One of the reasons why I stopped reviewing Grey's Anatomy was because that it just plain tired me out. With so many characters and storylines to keep track of, it became very difficult to cover them all in my reviews. Another reason was that the increasingly soapy melodrama was wearing me down, a notion that was confirmed to me last week when George and Izzie drunkenly slept together at the end of the episode (Though it did give birth to Jonathan's clever use of the name "Gizzie").But what also got to me about the show was its complete lack of medical realism. Yes, I know it's a TV show and it doesn't have to be hyper-real, but in the day and age of ER and reality medical shows on TLC, you need to come somewhat closer to medical realism than, say, Marcus Welby, M.D. did 35 years ago.
The last straw on this front was when I saw Meredith Grey at the beginning of last week's episode. Despite the fact that she was clinically dead for what seemed like hours, she came out of it not only OK, but prettier than ever!
Listen, I'm not a doctor, so I don't know all the medical case history of the known universe. But, I do know a few things, namely that in most cases a person who's been clinically dead as long as Meredith was -- even "cold and dead," which was what she was -- wakes up and has at least some lingering problems afterwards. I mean, it could be the smallest thing... a tremor, an eye twitch, a limp, memory problems, a sudden preference for half-sour pickles... it could be anything. But usually there is some consequence to having your brain deprived of blood flow for so long.
But at the beginning of this episode, which I'd imagine takes place a week or two after Meredith woke up from her coma, she not only looks none the worse for wear, she looks even better than she did before she got kicked into Puget Sound. No consequences, no lingering effects. In fact, she was almost as self-absorbed than she was before the coma; her stepmother had to almost drag her to dinner with her father, and she had no problems spilling the beans about Callie's wealth to Izzie, the one person that George didn't want to hear that news. So, not only did Mer not have any physical effects, she didn't even really experience that "new perspective on life" epiphany that most people who've come back from the dead usually experience.
Wouldn't it have been more interesting for Shonda Rhimes and company to explore how the coma has affected Meredith, and by association, everyone around her? Maybe she couldn't come back to work right away, or maybe she could have lost the part of her memory that would remind her why she was in love with Derek. The possibilities are endless. But yet the writers took the easy way out and made it as if nothing traumatic or life-altering ever happened to Meredith.
Maybe the writers will surprise me and start exploring these issues tonight and in subsequent episodes. But I doubt it. Shonda's too busy figuring out how to get everyone in bed with each other than to explore more compelling stories like this. It's a shame, really; the show can still explore these kind of stories and still maintain its light tone with the other storylines. But I don't think it'll ever go in that direction.
Giveaway Monday: That '70s Show The Complete Series Stash box set
Giveaway Monday: Back to You season one DVD
Six shows that I am watching pretty regularly this season
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-22-2007 @ 11:51AM
cathy said...
I agree. This was a great show when it started and now its turning into whos sleeping with who and no continueing of a good storyline. My college age girls and I used to watch this together over the phone and now neither of us can be bothered. I will probably give it a few more episodes and then ditch it if it stays the same. The same thing I did with er yeasrs ago when it became a daytime soap opera.
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3-22-2007 @ 11:58AM
nick said...
For me this show ended after season 2
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3-22-2007 @ 12:09PM
MissPinkKate said...
I'm totally over this show- I don't even bother to watch anymore. And I don't think I'm the only one.
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3-22-2007 @ 12:50PM
kimberly bryant said...
I do think this show took a major nosedive when Meredith was "dead" for what seemed like forever and then all of a sudden woke up fine and was back to work the next day! Come on! I watch the show and others like it for the medical perspective and being in the medical field myself this show loses all credibility when they try to make a woman, who would be considered clinically dead, come out of her coma like state and have no side effects. If we are going to be a soap opeara then move the show to daytime.
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3-22-2007 @ 12:55PM
donna said...
I don't watch the show only to see whose sleeping with whom. For me, its the overall package.
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3-22-2007 @ 12:57PM
McCloud said...
I actually still like the show. No matter how soap-opera-ish it gets, it always gives me something to think about. Of course, I'm almost 60 years old, and TV is just entertainment to me ... I don't take it seriously, and since I don't have kids or grandkids, I don't have to worry about what I watch.
It still has it's moments, like when in Meredith's near-death experience, her mother tells her she IS extraordinary. It brings to mind some issues I once had with MY parents.
I do agree that having Meredith come back so completely so quickly IS a copout, but I really don't care for the entire Meredith-Derek plotline anyway. Meredith, for some reason, reminds me of Ally McBeal, and I never liked HER either. Just my two cents.
Frankly, I will miss Meredith's mother, who, to me, is the most realistic character on the show. I hope they give her some flashbacks in the future.
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3-22-2007 @ 1:39PM
C C said...
Grey's Anatomy is the most overrated show on television. Period. Last summer, I decided to watch several reruns to see what all the hoopla was about. I figured it must be pretty good, because the critics were raving about it, and I was a big fan of Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh, and Chandra Wilson before they "broke through".
I was blown away-at how BAD it was. The writing contains little substance or meaning, Ellen Pompeo is one of the worst leads of a series I've ever seen, and the show screams "see how progressively multi-cultural we are!" I sat through the two-parter "It's the End of the World/As We Know It" gagging, and when it was over I was ready to throw something at the tv. And how those episodes were nominated for an Emmy I'll never know.
