A Doctor's Drama

Thank you Shonda Rhimes for yet another TV series for me to obsess over. In my pervious posts, I've talked about two of her other popular shows, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, both involving powerful female leads who are attorneys.

Now, if you're not an attorney and pursuing law school, what are doing? That rights taking the opposite route of  pursuing medical school and being a doctor. One of Shonda's most popular show Grey's Anatomy, is all about this pursuit. A group of students start their lives as interns at Seattle Grace hospital never realizing just how much all their lives would change from this one place.

We know Shondra loves a strong female character and despite the fact that this show is full of bold, bright women, this role is best fit to Meredith Grey. After all, the show is named after her. Meredith Grey has big shoes to fill as she pursues her career as a surgeon following the legacy of her mother Ellis Grey. During her time, Ellis did innovative research and studies that would allow her to win the prestigious Harper Avery award. Even though Ellis was very accomplished, this came at the cost of her relationship with her daughter. Meredith loved her mother and was clearly inspired as she followed in her footsteps, but there is a lot of hurt from her childhood memories and her mother's later battle with Alzheimers.

Even though there is lots of pain and misery in Meredith's life, there is also lots of greatness and joy. It is at Seattle Grace that Meredith meets her best friends Izzy Stevens, Alex Karev, George O'Malley, Christina Yang and the love of her life Derek Shepherd. Meredith and all her friends are in the same boat as fresh interns and together get through the journey of becoming surgeons.

In this friend group, there's obviously drama, love triangles, good times and bad times. Sadly, the end looks nothing like the beginning. When I say that Meredith is the strong female lead, the keyword is strong. Throughout the show, Meredith faces so much tragedy, it's hard to believe that she is able to pick herself back up and keep going.

I will admit, given that there are 14 seasons, it can be a very difficult show to power through. However, for me, it has always been worth it. There are so many action packed episodes that will leave you on the edge of your seat fully engaged and unable to stop yourself from watching the next part. There are episodes that will have you crying into your ice cream hysterically. Like any other show, there are episodes that you just have to get through to get to the really good part.

If you haven't seen this show yet and decide to start, you are in for a journey. I hope it will be one that you will enjoy as much as I have.

After 14 seasons, it was very difficult for me not to spoil a thing or find videos that also did not, so enjoy this video of the actors on the show struggling to get through the medical terms that get tossed around in the show.

Comic Comes To Life

Unless you were a young boy with a nerdy dad or uncle, there's a very slim chance that you grew up reading comics. I for one will admit that I never read a comic unless it was one of those cheesy ones out of the newspaper (do those even count?). We've seen comics come to life with movies like all the marvel or DC inspired films like Avengers, The Hulk, or Batman. However, what would a comic look like if it took the form of a television show? Thanks to the CW network, one of the latest versions of this being done is the production of the show Riverdale based on the Archie comics.

Now, I have no clue what the Archie comics are. I could not tell you what it's about and whether or not the show does a sufficient job of portraying this comic, but I will say that the first season of this show is great! If you're curious about this comic and it's background, the video below touches on it better than I could.




Just to set the scene of this show (especially if you didn't wish to watch the video), Riverdale is pretty much suburbia to lots of different families. The place is one of those small towns where everyone knows everyone and word gets around pretty fast. The new girl on the block is Veronica Lodge and with her arrival comes the start to a love triangle between her, Betty Cooper, and Archie Andrews. However, the more important thing here is the mysterious drowning of Jason Blossom, brother to the uptight and sassy Cheryl Blossom.

Much of the plot of season one is the uncovering of the death of Jason Blossom and there's so many different ideas being thrown out, and of course no one wants to rule out his "dear" sister. Or was it FP Jones (Jughead's dad)? How about criminal dad Hiram Lodge? Maybe it's Fred Andrews. Regardless of all the possibilities that get tossed around, Betty Cooper, the Nancy Drew of the show as she's a writer for her school newspaper has to find out. This is where she meets Jughead Jones, another passionate writer for the newspaper. Together they work to try to unveil all the truths and secrets of Jason's death.

Beyond the big mystery, there much drama happening with this love triangle. Archie is the all American boy; you know the football captain, that's also a sweetheart and can even play the guitar because he's so much more than a jock. How could anyone not like this kid? Even though Betty is coming close to admitting her crush, between her mother and Veronica, winning this boy seems impossible.

To add to the drama, everyone has secrets and it won't be long before they come to the surface. What's going on with the Blossom family? What kind of a man is Hiram Lodge and what is it that Hermione is protecting? What ever happened between FP and Fred Andrews? If you want to know any of this, you better start watching!

Power Beyond the President

To be a person whose aura commands respect and order is a skill that not everyone can have. It takes a strong individual to achieve such a thing and it seems that most of the people who do, are men. This may not be the case for you, but there is a huge difference when dad comes home rather than mom. There's this acceptance that dad had been working and dealing with being able to provide, so when he walks though that door, all shenanigans cease, we enter into our best behavior, and be good children. With mom, we know we can have all the fun we want and be a little crazy as long as we follow the rules. To be a woman who could command such order and respect is commendable and requires a level of power.

Olivia Pope is a the kind of woman that knows how to get people to do as she pleases and respect her without really having to be all that assertive. In some ways, Olivia is a force to not be reckoned with. But how did this come to be?

Olivia is the daughter to a mother and father who were well accomplished in their works. One was a part of a secret task force within the government and the other an infamous assassin. Both her parents recognized the importance of power; it is how we get people to do what we want. Sometimes this means forcing their hand or not even having to try because you're just that good.  With such accomplished parents who understood this principle, how could their child not be destined for greatness.

Now that you get a sense of who Olivia is, can you guess what she does for a living? If it wasn't all that obvious, Olivia is an attorney. Her firm has a great reputation and along with her three associates they are able to tackle almost any case it seems. Being a former White House employee, Olivia almost always has access to the big guns. An associate and former government spy Huck is able crack the codes and do the messy work. Abby is well equipped with a arsenal of knowledge in law. Harrison is just skillful; he knows how to manipulate and extort information.

The show in which these character take place is called Scandal. It's another ABC Shonda Rhimes creation and it is just as masterful as her other shows. The title is too accurate and appropriate. The show is full of scandals and the biggest of them all being exposed within the White House and involving big players, even the president. The show is full of drama so you'll seldom be bored. Trust me, there is a lot of come of power dynamics between big players in government, powerful individuals like Olivia Pope, and some of the extremist action in the show. You won't wanna miss out on Olivia's journey from campaign manager, to White House employee, to attorney, to powerful mistress, and campaign manager yet again. However, I will admit that some of the plot in which I cannot disclose is drawn out and overdone. Otherwise, it's a great show for you next binge!

Here is a parody video, but to really make the connection to the show, you better start watching!