'Grey's Anatomy' Season 12 Spoilers: Shonda Rhimes Explains Death of McDreamy, Teases Meredith's Life
Series creator Shonda Rhimes took up the panel at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Beverly Hills, California, this week to explain further Dr. Derek Shepherd's (Patrick Dempsey) death in the previous season of "Grey's Anatomy." Meanwhile, Rhimes teased the kind of life that fans will find Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) living in on the upcoming Season 12.
As expounded by Rhimes, the show's decision to have Dempsey's character die the way he did towards the end of the season "wasn't a difficult one" at all.
"Either Derek was going to walk out on Meredith and leave her high and dry, but then that would say that the love wasn't true over the last 11 years of the show. … That would be untenable. … He couldn't be the bad guy and walk out. The only way to make Meredith and Derek's magic remain true was to keep it frozen in time," she said.
"There had been a lot of discussions and we had been working for a long time, so those choices weren't easy for us," Rhimes added.
Chiming in was ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee, who was surprised by how the country responded to the unexpected plot twist.
"It was great, wasn't it?" Lee went on to add that having McDreamy go was "a difficult decision."
Rhimes meanwhile dropped some hints about the situation that Pompeo's Dr. Meredith will be in when the show returns.
"Meredith is single and she's living this life that she never thought she would be living again. She's living in a house with her sisters, and she's surrounded by single women who are dating and having a whole life and she's not interested in that. Is there a second life here or are the best years of your life behind you? … It's a weird rebirth of all the characters but really for Meredith," she said.
"Grey's Anatomy" Season 12 is slated to premiere on Thursday, Sept. 24 on ABC.
