Warning: this post will definitely contain spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy. This post will span the entire show this far, including the season 3 finale, so if you haven’t seen parts and want to be surprised, don’t read any further!
We all know the timing is a bit weird throughout the show. The interns have been in their first year of residency for three years now! But a post on the Grey’s LiveJournal community has me thinking about the timing with Meredith’s half sister, Lexie.
In season 3, episode 1, “The Time Has Come Today“, Callie is talking to Finn about why Meredith is so “weird”. She says, “Four years of high school, four years of college, four years of med school…” which would add up to somewhere between ages 25 and 27 at graduation from medical school. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, Meredith falls right in the middle (and the “norm”) of this, and say that she’s 26.
She states that she did take some time off to go to Europe in season 3, episode 14, “Wishin’ and Hopin’” - but she says she only went for two months. This wouldn’t put her too far off of the medical school track, as far as I know.
In season 2, episode 5, “Bring the Pain“, you hear the Chief say that he and Meredith’s mom, Ellis, had the discussion about leaving their spouses 21 years before. Add to this that Meredith was five years old (according to season 2, episode 18, “Yesterday“) when the affair was going on.
In season 2, episode 22, “The Name of the Game“, we find out about Meredith’s two half sisters, Molly and Lexie. Molly states that she’s twenty-two while talking to Meredith. She says that her older sister, Lexie, is in medical school and that her (their) dad is very proud of her. If Lexie is older than Molly, but still in medical school, that would make her somewhere between 22 and 27. This would mean that Meredith’s father, Thatcher, had an affair and started a family before his relationship with Ellis deteriorated. Plus, the fact that Lexie is an intern the year after Meredith makes this whole storyline impossible.