Grey’s Anatomy season 16 spotlight: The road ahead for Meredith Grey

Meredith Grey

Grey’s Anatomy season 16 is obviously a long ways away from premiering on ABC, but that’s not going to stop us from thinking a little bit about the future. This past season was coined the “season of love,” and now it feels like we’re entering the season of questions. There is a lot to ask about in relation to different storylines and characters, and through the coming weeks, we’re going to spotlight many of the famous faces within the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Of course, it does make sense to start with Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey. How could you not? We are talking about one of the most iconic characters in all of television. We know that she is a hero, we know that she is fascinating every second we see her on-screen, but we certainly don’t know exactly where her story is going right now. That’s what we want to figure out within this piece.

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Let’s start things off with the end of season 15. Rather than let DeLuca take a metaphorical bullet for her amidst the insurance fraud investigation, it certainly seems as though Meredith is going to turn herself in. Does this mean that we’re going to see some sort of lengthy Meredith prison arc? It’s hard to kind of believe that that’s going to happen, especially when you consider Meredith’s many resources. Also, this isn’t Grey Is the New Black.

The more likely scenario for Meredith at the start of the season is that we are going to see a legal battle when where her and her team of lawyers try their best to figure out how to get her out of this situation. Her job is about saving lives, often via any means necessary. She felt like this was the best way to do so, given the extraordinary circumstances and the insurance challenges put before her. If she can make a cohesive emotional argument, it’s certainly possible that she doesn’t end up facing any significant jail time at all.

Obviously, the whole jail storyline — or potential jail storyline — has to be front-and-center for Meredith in the early going. You can focus on a wide array of different stuff on the other side of it. Take, for example,  her relationship with Andrew. Telling him “I love you” is an important step forward for the two of them, but that does not equate to Meredith and DeLuca going out and renting a wedding venue. They’re going to have a lot of obstacles that they still need to overcome, whether it be the typical sort of relationship drama people tend to have or the fact that Andrew technically is lower on the hospital food chain than her — something that could cause challenges, provided that she gets her job back. The firing of Meredith, Webber, and Alex will need to be addressed, but it’s hard to think that the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital is going to move forward without Meredith Grey on staff.

We could spend multiple paragraphs still going on and on about Meredith & DeLuca, but there are other facets to her story as well. It would be nice to just have a storyline that is talking exclusively about Meredith as a mother and some of the struggles that she’s going through trying to raise multiple kids in a very complicated era. Things are very socially and politically charged right now, and everyone is more divided and opinionated than ever before. What sort of impact is that having on kids today? Grey’s Anatomy has been very topical as of late, and it feels like this is the perfect time to explore that a little bit further. Do Meredith’s kids have positive influences around them every second of the day? We know that she and many of her friends are good role models, but that doesn’t mean everyone they encounter is.

Finally, from a medical perspective, it would just make sense to see some more fascinating patients and challenges await Meredith … whenever she does get back to work. Given that she already is recognized as one of the top doctors in the country, it’s pretty tough for her to suddenly become more accomplished. Instead, this could be a season to just get into the nitty-gritty with Meredith and challenge her with patients who she may not be able to help, or unexpected setbacks that may be caused her to lose a little bit of her confidence. How can she bounce back from that? We know that she inevitably would, but it’s only natural that everyone gets vulnerable and doubting themselves here and there. It’s just a natural part of life, and we’re totally down for the highs and lows of Meredith’s journey. The more great material for Ellen Pompeo, the better for every Grey’s Anatomy fan out there who relishes the drama.

Now, it’s back to your regular scheduled programming, which of course doesn’t include new Grey’s Anatomy episodes for a few more months. Insert a tear or two here.

For some more news on the series…

Check out the link here to read about some premiere-date speculation!

Let’s go ahead and ask all of you — what do you want to see for Meredith on Grey’s Anatomy season 16? Be sure to share in the comments below. (Photo: ABC.)

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