Kerry now maintains her smile post recollection of that scene; until she considers the professional struggles they've had over the last few months too.
With Sam's health being in question as of late, the grueling schedule of shooting the show has been more difficult to handle than normal.
This season they've shot much later into the summer months, making it terribly difficult for any of the cast to follow through with their normal personal and professional summer plans.
Therefore, to say the mood on set had grown tense would be an understatement.
All of the cast and crew had grown rather annoyed with the sudden, and sometimes unreasonable demands of the scheduling, and turnaround times for script changes, editing, and shooting.
Of course this didn't sit well with Shonda when she heard of the unrest. Very quickly she made it clear everyone had a contractual obligation to be present for whatever reshoots were required.
As predicted, this didn't quell the unrest among the cast and crew. It simply made an already intense situation worse. Especially when Tony decided to speak up about how the scheduling was impacting him personally.
He felt compelled to speak, after one of his planned family events was thwarted, by a last minute call to reshoot a scene. And adding insult to injury, the scene was then cut during the editing process. Making time he spent reshooting the scene, a waste.
But, initially. He tried to let it go. Given his experience directing, he understands better than anyone that no scene is guaranteed to make the final cut.
But, the more he thought about it. Discovering the scene had been cut, angered him greatly. Especially with his father recently taking ill. Suddenly, his emotions were rolling, and he was filled to the brim.
All he could think about was how he wanted to spend as much time with his dad as possible. Time that he'd normally have available if it weren't for Shonda's irrational production processes.
He was battling himself greatly in the moment. He wanted to confront her, but he was certain it would be pointless, and he knew also that he was truly caught up in his feelings.
As he tried to calm himself. He thought about his mindset coming into the season. Before the season began, he'd told himself he was going to remain calm when dealing with her.
He wasn't going to bite, no matter how much she goaded him. But, this time. He couldn't help himself. After talking with Kerry about how he was feeling, and even confiding in Tom. He decided to bite the bullet. If nothing else, it was clear that he needed to get this off of his chest.
The very next day he arrived at the studio early, and had scheduled a meeting with Shonda via her secretary beforehand.
He went to her office with a rehearsed version of what he was going to say. Thinking he needed to be as prepared as he could be for what could happen next.
After voicing his displeasure to her in the most respectful, tactful manner he could. He was met with immediate insults and dismissiveness.
As a result, a heated exchange took place between them that could be heard beyond both her office and the lobby.
Initially, he just wanted to appeal to her sensibilities. However, she quickly turned his approach into him asking for special treatment. Which angered him, because that wasn't the point at all. He wanted her to be considerate of others, being mindful of their lives outside of work. Not just him, but of everyone. He even tried to address the practicality of the shooting schedule. Advising of better, more efficient ways to get the work done. So less crew members would be needed at various times of the day, which would save money and time.
Despite his attempt to simply voice his feelings to her rationally and calmly. The end result was him being fuming mad, leaving her office too angry to let the topic drop.
Normally, he would've allowed himself to cool off before he made another move. But instead, he took the matter to Betsy and the actor's union.
With him involving the union, citing unfair and unrealistic working schedules. The network was also called in on the issue and Shonda was addressed directly.
An agreement was reached, and the end result worked in the cast's favor, with regard to how the reshoots and script changes would be handled going forward. Which made most of the cast and crew happy. But this coup left Shonda feeling broadsided and vengeful as ever.
Despite the reminder that no retaliation was to occur, as a result of the complaint. It was obvious by an additional set of script changes made to the proceeding episodes, she was pushing the envelope by eliminating Olitz scenes from the first half of the season all together.
At that point Tony and Kerry weren't surprised. They expected as much from her. But it was interesting to see how blatantly venomous she could be for everyone to see in plain sight.
Agreeing with both Tony and Kerry's views. Most of the cast, and a few of the writers felt the idea was in bad taste, and dangerous to the longevity of the show. But everyone quickly understood this shift was more about Shonda's ego, than about what was best for the show, or the fans.
This became evident when some of the current writers and an ex writer, one of Shonda's protégé's Peter Norwalk weighed in on the changes being made to the premise.
This information was revealed to Tony, Kerry, Jeff, and Katie by Tom one night, while they were hanging out at Jeff's.
According to Tom, the social media feedback came in from the Network's chat team, and it wasn't good at all.
The Olitz fans specifically were giving Shonda hell on twitter, for how they felt the show was trending plot wise, away from the mainstay of the show, which in their minds, is Olitz.
Some fans also complained about the show getting away from it's original premise, of the lead character being a fixer. And expressed a disdain for the spy plot line. Citing, while B613 can be a part of the show, it shouldn't over shadow the show's premise.
Line by line, there was one complaint or remark after the other that criticized the writing, the portrayal of the lead character, and the network as a whole for standing idly by, and watching the beloved show be destroyed. Some were even discussing boycotting the show.
That was what caught the social media team's eye. And caused them to bring it to the network president's attention.
Of course, Shonda defended her work and because she had the president's ear. She was able to ward off any push, for her to bow to public pressure. And she was allowed to keep her plan for the show on track.
With the ratings still being steady at the time, she knew she had plenty of ground to make her case. And to be honest. Everyone in the set knew that to be the case too.
But, what really got things amped up; was when Shonda decided to respond to some critical tweets from some fans. Regrettably she took the bait. And told some fans not to watch the show if they didn't like what they saw. What she probably thought was a drop the mic moment for herself. Turned out to be a mistake on her part.
Instead of backing down, the hounds were unleashed and a host of Olitz fans came for her hard. The bitter exchange left her heated hotter than fish grease.
Making matters worse; when she met with the writers for the upcoming scripts. They echoed the sentiments of some of the fans from twitter.
They too felt like Olitz was the flagship of the series, and should be a mainstay. Additionally. They felt that tampering with the phenomenon was unwise, and puts the entire show in jeopardy with respect to the viewers.
Shonda was dismayed by such a response. But, when she talked to Peter. Someone she thought would agree with her. Since, like her. He's been one to follow her same ideals concerning writing, and being authentic. And supporting the idea of being true to telling the story the way the writer wants it to be told.
She was yet again thrown for a loop. Because he quickly advised her that while telling the story she wants to tell is important. Ignoring what people value about the story shouldn't be eliminated or negatively slighted. In doing so, she could upset the entire project, just to prove a point. Which will certainly lose viewership for the show, and possibly taint her brand.
The gang couldn't believe what they were hearing. Nobody expected for Peter to be the bearer of bad news to her. Tom continued to advise, despite Peter's response. Someone she trusts. She wasn't deterred.
In fact, if anything she was more determined than ever to do things her way. She took the information as a challenge. A challenge to ask was the viewership a result of her writing, or the relationship between two characters?
She felt that her writing supervision was the reason for the show's success. The actors were mere helpmates. Upon hearing this account, Kerry recalls everyone at the table feeling like finally it was all making sense. It confirmed what they all knew. And despite knowing now where they all stood. They felt an overwhelming sadness for the fans. Because they knew with this new focus, very few of them would get the show and concept they fell in love with.
That night solidified everything for everyone who was present. Now more than ever, it was about simply getting the job done. And when they all returned to the set after that night, it was obvious everyone else felt the same way.