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SPOILER ALERT: This interview accommodates essential spoilers from “How Do I Keep,” the Season 21 finale of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“Grey’s Anatomy” isn’t any stranger to beautiful season finales. Nevertheless for the Season 21 finale of the venerable ABC medical drama, showrunner Meg Marinis wished to pay homage to some of “Grey’s” greatest hits — a perpetrator holding docs hostage in an OR all through a life-saving course of; {{couples}} falling in and out of affection in the middle of a medical emergency; a superior sleeping with an intern sooner than realizing they’ve been an intern; and, in any case, a in all probability catastrophic explosion on the surgical floor of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

“Before now, we’ve had people threaten the hospital — we’ve seen Gary Clark inside the shooter episode [at the end of Season 6],” Marinis tells Choice. “Nevertheless we’ve got been like, ‘What does it look like when a destroyed mom does it?’ So we did a twist on this story and wished to do a nostalgic ‘Grey’s’ finale the place you don’t know who lives and who dies.”

Thursday’s finale revolved spherical Dr. Amelia Shepherd’s (Caterina Scorsone) latest “unattainable case”: Dylan Gatlin (Sophia Kopera), a 9-year-old affected one who, following issues from surgical process to take care of a cavernous angioma, was acknowledged with locked-in syndrome. After becoming fed up with Amelia and Dr. Beltran’s (Natalie Morales) repeated insistence on able to see whether or not or not Dylan’s intracranial bleeding would resolve by itself, Dylan’s mother, Jenna (Piper Perabo), decided to take points into her private fingers, stealing a tank full of acetylene from her husband’s truck and threatening to blow up the hospital if Amelia didn’t save her daughter.

With an assist from her nephew, Dr. Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) — who might solely watch helplessly as Jenna held an explosive to his ex-girlfriend Dr. Simone Griffith’s (Alexi Floyd) chest — Amelia is able to stop Dylan’s bleeding. (Ellen Pompeo’s Dr. Meredith Grey, who isn’t any stranger to hostage situations or potential explosions inside the OR, even jumps in to ship some up to date frozen plasma to help save Dylan.) In a state of equal elements assist and disbelief, Jenna fell to her knees and let go of the tank, and he or she was promptly arrested.

The police verified Jenna’s assertion that the tank had been empty all alongside, nonetheless for some trigger, no one had thought to confirm whether or not or not the valve had been opened. Inside the closing two episodes of Season 13, Meredith witnessed an explosion that caused a hearth on an larger floor of the hospital from the parking zone. The last word moments of Season 21 parallel that second, with Meredith as soon as extra wanting up in horror from the parking zone after one different explosion wipes out part of the surgical floor.

Beneath, Marinis breaks down all of the developments in that jam-packed finale, along with what Meredith’s new deal with Catherine (Debbie Allen) will suggest for Pompeo’s future involvement with the gathering. Having joined “Grey’s” in 2006 as a writer’s PA who has risen by the use of the ranks to develop to be the current showrunner, Marinis moreover opens up about her working relationship with Pompeo, along with how she is approaching in all probability bringing once more additional beloved characters for the current’s record-extending twenty second season, premiering this fall.

Piper Perabo delivers a heartbreaking portrayal of a mother whose desperation leads her to hold hostage the docs who’re accountable for her teen’s care. The character might have merely been characterised as a pure villain, nonetheless viewers will inevitably actually really feel these fleeting moments of sympathy for this woman who has clearly spiraled uncontrolled. How did you focus on crafting Jenna’s multi-episode arc, and what stands out to you about Piper’s effectivity?

It gave me the chills every time they arrested her, which is a tribute to Piper’s effectivity. Clearly, after we’ve got been in discussions of casting her, we crammed her in on all of the story and let her know that it is going to be the deterioration of a persona that you simply simply see in her eyes. After we see her in that first episode, she is put collectively and he or she’s obtained make-up on. Her youngster is having surgical process, so she’s anxious. After which inside the second episode — and Piper was very involved on this — she had them take curls out of her hair, and he or she had darkish circles and fewer make-up.

Nevertheless we couldn’t go too far collectively together with her effectivity until the ultimate episode the place in Act I, when she turns and in addition you see that look on her face, you’re like, “Oh, that’s the second she makes the selection that she’s going to take this hospital down.” Piper was an incredible collaborative confederate, and I’m so grateful that she joined our current for 3 episodes because of she’s so gifted. She is any individual who appears to be similar to the lady subsequent door, nonetheless then in a second might merely flip. She gave that effectivity that you simply simply see inside the decrease, even when the digicam was on the alternative people. She did it 35 cases in a row.

