The shocking ending to Grey’s Anatomy season 20 gets a response from the showrunner. The popular medical procedural had a raucous final episode for its latest season, replete with surprises involving former lead Meredith Grey and numerous supporting characters. Grey’s Anatomy season 21 has already been confirmed, so the surprising season 20 finale leaves the show with a lot to follow up on.
Speaking with Shondaland, showrunner Meg Marinis explains the season’s cliffhanger ending. Marinis explained the importance of the ending to Miranda Bailey, who has gone through a “journey” with her relationship with the interns on the series. After things came to a head in the Grey’s Anatomy season 20 finale, season 21 must address the question of “the personal relationship that she now has with the interns [is] detrimental to Bailey.” Marinis also addresses the parallels between this plot point and earlier seasons of Grey’s Anatomy. Cheek out Marinis’ full response below:
There are going to be consequences to her going in and saying that. But I think it really shows the journey of Bailey with these interns. At first, she had to put them through [their] paces; she was mad at them all the time, kind of like with the original five. Her walking through that door has really shown that she’s come full circle on these interns. They are hers. We want to explore: Is the personal relationship that she now has with the interns detrimental to Bailey, or is it helpful? It’ll be really fun to see how that all plays out.
When I spoke to Chandra [Wilson] at the beginning of the season about her taking on this role with the interns, she was like, “So, we’re going back to the beginning?” And I was like, “Kind of.” It’s an evolved Bailey. It’s the same role, but with 20 years’ experience, 20 years that medicine has changed, 20 years that she’s been a mother. And Chandra portrayed that perfectly. I had not one note about how she took it on. Every time I saw the dailies, my heart leaped.
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Unpacking Miranda Bailey’s Season 20 Ending
What Her Confrontation Means Moving Forward
There are several critical things that Martinis mentions here, a notable point of which is the parallels between Bailey’s season 20 arc and her journeys that extend back to the show’s beginning. In Grey’s Anatomy season 1, Bailey’s “Five Rules” are first established, which include strict procedures on how interns should act in the workplace and how they should, in turn, try not to bother her. Throughout the series, Bailey goes through numerous cycles of animosity and warming up with the interns, which recurs in Grey’s Anatomy season 20.
In Grey’s Anatomy season 20, Bailey still goes through a tense time with the interns, but by the end of the series, enters her quintessential protective state with them. In the most notable act of defiance, Bailey stands up to Catherine. Bailey gives Catherine an ultimatum by saying that she can either get on board with the agreement that Lucas can stay (despite misconduct), or see Bailey and all of her interns quit.
The Grey’s Anatomy season 20 ending sets up fairly high stakes for Bailey as the series enters season 21. Given how central Miranda Bailey is to the series, it seems unlikely that Catherine will fire her, but it certainly means the tensions will be high going into the next season. It is also possible that the show does take the route of ending Bailey’s career at Grey Sloan, because the show is trying to reinvent itself in multiple ways.