patients have bad days and good days and then sometimes they have great days where it seems like they are their old selves. Maybe it's a moment, maybe an hour, for some a whole afternoon, but we were fascinated with the idea of getting this time, this gift, and knowing that it's only temporary. What would you do with that one day? And what would it mean for Meredith?", stated Rater, explaining the premise of the episode. She also stated that "the cool idea" to have Meredith and Ellis connect again had been considered for almost a year before the actual concept of the episode was written, after numerous attempts to include the storyline in other episodes that "didn't feel quite right": "If you're going to give Meredith her mother back and then take her away again, you'd better have a pretty good reason." Rater also explained that, in her vision, the episode introduces a new period in the interns' lives, focusing on their finding an identity as surgeons, becoming more central than in the beginning of the season, which revolved around the aftermath of Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan)'s death and Meredith's involvement in the love triangle between her, Shepherd and Finn Dandridge (Chris O'Donnell). Rater noted that the balance Meredith had just found in her life, finally having a chance at happiness with the man she loves, is shaken by her mother's unexpected lucidity, which was stated to have been written in the series in order to remind Meredith about the troubled years of her growing up: "If Meredith is ever going to be happy, she's got to deal with the fact that she had a really terrible childhood." In addition, Rater explained that Ellis' "awful, raw, ugly and terrible" statements towards her daughter were intended to make everyone realize the reason behind Meredith's alcoholism in college and her continuous one-night stands with inappropriate men. She also deemed Pompeo's performance in the episode "exceptional", describing what she regarded an "exceptional moment" which sees Meredith stand up to her mother. In response to the scene that sees Ellis interacting with Webber, Rater wrote that it is the first time she lets her guard down, exposing the previously hidden vulnerability, which allows her express the desire to be as happy and ordinary as her daughter. She also praised the performances of the cast, by deeming their acting "remarkable". "That is