Now that I have that out of the way, let's get to what this article is really about. If you're anything like me, you're anxiously awaiting Season 9 of the ABC hit Grey's Anatomy. And how can we not be? The way season 8 ended was absolutely frustrating! The doctors were left in the woods, with absolutely no hope of rescue in sight! Of course, we all know that they WILL get rescued. We've already been clued in to the fact that when we pick up this new season, we'll be ahead 2 or 3 months ahead and will see our favorite docs settled into their new careers. We've heard that this will be the "season of romance" including the possibility of Cristina and Owen finding their way back to each other. Am I a fan of this idea? Not particularly. I feel like Owen's character was really damaged this past year, at least in regards to his relationship with Cristina. Re-watching the season on DVD didn't do much to help my opinion of him either, in fact it only reinforced the fact that I believe they should no longer be together. Re-watching the DVD set though did make me realize that I'm going to miss Kim Raver. When she's actually given material to work with, she's quite good; it's a shame that the cast was so large and she never really got much to do.
That brings me to my next point. We know Raver is gone, as well as Chyler Leigh (R.I.P. Lexie Grey...man, her death was even sadder the second time around!) and now of course Eric Dane. I'll admit that as much as I'll miss Lexie and Mark (and now, even Teddy) I'm actually alright with them being gone. The show has just been way too full of people, so to get rid of a few actually isn't the worst move. However, one of the new things about Season 9 is that we're going to be getting an influx of recurring characters, and we're also going to be seeing two different hospitals, which will no doubt require two different casts. I'm not sure how I feel about this; I mean, we've spent the last 8 years at Seattle Grace and now we're getting a whole new hospital thrown into the mix? And do we really need more new people introduced to us? Perhaps it will play out differently on screen, but on paper it sounds quite overwhelming. New locations, new faces...perhaps Shonda should be calling this the "season of change" as opposed to the "season of romance"! (Though I'm pretty sure that was the basis of Season 4 so she probably doesn't want to repeat herself)
So now, I ask, aside from the few things we've been given: what can we expect? We know Meredith and the gang are attendings now (and how awesome was it to see that picture of Meredith in the attending scrubs?) and we know not everyone will be in Seattle, but what else? The finale left us with so many loose ends: what's Arizona's fate? I personally think she will lose her leg and have to deal with the struggles that come along with that, but that's just me. What's going to happen to Derek? He obviously can't operate any time soon, but he can still teach...right? Which doctors stayed in Seattle and which ones left? How is April coping with not being a board certified surgeon? How will Callie deal with being a (semi) single mother, raising Sofia without a father? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited to see how this season plays out! I think it's incredible that a show about to start it's ninth season can still generate so much excitement from it's audience, it's a true testament to Shonda Rhimes as well as her amazing cast and crew. Regardless of what happens, I expect a lot of changes to go down. I can just feel it, it's not going to be the same routine we've had for the last few years. But however it turns out, I know I'll be watching every Thursday anxiously awaiting to see what happens next.
What are you guys expecting from season 9? Do you think we'll be seeing a lot of change? Or a lot of the "same old same old"? What are your thoughts on this whole "season of romance" scenario that we've heard from Shonda? Do you want to see Owen/Cristina reunite? Leave comments here, and even feel free to chat with me on Twitter @carlroberson. I look forward to hearing from all of you!
