By Emma Zaremba
Features Editor
The simple line “Speak now or forever hold your peace” helped liberate Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) in the mid-season finale of “Grey’s Anatomy” last December. Finally, after a season of evident doubt in their significant others and yearning for one another, Avery stood up at April Kepner’s (Sarah Drew) wedding and professed his love. It was no shock to the audience his heart belonged to Kepner, yet the anticipation made the moment just as breathtaking as if it was heard for the first time.
“Grey’s Anatomy,” the ten-season strong medical drama, will return on Thursday at 9 p.m. on ABC with its mid-season premiere. Launched in 2005, the series follows the lives of five surgical interns and the residents at their place of employment, Seattle Grace Hospital.
Over the course of nine- and-a-half seasons, the original interns have lost two of their own along with several other colleagues and friends who were dear to them. The three remaining interns became residents, and a new group of interns, who now have larger roles, moved in to fill the void.
After a traumatic plane crash in season eight that killed Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), sister of lead actress Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), the hospital was renamed “Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital.”
Meredith Grey, Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) were three of the five interns that kicked off the show. They have remained lead characters in the series’ entirety, but that’s about to change. Before season ten began, Oh revealed that this would be her last season with “Grey’s Anatomy.”
This announcement came as a shock to fans because the role of Cristina Yang is simply unmatchable. Shonda Rhimes, the show’s creator, can’t bring in a new success-driven and intense yet sensitive character to make up for this loss. Yang is the most captivating character in “Grey’s Anatomy” history. She has the ability to be the most head-strong, no-nonsense and competitive doctor one minute, while the next she can be completely vulnerable and emotional. Both personalities grasp the attention of the audience and force them to do nothing less than adore her.
Aside from losing a pivotal character in the plot, the audience must let go of the series’ longest relationship – the friendship of Meredith Grey and Yang. As they have made clear throughout the episodes, they are each other’s person with which no one can compare. It will be interesting to see the ratings next season when Yang is no longer on staff.
Up to date, this season has been filled with struggling friendships, marriages, family ties and romantic relationships. The mid-season finale in early December sparked major changes within each of these battles.
Unlike any dispute they’ve had before, Meredith Grey and Yang have been clashing for the majority of the season. Yang gave up the chance to have a family to focus on her medical career while Meredith made the decision to balance both. Meredith quickly found that her career was coming second to her family in the balance, therefore allowing Yang to advance and leave her behind for the first time.
Underneath all the fighting and competition, the fellow surgeons were jealous of each other, and after a while, they only continued to fight because they were scared of losing each other to their different lifestyles.
The mid-season finale left the two in a peaceful understanding at Kepner’s wedding. Hopefully that continues through the end of the season, as it would be an awful shame for Yang to part from her medical family with such anger.
The marriage of Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) and Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) has had its own complications since Robbins lost her leg in the aforementioned season eight plane crash. At first, Robbins was furious with Torres, who cut off her leg in surgery to save her life. Then she was angry at her for removing her leg and cheating with another woman after months of discomfort and resentment.
The two were separated at the start of season 10, but they tried to reconcile mid-season for the sake of their daughter and their own sanity. But their relationship never exits the roller-coaster. In the mid-season finale, Robbins cries out that she wants her wife to “fix” her, even though she was mad at Torres for breaking her to begin with.
Arizona Robbins is an intensely needy character. Perhaps the rumors of Torres leaving the show after this season are true. Her wife, Robbins, is ridiculous.
Karev, who finally stood up to his out-of-touch, ill father before Kepner’s wedding, will receive bad news shortly into the mid-season opener. While at the wedding, Karev’s father suffers an apparent heart attack and Ross, one of the interns suffering from his own loss, goes insane trying to save him until someone else forcibly takes over.
In particular, two events from the mid-season finale left fans dying to see the characters’ next move.
Avery stood up and expressed his love for Kepner in the middle of her wedding and in front of his own girlfriend. Sure enough, the camera panned away from that scene before we were able to see Kepner’s reaction.
It’s normal to feel bad for Kepner’s paramedic fiancé Matthew (Justin Bruening), but the undeniable love between Avery and Kepner minimizes the empathy.
Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), who previously turned down an assignment with the president due to his devotion to his family, received a call during the ceremony from none other than Obama himself. The president called to ask Shepherd to take the job, but the episode ended just before he could respond.
It isn’t a finale of “Grey’s Anatomy” without a few major cliffhangers. Tune in over break and learn what comes of these situations. If not for the results of those actions in the mid-season finale, tune in to watch Yang’s final days on the show. Her character will be forever missed.
