February 2007 News Archive (Page 3)

It's hard to believe, but the faces in the photo on the right and the image below both belong to Elizabeth Reaser.

The 31-year-old actress has been introduced on Grey's Anatomy simply as Jane Doe, an unidentified victim of the ferry disaster that sent Seattle Grace surgeons scrambling to salvage survivors.

Heroic Dr. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) pulled the pregnant woman's crushed, nearly dead body out from under a pylon.

"Her face has been smashed â€" like every bone in her face â€" and there are issues with her chest," Reaser tells USA Today.

"There's a lot of work to be done to put her back together."

Actor pal Justin Kirk, who stars opposite Reaser in the new romantic comedy Puccini for Beginners (and who has been linked romantically to Kate Walsh) has been calling her "Elephant Reaser," a reference to the disfigured lead character in The Elephant Man.

Michael McMillian, Reaser's co-star in last year's short-lived TNT medical drama, Saved, suggested she'd be perfect for the lead role in The Mask 2.

"Some of the jokes are funny," she says, "and some of it's not."

The three-hour makeup process includes prosthetics that have remained on her face for as long as 12 hours.

"You feel claustrophobic, and the chemicals sting my sensitive skin," Reaser said.

The costume also places further restrictions on her vegan diet, allowing only for smoothies or small helpings of soft foods. Reaser says Kate Walsh "has been very sweet, coming up to me asking, 'Do you need water?' "

The actress realizes, however, that any discomfort she is experiencing cannot possibly compare to the horror her character must be facing.

She says she suspects that "it's a very heightened situation, to be all alone like that in a hospital."

But this Jane Doe is hardly alone.

Her character's multiple medical traumas have the potential to expose her to the hospital's full rotation of docs. We have already seen doom in the eyes of obstetrician Addison, and soon there will be involvement by plastic surgeon Mark Sloan (Eric Dane, above).

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Right now, she's TV's most famous corpse. But Ellen Pompeo will soon be charting a new course in her career, albeit briefly: fashion mogul.

Pompeo, who plays the title character on Grey's Anatomy, is one of many celebrities slated to appear at the Swarovski "Fashion Rocks" event, starting today as part of the festivities during Oscars week.

While Grey's Anatomy fans wait patiently to find out if Pompeo's character, Meredith Grey, will be brought back to life, Pompeo is preparing to lend her celebrity to the event which aims to bring the world of runway fashion into the mainstream.

Launched in London in 2003, Runway Rocks has traveled to Paris, New York, Barcelona and Tokyo, and comes to Los Angles for the first time this year.

The show will include designs from Cate Adair, Christopher Kane, Tae Ashida, Shaun Leane and Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen, Tarina Tarantino and more.

This is the first time Pompeo has attended the event, which has attracted celebrities as diverse as Courtney Love, Cheryl Tiegs, and Fran Drescher.

The show takes place today in L.A. Expect Pompeo to be descended upon by reporters looking to pry loose word on her Grey's Anatomy alter ego, who is at least mostly dead. Rumors have run rampant as to whether her character stays dead, or will be brought back to life. Which will it be?

In a bold and controversial move, ABC is surgically removing part of Grey's Anatomy to see if it can survive on its own.

The Wall Street Journal reports that ABC has decided to pursue a spinoff of the hugely successful drama, and that leaving Seattle Grace to head the cast of the new show will be one of its most popular doctors:

Addison Montgomery, the sexy neonatal-surgeon played by Kate Walsh.

The plot is still a work in progress and Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes - who will lead production of the new series - hasn't settled on a title, says an ABC spokeswoman.

A two-hour pilot of the series is likely to air in May, the Journal said.

Rhimes recently told the cast about the project and agreed to write the special two-hour episode that will serve as the series pilot. This type of old-fashioned spinoff is rare in the risk-averse TV business.

