Grey’s Anatomy is one of the most popular medical dramas in recent years, but as it happens with many TV shows, the quality of the series has been in decline for a while now. Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy debuted on ABC in 2005 as a mid-season replacement, but it was so well-received by critics and viewers that it has lived on for over 10 seasons, and still shows no signs of stopping soon.
Like other medical dramas, Grey’s Anatomy follows the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they juggle their professional and personal lives, which more often than not overlap. The series is led by Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who started as an intern at Seattle Grace Hospital along with other beloved characters like Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), and went on to become head of general surgery at the same hospital, now named Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Of course, the road hasn’t been easy for the characters, who have gone through a variety of tragedies but also some fun moments, but on its quest to keep the story interesting and engaging, Grey’s Anatomy has decreased its quality, and it all began at the end of season 8.
By the time Grey’s Anatomy season 8 arrived, many of the main characters viewers had known since season 1 were gone, most notably George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) and Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl). The finale of season 8 saw more big changes in the series, all as a result of a plane crash. In the episode “Migration”, Meredith, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), Cristina, Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), and Alex were scheduled to fly to assist the surgery of conjoined twins at a hospital in Boise, but Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) took Alex’s place as she found out he was planning to leave Seattle Grace. At the end of the episode, the plane crashed in the woods, and their fates were revealed in the following episode, “Flight”.
Lexie Grey didn’t survive as part of the plane crushed her, but the rest made it back to Seattle Grace Hospital, though with big consequences: Mark was severely injured, and it wasn’t until season 9’s premiere episode that it was revealed he was on life support, and as determined by his will, the machines were turned off, Arizona had to have her left leg amputated, and Derek’s nerves in his hand were severely damaged. This is the moment that many Grey’s Anatomy fans have pointed out as the one where the show lost its spark, as the loss of Mark and Lexie could be felt through the rest of the series. Although the plane crash storyline made way for a lot of drama in the lives of the characters, it also made the series fall back into old patterns, with repetitive storylines (Derek and Meredith arguing over their careers, for example) and characters who went through some real development going back many, many steps, as was Alex’s case.
After the plane crash, many characters began to leave the show as well, and Grey’s Anatomy isn’t known for being the best at writing its characters out: Cristina left after her ex-fiancé Preston Burke (Isaiah Washinton) offered her his job as the head of a hospital in Switzerland, Derek died in a car accident, and Alex left his wife and job in Seattle to reunite with Izzie and their children. The most common complaints among fans are that the dynamics between characters changed a lot after Mark and Lexie died (mostly the aforementioned old patterns) and that the show lost its sense of humor, and it feels more like a soap opera than a medical drama. Still, this hasn’t stopped Rhimes and company from continuing with the series and the stories of the remaining characters, adapting them to the current social and health issues happening in the real world (such as the coronavirus pandemic) to add more to their arcs. Grey’s Anatomy should have ended many seasons ago, and it remains to be seen if future seasons can improve the show’s quality or not.