Has any TV show ever portrayed a worse mother than Grey's Anatomy's Ellis Grey? Okay, there may be other characters who could give the ABC medical drama's ruthless surgeon a run for his money (looking at you, Gemma) - but Meredith's mommy dearest would definitely be at the top of the list. In Meredith's early life, she was a strict, distant, and unlikeable person who was often harshly called "ordinary" and disappointing. This week's episode, titled "Only Mom Knows," will focus on the late doctor: "As Meredith watches old videos and reads her mother's diary, secrets from Ellis Gray's past are revealed."
Even though Ellis gave up the ghost back in the middle of season three, her presence continues to haunt Meredith and the show itself. In Season 4, Meredith went to therapy to work through her complicated mom issues; we've met Ellis herself in flashbacks and parallel universes; now she's returning with yet another complicated twist.
To steel yourself against the onslaught of secrets and disturbing memories to come, here's a rundown of old Dr. Gray's many secrets. Never go into a fight with Ellis Gray unprepared.
She has early-onset Alzheimer's disease
Although he was an extremely gifted surgeon, having been nominated five times for the prestigious Harper Avery Award (and winning once), Ellis' career was hampered by his early-onset Alzheimer's disease. shortened by Mer's disease. It's one of the earliest secrets she's revealed on the show, as new viewers spent the entire pilot episode hearing everyone rave about Meredith's wonderful mom, only to find out by the end of the episode that she was living in assisted care. His consciousness almost disappeared.
Ellis wanted to keep her Alzheimer's disease a secret, so Meredith told everyone that her mother was taking a sabbatical and traveling the world. By the time Ellis had to be treated at Seattle Grace Hospital for health issues, her true condition became known.
She had an affair with Richard Webber
Not only is Ellis uninterested in raising Meredith, she's equally uninterested in her sleazy husband, Thatcher. She and Dr. Webber met while they were both medical residents, and as minorities they quickly found common ground in the highly competitive medical world of the 1970s and 1980s. They bonded while caring for a patient with GRID (gay-related immunodeficiency, an early abbreviation for AIDS) who no other doctor would approach.
Eventually, Thatcher discovered Ellis' affair and left her... leaving Meredith with a mother unfit to raise her. However, Richard refused to leave his wife Adele for Ellis, and eventually he left Ellis too.
She had "attempted suicide"
Devastated after being abandoned by her husband and lover, Ellis sat Meredith down one night, forbade her from calling an ambulance... and slit her wrists in front of her own daughter. Meredith waited until her mother passed out and called 911, and Ellis survived.
“Suicide attempt” is in quotes because, as Meredith undergoes treatment in season four, she realizes: Her mother is one of the most talented surgeons in the world; One of the most talented surgeons in the world; if she wanted to kill herself, she would. Ellis's "attempt" was nothing more than to get Richard's attention - a call that went unheard. Ironically, Dr. Weber had never heard of her attempt, and a proud Ellis refused to mention it to him.
She has a secret love son
As one of the cliffhangers of Season 10, Ellis has another daughter no one knows about: Maggie Pierce, who has just moved to Seattle to join Gray Sloan Memorial Hospital as its newest cardiothoracic surgeon. Maggie came to the Evergreen State after looking up her identity in adoption files and learning she was a world-renowned doctor who once worked in Seattle.
But who is Maggie's father? Richard, of course. Dr. Pierce was the product of his affair with Ellis, although Ellis never told him. Shortly after the suicide attempt, Ellis moved Meredith to Boston, where she secretly gave birth to Maggie and gave her up for adoption.
She could have been chief of surgery
The Season 8 episode "If/Then" explores what life might be like for the show's doctors in a parallel universe. The whole premise of this alternate timeline is that Ellis never had Alzheimer's and Meredith was raised by two loving and supportive parents. In this bizarre world, Meredith and Alex are engaged and Derek and Addison are still married...Ellis is the hospital's chief of surgery and recently won her third Harper Ivor Prize. Oh, and what about Meredith's two parents? Ellis and Richard . (Thatcher died apparently of undisclosed reasons.)
This unrealized future is actually close to being realized. Richard had previously mentioned that had Ellis not fled to Boston, she would have likely replaced him as chief of surgery.
When she finds out her husband is gay, she murders him
Oh no, wait—that's the Vice President from Scandal . Damn, Ellis Gray and Sally Langston look alike, don't they? And they’re all equally bad, no wonder I confused them all…
She is played by three different women
Although Kate Burton originated the role of Ellis Gray and is best known for playing the character (17 episodes of the show), there were actually three different actresses on screen Plays Meredith's mom. In the Season 6 flashback episode "The Time Warp," young Ellis was played by American Horror Story 's Sarah Paulson. Young Ellis will reappear in Only Mom Knows, but sadly Paulson can't reprise her role as she's now busy growing two heads and fending off scary clowns.
Instead, the character was recast, with Sally Pressman now taking over Ellis' disapproving position. Pressman, a former series regular on " Army Wives ," also appeared in three episodes of "Scandal" as Candace Marcus, the sister of the presidential candidate played by Lisa Kudrow.
Image: ABC (8)
