To say ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy is going to be a lot different without leading man Patrick Dempsey would be an understatement. But as the medical drama moves into its first full season without McDreamy, the stars and producers behind the Shonda Rhimes medical drama are all looking forward to hitting the reset button.
To say ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy is going to be a lot different without leading man Patrick Dempsey would be an understatement. But as the medical drama moves into its first full season without McDreamy, the stars and producers behind the Shonda Rhimes medical drama are all looking forward to hitting the reset button. Shonda Rhimes,
Ellen Pompeo, Caterina Scorsone (Amelia) and Kelly McCreary (Maggie) discuss changes for season 12. Here are a few ways in which the drama will shift following the show’s most depressing season ever.
1 It will be lighter. “We had a table read last week in which I have never heard the entire room laugh that much — I want to say since season one — the entire room was laughing and everybody broke into applause when we were done reading,” Rhimes says. “It was a nice feeling to be so light again but in a way that didn’t feel like we were trying so hard; it felt natural.” Her goal was to recapture the early season banter and bring the fun back to the show.
2 Awkward living arrangements. Meredith has moved back into her mother’s home and is sharing the space with sister-in-law Amelia and Maggie. “Right now it’s very funny. Those three women are very different and don’t have very much in common, which is fantastic,” Rhimes says.
3 Callie and Arizona will both have new love interests. Rhimes says both characters, played by Sara Ramirez and Jessica Capshaw, respectively, will “definitely” have some new romances this season. “And some pretty exciting ones, too, which I think is going to be interesting,” says Rhimes, who noted she’s “intrigued” by what’s happening with both characters individually and admits she still “loves them together.”
4 Callie’s bisexuality will be further explored. While Callie’s new love female interest is “very surprising,” Rhimes said Callie’s bisexuality will be addressed but it won’t feel like the show is “telling an issue” story. “I like that we bring it up and I like that she has arguments about it. I like that Arizona always had a little bit of an issue with it, like, ‘When are you going to go back to guys.’ We’re going to really try to deal with it and make it a thing. We’ll be working it in but not as like an ‘issue,’ the way we never do issues and we’ll work it in and have it be part of her character.”
5 Arizona is going to find herself again. Though it’s unclear if Arizona’s famous roller shoes will return, Rhimes says the fun-loving character is going to experience some soul searching this season as she re-enters the dating community.
6 Another time jump. Season 12 will pick up three months after the finale and bring April back to the hospital after re-enlisting. As for why she ultimately opted to skip forward a year in Meredith’s journey, Rhimes revealed it was because she “needed there to be time to have passed for her to even be in a place where I felt like she could have a conversation.”
7 Could Meredith find love again? It’s unclear for now but Rhimes says that won’t be the focus of what Meredith is doing come season 12. “I keep seeing these things saying that we’re replacing McDreamy and Patrick is irreplaceable, that’s not really the point. Meredith is on a journey. She’s always been on a journey and I’m taking her on where the journey leads her and we’ll see what that feels like,” she says.
8 Maggie’s focus is on her “chosen” family. McCreary, whose Maggie learned of her adopted parents’ divorce last season, says this season finds “everybody” with new footing after all of their individual traumas. “Maggie is carrying along the disillusionment and feeling of being unmoored but she’s finding her footing again with her twisted sisters,” McCreary says. The dynamic in the Grey house, however, is going to be quite interesting.
9 Amelia is “single, not dead.” Scorsone says there’s still some confusion — and “twitter-pated vibes” between Amelia and Owen (Kevin McKidd). “They are officially on the books ‘friends’ at this point but they are certainly not buddies [though] their pheromones would maybe disagree with their official relationship status,” she says with a laugh. “She deserves a little bit of happy.
10 Amelia is going to redefine herself. “Derek was a father figure, the core person in her life, he was the only witness to her defining tragedy when they were children — losing their dad the way they lost him — he was her Paul McCartney to her John Lennon. Losing Derek is going to spin her head around and cause her to have to redefine herself,” Scorsone says.
11 Everyone will experience a “redefinition and renaissance” — and there’s actual laughter. To hear Scorsone tell it, “a lot has shifted this season” after the tragedies of season 11. “It was a depressing, dark, sad season. Inevitably, we’d have to get lighter this season. All of the characters are experiencing a redefinition and a renaissance and I feel like the show is, too. After going so dark, we’re finding the humor. It’s like when you have to laugh hysterically at a funeral — it couldn’t get any sadder. The laughter had to come — and it has. There’s a lot of levity on the set.”
12 New sets. Scorsone says “even the sets are different” and there’s a “lightness in the color scheme” as the relationships have all moved. “The constellation has shifted and people are living in different places. There’s a lot of change now.”
