Shondaland is BACK! Here’s everything that happened last season and what’s next
It’s the most wonderful time of the yeaaaarrrrr…and no, we are not talking about the upcoming holiday season. Tonight, the incredible force known as Shonda Rhimes will bring her Midas touch back to ABC Network for the next phase of her Shondaland takeover. Affectionately dubbed #TGIT by her fans, the three-hour block of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder is sure to give us loads of shocking moments and heart-pounding thrills. It’s been a while since we last saw Meredith Grey, Olivia Pope, Annalise Keating, and their respective cliques, so let’s do a quick look back at what went down last season and what we can expect during the fall episodes!
Grey’s Anatomy
What happened at the end of last season?
When we last left the Grey’s gang, Meredith was still reeling from the loss of Derek (aka McDreamy) and celebrating the birth of her new daughter Ellis, whom she named after her mother. April dropped a bomb on Jackson when she announced her plans to head to Jordan for work. He quickly let her know he WON’T be around when she comes home. Ouch.
Richard initially called off his wedding to Catherine amid constant bickering, but Meredith forced them to settle their differences and they ended the season with a hospital chapel wedding and a reception at Meredith and Derek’s house. While celebrating the new union, Maggie revealed to Meredith that her parents are getting divorced and said she kept the news hush-hush for a while because it seemed like a small problem compared to Meredith losing her husband. At the end, Meredith and Maggie dance together despite their personal turmoil.
So, what’s next?
After a season of raging fan anger over McDreamy’s death and overall depressing stories, Shonda Rhimes revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that Season 12 will go back to the basics with a dry, humorous tone. Here’s what she had to say about how life will go on for Meredith:
“Meredith being a widow, surprisingly, should be funny in some ways. She’s been a woman who has been off the market forever, and that humor of ‘I’m dead inside, I’m not interested in men,’ should be funny, in a way. She should have some darker humor in that feeling.”
The show will pick up about 3 months after Richard and Catherine’s wedding, so it will be interesting to see how they are enjoying the married life as well as how Jackson deals with April’s sudden exit to work in Jordan. There are also rumors of new flames for Callie and Arizona as well as a hot new doctor (who will be played by Martin Henderson). We imagine it’ll be another unforgettable season.
Scandal
What happened at the end of last season?
As always, Scandal’s season finale was full of twisty, crazy goodness as Mellie found herself being blackmailed by Papa Pope in the midst of a hearing about Jake, B613, and Operation Remington. Mellie gave up the names of a few important people in exchange for Rowan not telling the world about her getting down with the former VP and Fitz’s murderous past. Well, those people turned out to be every juror from the hearing where Jake and other B613 members confessed all of their evil deeds. Immediately after the hearing, the jurors were all found murdered on a bus.
As Mellie went to Cyrus to once again handle her mess, Liv went on a full-blown mission to take down Papa Pope by exposing B613 to the Head of the CIA. But, as we all know, things never go quite the way Liv wants them to when it comes to her family, and she soon found herself and Jake locked up. The only way out for them was to deny any and everything about B613.
After making sure everyone B613 -elated was killed and all the evidence was burned, Rowan Pope thought he won the war. But, Olivia had one last trick up her sleeve: Huck. Huck did his normal duty and exposed Papa Pope’s embezzling ways to the IRS. Liv is free, Daddy is locked up, and everything seems all good.
Meanwhile, the White House was turning into a war zone. Mellie thought she was in the clear and celebrated her newfound gig as the senator of Virginia. But, little did she know that Fitz was on to her and Cyrus’s latest scheme (thanks to Elizabeth North). Fitz unleashed his fury, fired Cyrus, and put both him and Mellie out of the White House. Meanwhile, guess who became an item again as they shared a passionate kiss on the White House balcony? “Olitz.”
So, what’s next?
A ton of madness will go down in season 5. Yes, it brought butterflies to some fans stomachs when “Olitz” reunited, but there is no way that Fitz is going to just waltz into the next White House event with Olivia Pope at his side. And, if he thinks Mellie and Cyrus are not plotting some cold-hearted revenge for him, then Fitz is officially a fool.
Shonda herself said Olivia Pope and Associates will be back in effect, so Olivia can’t spend all her time lying around in bed with Mr. President, right? And, it will be interesting to see what is next for Jake, David Rosen, and the rest of the gang.
The recently-released trailer shows plenty of scandalous moments between Olitz and a shocked Mellie as she is apparently handed divorce papers. Oh Olivia…why can’t you just stand in the sun with Jake?
How to Get Away With Murder
This crime-thriller may be the newest addition to #TGIT, but it packs a veteran punch. The show which stars the Emmy-award-winning actress Viola Davis, ended last season with a MAJOR cliffhanger. In the final episode, Wes and friends were still holding his girlfriend Rebecca hostage after she threatened to snitch on them about Sam’s murder. The Keating Four went to Annalise about their suspicion of Rebecca murdering Lila and she, in true law professor fashion, made them do a mock trial to present her with evidence. Rebecca was understandably not cooperative and Wes confronted her alone. She somehow convinced him that she did not murder Lila, but she did find/hide her body because she knew their bad blood would lead to her being a suspect.
Annalise was not completely convinced about Rebecca being a murderer, so she went in the basement to set her free only to come back and announce her sudden disappearance. The team assumed Wes let her go and she’d head straight to the police, so they left to enjoy a last night of freedom. At a local bar, Laurel admitted she had Michaela’s ring all along and held on to it to so Michaela would have a reason to keep quiet about Sam’s murder. Connor went to visit his adorable on/off boyfriend Oliver and was crushed to find out about Oliver’s positive HIV test results. Wes eventually left Annalise’s house alone and poor Asher was somewhere in the world completely oblivious to all the drama.
After the students left, Annalise dropped a shocker on her right-hand man Frank when she summoned him into the basement to figure out what to do with Rebecca’s lifeless body.
So, what’s next?
There are some obvious questions that need to be answered next season. First, who killed Rebecca? Wes seems pretty good at this murder thing, but his love for Rebecca makes him an unlikely suspect. Did Annalise get into an altercation with her and kill her in the basement? Or, was Frank tired of the nonsense and he decided to take matters into his murderous hands? After all, he did kill Lila under Sam’s orders. And, what will happen to Annalise’s shady cop boyfriend Nate? He’s going through a pretty rough time, but something still feels “off” with him. Season 2 will not only address who murder Rebecca and how it is going to be covered up, it will also focus on the side stories like Connor’s HIV status and what will happen next among the Keating Four.
The 30-second mini-trailer released by ABC doesn’t offer up much information, but Annalise is clearly calling someone out for being a monster. Maybe we won’t have to wait long to find out who murdered Rebecca!!
This is all soooo exciting! Grab your drinks and snacks and get ready for loads of drama, plot twists, and quote-worthy moments when Shondaland returns this tonight at 8PM on ABC!
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