Grey's Anatomy: Grey Matter

Meg Marinis on "Hook, Line and Sinner"...

Original Airdate: 04-29-10

BABIES. 

LOTS of babies all the time. Real ones. Fake ones. Crying ones. Sleeping ones. Babies and baby paraphernalia everywhere. People telling you to shush, whispering, “Baby on the stage.” Actors having babies, writers having babies, Facebook babies, Tweets about babies… That’s how it was on the set during the filming of this episode. Not only were we filming the story of Sloan-Cubed (That’s what we called Mark Sloan’s grandson), but the night before we began shooting, Eric Dane and his lovely wife Rebecca welcomed their baby into the world. And when we were prepping this episode, writer-producer Stacy McKee gave birth to her beautiful daughter Sabrina.  Like I said, babies, babies everywhere. 

First off, I have to let y’all (Yes, I will be using y’all – I am from Texas, and I just can’t stop) in on an interesting tidbit of production -- filming with live babies? Is INSANE. I mean, insane in a good way, they’re cute and do funny things for the camera, like stick out their tongues and yawn, but also insane, as in their schedules to be allowed on the set? Insane. Babies are allowed to be on the shooting stage for a maximum of twenty minutes per day, and that time must fall within a two hour window. We were lucky in that we had the amazing Spencer and Elijah, the cutest twin baby boys that served as our Sloan-Cubed; therefore, we actually had forty minutes of available shooting time for those scenes. And no offense to Spencer and Elijah or all of baby-kind, but when you want the baby actor to sleep peacefully? He cries. When you want them to cry their guts out in a massive fit of tears? They sleep like angels. So when we were stealing the bottle from a napping Spencer or Elijah in order to induce tears, I’m pretty sure I felt like the worst human being in the world. 

So, Sloan Sloan’s baby was delivered on Mark’s living room floor. While Teddy was pantless in Mark’s dress shirt. While Owen was awkwardly noticing a pantless Teddy in Mark’s dress shirt (More to come on the Teddy/Owen angst later). While breaking this episode in the writers’ room, we talked about a bunch of different ways we could show Sloan-Cubed’s arrival – do we rush a laboring Sloan to Seattle Grace and have her give birth in the ER? Do we give the birth some serious medical medical and save both the lives of Sloan and her baby by an awesome risky surgery? Does Addison hop on a helicopter in her trendy heels and chopper down from LA? Do we show the ACTUAL birth? 

We went with the version that aired because we really thought we wanted a super-charged, fun, dynamic opening to the show – I LOVE this opening. Director Tony Phelan did an amazing job of setting up the sequence that went from the Callie/Arizona fight to Mark screaming for suture kits, to everyone running across the hallway and standing in the doorway as Teddy just looks at them while holding this newborn covered in goo. 

Wait. Pause. Hi, I’m Meg, and I’m the Director of Medical Research, and this is my very first time at writing an episode.  And I’m writing to you like you know me. Because I know you. Or, most of y’all. Or, at least the die-hard ones that have been around for years. The bloggers. When I first started at GREY’S, in Season 3, I was the Writers’ PA, and one of my main jobs was to read all of your comments and post them, so that the writers could then read all of your thoughts. So every Thursday night, after the show aired on the West coast, I would log on to this blog and read what y’all had to say. Or type. I read and posted everything. The good things AND the bad things. And it may sound totally weird, and I hope I don’t creep anyone out, but it really makes me happy when three years later, I see a lot of my familiar blogging friends with their same author names, still writing to us. So thank you, blogging-fans. For watching, for reading, and for writing. We really appreciate it and please keep at it. But anyway, I’m Meg, and it’s nice to finally and officially meet all of you.  

So while Mark is learning how to be a dad and supporting Sloan in making the right decision for her son’s future… Callie and Arizona are finally talking about the “baby” in the room. And literally are interrupted by an actual baby being delivered in the other room… does anyone else find that as funny as I do? Anyway… When Shonda told us that this would be the episode where Callie and Arizona have the all-out FIGHT, my first question was, well, who wins? Is it going to be baby… or no baby? And really, how does Arizona, a PEDIATRIC surgeon really not want kids? She obviously likes them, she’s obviously great with them, I mean, why else put herself through one of the hardest specialties in medicine, if not? And that’s what Callie doesn’t understand. Callie watches her girlfriend help deliver a baby, watches her girlfriend calm a baby down, and watches her girlfriend insert a central line into another baby in the NICU. All in one day. Arizona never flinches when dealing with babies that are her patients. So in Callie’s mind, there must be a reason why Arizona doesn’t want one of her own. And she assumes it’s because her brother died. And yikes, does she assume wrong. That scene in the residents’ lounge? Jessica and Sara were freaking genius in that scene. Arizona cannot even believe Callie went to the brother place. And we see that, Arizona really just doesn’t want kids. There is no THING that happened. There is no dark hidden story that she can’t bear to talk about. She just DOESN’T want them. 

