Shondaland is a place of mystery, heartache, suspense (and in most cases, a great wardrobe). Last night’s episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder was a rollercoaster ride in Shondaland filled with ups, downs and a few fleeting moments of uneasiness. This week, Ms. Rhimes delivered deep story lines that had me talking back to the television and sucking my teeth. Here’s What Shonda Taught Me (WSTM) Week 3 recap:
This week’s lesson: Decisions aren’t always easy, but they have to be made.
Grey’s Anatomy kicked off the trip through Shondaland with a heart wrenching medical decision: when there are two lives hanging in the balance but only one can be saved, which one do you save? The decision is even tougher when the two lives are newborn babies. Dr. Alex Karev is forced to make a decision to choose one baby’s life over the other after learning that there’s only one compatible liver, although both babies need one. Now, I don’t care how much medical training and experience that you have, there’s no way to make a decision like that without feeling like a complete basket case. Dr. Karev ultimately tries to save both lives, after trying to pass the decision on to Bailey, but fails to save one of the babies. My uneasiness quickly turned into heart palpitations as I tried to remember that this is just TV. Shonda really wanted to go for the jugular with this episode! Also in this episode, decisions about money and equal pay force Meredith to stand up to Bailey and demand a raise. Her decision to stop ranting about the unfairness to her colleagues, who rally for her, and finally write down her salary requests, ends in an agreement between Bailey and Meredith. I honestly wonder what her take home pay is going to be. And Maggie has made a decision not no longer be horny! She and Andrew sit at the bar, unwinding and chatting, but all Maggie can focus on is her decision to be loved-on by a man. She ensues a kiss from Andrew and our hope for the end of her lustful drought is restored.
As we journey farther into Shondaland, we make a stop at Scandal. This week, Olivia Pope has made a decision to no longer be the “chick on the side”. She’s upgraded herself to the publicly-recognized mistress of the most powerful man in the world. Now, to me, that means she’s still the chick on the side—just one with a heck of a security clearance and access to the residential side of the White House. Mellie is not having it, however. She won’t be pushed aside by Fitz, who spends the whole episode seemingly turned on by his mistress’s bold move. Instead, Mellie makes her own bold moves—making the decision to vie for the Oval Office. She also makes the decision to ask for a half-million dollar per year staffing budget, plus an “allowance” of her choice and to make Fitz endorse and support her on the campaign trail.
Fitz makes the decision to let Olivia recommend his next moves, although she’s constantly being berated by the press and Mellie. Oh, and Cyrus smells the blood in the water and decides to sink his teeth in on the action too—making his way back into the White House. However, Cyrus really just wants to see Olivia’s downfall and to get chummy with Fitz again. Mellie is just a pawn in his game. However, Fitz “ain’t having it” and Cyrus, whom I started out sympathizing for at the beginning of the episode, turns cold-blooded (yep, his blood can get colder than it already is) and turns everything topsy-turvy during his internal political tantrum. In other news, Abbie is furious at Olivia for lying to her about Olivia’s relationship with Fitz. They kiss and make up (in non-girlie strictly business kind of way) and Abbie does her job by throwing Olivia under the bus.
Our final stop in Shondaland ends with How to Get Away with Murder. This is where the rollercoaster has enough loops to make you feel like you’ll be dizzy for days. Annalise makes the decision to focus more on work and less on her personal affairs (way too many to count). We see her get back into the no-nonsense attorney-slash-accomplice to about ten different crimes-slash-mentor to a wicked group of over-privileged college kids that we’ve grown to love. Now, Shonda’s mix of flashbacks and foreshadowing make this plot even more complicated to keep up with. But she keeps us glued to the TV with this week’s theme—sex! And boy was there A LOT of it.
The whole team is making decisions about their participation in events including relationships, casework and even becoming a mole in Annalise’s firm. Loyalty is constantly being questioned as we see a wife take the fall for her husband’s murder (still confused about that one!) and Asher (one of Annalise’s students) stealing Annalise’s recorder and handing it to the prosecutor for the high-profile case Annalise is defending. We also find out that Nate has made a decision to plot against Annalise with her own students.
I made my exit out of Shondaland, still recalling the twists, turns and haze of events from all three episodes. All I know is that some hefty decisions have been made and Pandora’s Box has been opened. Let’s see what happens next week!
