Warning! SPOILERS about Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 12 ahead.

Meredith’s decision in Meredith’s Alzheimer’s research in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 only made it more likely.

Meredith’s difficult relationship with Ellis shaped many of her choices, generally prompting her to go in the opposite direction than the one Ellis went. This couldn’t have been more obvious than in the way Meredith prioritized her marriage to Derek and their family, but also in how she chose general surgery, not wanting to for a long time because the specialty was indissolubly linked to Ellis. What Ellis thought of Meredith was only heard through her words once in the medical drama, but Ellis’ worldview unexpectedly returned in Grey’s Anatomy season 21, through the obstacles Meredith faced in her research.

Ellis' Criticism Of Meredith In Grey's Anatomy Explained

Ellis' Scathing Remarks In Grey's Anatomy Season 3 Stayed With Meredith A Long Time

Meredith being the daughter of general surgery royalty was something known since Grey’s Anatomy’s premiere, but only a few characters knew of Ellis’ Alzheimer’s diagnosis. This made Ellis and Meredith’s exchanges in Grey’s Anatomy seasons 1 and 2 not fully portray how much of a force Ellis was before her illness, with her bluntness being ed but never seen. This changed in Grey’s Anatomy season 3, episode 14 when Ellis was temporarily lucid and was brought to Seattle Grace after her collapse, which gave her a chance to learn about Meredith’s life, leading to Ellis’ harshest criticism of Meredith’s path.

After Meredith answered Ellis’ questions by sharing how she was happy because she was with someone she loved and still hadn’t chosen a specialty, waiting to feel inspired in the following residency years, Ellis’ reaction was as iconic in Grey’s Anatomy as it was distressing for Meredith. Indeed, her comments about raising Meredith to be extraordinary only to discover she was ordinary proved Meredith’s fears about Ellis being disappointed in her right. When Meredith returned with the strength to respond, Ellis wasn’t lucid anymore, making that tough exchange one of the last they had before Ellis’ death three episodes later.

Meredith Funding Her Research Proves She Became Extraordinary

Through Her Career & Research, Meredith Proved She Is Extraordinary Time & Time Again

Meredith’s bigger role in Grey’s Anatomy season 21 made her Alzheimer’s research her main story, especially in the way it created conflict with the Fox Foundation and Catherine in particular, but also in how it was virtually paused because of the absence of funding. While this has been true in the first half of season 21, Grey’s Anatomy season 21, episode 12 introduced an even bigger foe in the form of Tom Koracick advancing her research and getting the grant Meredith and Amelia had applied for, doing it for the grant’s prestige and not because he cared about Alzheimer’s patients.

Meredith finally showed she is extraordinary because she cares to the point of going all-in, something other brilliant surgeons like Koracick would never do.

However, Koracick’s research focusing solely on male mice because they were easier to study effectively proved the catalyst for Meredith’s decision to fund her and Amelia’s research herself. While Meredith’s exceptionality could already be seen in her career as a trailblazing surgeon and as a researcher, her decision to stop looking for funds and use her own because it was too important to continue the research now proved what really sets her apart from others. Indeed, Meredith finally showed she is extraordinary because she cares to the point of going all-in, something other brilliant surgeons like Koracick would never do.

How Meredith's Research Path Makes Her Proving Her Mom Wrong More Special

Meredith's Choice Shows She Pursues Greatness Her Own Way

Ellis’ scathing remarks were fueled by her urgency in ing the message that Meredith needed to focus on her career because she could be a gifted surgeon and because Ellis didn’t know how long she would have been lucid, making it imperative Meredith understood what was important. Throughout Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith nonetheless never showed she had somehow lost her ambition. Indeed, she cared about her patients and advocated for them, but Meredith also put her family first in Grey’s Anatomy, something that rarely came easy to Ellis.

Even Meredith’s Alzheimer’s research stems from a place of advancing medicine and worrying about her family, as Meredith had the idea to focus on Alzheimer’s after Zola’s panic attacks about Meredith going down Ellis’ path.

What makes proving Ellis wrong with Meredith’s research special is also its subject. Indeed, Meredith not only became an extraordinary surgeon while taking care of her family, but she also went further, studying the illness that massively disrupted her mother’s life. Meredith fought so hard for that research that she published it against Catherine’s orders, and is now willing to invest her own savings to see where her research leads them, effectively proving there would be nobody more dedicated than Meredith to study Alzheimer’s in Grey’s Anatomy.

Enjoy ScreenRant's primetime coverage? Click below to sign up for our weekly Network TV newsletter (make sure to check "Network TV" in your preferences) and get the inside scoop from actors and showrunners on your favorite series.

SIGN UP NOW!

Grey’s Anatomy airs new episodes every Thursday on ABC at 10pm ET.