It’s heartbreaking because they love each other, and they want this relationship to work. Badly. It’s heartbreaking because they want to make each other happy, they want to meet in the middle, they want to compromise. But what’s the compromise when it comes to babies? I get it when it’s Friday night, and I’m exhausted from researching medical medical all day, and I want to watch “Smallville” (Yes, I watch “Smallville, I love “Smallville,” and I love it proudly) but my fiancé obviously wants to watch some five-hour sporting event (between two teams that have nothing to do with the state we’re from OR the city we live in). But we love each other, so we do what every bickering couple would do… we watch “Friday Night Lights” instead. Compromise. Both of us happy. But with Callie and Arizona? Isn’t it, baby… or no baby? Can their relationship survive if they keep having this fight? 

Mer and Der. There’s a relationship that’s surviving and thriving. And I know they didn’t have a ton of alone time this episode. And I know that y’all don’t like that sometimes, but please remember when you’re expressing yourself on this blog about how much you don’t like it, that we will still understand your passion about the couple and how many minutes they have together in the episode, if you could somehow use the words freak, dang, heck, and shoot rather than their alternatives. We completely get where you’re coming from, but there’s no need to shout at our writers. Or our Writers’ PA Tia, who when posting the comments, tries to keep the language clean and friendly for all ages. And BTW, there’s nothing to shout about here. Even though April may be an adoring young resident who thinks everything out of Derek’s mouth is hilarious, McDreamy doesn’t see that. McDreamy only sees Meredith. And even though Alex tries to break it down for her, Mer’s not really threatened by April. She knows her Post-It’s all good. It sure seemed fine when she went in to see Derek in the conference room at the end of the day… 

But one relationship you’ll want to keep a close eye on in the few remaining episodes of Season 6 is the Cristina/Owen/Teddy triangle. Not only did Owen throw Teddy under the bus with the threat of her losing her job, but he basically lied to Cristina’s face about it. I love how Cristina’s devotion to cardio is so blinding that she doesn’t even fully realize her betrayal of Teddy until that scene at the Nurses’ Station when Teddy tells her Evans is being considered as her replacement. And then when Owen comforts her in the elevator, Teddy just breaks down. That’s such a raw moment for the two of them, and I find it so interesting that we’re really exploring the possibility of Owen maybe being in love with two women. Undoubtedly, he is in love with Cristina. But the fact that being that close to Teddy in that elevator sent him to Derek’s office to tell him he can pass on Teddy? Pretty significant. And keep watching, because what Owen said to Derek will continue to be explored next week… 

… And trust me when I say, don’t change the channel on Thursday nights in the following weeks… And my heart’s even beating faster as I write this because things are happening and finales are approaching…And oh my goodness…

And again, thank you so very much for watching, reading, and writing. 

And thank you especially to Shonda, Krista, Hammer, Pete, Tony, Joan, Zoanne, Debora, Allan, Jenna, Stacy, Bill, Austin, Star, Darren, Chris, Miguel, Seve, Safia, Raamla, Tia, Nancy, Jess, Susan, Betsy, Rob, the cast, and the crew. Thank you all so very, very much for giving me the amazing opportunity to write this episode.

Allan Heinberg on "Sympathy for the Parents"...

Original Airdate: 4-1-10

Tonight’s episode was about parenting.  But I’ll let you in on a little behind-the-scenes GREY’S trivia.  The first draft of the script had absolutely nothing to do with parenting – at least not thematically.  The theme of the first draft was limitations.

The stories were basically the same, but Meredith’s voice-over was about how most people – surgeons, especially – go through their lives refusing to accept or even admit to their own limitations.  They push through their days and nights striving to be the best, most successful and most lovable versions of themselves imaginable.  They struggle endlessly – needlessly – to become something they can never ever be:  perfect. 

We were interested in exploring the somewhat counterintuitive idea that by accepting our own – and other people’s – limitations, we actually allow ourselves to experience life as it’s really happening – to appreciate it on its own terms, rather than to constantly measure it against impossible expectations.  

In the “limitations” draft, Meredith, crippled by the emotionally abusive parenting she received from Ellis and Thatcher, had serious doubts about her ability to be anyone’s mother.  But by essentially parenting Alex and his brother, Aaron, throughout the episode, Meredith discovered she might not make such a terrible mom after all.

Alex knew he could never bring himself to return to Iowa to become his family’s full-time caretaker again, but he was able to help Aaron in his own limited way.  He did get his brother a free surgery, after all.  And ultimately Alex was surprised to realize that all Aaron really wanted – in fact, the only reason he even came to Seattle – was to reconnect with his brother again.  And that much, Alex could do.

