Ellen Pompeo understands that Meredith Grey isn't one to adhere to conventional rules. Thus, she was utterly shocked by a recent plot twist in Grey's Anatomy where her character betrayed Lena Waithe's Dr. Evynn Moore by exposing her manipulation of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) system. In the March episode, Waithe's Evynn deceived Meredith—a character who has been tirelessly searching for an Alzheimer's cure for several seasons—about her wife's diagnosis with the neurodegenerative disease, solely to secure her a lifesaving kidney transplant. However, Pompeo found Meredith's subsequent actions difficult to swallow.
"The Meredith Grey I've portrayed would have always said, 'I'm furious that you lied, but let's team up and bend the rules to get you that damn liver,'" Pompeo elaborated to Variety in an article published on April 29. "Forget the system. The system is flawed." Waithe eventually persuaded Pompeo to go along with the episode, arguing that Meredith might have felt obligated to report to UNOS due to her romantic involvement with transplant surgeon Dr. Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman). Yet, upon further reflection, Pompeo remained unconvinced by her character's decision.
"Meredith has been circumventing the system for two decades to do what's right," she explained. "She's performed free surgeries, whatever it takes, to truly heal and assist people." Indeed, Meredith has frequently risked her medical license for patients and beloved friends. In season 16, she even found herself entangled in a legal battle for committing insurance fraud to assist a young cancer patient.
Love played no part in this either. In season seven, Meredith deliberately sabotaged an Alzheimer's trial conducted by her husband Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) to ensure that their mentor Dr. Richard Webber's (James Pickens Jr.) wife received medication for the neurodegenerative disease instead of a placebo. While Pompeo admitted to having an "emotional outburst" upon learning about her character's recent storyline, she feels a profound sense of responsibility to uphold the character she and Shonda Rhimes—who stepped down as showrunner for the ABC series in 2015—worked tirelessly to craft.
"I see my role as preserving Shonda Rhimes' legacy as steadfast and resilient as possible," Pompeo added. "The moment you stop caring, phoning it in, or becoming lax, we're not fulfilling our duties as paid professionals." Thanks to Pompeo and the rest of the team behind the series, Grey's Anatomy is anything but lethargic.
