Tomorrow, Thursday 27th
September, Season 9 of Grey’s starts. It’s possible this will be the last
season. It’s probable that this is the penultimate season and that 10 years of
Seattle Grace (Mercy West) will see the end of this brilliant medical drama.
There remains lots of scope for drama and heartbreak, romance and bloody
surgeries. I’ve had a go at listing my wishes for Season 9. There is no right
or wrong in this list and you may have your own hopes, if you do, join in below.
Meredith and Derek – real hard core grief,
kick ass Attending Meredith and not a repeat of Burke’s hand story.
It says a
lot when I can’t think of things I wish for for this couple. I love Meredith
and Derek but for me they are no longer the only glue in the show, in fact they
haven’t been for a while – in my eyes – they are part of the glue that includes
Cristina, Callie and Bailey. Patrick Dempsey has stated his surprise that their
relationship has survived all the stuff they’ve been through so I guess they
deserve to live as a family and deal with their loss as a family. This is new
territory for Meredith. Sure she lost her mother, but that was a very
dysfunctional relationship so grief was complicated and cold. She lost George
but he wasn’t family and ultimately quickly forgotten. But Lexie stuck and I
think this was the only healthy family relationship (aside from Derek and Zola)
that she’d experienced. It will be refreshing to see how Meredith copes with
this. And Meredith ‘as a Resident’ storylines never disappointed so I’m very
much looking forward to Meredith ‘the Attending’. And for Derek, I hope that he
deals with his hand injury the way normal mere mortals do rather than as a
surgeon with a God complex (aka Burke).
Cristina and Owen – a realistic resolution.
This is a tough one. I always thought that the writing of Owen’s affair was
retrospective, an ‘after thought’. I felt that there was such a strong response
to Cristina having the abortion that the writers realized that there was no
coming back from that for the couple, that no couple could really survive that.
So they introduced an affair to even the score a bit and show us (as if we
didn’t already know) that both sides of this relationship are deeply flawed. I
have never been a fan of Owen and never will be but equally I can’t see
Cristina finding love with anyone else in two seasons (working on the
assumption there are only two seasons left). A ‘realistic resolution’ could
possibly be the eventual permanent separation of this couple, with the end of
Grey’s Anatomy bringing the start of something new for Cristina.
Callie and Arizona – strength and DEPTH!
This is the story I am most looking forward to, which has the most potential
but which also has the most risk of disappointment. There is so much going on
with this couple after their easy, loving, happy Season 8 that Season 9 looks
to be strong and deep - Arizona losing her best friend, being in a plane crash
(given her fear of flying), suffering deeply traumatic life changing injuries (if
spoilers are to be believed); Callie also losing her best friend, who is also
the father of her child, dealing with the trauma suffered by her wife and
likely being (and coping as) a single parent for a good long while whilst
Arizona recovers, and then there could be the threat of legal action against
her and Jackson. (I believe that unseen scenes added into the DVD box set are
never deleted scenes, but are unused scenes that still hold value to the story
– there’s a law suit there for the taking). The problem is that when
expectation is high for a story the writers can under-deliver. Expectation IS
high. This is new exciting territory for the actors, the characters and the show,
please let it deliver.
Bailey (and Ben) – a proper visible relationship.
Shown on screen, the ups downs in and outs. I don’t want to see quick short 20
second moments which talk about all the stuff that happened off screen. And now
that her babies have graduated I want to see Bailey SHINE professionally.
Alex – personal maturity.
Alex is dysfunctional.
He’s always been this way, it is an inherent part of his character. But
seriously it’s now boring, repetitive and painful to watch. I rather they exit
his character (and I’m an Alex fan) than put us through yet another season of
Alex torture. Alex starts Season 9 in exactly the same way he started Season 8
AND by the way exactly the same way he started Season 7. Lets go down the list
– Season 7 he unceremoniously dumped Lexie and proceeded to bed hop his way
through PTSD, wallowing in miserable survivors guilt and fear until Bailey and
Webber pulled him out. Season 8 he’s weighed down with unbearable guilt about
dobbing in Meredith – by the way the right thing to do – though not seen as the
right thing by his friends. Season 9 will start with him suffering survivors
guilt again, being the one who should have been on the plane, being the one who
fought with Arizona before she left, who ‘let her down’, who failed to have a
mature conversation about his desire to go to Hopkins. (By the way, a side note,
I don’t for one second believe the character of Arizona would begrudge him a
job at Hopkins). I don’t care if Alex finds true love this season, I only care
that the writers take Alex on the same emotional journey as they took Mark in
Season 8. I want Alex to maintain his ‘rebel without a cause’ character but I
want the writers to show us that he is more ‘rebel with a cause’ by design not
as frequently portrayed, by accident.
Mark - a sensitive, devastating death.
There is no way
to legitimately remove this character from the show except killing him
off...unfortunately. I love Mark. If
you’ve read my previous blogs you will know that he is one of my favourite
characters. But even I know that anything other than death is a disservice.
After all the difficulty he’s had in relationships and parenting he would not
leave Sofia. No. Mark is the character that showed the most growth in Season 9.
He became a responsible parent to Sofia, already a supportive friend to Callie
he became a sensitive one to Arizona, recognizing her place in that family and
he became a teacher. But in the end he lost his love. Farewell Mark.
Richard - heartbreak and closure.
If there
is one story which MUST conclude in Season 9 it is the Adele Alzheimer story.
We may well see more of Richard and Dr Avery Snr but we absolutely must see
more of Loretta Devine’s beautiful performance as Adele. This is the heartbreak
story of this season.
April – self awareness.
Sarah Drew’s April
is perhaps the most under-used character in the show. Contrary to some opinions
I think she adds a lot of value when written well. She is different enough to
add a unique perspective, she has an intriguing antagonistic relationship with
Alex and Cristina which deserves exploring; her professional life is a mess
(though God only knows how it is that Jackson is an Attending and she isn’t);
she has a sixth sense in spotting the unseen; and her virginal storyline is a
nice moral compliment to the abortion dilemma with Cristina (though I doubt the
writers will EVER go there.) I hope the writers realize that used well April
can fulfill many different roles for the characters.
Jackson – exit.
Okay. That’s unrealistic,
but hey, this is MY wish list. Given that Shonda has already said she is
relying on Jessie Williams (and Justin Chambers) to step into the place vacated
by Eric Dane, in the man-whore-man-hero stakes I guess we will be seeing more
of him. So if he’s to stay then I can only hope that the writers give us a
reason to like him or invest in him. His acting range is unfortunately quite
narrow (if what we’ve seen already is anything to go by) so his character will
demand strong writing to get any kind of substance. I live in hope.
That’s it from me until Season Premiere is
over. Enjoy Thursday night!
Written by brouhaha aka @pipmaxine.
