Ellen Pompeo stars as Doctor Merideth Grey for another season of Grey’s anatomy. Photo from ABC network.
It’s officially been 344 episodes of “beautiful days to save lives,” for ABC’s award-winning medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” as it moves on to its 16th season. And trust me when I say, I have never gotten sick of the drama and intricate story lines.
Love, lust, sickness, death and everything in between, “Grey’s Anatomy” has brought viewers to tears, had them belly-laughing, and kept them invested since 2005.
When I first discovered Grey’s, the show had just started its ninth season, right after the horrific plane crash episode. And I thought, “Wow, I need to go back. It’s crazy that they would kill this many characters in just one episode.” Little did I know that in just those nine seasons, which I binge-watched in just a month, my heart would break over and over (and over and over) again for fictional characters who, quite literally become your life.
Ellis, George, Denny, Adele, Lexie, Mark, Derek, and the list goes on and on. One after the other Producer Shonda Rhimes broke my heart, but I kept watching.
So what keeps drawing me in? Surely, the show has lost viewers along the way but it is still thriving. Probably because of Ellen Pompeo. Pompeo plays Meredith Grey, the main character.
Viewers have watched Grey grow from a shy intern who “accidentally” slept with the attending neurosurgeon to Chief of General Surgery. She has experienced tragedy, time and time again, and the show will never stop reminding you of it with flashbacks at least a few times a season.
Her mother died, she almost drowned and she survived a hospital shooting regardless of the miscarriage she had during it. On top of all that, Grey survived a plane crash, her sister died, her husband was killed, her best friend left, but somehow, someway, she keeps going.
There are so many twists and turns throughout the show that keep viewers invested, from tough patients and never-before-seen diseases, to love triangles and emotional breakdowns, there is always something interesting happening.
At this point, the cast has about four of the original characters and is otherwise filled with people that we didn’t meet until after seasons six and seven, but their character development has made us feel like we’ve known them forever.
Over the years there have been spin-offs such as “Private Practice,” which follows neonatal surgeon Addison Montgomery after she leaves the show and currently “Station 19,” which follows former surgical resident after he leaves the hospital and decides to become a firefighter and EMT. If you’re not watching the spin-offs, then you’re not getting the full story, so might as well start now.
So, if “Grey’s” lost you somewhere in its many seasons, I suggest going back. You’ve missed more drama and tragedy than you can even begin to imagine.