ABC will likely air the show in May so that it is broadcast in time for the network to decide whether to pick up the spinoff before unveiling its fall schedule to advertisers and media buyers.

ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson declined to comment. ABC confirms it has inked a deal with Walsh, but said Rhimes and Walsh are both unavailable to comment further at this time.

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It's hard to get past the fact that last Thursday's episode, "Drowning On Dry Land" ended with Meredith heading into the light, where she came face to face with Denny and Dylan. Because she's dead.

Denny said so, so it must be true.

Or is she?

Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing how this will turn out until we tune in Thursday. But it seems that all signs are pointing to Meredith Grey's demise. It certainly would make a shocking end to this three-part saga.

But back to what we do know.

Izzie is a rock star on the ferry for saving the guy pinned under the car. But she's a little less than a rock star in the friend arena, after trash-talking Callie to George.

Besides, it wasn't the best timing, as Meredith lay dying in the other room, for Izzie to just blurt out her feelings like that.

As much as she dislikes Callie, Izzie is supposed to be George's best friend. Best friends are supportive and accepting, not judgmental. Izzie needs to let it go and find a way to be George's friend with Callie in the picture.

Alex, meanwhile, finally steps up and takes charge of the missing family member situation, snapping photos of all the patients and victims at the hospital. It took him a while to figure this out, but now that he has, maybe it will help give him a boost of confidence.

Plus, he saved a pregnant woman's life. That pretty much makes Alex the star of the last two episodes. It will be interesting to see how his relationship with this "Jane Doe" develops.

Cristina and Preston hit yet another hurdle as Burke has to face the best friend dilemma. Cristina tries to explain her attachment to Meredith, but the best she can come up with is a story involving dragging a dead body across the floor.

While absolutely hilarious and true, this only serves to upset Burke more, although Cristina didn't willingly compare their relationship to a corpse. It's quite likely that Cristina is going through many "firsts" right now, and she's unable to deal with them emotionally.

Dr. Yang has never really been close to people, and now she has not only a best friend but a fiancé as well. It's a little overwhelming to Cristina to realize how attached she is, and that these people mean something to her. Once she figures out what to do with these emotions, maybe she'll stop saying crazy things about dead bodies.

But now back to Meredith. If she is dead, what does this mean for Derek? He's completely lost as to how to help her. His medical skills mean nothing now; he's banned from the room. All he can do is hope and pray and accept his friends' consoling.

If the miracle in the next episode (titled "Some Kind of Miracle") is for Meredith and she does come back to life, this could forever affect her relationship with Derek.

If he didn't know before, he knows now that he's lost without her. There's nothing like a brush with death to make you appreciate the special people in you life. But if Meredith is really dead... well, a lot of things around Seattle Grace will be changing.

An unforgettable three-part event made for a record number of responses to Caption Contest XLIII. They were terrific, too. Maybe you're getting funnier with time, or maybe a confused-looking Alex Karev just makes it really easy. Whatever the reason, this was a great Caption Contest.

We had a lot of fun reading the entries. Choosing the best caption for this picture, taken from Thursday's "Drowning On Dry Land," was not easy.

Honorable mentions go out to McYummy_lover, That McBastard, Laura (great Britney Spears reference), Molly (best use of Addisex) and Marla (best ad for cellphone company). Everyone did a great job this week, but since we have to pick one champion, our winner is Jacob K.

Congrats! The winning caption appears beneath the picture below. You can scroll down to read the complete list of great responses we got. Thanks to all of you for playing, and for making us the top Grey's Anatomy site on the web. Good luck again this week!

This week's Caption Contest image:

"Yes, Rock Star Izzie Stevens will be out shortly to sign autographs. I need you all to form a single-file line..."

After last week's shocking ending, Grey's Anatomy fans are understandably desperate to learn the fate of Meredith Grey.

Will she be revived despite her dangerously low body temperatures, or will she, Denny and Dylan have an eternity to get better acquainted? Will the Seattle Grace world return to normal next Thursday night, or will the show have to be renamed Yang's Anatomy?