Someone on line called Grey's Anatomy "General Hospital with a better cast and a bigger budget". I'd rather watch General Hospital, thank you very much.
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3-22-2007 @ 1:40PM
Doug said...
I watched the show for Izzie(Roswell), 1st episode season 3, she layed on the bathroom floor, 2nd episode she baked muffins, 3rd episode she stood outside the hospital, 4th episode I quit watching. There's some pretty dumb stuff happening on Grays.
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3-22-2007 @ 1:54PM
Dan said...
Just so you know, us locals refer to it as the Pungent Sound. (Especially around Tacoma.)
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3-22-2007 @ 2:29PM
cybele said...
Seriously, if it were even slightly realistic, the woman would have trouble for at least a couple of months from all that pounding on her chest when they were doing CPR. That stuff does not heal quickly and is painful with every breath. All she did when she woke up from her coma was say "ow!"?
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3-22-2007 @ 3:30PM
cdawg said...
better name for George and Izzie - I-Gor :)
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3-22-2007 @ 3:31PM
Televinita said...
"Shonda's too busy figuring out how to get everyone in bed with each other to explore more compelling stories like this."
AGREED. Why does every possible pairing have to be tested out on this show? It's like reading an endless swill of (bad) fanfic.
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3-22-2007 @ 3:47PM
Margaret said...
I, unfortunately, have to agree with most of your post. I love this show, so hopefully the I-Gor paring will have some meaning that will totally make sense, because right now it doesn't.
Usually after Grey's airs, I head over to the writers blog at www.greyswriters.com to get the writers perspective on what happened and why it was meaningful. Can't say as I dug much meaning out of Deborah Cahn's post this time.
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3-22-2007 @ 3:57PM
Sy said...
Grey's Anatomy is a who is sleeping with who show. I knew this from the first season and I predicted everyone on the show will be making the rounds with other eventually. I stopped watching the show in the first season.
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3-22-2007 @ 4:18PM
Borat said...
I haven't watched a single episode of Grey's so I won't criticize it (to be honest it sounds quite ridiculous), but how many tv shows are 'realistic'?
The only realistic dramas I can think of are 'The Wire' (Greatest show ever no doubt), 'The Sopranos' (though even that is too stylized) and 'Friday Night Lights'. Just look at 24, it's beyond ridiculous.
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3-22-2007 @ 4:25PM
tv junkie said...
I completely agree. I've gone from loving the show (from the beginning) to getting so sick of it (this season). Shonda Rhimes did a stellar job on ruining the viewing experience with her need to make sure people know what an amazing writer she is...all the cutesy nicknames, soapy romantic dialogues, not to mention ridiculous plot that doesn't fit the show...if i'm not mistaken, she also wrote Britney Spears' movie Crossroads...maybe that's why the show has gone downhill so drastically. and now rumors are that the spin-off is going to be like Nip/Tuck? I love Kate Walsh, but I'm scared of what it's going to turn out.
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3-22-2007 @ 6:28PM
sedated said...
I started watching the show near the end of the previous season and would cancel recording it now if it wasn't for my significant other still being interested in the show. I thought that there had to be something behind all the hype and then I quickly realized that it was just a massive PR spin.
One of my biggest issues is the style of writing...people don't repeat themselves that often during real conversations. There can't be that many people sleeping with each other.
I don't understand how people can like this show and not something as well written and acted as Friday Night Lights, which is a stellar example of a GREAT SHOW. You don't have to be into football to watch the show. I've gotten a few friends hooked on that show because even if you don't like football, you can relate to the people playing it, which doesn't even happen all that often.
The viewing audience continues to baffle me.
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3-22-2007 @ 10:07PM
KC said...
Not only 'Crossroads" tvjunkie, she wrote the abysmal Princess Diaries 2. Completely ruined what wasn't a bad little story in the first one. I'm with you guys on this. I was a freak about this show, I had to watch/tape/review a million times. But now, I have to remind myself its on. All my love has gone to Ugly Betty.
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3-26-2007 @ 1:17AM
Jenna said...
I was thinking the same thing about Meredith being completely "fine" after her apparently near-all-dead experience.
While I'm a huge fan of Grey's and love the characters (especially Burke, who is not given NEAR enough credit as being actually hotter than McDreamy/McSteamy because of his character, integrity AND the fact that he's monogamous)... I think Shonda and the writers are getting too soapy and dramatic without exploring the deeper issues.
Season 1 was still the best, because it was real.
Meredith is a drama queen and I would have at least thought Shonda would have her milk a little more of that by at least staying in bed for the next episode or having her and Derek have some deep, meaningful conversation. Sigh.
All my love remains with Burke and Cristina.
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3-26-2007 @ 2:56PM
agentmichaelscarn said...
What I don't get is why this show is one of the most watched shows yet "Scrubs" -- a much higher quality blend of quirky comedy and a true-to-life medical drama -- is left out in the cold. Anyone who has watched the show knows that all of the cases in the show are based off of real-life cases, not rare cases from all around the globe, but from the consultants who work on the show (with exception to the musical episode -- which really happened). Examples of this would be when J.D. had to tell a family that their loved one died while wearing a clown costume or the crushing decision to allow someone to refuse treatment and accept their fate.
These people should just change the channel -- it's on at the exact same time.
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