Also in the course of the first draft, Cristina came up against her own limitations trying to communicate with and care for Owen as he continues to suffer from PTSD.

Mark and Teddy found themselves limited by not being able to be with the people they truly loved.  However, by finally admitting to the unspoken truth that they’re both in love with other people, they were actually able to take some comfort in one another.

Lexie, Richard, April, and Derek were forced to come to terms with the limitations of medicine – as well as the emotional limitations dictated by their profession.

And Callie and Arizona finally had to question whether or not their romantic partnership can survive their own -- and each other’s -- limitations.  Callie wants to have a child.  Arizona doesn’t.

All of which is to say that the stories were originally geared toward illuminating and exploring the characters’ inevitable, insurmountable limitations.

Then we had what we call a writers’ table-read, which is what we do when we want to hear a new script out loud before the actual table read with the actual cast of GREY’S ANATOMY.  

At a writers’ table-read, the entire writing staff – and the entire support staff – sits around a great, big table in the middle of the writer’s room with fresh-off-the-printer scripts and a generous supply of York Peppermint Patties, Coffee Nips, and those fiendishly addictive Mother’s Frosted Circus Animal Cookies.  Everybody plays at least one, if not several, roles.  Everybody, except Shonda, who listens and scribbles furiously in her script.  Joan Rater usually plays Meredith.  Krista Vernoff channels Cristina.  Tony Phelan brings his own commanding authority to Derek Shepherd.  And Mark Wilding does a mean Richard Webber.  I generally play patients for some reason, but then I am susceptible to colds.

At any rate, we read the first draft of the script, and then there was silence.  Terrible, deafening, Shonda-silence.  The kind of silence that usually indicates a long night ahead and a very thorough rewrite.  And then finally Shonda looked at me and announced that I hadn’t written an episode about limitations at all.  I had written about parenting.  After all, Derek and Meredith were talking about having a baby.  Callie and Arizona were specifically not talking about having a baby. Gina, the super-cop discovers she can’t have a baby.  And then at the end, Sloan Sloan marches in and announces she’s about to have a baby.  

Shonda was right.  As usual.  Even on a metaphorical level, Meredith spends the episode parenting Alex.  As does Bailey, for that matter.  Alex spends the episode trying to parent Aaron without completely losing himself in the past and his family’s dysfunction.  And if you extend the metaphor further, Richard parents Lexie through the rigors of having to take her patient off life-support.  Bailey parents Callie on the subject of having children.  Teddy parents Cristina in the O.R. and in her personal life with Owen.  When viewed through the thematic prism of parenthood, I was suddenly seeing examples of it throughout the episode.  Anytime the doctors of Seattle Grace-Mercy West helped each other, taught each other, cared for each other, they were parenting.  They were raising one another.  Which seems appropriate.  Seattle Grace-Mercy West is a teaching hospital, after all. 

I couldn’t help but appreciate the irony that an episode about limitations transcended its own theme and organically became an episode about parenthood, a miraculous process by which people transcend their own limitations and discover there’s absolutely no limit to the amount of love it’s possible to feel for another person.

On that note, it’s time for me to express my own limitless love for GREY’S ANATOMY and for the extraordinary people who make it.  After four seasons as a writer and producer on the show, I’ve decided to take a leave of absence and spend next season writing some projects of my own.  I’m excited about the future, but sad to be leaving.  GREY’S has the finest writing staff, the finest crew and production staff and the best cast I’ve ever worked with – and I will miss seeing everybody every day.  But I’ll be visiting a lot.  And it’ll be fun to watch the episodes every week without having any idea what’s going to happen next.

But I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for the time I spent at Seattle Grace-Mercy West and for the people who watch the show and read this blog.  This job has been life-changing.  I’ve learned and continue to learn so much from the show, from the characters, and from the experience.  

I owe a profound debt of gratitude to Shonda and Betsy for the opportunity, the inspiration, and their overwhelming generosity.  To Krista for her leadership and bravery and open heart.  To Jenna, Jess, Debora, Seve, Zoanne, Safia, Austin, Bill, Nancy, Elizabeth, Gabe, Molly, Meg, Stacy, Star, Raamla, Moira, Tia, Miguel, Pete, Tony, Darren, Joan, Sonay, and of course Mark “The Hammer” Wilding for four years of friendship and gloriously inappropriate workplace behavior.  Thanks to Rob, Jeff, Karin, Winter and Thom for taking such good care of us all.  To Linda Klein for all things medical medical.  Thanks to our incredible crew, production staff, and cast for making GREY’S ANATOMY the best job I’ve ever had.

Thank YOU for watching.  And for reading.  

And believe me when I tell you, you are not going to believe what happens in the season finale.

Stay tuned…