Meredith is dead. Shonda Rhimes says she doesn't play by the rules, and backed up that statement by killing the show's title character. However, the door was clearly left open for Dr. Grey to be revived, and many of us remain optimistic that it will happen.

In fact, it's practically spelled out for us in the title of the February 22 episode, "Some Kind of Miracle." At the same time, ABC and a number of other sources have tried to play down this angle by pointing out that at the end of "Some Kind of Miracle," somebody is going to be dead.

But will it be Meredith Grey?

Inside sources such as Kristin Veitch at E! Online (who accurately outlined the return of Denny Duquette) and Michael Ausiello at TV Guide believe it won't be. The death that sticks will probably be that of another character.

Mer's mother, Dr. Ellis Grey, who we listed at the top of our official Grey's Anatomy Death Watch odds from last week, seems like a strong candidate, with major surgery on the horizon especially.

Still, there's plenty of speculation that it's one of the principal cast members who passes on. Spoilers only tell you so much, and after last week's "Drowning On Dry Land," we wouldn't put anything past the producers. We'll have to wait and see what happens Thursday to know for sure.

As Billy Crystal's eccentric, miracle-working hermit character told us in The Princess Bride, there's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.

With Meredith's life hanging in the balance, Grey's Anatomy Insider's Seattle correspondent did some brief research to learn how dead our heroine actually is medically. What we learned, at least from the perspective of non-medical experts, is that the situation is grim, but hopeful. See below.

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When Grey's Anatomy left us hanging last week, Meredith was floating through Puget Sound.

This week, Meredith came out of the water, completely blue from the hypothermia and not breathing.

Also? She might be dead.

So how often do people really come back from the dead?

Well, Meredith Grey was completely under water for quite some time.

During that time, she most likely inhaled some water into her lungs, which can lead to asphyxiation and drowning. But the water Meredith was in was very cold, which actually increases her chances of survival.

According to Wikipedia's article on drowning, extremely cold water slows down the body's metabolism, leading to decreased levels of oxygen and blood flow. This can mean that a person who is submerged in cold water for an extended period of time can sort of come back to life.

On the other hand, such cold water led Meredith to become hypothermic, meaning her core body temperature is dangerously low - somewhere around 81 degrees - just before she went into the light and saw Denny and Dylan.

How often do people survive such a harrowing ordeal?

According to Princeton University studies, human beings who are in severe hypothermia will appear dead, but may actually be in a "metabolic icebox," meaning, they can be revived.

The heart is probably still beating, albeit very slowly, but if enough blood is circulating, it could be enough to keep the person alive until they can be warmed up.

Apparently, there have been cases where people who were hypothermic have been given CPR for up to three and half hours and have still recovered without any long-term damage.

In short, there's still hope for our girl, Meredith.

If you can look past the fact that she's the color of a Smurf right now and realize that the supposed best doctors in the country are all gathered around her hospital bed, you'll find a glimmer of hope that she'll pull through.

This month's Reader's Digest observes that not since Ally McBeal has there been such a quirky, angst-ridden, lovable prime-time TV character as Dr. Meredith Grey.

In portraying the female lead of Grey's Anatomy, Ellen Pompeo has generated a great deal of the show's water-cooler and online Reader's Digest to talk about her engagement to longtime boyfriend, record producer Chris Ivery, as well as her views on doctors and her steamy scenes with Patrick Dempsey.

RD: Which was the bigger surprise - your engagement or your Golden Globe nomination?
Ellen Pompeo: They were both very, very surprising, and I wasn't expecting either, honestly.

RD: How does your fiancé react to your romantic scenes with Patrick Dempsey?
Ellen Pompeo: Chris is the most secure man I know, which is why I'm going to marry him. But I don't like to throw these scenes in his face. I certainly wouldn't like to see him kissing another woman on-screen. He's not an actor, so he doesn't understand just how unsexy it really is with 40 crew members standing around and doing multiple takes.

