Reviewing Grey’s Anatomy

Shonda Rhimes is a life ruiner. At least according to fans of Grey’s Anatomy on social media. Like a lot of fans, I would say I have been tuned in to Grey’s Anatomy for the last 13 years. Yes, count them. Thirteen years! I was all of 18 years old when I first started watching this series.
I was still in school and contemplating my career path. I am now 31 years old. So, 13 years, 15 seasons, 325 episodes, and enough tears to end the drought in California, I am still watching. In fact, in anticipation of this review, I have decided to watch the whole series again from season one at a rate of at least two episodes per day.

This took me four months, and it was a marathon of epic proportions.

Yes, I took my time to watch the whole series. In this rather protracted trip down memory lane, mostly at night while I’m lying in bed, I had found it darker than I remember, largely because I once again became invested in the characters you know will either die or leave the show. Nevertheless, I once again fell in love and have my heart stomped on more times than I had anticipated.

Fast forward to season 15.

The show-runners have found a way to constantly innovate the series, constantly agitating the mix to prevent it from sinking or getting soggy. New characters were introduced while an erstwhile character made a lukewarm return. Teddy Altman (played by one of my favorite actresses, Kim Raver) returned in the previous season for a few episodes and was declared to be a series regular in season 15. I say lukewarm because she was underutilized in the show when she was a regular in seasons six to eight and the show-runners seemed to once again be under-utilizing her again to an almost criminal level. However, Altman is pregnant with Owen Hunt’s (Kevin McKidd) baby.

Altman flew to Seattle in the hopes of telling Hunt about her unborn baby, only for her to discover that Hunt is currently playing foster dad to a newborn baby named Leo while his ex-wife Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) is playing foster mom to Leo’s 15-year-old mother, Betty, who suffers from substance abuse, something Amelia herself experienced in the past. A reconciliation between Shepherd and Hunt seems to be in the works, complicating matters for Altman who is torn between leaving Seattle to raise her unborn baby in secret or telling Hunt about her pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) went from the love-struck intern from season 1 to being a widow and being romanced by a European resident named Andrew De Luca (Giacomo Gianiotti). A complete reversal of roles. The chemistry between Meredith and Andrew doesn’t spark the way Meredith and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) did. In fact, when they played on-screen lovers who eventually became husband and wife, fans morbidly christened them, albeit morbidly as #MerDer. Meredith is also being pursued by the new Ortho attending, adding a tension to Meredith’s always precarious romantic life.

Meanwhile, the first gay male relationship in Grey’s Anatomy is proving to be a hit among fans as Dr Nico Kim’s (Alex Landi) washboard abs debuted on the show and his romance with the adorkable Dr. Levi Schmitt is positively received by fans and critics alike.

No show will make you laugh out loud or ugly cry, fall in love and get it trampled the way Grey’s Anatomy would. It still is one of the best shows on TV in the last decade. To the unitiated, I suggest you watch Grey’s Anatomy. Don’t let the 325 episode count daunt you. You’ll catch up before you know it. Not to mention the soundtracks are real tearjerkers. Did I mention they launched many artists because their songs were featured? The show is as famous for its soundtrack is it is for their story.

As of this writing, the show is on mid-season hiatus and won’t be back until Jan 2019.

Grey’s Anatomy seasons 1 to 14 is available on Hooq, seasons 12 to 14 on Netflix and is brought to you by ABC.

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