Grey's Anatomy: Discussion Thread

[slick jones]

How did I not know that PD left the show? I know he appeared in less episodes, but I didn't know they were killing him off.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

Did that SH&&&&&T really just happen? I CAN'T WITH THIS SHOW AND SHONDA RHIMES

[Toups]

I believe PD signed a "two year" contract that began this season, but he didn't air that much this season. He probably just agreed to come back for one and the "two years" was a ruse so people wouldn't guess Derek would die this season. I had a bad feeling at the end of last episode but once I saw that Shonda was credited as the episode writer, that it would be a big episode, and that Derek would die. Poor Meredith. So much death in her family. I'm not a MerDer shipper but I liked them. Next week's ep looks even sadder with everyone finding out.

[Angela]

I had a feeling he was exiting the show with the low amount of episodes but recently there had been a lot of rumors about it REALLY happening (PD talking about spending the rest of the year focusing on racing). Then a few hours before the episode, a fan who got their Entertainment Weekly in the mail early leaked the information.

I'm not a big Derek or MerDer fan and I was spoiled ... but the episode still made me cry. GA does death well.

- That little girl realizing Derek was hurt: "you stay not dead, okay." She was phenomenal or that scene was phenomenal because my heart started racing and I almost burst out crying. .

- Derek narrating his impending death. The music. I'm going to die because of their lack of experience. So haunting. As if Shonda wasn't causing her audience enough pain, she made us even more terrified of hospitals.

- Meredith stopping the nurse from disconnecting Derek. I thought she was going to beg him to come back to her. Chasing Cars came on and.... Meredith instead telling him that they'll be okay and it's okay to go. I could not do that. Strong moment.

Honorable Mention to the female doc in stupid-male-doctor hospital. She was awesome sauce too.

[rhinohide]

I really have barely watched this show, but my husband and my daughter have gotten into it on Netflix and are just about caught up, so we watched last night. One of the reasons I just can't really get into it is because I do not like Meredith, and I'm not all that crazy about Derrick, but this death was very well done IMO. It was really horrible watching and knowing Derrick was fully aware of the mistakes being made and that death was inevitable. That would be terrible!

[marceline]

They did everything possible to make Patrick Dempsey look gorgeous. All those shots of Derek with only the sky behind him looking all comforting and angelic. If I hadn't guessed he was a goner before, that would have done it.

[Angela]

Episode got 9.55 million total viewers (kind of destroying Scandal which had 7.79). They also got a hefty 2.8 in 18-49 (kind of destroying Scandal, again, 2.3). F'in impressive for Season 11.

GA also destroyed on Social Media. 600,000 plus tweet (Scandal had roughly 200,000).

I've enjoyed most of this season so I like. It'll be interesting to see if they can sustain any of this next week with the league of angry fans Shonda has left behind.

[Eric83]

They won't sustain it. This was a short term stunt that will only provide short term benefits. I thought the episode was good. It would have been cool to see them break a 3.0

[quartermainefan]

The NY Post reported days ago that PD was deemed a diva and SR was not going to have any more onset problems. This was PD's Drake Ramoray moment.

[Toups]

She was on Parenthood and got a lot of emotional scenes. She's a pretty good young actress. I think we'll be seeing more of her in the future. I love that they chose 'Chasing Cars' - a song that has history with the show. That was a good nod for long time viewers from the beginning. I liked her too. I bet she joins the show next season. Meh, it's the NY Post. Can't take them too seriously. Plus, they didn't give details.

[Steve]

Up until this episode, I've really been enjoying this season. It seemed like the writers had hit their groove with Callie & Arizona's breakup and the death of Jackson & April's baby, but I'm really disappointed they felt the need to kill Derek off! I know Patrick Dempsey wanted to work less, but they could've done what ER did when George Clooney left and kept Derek alive working in Washington. It felt like an insult to us long-time viewers to watch Derek narrate what his doctors were doing wrong and knowing he wasn't going to survive the surgery. I will tune in for the funeral, which better include Christina, Addison and Derek's mother and sisters, but I'm not sure if I'll keep watching after and I never imagined I'd quit this show.

[Skin]

Something about this death just felt off, threw out the entire episode it just felt like it wasn't supposed to happen. As if it wasn't previously planned for and like it wasn't scoped or projected for this season at all. I could buy that this might have been the big game plan a season from now, but not now. The way it was written just felt off, and not in a tragic it's not fair sort of way like with Lexie and Mark in the 8th and 9th seasons nor in a kind of shock value moment like they did with George in season 5. These moments felt more justified storywise. This felt like something went on behind the scenes, it feels unfinished and almost vengeful in a way. That being said I don't know how I feel about the exit, Derek was diminished a lot in this season, so I feel the impact has been muted because of it. Derek hasn't been a big player on Grey's in such a long time that I can barely pinpoint a time where it felt like he had a larger storyline in play that wasn't in some way connected to Meredith. I think the last time Derek had a big storyline that made him a real force of the show was when he was Chief of General Surgery. Had this happened in season 6 I think it would have held a bigger impact in terms of longer term story, as it stands now having done it this late in the series does more harm than good in my opinion. Meredith feels more and more isolated and more and more islanded because of this. Pretty much all of her friends are gone, and now her family is fractured.

I will say I am beyond tired of Shondra killing off cast members. It got old seasons ago, and it just seems mean spirited at this point, especially in light of her giving Christina Yang an out that didn't require her leaving the show in a body bag. I'm going to need her to mature and keep business, business. She needs to learn to get along with her actors, and to forgive and forget if there is friction between her and her cast. I'm only here for April and Jackson at this point in the series though.

Edited April 29, 2015 by Skin

[slick jones]

Very disappointed they chose not to have the funeral onscreen. Many missed opportunities there...

[Mr. Vixen]

I was disappointed too but I bet it came down to not being able to get people like Sandra Oh back. This way we at least assume they were there.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

I seriously hope the ratings tank. I didn't watch the funeral episode. I agree that Derek's sister(s) should be upset at Meredith for pulling the plug without letting them say good bye.