In a major for “Grey’s,” this season, Teddy (Kim Raver) and Owen (Kevin McKidd) decided to experiment with an open marriage with a function to save lots of their marriage. Teddy tried exploring her attraction to Dr. Cass Beckman (Sophia Bush) nonetheless ultimately generally known as off their fling. Owen, nonetheless, linked alongside together with his childhood good pal, Nora (Floriana Lima), who later turns into Teddy’s affected individual. The place did the inspiration for the storyline come from? Did you on a regular basis know that you simply simply have been going to complete with Teddy eager to separate from Owen?

No, we actually thought it was going to complete in any other case. And with the performances that Kim and Kevin have been giving, they blew me away all season prolonged with these powerful marriage conversations that that that they had. Our design initially of the season was that this marriage hasn’t been historically snug, so let’s actually see it play out in precise time and see what normally happens, which is people use band-aid choices to restore one factor that’s broken in itself. I imagine that open marriage has labored for some people, nonetheless on television we commonly see that it’s a mistake.

It moreover was a pleasing strategy to get totally different fascinating customer strong to concentrate on and illuminate what Teddy wasn’t getting from Owen and what Owen wasn’t getting from Teddy. Various it’s that Teddy now has the job that he used to have. That power dynamic has been powerful for them. They’re two full-time, high-stress working mom and father with two younger kids. They don’t prioritize their marriage, and that’s the consequence of that. And when totally different people have been prioritizing them, they seen, “Oh, there’s one thing incorrect proper right here. It’s not primarily that we should be with these people, nonetheless we’re having a look at each other not the way in which through which we should be having a look at each other.”

Teddy has spent years and years choosing Owen — usually on the expense of her private job and her private happiness. What epiphany did she have in these previous few episodes that has allowed her to reach the conclusion that she has to determine on herself over Owen for as quickly as? Did seeing Owen and Nora collectively inside the hospital mattress give Teddy any type of readability?

I imagine when she sees the two of them collectively on the end of the [penultimate] episode, after which she had the surgical process to hold out, it’s this second of, “Can I try this?” I imagine the second that she realized that she might do the surgical process and that she might do one thing, she realized, “OK, I’ll stroll away. I obtained right here up with this excellent surgical process. I saved the girl that slept with my husband. I’m sturdy adequate.” I imagine sooner than this second, there was concern that she wasn’t sturdy adequate to do it. And on this episode, she realizes that she can do it. It’s very arduous and painful, nonetheless that speech is so sturdy. I hope ladies watch it everywhere and make the exact alternative for themselves. She’s such a robust character, and I imagine that usually she locations herself second for him.

Owen was clearly blindsided by this dialog, nonetheless to be sincere, he had it coming. The place do you see them going from proper right here?

I don’t assume they know however. Clearly, the dynamic may shift, understanding what happens inside the hospital on the end of the finale. Clearly, [what takes priority is] who’s injured, who’s taking excellent care of whom, and the way in which Teddy navigates that as chief. I imagine it’s going to be powerful, nonetheless I do assume that as writers we’re interested by seeing what it appears to be like when the two are apart for a second. It doesn’t suggest that they acquired’t lastly uncover their strategy once more to 1 one other, because of that’s “Grey’s.” We might go on for a further decade!

Inside the penultimate episode, shortly after Lucas had merely dumped her, Simone linked with a handsome stranger (Trevor Jackson) at Joe’s Bar — and, naturally, that man is now certainly one of many new surgical interns at Grey Sloan. What new issues will that new intern create for Simone and Lucas going forward?

Successfully, Lucas has to hunt out out first, correct? And the ultimate time we seen Lucas, he was working down a hallway trying to cease an explosion. So we’ve obtained to hunt out out what happens there, nonetheless I imagine that’s really, really messy for Simone. That’s Meredith Grey messy. I imagine that it’s even messier, because of from the little that we’ve seen of this new character, he does have a conceit that may rival totally different docs inside the hospital. He’s in all probability not one of the best, most agreeable, most obedient intern, so that may throw one different wrench into the game.

Have you ever ever named this new intern already, or are we going to hunt out out his title subsequent season?

You’ll uncover out his title subsequent season.

Following the highest of “Station 19,” Ben Warren (Jason Winston George) returned to Grey Sloan to work as a probationary surgeon, nonetheless Bailey (Chandra Wilson) reveals that Teddy is simply not recommending him to proceed his residency on the hospital as a consequence of his tendency to interrupt protocols. What issues did you should create for Ben in his return to the medical self-discipline? And offered that cliffhanger, will he really be leaving Grey Sloan?

