Both "Grey's Anatony" creator Shonda Rhimes and lead star Ellen Pompeo believe that it's high time fans accept the death of McDreamy and focus on the new chapters of the show.
During a photo shoot and interview with Entertainment Weekly, the two, together with female stars from other shows Kerry Washington ("Scandal") and Viola Davis ("How to Get Away With Murder") said that "Grey's Anatomy" is all about the story of Doctor Meredith Grey. And true, she might have just suffered from the death of the love of her life, but that does not mean that she is insignificant now that he is gone.
Their statements came after hundreds of thousands of fans signed a Change.org petition urging the show to revive McDreamy, the character played by Patrick Dempsey.
Rhimes said that they have already covered that ground when Meredith was talking to her best friend Cristina (Sandra Oh). Cristina told Meredith that even though she loved McDreamy, that does not mean that he is "the sun."
"When Cristina said that, Meredith realized that she had been taking a back seat to allow this man to get what he wanted," explained Rhimas. "In an effort not to become her mother, she had tried too hard to become something less. What I loved about season 11 was her saying, 'That's not who I am.' It was so interesting for me to discover that audiences, especially women, are so conditioned to believe that there's a singular fairy tale that nobody stops to think that that might not be the definition of happiness. Meredith knew that already. We got to the point in the season when Meredith said, 'I can live without you, but I don't want to,' which for any woman is a very powerful statement. It means: 'You compliment me, but you don't complete me.'"
For her part, Pompeo said that she felt offended when fans thought that the show could not go on without McDreamy.
"Let's keep it really real for a second and say this is really difficult for my ego," Pompeo said. "It's okay! We all have one!"
Pointing towards Davis and Washington, and referring to their female-centric shows, she continued her argument: "It's like, Annalise Keating carries the show, Olivia Pope carries the show," she said. "But somehow, Meredith Grey needs someone. Why can't I just be the lead of the show the way Annalise and Olivia can? Why can't I be on that poster by myself?"
