I remember reading an interview with Shonda Rhimes, yea these very few months ago, where she said she was disappointed with the network's decision to cancel the show to coincide with Kate Walsh's departure. She claimed the show had experienced a rebirth of sorts in this shortened season, and that fans would appreciate the lost potential. Not so much, really. This penultimate episode capped off 12 horrific self-indulgent episodes the writers gifted themselves as though all the holiday deities had granted them unlimited wishes. See, I gifted myself unlimited mixed metaphors to play with, and look where it got me. Right about the same place this season is. A stinking hot mess.
Knowing this was the final season, I was expecting a little arty play so the dance episode didn't bother me too much. It could have been done better, but so much of PP could have been done better, beginning with the casting, that it's all moot at this point. It's always been the ugly stepchild of Grey's with no real voice.
The thing is, and this episode just sort of brought it to a point for me, what little voice the show had was the mostly interesting patient stories interwoven with the soap opera of the doctors. Shonda's tried-and-true formula. Sometimes this works (Scandal, Greys), sometimes it doesn't (Off the Map). These last 12 episodes have been very light on the patients and heavy on the soap. That quotient is tiresome and tiring. I can tell you quite frankly that I truly didn't care if Charlotte gave birth or ended up miscarrying her babies by the time this was done. I just wanted the arc to end. Please God, end now. I'm pretty sure that's not the emotion the writers were aiming for. But familiarity breeds contempt, and that story hung around way too long with no oxygen to sustain it. And the house with the stupid competition? Holy wasted space. Not to mention the nonstarter mini-nondrama of Addison once again possibly losing the baby that was wrapped up in all of a minute-and-a-half of dialogue. As they rush to wrap up every character's story, some with newly introduced needless conflicts, the writers lost the big picture. This is not a telenovela. I actually prefer the interesting diseases to the aging cast. Well, I could watch Taye Diggs all day and night, but they didn't leave him with Addison, so they screwed the pooch on that storyline as well.
The finale will no doubt have some contrived crisis or another, and we'll all shed a drop or two and wish them well. But I have to say that I can watch reruns of the first few seasons of Grey's very easily. This show doesn't rate any reruns, and this season tells you why.moreless
