Grey’s Anatomy’s Ellen Pompeo Is Trying to Bring the Show to an End — and You Won’t Believe the Reason Why

Credit: ABC

We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.

With each Grey’s Anatomy renewal fans question if it will finally be the hit series’ last season. The show’s creator hasn’t been a lot of help in providing clarity. When asked when a series finale might come, Shonda Rhimes was cagey and would only say that she would be the one to make the call and was prepared to bear the brunt of fans’ upset when she does so.

Though legions of viewers have fingers, toes and loads of other things crossed that their beloved Thursday night guilty pleasure will continue on indefinitely, at least one VIP at Grey’s Anatomy has been pushing for it to end. None other than the star, and executive producer, Ellen Pompeo.

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In a recent chat with TV Insider, Pompeo admitted, “I’ve been trying to focus on convincing everybody that it should end.” Her explanation? She’s been questioning, “What’s the story going to be, what story are we going to tell?”

The answer to that, of course, depends on the creative minds behind the series, who, should they invest in developing new characters and evolving the lives of veteran players in such a way that Grey’s Anatomy continues to feel fresh, engaging and as riveting as it has always been, should be able to keep telling stories for as long as they like.

Certainly the ratings and the “gazillion dollars” the show reportedly continues to generate supports the idea that Grey’s Anatomy still has a lot of life left in it.

Are Meredith Grey’s days numbered?

Credit: ABC

That said, the writing has to be there to keep it fresh. If that drops off, and fans get the feeling that Grey’s is being penned as though it’s nearing the finish line, well, that’s where things could start falling apart. And it may already be going that route as we’ve only gotten to know a few of the new interns in recent seasons as well as we did the original batch.

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If that’s the case, then Pompeo’s previously expressed concern is valid: “I just want to make sure we do this character and this show and the fans… I want to make sure we do it right.” After all, no one wants to see an iconic show like Grey’s Anatomy fizzle out after jumping the proverbial shark despite how long we may wish to see it go on.

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Should the plug be pulled on Grey’s Anatomy or does it have a lot of life left in it yet? Share your thoughts in the comment section below after taking an eyebrow-raising browse through our gallery of Beth’s best burns from Yellowstone below.

1/58

It’s best to choose your words carefully before addressing Beth, as the manager of a local establishment learned upon referring to her first as “madam” and then “miss.” It was a mistake he won’t likely make again. “‘Miss’ should really only be applied to a woman younger or just reaching marrying age, which in the era this [BS] became common vernacular was around 13,” she told him. “And since I am clearly beyond that milestone and I’m clearly not married, the proper term for me would be ‘maiden.’ But if you call me ‘maiden,’ Alfred, I’m going to stab you in the eye with this [bleeping] fork.”

19/58

In Season 4, Beth spelled it out plain and simple for Carter. “Do you want nice things? You want the best? There is only four ways to get rich, kid. Four — that’s it,” she said. “One: Inherit it. That ain’t happening for you. Two: Ya steal it. You do not have, my friend, the patience, the power or, quite honestly, the intellect to steal anything of substance and keep it. So three: Work really, really [bleeping] hard. OK? You’ll learn. You fail. Learn more, fail more, and don’t let anyone outwork you — ever.” As a whippersnapper will, Carter asked what option No. 4 was. “Learn how to [bleep] a [bleep] like you lost your car keys in it.” Ah, Beth. She has a way with children, no?

yellowstone beth intermittent fasting quote

21/58

So rarely does John dine with Beth that he was surprised to see her take a pass on breakfast. “I’m intermittent fasting,” she cracked. Come again? What, exactly, did that mean? “Nothing but coffee and cigarettes till noon, and then I can eat what the [bleep] I want till I start drinking at six.” When John laughed that he’d like to meet the doctor who came up with that particular diet, his daughter admitted that, erm, “I’ve adapted it a bit to suit my lifestyle.” Ya don’t say.

23/58

Poor Summer didn’t know who she was up against. She tried to needle Beth by saying that she hoped she hadn’t paid full price for her boob job. But of course Beth just scoffed that God had given her her knockers — and, from the looks of it, Summer’s, too. “I hope you find a therapist who can help you,” Summer smiled as Beth left. “I hope you die of ass cancer,” Beth replied. Because obviously, she wasn’t going to let her opponent get in the last dig!

36/58

When Rip objected to Beth basically flashing the bartender, she noted that he was hardly the only guy to look at her like he wanted to [bleep] her. Lotsa guys did it to a lot of women, all the time. “I can be a victim of it or a beneficiary,” she said. “I choose the latter.” Rip could huff and puff all he wanted, but at the end of the day, he was fighting a losing battle. “You may be stronger than me, but make no mistake,” Beth said, “men are the weaker sex.”

40/58

Beth warned the d-bag ordering a trout slayer to vamoose while his self-esteem was still intact. Instead, the college professor challenged her to peg him. Which she did. To the wall. “You’ve got a couple of grown kids. Once they left the house, your wife divorced you so fast, she left [bleeping] skid marks, but how nice for you, huh?” she began. Only it’s “no longer cool to boink the coeds.” So he moved to Bozeman. “Now you teach Zoom classes from the living room of your creekside cabin, and you lecture about the concentration of wealth and how it’s decimating the middle class, all while you draw your six-figure salary and finance your dream home with a loan from the university that is 275 basis points below the loans that your students need to take out to listen to this [bleep]. And my guess is that you paid over asking price for it, because it’s just Monopoly money to you, isn’t it? So, you run up the house prices here and [bleep] the middle classes in two states. Bravo, you [bleeping] hypocrite.” Bravo, Beth!