RD: I hear you try to distract him from watching the romantic scenes.
Ellen Pompeo: Well, yes, baking chocolate chip cookies is a good way. He loves my chocolate chip cookies, so I put them in the oven and make him check on them all the time.

RD: What do you like most about the character of Meredith Grey?
Ellen Pompeo: The fact that she's flawed but is determined to become a surgeon even though she doubts herself sometimes. There's a remarkable amount of sexism on TV. When male characters are flawed, they're interesting, deep and complex. But when female characters are flawed, they're just a mess. It's good to put more flawed but interesting female characters out there because it promotes equality.

RD: Has playing the role of Meredith Grey given you certain expectations about doctors and hospitals that you didn't have before?
Ellen Pompeo: No. I have fewer expectations now because I understand more about what it means to be a doctor and what they have to deal with. With all the pressure they're under, and the many other things they have going on at any one moment, I understand now why they can't be as compassionate as I might like them to be.

RD: Tell us what you have learned about the medical profession.
Ellen Pompeo: I certainly have more respect for doctors than before. I didn't realize the fatigue and pressure that most of them are working under all the time. It's one of the few professions where if you make a mistake, it can mean somebody's life.

Grey's Anatomy Insider would like to apologize for the ongoing technical problems - especially regarding our As you probably noticed, we experienced a major server overload last Thursday night, and some issues relating to this are still being resolved. We are in the process of upgrading to a newer, better server, which should prevent many of the problems you have been experiencing.

Unfortunately, this is not a simple endeavor, and may take another 1-2 weeks. In the meantime, if you are having problems with our forums, we recommend downloading Firefox as your web browser.

From what we can tell, the forums appear to be fully functional when using Firefox.

This browser can be used in addition to whatever browser you're currently using (you don't have to erase or change anything on your computer). You can download it here.

It is free, easy, completely safe and extremely quick to download. Again, we are working on a massive upgrade to prevent future problems, but in terms of a quick fix, this is your best bet. We thank you for your patience and appreciate you visiting us so regularly. Your experience is important to us and we want you to know your words are not being ignored!

No question about it, Grey's Anatomy creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes - who wrote "Walk On Water," this week's "Drowning On Dry Land" and next week's "Some Kind of Miracle" - is taking some heat over recent developments.

How could she kill Meredith? Is she forcing a dramatic story line just for the sake of dramatic story line? And what happens next?

Rhimes' thoughts are articulated on her official blog, which you can read here.

But here's an excerpt from her take on "Drowning On Dry Land" and Meredith in particular. Even though she died, which was really sad, at the same time, it was kind of cool, wasn't it? Take it away, Shonda...

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So, yeah, that was Denny and Dylan.

I'm trying to be all casual about it.

Like I don't care.

Like, you know, Denny and Dylan, whatever. I'm cool, I'm good.

But I almost hugged Jeffrey Dean Morgan to death when he arrived on set. He was nice about it considering the restraining order he should have taken out against me during Season Two. I was glad to see him. And I was glad to see Kyle Chandler who was gracious enough to fly out here and film on one of his very few days off from the very well-written Friday Night Lights.

See, I miss Denny and Dylan. A lot. So it was nice to see them for a moment, wasn't it? Even if Meredith is dead?

You all have some pretty strong feelings about this. I've been reading your comments. Strong feelings. Which I respect. Grey's Anatomy is in its third season and we're doing something a little... different. It's about time we did.

Because, as I said when you shouted your horror about the Meredith-George sex, I remind you that we writers like to follow the characters here and we try very hard not to make story just to make story.

We like to have a point. Meredith being dead is about... well, you will see what it is about next week. She was in pain, this girl. And...

... okay, I don't want to talk about that. Meredith being dead at the end of this episode. I can't. Not yet.