Grey’s Anatomy’s main couple, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), went through many ups and downs in their relationship, and the series repeated the same storyline with them at one point, but for different reasons. Medical dramas continue to be quite popular with the audience, and one that has been going strong for over a decade is Grey’s Anatomy. Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy has won the audience over with its combination of drama and comedy along with its relatable characters, whose stories have relied more on drama than comedy.
Following the basic premise of medical dramas, Grey’s Anatomy follows the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they do their best to juggle their personal and professional lives, but these always overlap and create a lot of drama inside and outside the hospital. Leading Grey’s Anatomy is Meredith Grey, who started her journey as an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital (now named Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital) and is now Head of Surgery at the same hospital. Over the course of more than 15 seasons, viewers have seen Meredith grow as a doctor and person, but they have also seen her go through many tough moments and even some heartbreaking ones, and one part of her life that was always full of ups and downs was her relationship with Derek.
Meredith and Derek’s relationship didn’t have an easy start, as he was still married to Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) and their coworkers, mostly Bailey and Webber, didn’t approve of them being together. Meredith and Derek eventually married and formed a family, but they still went through many problems, including when both ended up in jail, though on different occasions and for different reasons.
Grey’s Anatomy: Why Meredith & Derek Went To Jail
The main hospital in Grey’s Anatomy has also seen countless tragedies, but one of its toughest moments was the shooting in season 6. Gary Clark arrived at the hospital with his wife, who had cancer, and after she had a stroke, the only thing keeping her alive was the mechanical ventilator, but that went again her wishes. The machines were turned off despite Gary’s objections, and he decided to sue the hospital as he believed they were responsible for his wife’s death. While the lawsuit was pending, Gary took a radical decision and bought a gun and ammo, and went to the hospital to avenge his wife’s death. Derek was among those who were shot, and the stress of the whole situation caused Meredith to miscarry. In order to cope with the miscarriage, the shooting, and being shot, Derek started speeding and was arrested many times for it, and at one point, Meredith decided to leave him in jail overnight.
On the other hand, Meredith’s jail storyline in season 16 was more complicated and serious than speeding. A young patient, Gabriella Rivera, was diagnosed with lymphoma and needed surgery plus years of treatment and follow-up, which her family couldn’t pay for as they didn’t have insurance. In order to help her family and save her life, Meredith listed Gabriella as her own daughter so the insurance would cover the expensive surgery, but it all got more complicated than she anticipated. Meredith was caught, and as a result, she was fired and spent some time in jail, and her friends and colleagues had to testify in her favor. Meredith was released on Halloween, but she still had to defend her medical license. Although by the time Meredith went to jail Derek was no longer a part of Grey’s Anatomy, the writers ended up giving the show’s main couple the same story, but with very different contexts.