After last week's big "Grey's Anatomy" surprise, it looks like Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) could actually be one step closer to a rare Shonda Rhimes show happily ever after -- but there's still the matter of his hand that needs fixing.
Callie (Sara Ramirez) and Jackson (Jesse Williams) have taken on the daunting task of researching new ways to fix Derek's hand completely, and in this week's episode, "Love Turns You Upside Down" (Thurs., Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. EST on ABC), we find out their solution: He'll need to have nerves transplanted from a blood relative for the best shot at fully healing.
Paging the Shepherd sisters. We've met Amelia ("Private Practice's" Caterina Scorsone), of course, and Nancy (Embeth Davidtz) popped up in Season 3, but there are two other Shepherd siblings we've yet to meet, and Neve Campbell is coming to Seattle Grace to play Lizzie, Derek's match and only willing sibling.
HuffPost TV was on the "Grey's Anatomy" set while Campbell was shooting Lizzie's arrival at Seattle Grace this week and the big surgery next week. Read on to hear all about their complicated relationship from Campbell, Pompeo and Dempsey, as well as a bit about the procedure and the "funny" Shepherd family dynamics from Ramirez and Williams.
Meet Lizzie
Dempsey: "Yes, Meredith has brought one of my sisters to Seattle to give me her nerves to try and salvage my surgical career. He's still recovering from the plane crash ... there's a lot of drama going on."
Pompeo: "We're trying to find the nerve for his hand, and he has all these sisters, but he has conflict with all of them. I can't quite figure out why ... well, except for that, on 'Grey's,' everyone has to be conflicted for no reason. We just have to have conflict for conflict's sake! [Laughs.] But for some reason, he has conflict with his sisters."
Campbell: "Derek's been having this issue with his nerves, and they realize that they need a family member's nerves to replace his. So Meredith has brought me into the fold to help my brother out."
Reunited
Dempsey: "It's nice having Neve on as my sister -- she's great to work with. I worked with her years ago, too, so it's fun to see her again."
Campbell: "It's funny because we played sort of pseudo-love interests in 'Scream' years ago. [Laughs.] Not weird at all."
Family Dynamics
Dempsey: "His thing is he's very protective of his sisters, and I don't think he wants to put Lizzie in any jeopardy. He doesn't want to see her suffer. I think that's why he's resisting this whole operation."
Campbell: "He did a good deal of helping to raise the sisters. I think, as with any of your parents, there tends to be some resentment in some way. In this scene, [we're shooting, for 'Run Baby Run'], she feels that he was trying to rule her life in a way, and that he ruined it. Not sure where that comes from, but we'll figure it out."
Ramirez: "Callie never deals with them in the same room, the siblings, but she does deal with them one at a time, and Lizzie proves to be a very interesting sister. Not what she expected. So that's kind of funny."
Meredith And Her Sister-In-Law
Dempsey: "They're at odds a little bit because they haven't been communicating. But we haven't really seen much of my sisters -- we don't really know much about them and what the dynamic is, so I think that's the tricky part. What we're finding is that we haven't really invited them into our life for some reason, and we're trying to discover why."
Campbell: "It's not that she doesn't get along with anyone, she's just quite outspoken and quite ballsy and very forthright with her feelings about other people's lives. So she might be somewhat annoying in the sense that she pushes people's buttons a little bit to act the way that she believes they should be in their lives."
Why Lizzie?
Campbell: "Well, one sister refuses to help him, and I think the other two don't match. That's the idea. So she's the lucky one. [Laughs.] They'll pull the nerves out of her calves -- they take the nerves out of both of her legs -- so it's invasive."
The Procedure
Williams: "It's Jackson and Callie handling the procedure -- plastics and ortho. No pressure either ... the most heralded surgeon in the history of this show, and I've got his surgical future in my hands. It's a good way to get back on the horse and take it seriously as an attending now, I guess. You're a big boy now, Jackson!"
Ramirez: "Callie's choosing to focus her energy where she feels needed, where she feels appreciated, where she feels like she can actually help in some way, shape or form. However, it does prove to be a challenge. They were going to try to get a cadaver nerve, but that was getting harder and harder to find the right length of nerve, so they end up calling his sisters and the one that comes through is Lizzie. Neve Campbell is so sweet. So hopefully that works out, but of course, there are a lot of ups and down throughout the episode. It's not that easy."
Medical Research
Campbell: "I was told that Lizzie's either an OB/GYN or a therapist. OB-GYN I have experience with now, having had a baby in the last four months. [Laughs.] I think I know what to do! I actually called my OB-GYN and told him I was doing this, and he was like, 'If you want any pointers, just come in and watch some C-sections!' He said a couple of his friends are having C-sections, so if I wanted to come along to one of theirs ... [laughs] I think it would be interesting. I might pass out, but ... we'll see. Maybe I'll do it."
More Shepherd Family Time To Come?
Campbell: " It's always a possibility. We'll have to see if they like the character, and then we'll talk. [Laughs.]"
Dempsey: "Yes, she's here for two episodes, unless people love her and we keep her around, which would be fun -- it would be nice to see Shepherd have more family around."
Tell us: Are you excited to meet another one of Shepherd's sisters? Do you think this surgery will finally get him healthy and back to work?
"Grey's Anatomy" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.
Read ABC's official descriptions for this week's episode and next week's episode:
"Love Turns You Upside Down" (Thurs., Dec. 6)
The new batch of interns find themselves involved in all the drama at Seattle Grace: Meredith asks Heather to go above and beyond to help fix Derek's hand; Cristina starts a healthy competition between Stephanie and Leah, which inadvertently leads to a medical emergency for Cristina's patient; Alex sees Jo in a new light as they work to save a baby's life, and April teaches Shane a valuable lesson during "lumps and bumps" duty.
"Run Baby Run" (Thurs., Dec. 13)
As the rest of the doctors prepare for Bailey's wedding, Richard helps her through a bout of pre-wedding jitters. Meanwhile, Lizzie butts heads with Meredith, and Callie and Jackson try to convince Derek to participate in a risky surgery that could fix his hand.