Can Amelia Really Save Dr. Herman's Life on Grey's Anatomy? Caterina Scorsone Weighs In

With Dr. Nicole Herman's life on the line, Amelia is going to try to operate on her brain tumor

By Sydney Bucksbaum Nov 21, 2014 7:37 PMTags
Grey's AnatomyABC

Dr. Nicole Herman (Geena Davis) may think her clock's almost run out, but Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) has one last miraculous card hidden up her sleeve on Grey's Anatomy.

By the end of the Grey's Anatomy winter finale, Amelia had taken a long look at all of Nicole's scans—unbeknownst to Nicole, as Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) stole them from another hospital without Nicole's consent—and excitedly claimed to Arizona that she thinks she can operate on the previously-inoperable brain tumor.

Talk about a winter finale twist! Everyone, including all the Grey's Anatomy cast members, thought that Nicole was done for.

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"Yes, we all thought that was it!" Scorsone told E! News. "But Amelia is a pretty innovative doctor lady."

So how confident is Amelia that she can save Nicole's life?

"Amelia is so interesting because she's such a combination of extreme confidence and then self-doubt at times," Scorsone said. "At this point,  I think she's cautiously confident. She sees brains in a way that most people don't. Her own mind is very fast-moving and complicated. She is approaching this tumor and this problem in a way that's really creative and outside the box, a way that most other doctors wouldn't. That's indicative of her personality, because she's not your typical neurosurgeon. She's got all sorts of dark corners and flashes of brilliance. That is how she is approaching this previously-unsolvable problem."

Expect to see Amelia hard at work on Nicole's tumor when Grey's Anatomy returns in January.

"She's definitely taking on the case," Scorsone said. "She is hammering away at it and drawing on all of her creativity and resources and all of the technological resources available nowadays to attack this tumor."

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But how is Nicole going to react to this news that her life may not be over, especially considering the fact that she forbade Arizona from even digging into her case, let alone telling someone else about it? Not well, as you'd expect!

"We have already seen that Dr. Herman is a very, very private person," Scorsone said. "She doesn't even want to disclose information about her tumor to Arizona, who she's working so closely with. I think you can imagine that she's not going to be totally thrilled that Arizona knows or that she has shared this information with anyone else. That's going to be a pretty explosive situation."

And don't expect Nicole to celebrate Amelia's claims that she can save her...at least, not right away.

"Dr. Herman is a complicated woman," Scorsone said. "She has been facing her diagnosis in a very particular and personal way. When she hears that there is a possibility that Amelia can do something with this kind of tumor, her reaction is also very complicated. That will be an interesting thing to watch unfold."

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As for Amelia's personal life, fans have been waiting months to see her share scenes with Owen (Kevin McKidd), and after last week's intense and complicated misunderstanding, these two damaged docs finally started to bond in a deep way.

"Kevin McKidd is a great actor and it's wonderful having him as a scene partner," Scorsone said. "In terms of Owen and Amelia, seeing their bond grow is so interesting. They have so much scar tissue and baggage and pain that they've dealt with individually, so knowing that there is someone at the hospital who can relate on a personal level is going to be really healing for them both. Whether that is a friendship or a romantic situation, I don't know, we haven't gotten that far yet. They definitely understand and support each other in a way that no one else would be able to."

Grey's Anatomy returns Thursday, Jan. 29 at 8 pm on ABC.