Penny Blake, played by Samantha Sloyan, was introduced in Season 11 as a surgical resident at Dillard Medical Centre. She was one of the doctors who treated fan-favorite Derek Shepherd when he died in a car accident. Although many fans disliked Penny for her involvement in Derek’s death, she became a recurring character in Season 12. While Penny was a controversial character in the show’s run, not everything about her story made complete sense.
The Head CT
Before they went into surgery, Penny tried again to convince Paul to run a CT scan, but he refused. During the surgery, Derek became unstable and Paul finally remembered that Derek had a head laceration. He paged a Neurosurgeon, but before he arrived Derek passed away. It doesn’t make sense why Paul would refuse to do a CT. This is standard practice for any patient involved in a car accident, especially given Derek had a head laceration. Derek noticed that Paul had little respect for Penny, probably because she’s a woman. Paul may have been sexist and egotistical, but it doesn’t make sense that he would be this bad of a doctor.
Why Didn’t Penny Leave The Dinner Party?
After Derek’s death, Penny starts dating Callie Torres. Callie invited Penny to Meredith Grey’s house for a dinner party, but when they arrive Meredith realizes that she’s met Penny before. The Season 12 episode “Who’s Coming To Dinner” is an iconic episode of Grey’s Anatomy. The tension between Penny and Meredith builds until Meredith reveals to the table that “Perfect Penny killed my husband”.
Why Did Penny Go To Meredith’s House?
Penny knew who Meredith was. Both Meredith and Derek were world-renowned doctors, and Penny had met both of them, so she surely must have known the name, Meredith Grey. So when Callie invited her for dinner, why did Penny make the decision to come?
Penny seemed surprised when Meredith opened the door; did Callie not tell her who’s house they were going to? Or did Penny not realize that Callie’s friend Meredith was Meredith Grey? It doesn’t make a lot of sense.
How Did Penny Re-Match at Grey Sloan?
During the dinner party, Miranda Bailey revealed that Penny was going to be joining Grey Sloan. Dillard closed down, so in order for Penny to continue with her residency, the program rematched her with another hospital. This turned out to be Grey Sloan. However, a user on Reddit pointed out that this doesn’t make any sense.
Did She Know What Grey Sloan Was?
Considering that Penny was joining Grey Sloan, one would think that she would have done some research. If Penny had realized that the hospital’s name paid tribute to Derek’s sister-in-law Lexie Grey, then she might have had second thoughts about transferring.
It’s also hard to believe that Penny and Callie didn’t discuss Callie’s connection to Grey Sloan. Callie’s daughter Sofia has the surname Sloan, after her father Mark Sloan. The hospital was named after Mark and Lexie after they died in the plane crash.
Why Did She And Callie Not Discuss This?
A lot of what doesn’t make sense about Penny comes down to her relationship with Callie. If Penny and Callie were dating, it makes sense to think they had discussed their personal lives.
Given the huge impact of the plane crash, Mark’s death, and Arizona losing her leg, it would make sense that Callie had told Penny about her relationship with the “Seattle Grace Five”, including Derek and Meredith. How could they be serious enough that Penny says she took the job at Grey-Sloan because of Callie, but not know anything about the people in Callie’s life?
Why Did Penny get all the Blame?
When Penny starts working at Grey-Sloan, she’s put under Meredith’s service, but the way Meredith and Amelia treat her is hard to watch. Losing a husband/brother is an awful thing to experience, and there’s no right way to handle grief, but Penny genuinely didn’t do anything wrong. She tried her best to get Derek a CT scan but was overruled by her superior. As doctors, Meredith and Amelia should understand that patients sometimes die during surgery and that Penny of all people shouldn’t be blamed.
Why Was She Put On Merediths Service?
Another issue with Penny’s story is that she is put on Meredith’s service on her first day at Grey-Sloan. At the time, Miranda Bailey was the Chief of Surgery and Richard Webber was in charge of the residency program.
Bailey was at the dinner party, and Webber would have been made aware pretty quickly as he and Meredith are extremely close. It doesn’t make any sense that they would put Penny on Meredith’s service on her very first day, as it was bound to cause disruption.
The Custody Battle
From the very beginning, Penny made it clear that she was happy to emotionally support Callie, but she didn’t want to get involved in the custody battle. However, Callie pressured her to go on the stand, where she stumbled under pressure and forgot some key facts about Sofia. Callie ended up losing custody to Arizona, and when Penny tried to console Callie she was angrily pushed away. A lot of fans have questioned why Penny ended up getting all the blame when all of this was the result of Callie’s selfish decisions.
Break-Up with Callie
One of the biggest question marks in Penny’s story is what happened to her and Callie. After Callie lost the custody battle, Arizona had a change of heart and gave Callie her blessing to go to New York with Sofia. This was Penny and Callie’s last appearances on the show, and fans thought they finally got the happy ending they deserved.
Shockingly, in the Season 14 finale, Arizona announced that she was moving to New York so that Sofia can have both her parents in the same place. She reveals that both she and Callie are single, and making each other smile again, implying that they have reconciled. No information is given as to why Penny and Callie broke up, leaving a lot of Penny fans confused and disheartened. Wherever Perfect Penny is now, hopefully, she’s thriving.
