ABC/Eric McCandlessWith a name like McDreamy, it can be hard to see Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) as anything less than perfect. The hair, the eyes, the talent...he's the ultimate package! But on tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy, he's going to drop the veneer of perfection, and McDreamy is going to be a real...well, McJerk.
Caterina Scorsone, who plays his sister Amelia Shepherd, revealed that when Amelia needs her brother the most, he's going to let her down in a major way. So what's going to cause Amelia to need her brother's support?
"So far, since Amelia has been a regular on Grey's this season, we've seen a lot of her lightness and joy. She's got a lot of laughter in her and sarcasm and wit," Scorsone told E! News. "For Grey's viewers who didn't know about her journey on Private Practice, there is this whole other deep, dark backstory that we're going to start understanding in this episode, having to do with her addiction and her tragic history that we saw on Private Practice. And then in the hospital, that backstory is going to be revealed to her co-workers who, like the audience, didn't know about her history."
Someone from Amelia's past is going to shake up her present, revealing her dark history in a very public way at Grey Sloan Memorial. And when the incident leaves her job and professional standing in question, Derek is going to let her down.
"Her relationship with Derek is going to be shaken up in this episode," Scorsone said. "She would have expected Derek to come to her support and help her and be her knight in shining armor in this critical moment, but he doesn't quite deliver. It's really shocking and jarring for Amelia to see that the person she always thought of as her greatest supporter ultimately isn't there for her."
In the absence of Derek's support, Amelia will be forced to seek out other allies in the hospital.
"There are a couple people she turns to in Derek's absence," Scorsone revealed. "Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.), who is also sober, was struggling with Maggie (Kelly McCreary) revealing that she was his daughter, and Amelia helped him with that, so when this happens, he's the person she seeks out in the hospital. He's there for her in a protective fatherly way in some really sweet scenes. He helps her put the pieces back together."
Another person Amelia seeks out for support? Derek's own wife, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo)!
"She leans on Meredith, too," Scorsone said. "That has more to do with the relationship with Derek that has been so damaged. She turns to Meredith because other than Amelia, Meredith knows Derek better than anyone. She's just trying to make sense of what happened between the two of them."
Grey's Anatomy fans have been wondering if Amelia would become involved with Owen (Kevin McKidd) ever since Cristina (Sandra Oh) moved away, and this would obviously be the perfect moment for the two of them to connect. But Scorsone said she hasn't seen that happen...yet.
"I don't know! It's so funny because I'm as curious as you are," Scorsone said. "They haven't connected romantically yet. They have their first couple of scenes together finally in this episode. There are more scenes in the next episode and there is definitely a connection between them. They both have really tragic, traumatic histories they have had to heal from and live with in an ongoing way. They understand each other in a way that the other doctors can't."
Now that her dark past is coming to light at work, should Amelia be worried about losing her job?
"That's her central worry," Scorsone said. "After the tragedies that she suffered when she relapsed, she has spent so much time and energy putting her life back together again. In one fell swoop, this person comes in and blows everything apart in terms of the new life she built for herself. So that is her fear, that she will lose her job and her credibility that she's worked so hard to build when people find out her history. Everything is falling down around her."
But at least Amelia has one bright spot at work to look forward to.
"There's a medical case coming up that Amelia just gets mesmerized by in an almost obsessive way," Scorsone said. "That will propel her for the next few episodes."
Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.