He was exterior the hospital when that explosion went off, so everyone knows he’s alive. Nevertheless he doesn’t have a job, so he’s going by the use of an emotional explosion. What we wished to see for him coming once more was that it wasn’t going to be as simple as he assumed, and likewise the issue of attending to work side-by-side collectively together with your partner who’s prepared of authority over you. I imagine they’ve been ready to navigate that fairly successfully. There have been only a few bumps inside the freeway, nonetheless we wished to tell a story the place Ben didn’t must ask for specific remedy from Bailey.

And since he did it his strategy, the renegade strategy, it caused him to complete up in a load of trouble. Nevertheless the one which made that decision was Teddy, and Teddy has had an emotional yr. So I imagine there’s one factor to be said, now that she’s lastly able to determine on herself and put that part of her life aside: Did she make the exact alternative? And the way in which helpful will Ben be on this chaotic second when the hospital is definitely on fire?

Winston (Anthony Hill) and Jules (Adelaide Kane) was a model new, in all probability romantic pairing that appeared to return straight out of left self-discipline this season. What did you should accomplish by pairing the two of them collectively?

Since Meredith and [Patrick Dempsey’s] Derek and the early years of the current, we’ve obtained unlikely had that power dynamic in a romantic relationship. [Camilla Luddington’s] Jo and [Justin Chambers’] Alex had that a bit of bit bit, and that’s clearly frowned upon in within the current day’s world. Winston is a youthful attending, so it’s not like there’s an unlimited age distinction, nonetheless there is a distinction in that he’s an attending and he or she’s an intern. So we’ve got been really interested by exploring that in within the current day’s world and calling out that it’s incorrect.

Winston is conscious of that it’s incorrect and he tries to do the exact issue, nonetheless what he thinks is doing the exact issue is certainly on the expense of her education. We’ve been like, “Successfully, she has to call him out on that.” For individuals who look intently, there’s debate on whether or not or not we predict that’s one-sided. Jules pauses very deliberately sooner than she says, “The strains have been very clear for me.” For individuals who watch that episode the place she takes him to the rooftop, I actually really feel like she was crossing the highway there for him. So there have been some moments the place I’m undecided it was merely one-sided, nonetheless Winston was really trying to stay behind the highway because of he’s a standup man.

Jo and Hyperlink (Chris Carmack) moreover obtained married inside the penultimate episode, and we be taught after their little hospital honeymoon that they’re anticipating twin girls — nonetheless, in any case, Hyperlink is engaged on a affected individual correct sooner than the explosion happens.

With Jo and Hyperlink, that that they had recognized each other for 20 years, nonetheless their relationship fast-forwarded really shortly. It went from, “Oh my gosh, we do should be collectively” to a month or two later, “We’re pregnant?!” And unexpectedly, it was twins and they also have been combating the way in which through which they checked out having kids in any other case, after which she had a complication. And ultimately, they obtained on the an identical net web page and decided to get married. So I actually really feel desire it’s the calm sooner than the storm as soon as extra for them. We’re “Grey’s,” we’re suggest! It’s a cliffhanger, nonetheless we uncover out they’re having girls, which is such a nice second. That that they had an beautiful bridal ceremony, and he or she was an beautiful pregnant bride.

Meredith decides in opposition to selling her shares inside the hospital and as an alternative makes a model new deal with Catherine that may allow her to spend additional time in Seattle and once more at Grey Sloan — all whereas persevering together with her Alzheimer’s evaluation. Does Meredith’s new deal with Catherine suggest that we’ll be seeing a bit of bit additional of her subsequent season, or is Ellen nonetheless set to look in seven episodes?

We’ll see her as so much as we’re in a position to get her. She’s on a regular basis welcome to return with us. She’s family. We favored watching her get a star on Hollywood Blvd. — very, very deserved. I needed to see Meredith not solely persevering together with her evaluation on Alzheimer’s, which is large very important and associated correct now, nonetheless I moreover miss seeing her inside the OR — and by no means primarily doing primarily essentially the most groundbreaking surgical process of all time. I missed merely seeing her inside the OR and educating, and notably with this class of residents that she chosen, it was moreover a strategy to get her once more into Seattle with a function to see that aspect of her. Clearly, we’ll get to see Scott Speedman, because of Meredith and Nick are nonetheless collectively.

You’ve intentionally chosen to put in writing down multi-episode arcs for Meredith, comparatively than giving her a bunch of one-off appearances. How do you navigate these conversations with Ellen about her future on-screen involvement with the current?

