I usually write this blog as an academic, not a fan. But I am a fan of Grey’s Anatomy, and could not help--like many many fans I’ve read about--get emotionally involved in last night’s episode. For now, I've lost my academic perspective. Shonda’s blog reads as follows: “You all have some pretty strong feelings about this. I’ve been reading your comments. STRONG feelings. Which I respect. Grey’s is in its third season and we’re doing something a little…different. It’s about time we did. Because, just as I said when you all shouted your horror about the Meredith/George sex, I remind you that we writers like to follow the characters here and we try very hard not to make story just to make story. We like to have a point. Meredith being dead is about…well, you will see what it is about next week. She was in pain, this girl. And…
…okay, I don’t want to talk about that. Meredith being dead at the end of this episode. I can’t. Not yet.”
I have a personally policy that I usually apply to films. It goes like this: I don’t mind if a film takes me to a lower emotional point from which I came into the theater as long as the film delivers me back to that same emotional point or a higher one at the end. Films are a one-shot deal. Episodic television is another. For Grey’s to deliver its fans, like myself, to such a low point and leave us hanging for what may be three more weeks is emotionally upsetting. The little girl who was at the scene of the disaster who witnessed Meredith fall into the water, but who was so traumatized she couldn’t speak, was a stand-in for us viewers. We saw Meredith fall in the water too, but we couldn’t speak. We, like the little girl, were left helpless. If it turns out that Meredith is dead (more on that in a minute), then why drag it out? Denny was sick. He died over a long period of time; Meredith is either dead or she isn’t.
The little girl I mentioned above eventually turns up at Seattle Grace and is reunited with her mother. I think this serves as a metaphor for us. As a stand in for the viewer I believe we too will be reunited with Meredith. I don’t think Meredith is dead for reasons I’ll describe below. First, of all, remember at the beginning of the series it was McDreamy that described Meredith as saving him from metaphorically drowning because of his tortured love life. So, this becomes his turn to save her. He will realize how deeply he loves her and how much he needs her and the important role she plays in his life. This epiphany will change the nature of their relationship going forward. At the end of last night’s episode, McDreamy has been forced out of the ER to sit in the hallway helpless as others attempt to save Meredith. My guess is that next week, we’ll see him jump back in the game. She saved him. He must save her. Also, if you recall in last week’s episode, Meredith symbolically drowned herself in the bathtub; McDreamy walked in and again metaphorically saved her from her own tortured existence. So, I think this serves as a model for how this scenario will turn out. The docs at Seattle Grace won’t give up on Meredith, because fans won’t give up on her. Now we’re all in this together. Brilliant!
But I’m hurt either way. If Meredith is dead, then like when Marissa died on The OC, the show is dead. Can you imagine after three seasons Grey’s will end? No! So, I feel like, as a fan, I have been taken advantage of. I don’t like pop culture that manipulates me in such a way, as I said before to deliver me to an emotional place that is lower than where I entered. Because this is episodic television, perhaps I have to be patient. But this is TV--I can change the channel--and there’s always the Food Network where everything is predictable and the emotional range is much narrower. Speaking personally, I think what Shonda and the other writers have done is a recipe for disaster. It’s the next morning as I write this and my emotions are still raw. I can recall few TV experiences that have left me with this residual feeling. Perhaps in the next few days my emotional state will change for the better; after all, this is television I’m talking about here. But for now, I’m appalled!
If you want to read what others have to say about this read the Pop Candy blog the link to which is to the right of this post.
5 comments:
I personally did not feel a strong sense of ander or sadness at last week's Greys Anatomy episode, rather I was able to maintain a sense of distance. Usually, I am not able to do this with this show, it is one of the few shows I will drop everything to watch every week. I think I was able to maintain my distance from the Meredith storyline of this epidoe because the storyline is so ridiculous. There is no way that Meredith Grey will be killed off the show, and I never for a pondered whethr this would happen. Instead, I have just spent the past week wondering what will be the magic trick to bring her back to life.
The scenes for this week's episode showed a "dead" Meredith talking to other characters who have died, like Denny Duquette. To me, this rather cliche and played out story line of the "dead" person talking to other dead people in an inbetween world is more disappointing than the possability of killing Meredith. This exact storyline has been done by The O.C and One Tree Hill this season and lacks originality. For a show like Grey's Anatomy, that is considered to be innovative and at the top of it's game, an epidode with this storyline is a huge disappointment. If the show continues to use such lackluster plots in future episodes, it will find itself going in the same direction as The OC--cancelled.
Being a new fan to Grey's I still found myself very emotional at the end of last weeks episode. In looking forward to the conclusion tonight, throughout the week, my friends and I have been coming up with different endings or scenarios. In my opinion that is exactly what the writers want us to do.
