Since season 1, fans of Grey’s Anatomy have fallen under the spell of Dr. Derek Shepherd. However, the back end of season 11 is focusing on another Dr. Shepherd.
The Shepherds are taking over America. On each coast stands a doctor at the top of their field, exploring new and challenging areas of neurosurgery. But when they are in the same room, they are on less of an equal playing field. Siblings are there to push you to be your very best, and remind you that they are still better than you even if it is not true. Derek’s success has always cast a long shadow on Amelia and her failures forced her to retreat further in the darkness. But her time in the sun is fast approaching and Derek is not ready to pass the baton, but he should be.
For Amelia Shepherd, her departure from Los Angeles and arrival in Seattle meant that she would be second fiddle to Derek Shepherd and for a majority of her first few months she played her role well. At some points in the season it was even easy to forget that Amelia was at the hospital. That is until Derek needed a new scapegoat to take out his problems on that would not immediately divorce him or disown him. This is when the McDreamy spotlight began to quiver.
She’s bold, confident, and constantly trying to make a place for herself outside the shadow of her brother. Where Amelia is trying to define herself, Derek is trying to push her back into the role he is comfortable with her playing – little sister.
Grey’s Anatomy‘s choice to play Derek’s downward spiral against Amelia’s rise in the ranks set the former Private Practice actress up for breakthrough moment. With Derek taking the job in Washington, D.C. the Shepherd-Grey relationship drama finally takes a backseat to Amelia’s career defining surgery.
But is Amelia’s mission to take on the tumor no one else would touch the best play for a breakthrough moment, or simply a way to stick it to Derek? The former is certainly a huge move for the surgeon to attempt and the latter is definitely not far off her radar. However, a power play is the only option to get the attention on Amelia’s competence.
In her address to the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial, Amelia describes the tumor as if it were a real person. Her message encompasses the deeper struggle she has with Derek and herself. Amelia says, “I stare at these scans and the tumor states back at me, daring me to try to extract it. This tumor is bold and brazen. This tumor thinks it’s in charge. This tumor thinks it owns the place. The thing about a tumor like this is: you can’t let it intimidate you. The tumor isn’t smarter than you, you just need a plan of attack.”
Derek is the tumor in her head. Once he expands far enough to obstruct the clarity of her vision, it is time for Amelia to act. It is time for her to remove the defining feature that people think of when they hear her name. For Dr. Herman, the brilliance of her work is shadowed by the tumor no one will touch. For Amelia, the potential she holds as a surgeon is shadowed by Derek being the first Shepherd people think of in the field. Two great surgeons living under the influence of something more aggressive and showy than their counterparts. It is high time that both surgeons get back what makes them special.
More important than proving the skeptical minds of Grey Sloan Memorial that she is worth it, Amelia needs to prove to herself that she is worthy of the attention of others. At the close of her weekly speech, Amelia reflects upon what will happen once the parasite is removed from the host.
What person is left after Amelia removes Derek’s name from hers? That is up to her to define, but first she needs to make the cut.
Watch Grey’s Anatomy season 11, episode 14, “The Distance,” Thursday, March 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
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