I really haven’t discussed it on this blog, but I love Grey’s Anatomy and this week’s conclusion to a three-part storyline proves why.
They threatened to kill off a major character and did so in a credible fashion. They did kill off a kind of major character, thus not cheating the audience. It was a death with resonance and was done in a graceful manner.
They found a really interesting way to deal with Meredith’s darkness, having her develop over the course of the show from a somewhat self-destructive person to really exploring why she’s so dark and then having her face the repercussions of that part of herself. She’s not just snarky, she really has a problem with happiness. You want to toy with drowning yourself in the tub? Fine. We’ll throw you in the water and drown you ’til you’re dead. (Note that Derek doesn’t save her; she has to decide to save herself.)
Cristina has also revealed hidden depths. She’s not just prickly. When she was nine years old, she watched her father bleed to death in a car accident. Coming back and facing Meredith’s death was a remarkable achievement for her. (In some ways, their reunion is more powerful than that of Meredith and Derek.)
Izzie was forced to face her snippiness. Criticizing your best friend’s new wife is not compulsive honesty, it’s crappy behavior. George acknowledges that she may be right, the marriage may have been a mistake. If so, then he will need her help in the future and if she builds a wall between them now, how will she be able to do that?
Alex has developed in truly fascinating ways. He’s moved from a simple jerk to a man. He stays disconnected from things because he feels he needs to stay focused on the medicine, but he’s learning to see patients as people. There’s that moment when he really feels the emotional impact of the ferry disaster.
How awesome was it to see Denny come back? Truly awesome.
Yeah, it’s Sweeps month and anytime you threaten a character with death during Sweeps, it can look calculated. After all:
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” delivered the best performance by any scripted program all season Thursday night, and set a new series high (excluding its post-Super Bowl performance last year).
“Grey’s,” which concluded a cliffhanger episode from last week, earned a 11.6 rating among adults 18 to 49, according to preliminary Nielsen Media Research, leading ABC to its sixth straight Thursday night win.
But it was better than that. It was a legitimate step in the development of the characters. And that’s why it was great.
If you’re not listening to the Grey’s podcast, then you’re missing a lot of the action. Note this earlier post complaining about the title sequence. Have you noticed they eliminated those titles?
Tags: Greys Anatomy