Entertainment to me is all about talk. Whether it is the hype before, during or after, nothing grabs an audience like drama and in this case, the drama of losing the main character. While many people will come up with their theories, I agree that once the main character was gone in the OC the show went downhill. However, I think these writers are smarter than that. If you look at "Nick's" blog, he figured out the metaphors with McDreamy and Meredith and since the wedding/marriage idea is so popular amongst the other characters, this may indeed be the next step for Meredith and McDreamy. They may in fact be teaching the lesson of "you never know what you have until it is gone," they could create more drama with the other marriages, who knows.
The only way any of us will be able to answer these questions will be tuning in tonight--exactly what the writers want; bigger ratings.
As I think back on last Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy less than an hour from the airing of the new episode for this week, I find that I am more at ease with what occurred. I was able to watch the show in that moment and think, "Could they really kill off the main character of this hit show so early in its career?" but now, after reflecting upon and thinking about possible outcomes for tonight's episode, I realize that Meredith being killed off would be suicide for the show, just as Marisa's death on the OC led to its cancellation. More disturbing to me was the reaction of the young girl who witnessed Meredith's fall into the water in last week's episode. With scene after scene of her standing around not telling anyone what had happened or trying to get help, I found myself wanting to jump out of my skin and yell to her, "Go do something!!! She needs your help!" I understood that this poor girl was simply shocked, not only by what happened to Meredith but also by the bloody scene she witnessed as Meredith tried to save another man's life, but I was so frustrated watching her do nothing about it until Dr. McDreamy finally approached her.
With regard to the point you made that it is now Dr. McDreamy's turn to save Meredith as she saved him from his tortured love life, I can completely see how that is logical, but I worry that the writers of the show might not give us the quick resolution we hope for in tonight's episode. Some part of me wonders whether or not they will keep Meredith alive, but in a comatose state, in order to drag the viewer along and keep him or her talking about Meredith's fate. However the writers choose to deal with this situation, I am confident that they will not kill off her character in the end, but I was only able to come to this conclusion after the shock of last week's episode had passed. I reason now that the show's ratings would plummet if Meredith were to die and viewers would find it hard to "forgive" the writers of the show for having them invest so much time into the emotional drama of her personal life. I have also heard rumors that there will be a spin-off of the show starring Addison Shepherd in the near future, so if Meredith was gone, how would McDreamy go on, especially with his ex-wife absent as well?
I'm not a Grey's fan. Not because i don't like it, but because by the time i learned about the greatness of the show, i was too emotionally invested in 24 and other shows and had no more emotion for another!!!
So..what does a non-fan have to say about this isolated portion of the show? I actually think it is genius! Once again, i didn't watch this Thursday so i'm not sure if they revived Meredith. I love the analysis of metaphors done in "Nick's blog" and i believe the writers are hoping their audience is making such clever connections. The funny thing is, even though peole are piecing these unsaid parts of the puzzle together, hey are still uncertain! And that is what will keep you watching! No matter how upset fans were and how much they swore the show off, you know they were faking to watch another show Thursday night but flipped over to Grey's!!!
We are hungry people. We want immediate gratification, but these genius shows are showing us who has the power. Iit doesn't matter how many times, for instance, Jack Bauer dies, or that the best president ever David Palmer was killed, then there was Tony, Mitchele- two lovers and awesome characters-GONE! 24 spares nobody!!! Yet, we still watch!!!Delivered to a low point and still eager to see where it'll go even if that direction is further down!
Pop Culture can do that. TV can do that. You know you're not going anywhere, and neither is Meredith, i should think. Looks like Grey's is gaining a new fan next Thursday because with all the talk, i wanna KNOW!..See what i mean..genius!
I personally have never really followed Grey's Anatomy. I watched one episode about a year ago, when it followed the Steelers-Seahawks Superbowl, and I enjoyed it, but it never sucked me in.
However, I can relate to how people feel when writers of show do something to one of the characters that doesn't seem to have any merit to the story or overall quality of the show whatsoever.
For example, in a recent episode of 24 former president Charles Logan, who has been a series staple since the latter part of season 4, was randomly stabbed by his estranged wife, and the last we saw of him was flatlining in the back of an ambulance. Is he dead? Did the medics resuscitate him? We don't know, and I don't even think the writers do. While Logan has been a sort of villain in the show, he has always been an intriguing, complex character, and I, like many other fans who voice their complaints on the show's official message boards, demand to know what in the world happened to Logan! His stabbing and the subsequent scene in the ambulance have nothing to do with the overall plot of the season, and it seems that the writers had that happen just to add some excitement to the show.
A similar instance happened in Lost recently, when recurring characters Paulo and Nikki were killed off by being buried alive by their fellow castaways, who thought the couple was dead even though they were just temporarily paralyzed. The two characters have been unpopular all season long, yet when there is finally a flashback episode dedicated to them that makes them sympathetic to viewers, they just get rid of them.
I feel like this recent trend of seemingly meaningless twists and story developments is detrimental to the shows we love. Writers are no longer concerned with creating an engrossing, entertainment story, but rather are more concerned with shock value.
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