47/58

Upon discovering that Jamie had a son, Beth lost it. He’d had her sterilized as a teenager, and yet he got to give John a male heir?!? No, just no. “I’m gonna take him from you. I’m gonna rob you of fatherhood, Jamie,” Beth hissed. “You don’t deserve it, and he deserves better than you.” Before stalking off down the highway, she added for good — well, for chilling — measure — “Next time you see him, you can kiss him goodbye, ‘cause he’s as good as gone.”

50/58

Finding that Summer was not only out of her prison bunk but back in John’s bed, Beth “sweetly” offered to “pick up some doxycycline when I’m in town to kill whatever funk your [bleep] caught in the clink.” For once, she didn’t get in the last word, though. Giving as good as she got, Summer asked her to instead “pick up a toothbrush — I hate to keep to using yours.” Score one for Summer! Needless to say, even before the sun came up, Beth began throwing ’em down. “I am not startin’ this day sober,” she said. Been there.

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Grey’s Anatomy’s Ellen Pompeo Is Trying to Bring the Show to an End — and You Won’t Believe the Reason Why

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<p>Don’t say we didn’t warn you! “I gotta tell you something, and it comes from a place of love,” Beth swore to her brother. “You should really consider killing yourself.” </p>

<p>We don’t have to tell you that it was love at first sight for Beth and Rip. And even if we <em>did</em> have to tell you, we couldn’t do it any better than her. “I remember the first time I saw you,” she told him. “So wild. So angry. God, you were beautiful.”</p>

<p>Beth is a take-no-prisoners sorta gal… even when it comes to matters of the heart. “I believe in lovin’ with your whole soul,” she told Rip, “and destroying anything that wants to kill what you love.” </p>

<p>Beth would be the first person to say that she’s hardly inexperienced. As she told Roarke, “I ran out of things to do for the first time when I was 20.” </p>

<p>After Roarke warned Beth not to go up against an opponent as formidable as Market Equities, she scoffed, “You are the trailer park. I am the tornado.” And us? We were just blown away by her cojones.</p>

<p>Willa might have won her battle with Beth in Season 3, but she was destined to lose the war. As Beth noted, “When you find yourself standing on the wall of the Alamo, the outcome has already been decided. The only thing left to do is to kill as much as you can before they kill you.”</p>

<p>After surviving the Season 3 finale blast meant to kick her ash, Beth — in pretty much the perfect Beth moment — asks a shaken witness for a cigarette. “Can I have one of those?” You betcha, lady!</p>

<p>After young Carter asked in Season 4’s premiere what had happened to Beth’s face, she shot back without missing a beat, “What happened to yours, you insensitive little [bleep]?” When the boy said that nothing had happened to his, she retorted, “Yeah? You should go find a mirror.”</p>

<p>After Beth pegged Carter in under three minutes, the 14-year old asked, “You a therapist?” Ha — as if. “I am the rock therapists break themselves against,” she explained. And even that may have been an understatement.</p>

<p>Beth had no sooner taken a rifle to a nonstop wind chime than a bird started chirping away — and then flew for its life in he opposite direction. “Smart bird,” she cracked. Better that than a dead duck, that’s for sure!</p>

<p>When Beth threatened to take everything that Bob owned, he warned her that she shouldn’t pick a fight with a bigger bear. Dear, dumb Bob. “Ya gotta read the fine print [on my contract],” she suggested. “I’m the bigger bear.”</p>

<p>Upon finding Summer in John’s kitchen — and wearing little more than a shirt — Beth grabbed the nearest knife and cracked, “Dad, if you’re gonna hire a hooker, would ya please let me get you a good one?” And she was just getting warmed up!</p>

<p>When Summer assumed that Beth would shop at the fur store she was protesting, her nemesis just scoffed. “My idea of shopping,” said Beth, “is calling the sales manager at Gucci and having her fill a box the size of a [bleeping] refrigerator.”</p>

<p>When Rob from Burson Industries balked at the too-good-to-be true offer that Beth made him, saying that there had to be a rattlesnake hidden somewhere in it, Beth reassured him as only she could. “I am the rattlesnake,” she admitted, “but you’re not who I’m gonna bite.”</p>

<p>Ultimately, Rob was ready to sign on the dotted line… but, um, could Burson’s lawyer look over the documents first? Why not? Beth said. “Nothing f—ks up a great deal like a good attorney.”</p>

<p>After a guard called for Beth by her full name, announcing that she had a visitor, her cellmate remarked, “You don’t look like a Bethany.” As if. “I’m not a Bethany,” our live-wire antiheroine replied, “I’m a Beth.” And we pity the fool that forgets it!</p>

<p>Watching Kayce and Monica bury their son, Beth beseeched her father to make her a promise. “Don’t ever let ’em do that to me. Turn me to ashes and throw me to the wind,” she said. “That’s all the care I want.” And kind of a fitting end to a human tornado.</p>

<p>After Beth took Summer outside and the two of ’em beat the crap out of one another, Summer suggested that they clean off the blood, at least, before returning to the table. Nah, replied Beth. “I don’t hide from what I do. I wanted to fight, so we fought. Let ’em look.”</p>