Last season the halls of Seattle Grace Hospital got too crowded.\u00a0 The merger with Mercy West brought in a herd of new folks.\u00a0 All\u00a0of the Mercy Westers seemed to be in a continual hunt for patients - and for screen time.\u00a0 The fans of Grey's didn't know or care about the new faces.\u00a0 They were invaders stealing screen time from the cast that\u00a0now seems\u00a0like family.\u00a0\u00a0 A bunch of 'em needed to go.<\/p>\n
The problem with that was that Derek\u00a0was running SG and in typical McDreamy fashion he didn't want to hurt anyone.\u00a0 He'd been trying his best to integrate them into the hospital and had even taken one on (April) as his assistant.\u00a0 Besides,\u00a0in the economic tsunami of the current economy, most viewers had a downsized somebody right in their household and we wouldn't view any administrator who downsized a bunch of workers as McDreamy.\u00a0 (Not even the Mercy Westers who by and large aren't liked much).\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were also some\u00a0story lines that needed to be\u00a0turned\u00a0upside down to move characters to another emotional place.\u00a0 And now that the writers were gonna have time to coddle and confound our favorite characters again, the writers needed them to be ready to make some big changes.\u00a0 I guess what I'm saying is that SG and its team had driven into a rut and couldn't get out even though they were headed in the wrong direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One event, one man with a gun, solved the overcrowded staffing and the rut entrenched storylines.\u00a0 I think of it as Grey's 9\/11.\u00a0 It\u00a0blasted away the old SG and forces the staff to start over and build something new.\u00a0 Just as 9\/11 did, the explosion made heroes of folks who didn't set out to do anything extraordinary.\u00a0\u00a0It made some\u00a0of them make\u00a0choices and sacrifices at the point of a gun that they'd never have made after cool reflection.\u00a0 We'll watch our heroes\u00a0who endured so much and lost so much\u00a0do the most heroic thing of all -\u00a0get up, start over and move on.<\/p>\n
But they're moving on from a different place.\u00a0 They're moving on from the place they picked in the heat of battle.\u00a0 It's like I tell my kids all the time - and I had to tell myself\u00a0very recently - you have to pick the hill you want to die on.\u00a0\u00a0A bunch of the\u00a0doctors at SG had to pick that hill at the point of a gun.\u00a0 This season is about dealing with the consequences of those choices.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My beloved Dr. McDreamy put it all on the line for the hospital after his job forced his hand.\u00a0 At the depositions in the lawsuit filed by the shooter after his wife's death, Derek wanted to testify truthfully.\u00a0 He wanted to talk to the grieving husband man to man, especially\u00a0since Meredith's near drowning nearly forced Derek into the grieving husband's shoes.\u00a0 McDreamy the doctor would've said to hell with the lawyer's instructions and dealt with the shooter on a personal level.\u00a0 McDreamy the\u00a0hospital chief didn't have that freedom.\u00a0 McDreamy's job nearly cost him his life.<\/p>\n
As he recovers, Derek will learn that it nearly cost Meredith her life and that it did cost him a price he\u00a0would never have paid - the life of his unborn child.\u00a0 In the wake of the tragedy Derek will finally have to come to grips with the fact that he isn't the man he thought he was, he isn't the man he'd set his sights on becoming.\u00a0\u00a0The man who could be happy running the hospital would've been happy with Addison.\u00a0 The man who could run the hospital wouldn't be at his best with beard stubble and a to-die-for hairdo.\u00a0 Derek was never the good little soldier aiming for general.\u00a0 He's a rebel who's at his best when he's bucking the system, not backing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yeah, if Derek had known himself better, Grey's 9\/11 would never have happened.\u00a0 Because Derek the man, Derek the doctor\u00a0would've sat across from the grieving husband and told him the truth.\u00a0 He'd have said he was sorry and the\u00a0man would never have picked up that gun.\u00a0 Derek\u00a0idolized his cop-father who died for law and order so perhaps he could never admit to himself that he wasn't like his dad.\u00a0 All the others will have to deal with\u00a0how the trauma affected and changed them.\u00a0 Derek must shoulder the burden of knowing he may have caused it all and cost it all.\u00a0 And he'll have to forgive himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both Mer and Der will have to deal with the loss of the baby.\u00a0 She'll have to tell him about the child he wanted so much that she lost when she thought he died.\u00a0 She'll have to tell him that she went across the hall and saved Owen's life instead of curling up and protecting their child.\u00a0 She felt she owed it to Cristina to save Owen since Cristina was saving Derek.\u00a0 On a logical level he'd have to agree, but emotions aren't logical.\u00a0 Will Derek harbor a secret conviction that his wife's friendship with Cristina cost them too much?<\/p>\n
As to Cristina and Owen, we've all heard that the season will start with their wedding.\u00a0 It's a far cry from the triangle with Teddy that tied up so much of the couple's emotions last season.\u00a0 \u00a0And it's a far cry from the Yang we've come to know and love.\u00a0 At least Cristina won't take her vows in\u00a0the traditional nightmare that Dr. Burke insisted upon,\u00a0but she's walking down the aisle awfully fast after a triangle severed at the point of a gun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many things push Cristina into marriage to Owen.\u00a0 One of the most important, was the choice Meredith made.\u00a0\u00a0The friends crouched in relative safety, hidden away from the gunman as he held that gun pointed at Derek.\u00a0 Cristina tried to keep Meredith from going to Derek, but in that moment, Meredith made one of the biggest choices of her life.\u00a0 She told Cristina that Derek was her husband, of course she was going.\u00a0\u00a0To Cristina, that choice meant that Derek had become Meredith's person.\u00a0 Cristina didn't have a person.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So Cristina says yes to the sudden proposal and she's going to take the vows and marry Owen.