How 'Grey's Anatomy' Brought Kate Burton's Ellis Back to Life

Courtesy of ABC; Jim DeCorpo

"Grey's Anatomy's" Kate Burton with editor Susan Vaill (inset)

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the "Only Mama Knows" episode of ABC's Grey's Anatomy.]

ABC's Grey's Anatomy brought Ellis Grey back to life Thursday during a creative episode that featured numerous flashbacks to fill in the gaps of Meredith's memory and shed light on her new half-sister, Maggie.

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During the hour, the Shonda Rhimes medical drama filmed new scenes with three-time Emmy nominee Kate Burton that helped her daughter, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) fill in holes in her memory to explain not only when Maggie was born but also what happened between Ellis and Richard (James Pickens Jr.). Burton's new scenes were turned into a vintage-looking video of Ellis accepting her second Harper Avery award and was integrated with flashbacks from the show's past 10 seasons. Together, the expertly crafted hour was able to use its past to tell a brand new story that has been hinted at since the series premiere.

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"We've known the Maggie storyline since season four; basically, since the beginning of the show," Rhimes told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of season 11. "I knew the Richard-Ellis love child was a storyline since I planned the pilot. All of those moments have been seeded in. The dialogue of all of Ellis' love child is all planted in the show. It's not something that we have to backdate and go back and find. We've known about it all along."

THR turned to editor Susan Vaill who has been with the series since its start to explain how Grey's delivered one of its finest hours to date and told a new story using 10 years worth of clues.

This episode felt like vintage Grey's Anatomy with all those flashbacks. You must have had a blast putting it together.

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How 'Grey's Anatomy' Brought Kate Burton's Ellis Back to Life