Rebecca Pope

Rebecca 'Ava' Pope is a fictional character from the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, which airs on ABC in the United States. The character was created by series producer Shonda Rhimes, and was portrayed by actress Elizabeth Reaser from 2007 to 2008. Introduced as a ferry-boat crash victim suffering from amnesia at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, the character developed a relationship with Dr. Alex Karev and appeared on the show substantially for 2 seasons.
Reaser was nominated for a Primetime Emmy as an Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series at the 2007 Emmy Awards for her role on the show. Her character left Seattle with her husband Jeff Pope after recovering her memory. However, she later returned in to rekindle her relationship with Alex but subsequently suffered a mental breakdown making her final departure from the show.
Storylines
Rebecca first appears in the three-part episode of Grey's Anatomy, , as a ferry-boat crash victim who is stuck under a cement pylon appearing dead. Alex Karev sees her down there, realizing she's pregnant, and pulls the pylon off of her. With her identity in question, she is referred to as a Jane Doe upon her arrival to the hospital. She undergoes a series of tests to determine her and her baby's physical health status. Her face is completely crushed from the pylon making her appearance unrecognizable. When she is conscious the doctors become aware that she is suffering from amnesia. She undergoes many surgeries including the fixing of her face by Mark Sloan all the while developing a romantic relationship with Alex. Her baby suffers from stress leading to Addison Montgomery performing a surgery which ultimately leads to her delivering the baby through a C- section. With her memory still gone and all her other medical problems taken care of, Derek Shepherd recommends brain surgery to possibly cure her amnesia.
The surgery ultimately restores her memory but directly after the surgery, it had not returned yet. During this time while she is still recovering without her memory, she further enhances her relationship with Alex. They develop a close bond and spend much time together leading to Addison asking Alex if there was another "Denny Duquette incident" in the hospital referring to Izzie Stevens' romantic relationship with previous patient Denny. Alex disregards this accusation and continues to get closer to Rebecca. Rebecca soon redevelops her memory and keeps it secret for some time. When Alex discovers that her memory has returned and learns her name, he informs the police ultimately leading up to her husband Jeff's returning. Rebecca and her baby are discharged by all medical departments and is ready to leave with Jeff. Before leaving, she tells Alex that he needs to give her a reason to stay otherwise she will leave with Jeff because he is "a good man". He tells her she should go and she departs with Jeff and her baby soon after.
In Rebecca returns to the hospital hoping to rekindle her relationship with Alex. She has a sexual encounter with him and watches him perform in surgery. While watching his surgery, Rebecca meets Lexie Grey, unaware that Lexie is Alex's current girlfriend, and tells her that she is here for Alex. Alex later tells Rebecca to leave, telling her that the girl she was talking to in the surgical gallery is who he is "screwing". Rebecca abruptly leaves again, leaving Alex alone.
Later in the season, Rebecca returns once again and informs Alex that she is pregnant with his baby. Alex acts rudely to her and leaves. Rebecca later goes to see Izzie Stevens who runs a blood test to confirm the pregnancy. Izzie finds out that Rebecca is in fact not pregnant and runs the test again. Izzie informs Rebecca that she is not pregnant and Rebecca denies it. Rebecca goes to see Mark Sloan about plastic surgery and Mark tells Izzie that he believes Rebecca has a personality disorder. Rebecca learns from Alex that she is not pregnant and Rebecca thought he meant that she had a miscarriage. Alex takes Rebecca to his house and she cuts herself leading to her admission to the hospital. A psychiatrist evaluates her deciding that she does in fact suffer from a personality disorder and admits her to a psychiatric facility. Alex informs Rebecca that she is going to be admitted and Rebecca apologizes for not being a better woman for him.
Reception
Reaser was nominated for a Primetime Emmy as an Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Pope in 2007. Daniel Fienberg of Zap2It said "One of the season's best performances came from Emmy-nominated guest star Elizabeth Reaser, who played a Jane Doe pulled from the wreckage of the ferry disaster."
Reaser was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for her performance as Pope in the fourth season. Pajiba TV said that " it stars Elizabeth Reaser , whose guest turn on Grey's Anatomy has been one of the only good things that show’s had going for it anymore." Reaser was also nominated for the Prism Award for the Best Performance in a Drama Multi-Episode Storyline. Entertainment Weekly called Reaser's performance as Rebecca Pope the "6th most memorable patient on Grey's Anatomy".
 
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