\u00a0 Watching the couple adjust to matrimony will be interesting, but the more interesting question is whether either of them was really ready.\u00a0 In particular, Owen had that moment when Teddy told him to go to Cristina.\u00a0 Choosing Cristina under fire doesn't mean that Owen was actually over Teddy.\u00a0 It looks like they'll create a new\u00a0romantic involvement for Teddy with the counselor they're bringing in to clear the staff before allowing them back to work.\u00a0 But that'll occupy the early part of the season.\u00a0 As we get into mid to late season, will Owen\u00a0question his choice and his marriage?\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a very interesting way, this sets up the potential for bringing things full circle that Shonda (Sunshine) Rimes so adores.\u00a0 Cristina and Owen would be Derek and Addison and Teddy would be Meredith.\u00a0 How would that situation look to Meredith\u00a0and Derek now that they're on the other side?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still another triangle has to be resolved -\u00a0or does it?\u00a0\u00a0In the finale Alex lay near death attended by Mark and Lexie.\u00a0 Mark wanted Lexie back but she'd been with Alex of late.\u00a0 But as she professed her love for Alex, he thought she was Izzie - and she pretended to be the other woman to comfort him.\u00a0 Mark watched it all.\u00a0 In the opener, they say Lexie will be having a really rough go of it\u00a0psychologically.\u00a0 Will Alex or Mark\u00a0care enough to tend to her or have her wishy-washy ways cost her both men?\u00a0 I'm guessing that therapy will teach Lexie that she must learn to be\u00a0more than\u00a0a reflection of\u00a0the people around her.\u00a0 She must love herself and value herself before anyone else will truly love or value her.<\/p>\n
Aprile watched\u00a0Meredith put her life on the line for Derek.\u00a0 Then April assisted as Meredith\u00a0lost her baby as she operated on Owen to pay back Cristina for saving Derek.\u00a0 According to the promos, that\u00a0jolted April out of the so-obvious crush she had on McDreamy.\u00a0 April lucked out and will be one of only two Mercy Westers sticking around.\u00a0 Where will her story line go?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Well, apparently April and the other remaining Mercy Wester, Jackson, will be moving in with Mer\/Der.\u00a0 Yeah, Sunshine, we get it. It's another circle completing with April and Jackson filling in for Izzie and\u00a0George.\u00a0 The obvious romance would be April\/Jackson, but I don't think the show will go there for a while.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 The circles, you silly things.\u00a0 Sunshine loves a good circle.\u00a0 In the original trio, don't forget that George had a huge and years-long crush on Meredith.\u00a0 Izzie was everyone's friend for a long time and she\u00a0held George's hand while he lusted for Meredith.\u00a0 So I bet that's where Sunshine will go here.\u00a0 Jackson crushin' on Meredith will let April be his friend.\u00a0 And it'll give McDreamy a taste of the what\u00a0Meredith\u00a0put up with last season.\u00a0 \u00a0Eventually, the circle would be completed with the crush dying out while April and Jackson replay the\u00a0George\/Izzie thing - hopefully without the ick factor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Jackson crush on\u00a0Meredith would be something Derek would likely spot pretty fast.\u00a0 He wouldn't respond to it well at all and might get batty enough to be vulnerable to April again.\u00a0 Not necessarily in a big way and not all the way, but perhaps enough of a touch to have viewers in suspense for the cliffhanger next year! Looks like Derek will have a lot to deal with next season - starting with his own family.\u00a0 His estranged sister is crossing over from Private Practice early on and that promises to be mighty intriguing.\u00a0 Will she raise the alarm to bring all of Derek's siblings to SG?\u00a0 Mama made peace with Meredith, but none of the others liked her much.\u00a0 And after all, Mer\/Der only have a post-it marriage.\u00a0 Their marriage is only as real as they want it to be and Der's siblings are unlikely to respect the union any more than they respected Meredith at first meeting. \u00a0<\/p>\n
There are other loose ends to be tied.\u00a0 The Chief has taken back his hospital and now he'll have to rebuild a relationship with Derek.\u00a0 Callie and Arizona\u00a0spent the shooting seige comforting some kids.\u00a0 Are they ready for one of their own?\u00a0 Can Arizona really put\u00a0aside her decision never to have children?\u00a0 And lets not forget good Dr. Bailey.\u00a0 She\u00a0had to watch a patient die because she couldn't get her to surgery, couldn't get her to the help she needed.\u00a0 We'll have to see how Bailey overcomes that hopeless, helpless feeling this season.\u00a0 Might it finally send her looking for comfort in the Chief's arms?\u00a0 A battle between Bailey and the Chief's wife would be interesting.\u00a0 It might almost complete another circle.\u00a0 Bailey sure gave Meredith a hard time for messing around with Derek.\u00a0 How would the shoe feel on Bailey's\u00a0other foot?<\/p>\n
I think next season will be all about the aftermath of Grey's 9\/11.\u00a0 A lot of that will be about the choices at gun point that everyone has to deal with long after the battle has ended.\u00a0 A lot of those choices have the potential for bringing a bunch of things full circle - back to the beginning but with a twist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whatever the new season holds, I know it'll bring Sunshine\u00a0to my\u00a0 TV again and that's gonna make me laugh and cry and ENJOY.\u00a0 It's been dark too long.\u00a0 All of us deserve to have\u00a0some\u00a0Sunshine back in our lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last season the halls of Seattle Grace Hospital got too crowded.\u00a0 The merger with Mercy West brought in a herd of new folks.\u00a0 All\u00a0of the Mercy Westers seemed to be in a continual hunt for patients - and for screen time.\u00a0 The fans of Grey's didn't know or care about the new faces.\u00a0 They were ...continue reading \"Season 7: The Aftermath of Grey’s 9\/11\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1195"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1197,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions\/1197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}