posterity

They cannot end happily anytime soon for the sole reason that they have everything going for them as a couple. They have children, shining careers and a nice home. They are in love and all of that. There is no television to be had there, so they have to suspend the happy times and prolong the angst.

That imo is what is wrong with a television series extending itself to infinity. At some point there is no where else for the characters to go except backwards.

darkxtwisty

I disagree. All of Meredith's concerns are within reason. Like she says in the promo for next episode, he has started over before. With that said, this situation is different than the previous situation, because unlike Addison, Meredith has not cheated. Meredith doesn't see it as different, though. I really hope they wouldn't simply have history repeat itself, because that would be lazy writing. They've always compared MerDer to Ellis/Richard, even in the early seasons they tried to make them look like they'd have the same outcome, then they didn't.

Now they're doing the same thing with Addek/MerDer, making the comparisons, though I think their outcome will be different too.

Derek is back next episode anyway, and we know from BTS pics with Patrick at the place were they film the catwalk that he's back in Seattle at some point too. This is just them setting up his return without actually saying he's returning, so there's the "shock factor."

Unlike the first part of season, we're pretty much in the dark on all storylines. There were tons of scoops in the fall, so we pretty much knew what was going to happen next. I have no idea right now for any couples -- there's no certainty for anyone right now. Calzona are separated and no signs of getting back together anytime soon, Japril have been in the background, Amelia/Owen are just getting started (I have to say I'm enjoying them most right now), MerDer are on separate coasts, Jolex are being used as catalysts for everyone else's storylines and really have nothing going on. The only thing we know for certain is Derek returns next episode, really, based on Patrick's interviews...

QueenMeredith

Yep, so they are doing this again.

No matter how much you trust your spouse, calling him, a woman answers, refused to tell who she is and than hang up.. of course you will be thinking the worst.. and think about the history too.

darkxtwisty

Yeah, it's only natural that Meredith would have doubts. I just hope it's not the obvious. It's rarely /the obvious/ on Grey's. Even last season they went to great lengths to make it look like Meredith would move to DC when Derek (even though she wouldn't, because otherwise no drama). It also reminds me of One Tree Hill when the show went to great lengths to make it look like Nathan cheated on Haley. Gosh, that storyline lasted several episodes, and for a while it really looked like he was cheating. Of course Meredith would have doubts. And it's not like the first thought that popped in her head when the woman answered the phone was he's cheating. She asked if he was in the skills lab, so she wasn't fazed by another woman answering the phone. It's when she said "What?" and hung up Meredith started to worry.

justathought

Sorry, not buying it.
If I called my man, and a woman answered then hung up, I wouldn't jump to he is cheating, I would jump to oh my god where is he.
Is he hurt, has someone stolen his phone.
Cheating is low on my list of possibilities, but I completely trust him.

So, Meredith jumping to cheating is a trust issue that only leads to a poor outcome imo.

darkxtwisty

Well we've known they have trust issues, so it needs to be brought up and if this is how it's brought up, fine by me, as long as it's addressed. It's been an issue since the beginning, they've just pushed it aside time and time again. If it gets them to talk about it, even if it means yelling, I say bring it. They need to move forward, and the only way they're going to move forward is if they get to the underlining issues, and trust is a huge underlining issue.

LG Stargirl

It is human to have insecurities, I don't care how stable your relationship is. And Meredith was trained as a child that she "isn't worth it" and she's "not good enough". Her father never cared enough to see her again after the age of five and there was no pleasing her mother or living up to her extraordinary expectations. Add to that Mer/Der's history and the fact they had a bumpy beginning where he chose the wife Meredith didn't even know existed for a while, and that can mess with her psyche.

Marriage isn't meant to be some smooth-sailing ride where everyone has 100% trust all of the time or the alternative is they're doomed. If that was the case the divorce rate would be much higher than 50%. Marriages have ups and downs, an ebb and flow to them. When they are challenged, how a couple deals with the challenge determines the outcome. They have issues they need to discuss, so we'll see if this new "drama" sheds light on these issues and brings them to the forefront so they can be dealt with.

JaSam4Life

I couldn't agree more. Meredith has no idea who this woman is on the other side of the phone. She can the sister she never spoke too or his assistant ect ... If she jumps to cheating issue that just shows her complete lack of faith in him and it didn't help that she pretty much said her career is going so much better since Derek left .... ouch

LG Stargirl

You must have missed a big part of that speech??? She clearly said that being apart has reminded her of who she is outside of her marriage, but she CHOOSES him, and chooses to have him in her life, and was calling to share her success with him. That's what marriage is, a choice to continue to share your life with someone. For the record, she hadn't even realized that her surgery success rate was so good since Derek left until she had it pointed out to her.

