Mer's person's hands - Christina.  And she'd normally choose Mer, sure enough.  But she and Mer would have had many long and angst-filled conversations on the subject. So Christina might make the choice Mer wanted her to make, or at least, to be mightily tempted to make that choice. 

And a troubled Mer pregnancy could well bring a number of fine crossover opportunities with Private Practice.  Addision here, stirring up the pot.  Der in LA with old friends and an old lover. 

So a baby would be a real Game Changer as would a pregnancy.  Although I mostly concern myself with Mer/Der, I'd throw in a note to speculate about McSteamy impregnanting Callie (or Arizona - even more interesting) and then the interesting complications that would pose for Calzona.  And Sunshine mentioned Teddy fighting for her job.  How would Burke's return rock Seattle Grace?  The complications for Christina, Owen, and the challenge of Burke trying to work under McDreamy.  Imagine.

While we're imagining, there's another Game Changing complication that was almost slipped under the radar this week.  Derek's assistant Mercy Wester - April, I think - developed an oh-so-obvious crush on him this week.  It's been heading at us for a while, ya know.  And this week, it arrived.  And arrived far too quietly.  Maybe Sunshine doesn't want us to focus on it?  She likes to surprise with her finales. 

Well April has NEVER impressed me as the most stable gymnast on the balance beam.  Let's say that she wants Mer's place.  Let's say her teetering sanity takes a tumble.... How could she get Mer's place?  She could get Mer out of the way.  What an easy solution for a doctor in a hospital with access to a treasure trove of lovely drugs.  She slips Mer something in her coffee, which Mer would drink unless her sister clues her in about April's crush.  Then we have a last scene of Mer clutching her throat, losing her heartbeat, or gasping for breath as she reaches out for the nearby April, only to have April shake her off, make a few pithy comments about closets being good for things other than grubbing sessions with Derek. April would walk out and close the door. Mer would lie on the floor, at death's door, while the hospital walked by outside.  

The latter scenario would set up a beginning of the season where everyone would be playing Dr. House, trying to figure out who did it, how they did it and how to cure it.  Lots of angst for Little Grey for not telling about the crush.  Lots of angst for Christina for not noticing it herself.  Lots of angst for Derek for not seeing what was right in front of him.  And still, the potential life/death struggle and powerplay between Derek, the post-it hubby, and Christina, the legal "person."

How will the season play out and how will the game change?  Sunshine may have tossed out the baby talk as a real clue or as a lemming for us to chase while we miss the dawn of madness in the Mercy Wester's eyes.  Holy Criminal Minds, Batman!

Either way, Sunshine promises the kind of finale that changes everything.  And part of those changes surely seem to be heading towards Mer/Der.  That can only mean one thing.

Sunshine's gonna get us scooted up to the edge of our seats.  And she's gonna keep us there all summer.

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