Grey’s Anatomy will bid adieu to 2009 later this season when the Seattle Grace staff celebrates Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s—all in one very special installment. That’s a lot of turkey! Not to mention an extra helping of high emotion. “We’re pretty excited,” show creator Shonda Rhimes tells me. “We’ll be watching time pass as we take the audience into the new year.”
Sounds like several balls will be dropping as the drama shifts away from medical cases and focuses instead on the characters’ personal hopes and heartbreaking disappointments. Over the holidays, “people feel like something magical or momentous should happen,” Rhimes explains. “But often nothing does.”
In the episode, we will meet Miranda Bailey’s (Chandra Wilson) mother, whom Rhimes describes as “more Bailey than Bailey. You’ll finally see where Bailey gets her stuff.” And in between unwrapping gifts, Mark and Lexie’s holiday happiness will be rocked by the arrival of a character from his past whom Rhimes says will cause the couple “to fall on hard times.” Sorry, Little Grey.
Meanwhile, over on
Grey’s sister show,
Private Practice, Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) will be getting a surprise visit from her father, whom she calls “the Captain” (
7th Heaven preacher Stephen Collins in a not-so- heavenly role), and her mom, Bizzy (JoBeth Williams). Over a three-episode arc, kicking off in mid-November, Rhimes says Addison will finally get to the bottom of some “shocking family secrets.” Sounds just like my holidays.