The multi-episode arcs are moreover so much higher for her schedule, so she is conscious of when she’s going to be there and when she’s not. We converse initially of the season, and I share collectively together with her what the current is doing as a whole. If I’ve shared it with Shonda [Rhimes] and Debbie [Allen], our producing director, I’ll share what I can with Ellen — she’s an govt producer — and we’ll have an incredible dialog about it. We confirm in with each other all via the season on the cellphone, by the use of textual content material. She does the voiceover. She’ll identify me and be like, “Is that this the exact tense inside the voiceover?” And I’m like, “It’s the exact tense.” Now we’ve got a extremely shut relationship and we converse normally, so as soon as I do know {{that a}} block of episodes is coming down the freeway for her, I’ll identify her whereas I’m writing them and I’ll stroll her by the use of the story.

Ellen spoke with me simply recently ahead of her Hollywood Stroll of Fame ceremony, and he or she was very candid about how she has found herself pushing once more in opposition to among the many new writing on “Grey’s” that seems at odds with the Meredith character that she and Shonda had created collectively. She was notably referring to a contemporary storyline involving Lena Waithe’s character, which she vehemently disagreed with. How have you ever ever, as a showrunner, navigated these types of disagreements collectively together with her? And the way in which powerful is it to incorporate Meredith into the current when she comes in and out as so much as she does?

I wouldn’t say that it’s powerful to incorporate her coming in and out. Clearly, it’s the selection of whether or not or to not point out her in Boston or current her in Seattle that’s arduous to usually get organized and work out. Nevertheless for years, she has on a regular basis wished to be a part of the storytelling — and he or she has been. Various excellent tales which have aired have come from a collaboration between us and Ellen, and that’s why she’s been a part of the current for thus prolonged. She cares so much. She’s carried out this character for 21 years, so she has a historic previous with this character larger than I’ve a historic previous with this character. I’ve watched her for 21 years and I’ve written for her for plenty of years, nonetheless I would hope that she would converse up if one factor didn’t actually really feel pure.

And I was there that day for that actual story. I knew it was powerful, and I knew it was not pretty what Meredith would do, nonetheless that’s what me in it. She and I walked by the use of it and made some line changes, and I actually really feel such as you’ll have the ability to see on show the emotion that went into the story, and it was an beautiful effectivity. For me, it was wrapped up within the reality that she has a so much completely totally different relationship with Alzheimer’s sickness than any of our characters, and now she has Nick in her life and a singular relationship with organ recipients and that part of remedy as successfully, so that’s the place [the story] obtained right here from. I do understand it was a protracted dialogue on set, nonetheless we obtained to an beautiful place, and I like when she does that. These people have carried out these characters for thus prolonged. Within the occasion that they didn’t converse up, it is going to be weird.

Will you be casting a model new class of interns between seasons?

We may meet them, nonetheless we’re nonetheless invested on this now-second yr class of residents. As so much as I would wish to have a strong of 30 assortment regulars, I don’t assume that’s doable for the story and funds. Nevertheless hopefully, we’ll see some in probably a recurring place or one factor like that.

Ever since she left the current in 2014, Sandra Oh has maintained that she doesn’t have any must return once more to “Grey’s.” Nevertheless in a contemporary interview, she admitted that, because of people nonetheless have so much love for Cristina Yang, she has on the very least been moved to barely soften her stance. What did you make of her saying that? And whereas I’m not saying that you simply’ll ship Cristina once more per se, how are you approaching any conversations with former strong members about in all probability returning to the current sooner or later?

Oh my gosh, I hope she does — and I hope I get to put in writing down the episode! She and I’ve run into each other just a few cases at social events, and he or she has so much love for the current; she has so much love for the followers. I would hope that sooner or later she’d return, nonetheless I imagine it’s moreover arduous to return to 1 factor the place you assume you’ve closed that door.

What’s so good a few 21-season current is we’re in a position to shock the viewers [by] bringing once more a fan-favorite. There are so many fan-favorite characters which will nonetheless come once more, even once they die, and the writers’ room is on a regular basis pitching completely totally different people. We try to not do it an extreme quantity of, because of then it wouldn’t be as specific. They’re all very busy, nonetheless I imagine certainly one of many joys of with the flexibility to work on this current is that there’s this pool of very gifted, beloved characters and actors that, if the timing is true, would come once more, notably now that we’ve obtained this new class of interns. We are going to play off them as, “Oh my gosh, Addison’s [Kate Walsh] coming to indicate us,” or “Jackson’s [Jesse Williams] coming.” It’s moreover pleasing to have them work along with the model new strong members. We nonetheless have good relationships with everybody, and if we’re in a position to afford it and within the occasion that they’re on the market, we’ll ship them once more!

This interview has been edited and condensed.