As far as her doubts go, it's not like they showed her running out and immediately filing for divorce. It gave her pause, and that is normal. Now, those out there who say they never have such insecurities about their significant others because they are so well-adjusted and happy and perfect, well congratulations - here's a gold star! But realistically that's very one-dimensional. People are complicated, relationships are COMPLICATED, life is complicated. Over a long period of time ups and downs happen. Again, it's how you handle the things life throws at you that determines the outcome. So - we'll see how this goes. Are they going to talk about it? How and why does Derek return to Seattle? How will this affect the underlying issues they need to continue to work on in their marriage? Obviously, the end of this epi sets up what is next - should be an interesting ride!

darkxtwisty

I think it's more of a wake-up call more than anything. Earlier in the episode we saw her telling Alex that she and Derek were fine, everything was fine, they were happy, the kids were happy. Alex kept pointing out that, obviously, they weren't fine, because she had a marriage without a husband. Obviously you can't have a successful marriage on two separate coasts without seeing each other at some point.

This was bound to come up. It's a wake-up call for both of them really. Meredith realizing that, yes, Derek /has/ moved across the country and started over again. And could he find someone in DC? Sure, there are plenty of women in DC. Would he? Well, that's up for her to decide. Even if he's not cheating, which I doubt he is, she has to choose to trust and believe him.

It's bringing their story in a full circle. At the end of S4, she said "I don't know if I trust you, but I'm gonna try."

This season is very similar to S4 in a lot of ways. The sister, the mommy issues, the trust issues Mer-Der are facing. I can see them having a similar ending to the house of candles. Only it'll be in the dreamhouse. Now they're throwing in the 'other' woman too.

Heck, Derek thought of Meredith the entire time he was sleeping with Rose, and he wouldn't even sleep with Meredith before ending things with Rose. Addison said it best in S3, Derek isn't the kind of guy to hurt someone on purpose. She said she knew he would never hurt her, not the way that she hurt him. Addison provided Meredith with a lot of insight on Derek, and I think it still holds true today.

I think there's another woman who's into him, wants him, and that's why she hung up on Meredith. She wants to screw with Meredith's head, and sadly, it's working. Though given her background, she's definitely entitled to have doubts. She has severe abandonment issues that have tainted her ability to trust others, and it doesn't help that Derek did in fact start off their relationship by lying to her.

This is the wake-up call, the music Mer-Der must face, though. Long distance isn't working. For a long distance relationship to work, you have to be able to instill a lot of trust in your partner. These are conversations Mer-Der need to talk about, which I think we'll see in 11x17 according to the PR. We haven't seen them /really/ talk (without yelling) in a long time. The best conversation they've had was 11x9, when they agreed to make it work. Hopefully they will figure out a way to make it work.

WalaBridget

I did not watch the epp yet , but I did long distance relationship for half a year and did a follow up and we ended things for good I think last week unless I dunno if there is unfinished business well it's Grey's , so that may be the end
But I think MD doing this long distance thing is not sustainable for sure. MD are married with two kids and while yes Derek got offer a lifetime job and he likes the glamour * being praised as a dreamy and talented * However, does he love that more than his wife and kids. There is no end date for this job, so maybe if Derek get published after doing a part of it he can leave it , but he can not that and he is not too selfish he also like to acoomplish at the end of the day.

You see I don't think this is season four , I think this an issue MD always had and it's different stages in life and gaps. They bridged some of them through having kids and being married , but Meredith is she publsuhed like Derek still she is not there yet ...

The writers are gonna resolve this I dunoo how but without Derek resenting Meredith I hope.

Rainha♕Primavera

LG Stargirl

What is "treason of fact"?

There are at least four episodes this season that were much less interesting to me than this one.

darkxtwisty

I found 11x15 enjoyable, as a whole, because most of my favorites had something going on, and I even found Callie/Maggie enjoyable. I love Owen/Amelia, and the Alex/Mer banter was funny IMO, very sibling-like.

11x2 and 11x5 are easily the worst episodes this season. 11x13 and 11x14 were pretty boring too (and I love Amelia, just not with Herman/Arizona). I'm not a fan of the character-centric episodes, period. I like episodes when everyone has a little something to look forward to, then everyone's happy.

I expect the next couple episodes to be a massive rollercoaster, especially for us MerDer fans. I think they'll use Owen/Amelia as a bit of 'relief' from all the heavy stuff. I also think they'll start to show how Japril are really being affected by the loss of their son next episode. I can see it being pretty intense for them. The next two episodes seem really angst-driven.

Welcome to Shondaland.

Rainha♕Primavera