Warning: This review contains mild spoilers for “Grey’s Anatomy.”
It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t seen “Grey’s Anatomy” before, even if they’ve only watched a part of an episode in passing. With the 15th season currently airing on ABC, the medical show has become a staple in many households. In fact, it’s the eighth-longest running primetime TV series in the U.S. With its army of characters and the ruthless situations that creator and producer Shonda Rhimes puts them through, the TV series can easily be dubbed the sister of “Game of Thrones,” but the character deaths have actual reason and logic behind them. Yet, much like “Game of Thrones,” viewers become extremely attached to the characters on the show and their deaths are very impactful.
The show revolves around the lives of the generations of doctors at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital (which, later on, is appropriately renamed as Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital) both in and out of the ORs. The main character of the show is Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) who starts off as a surgical intern and finds out that she slept with one of her bosses, the famous neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) the night before her first day at work. Along with her fellow interns Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), Isobel Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Christina Yang (Sandra Oh) and George O’Malley (T.R. Knight), Meredith grows and learns as she goes through her medical career. She has a history with this hospital and surgery in general since her mother, Ellis Grey, was a pioneer at the Seattle hospital and across the world. To say the least, the surgeries and cases aren’t the only tricky thing about this show. Yet, what else can we expect from surgeons who eat, sleep, work and live at the hospital 24/7?
To Binge or Not to Binge?
To give you some perspective on why this show is binge-worthy, let me tell you that I’ve seen the entire series four times through. Oddly enough, it’s one of my comfort shows. “Grey’s Anatomy” is the perfect series to invest in when you are looking for something long-term and something that will reel you in easily. It doesn’t take long to connect with the characters and feel for all the things that they go through. As the show continues and characters are lost, it feels like you are part of the “Grey’s” family. Besides the character relationships, the show is innovative and reliable. The medical aspects of the show are not overshadowed and the solutions the surgeons find to the toughest cases are extremely interesting. It also gives insight into what life is like for surgeons. The show isn’t afraid to confront controversial and tough topics, such as the last aired episode of the show, which dealt with sexual assault and how rape kits are handled in hospitals.
Simply put, this show is bingeable because it has heart. (Literally.) While these characters may be surgeons, first and foremost they are people with families, heartbreaks and tragedies like the rest of us. “Grey’s Anatomy” combats against the stereotype of all surgeons being cold and heartless. So, take my advice: Sit back, grab a snack and get ready to be emotionally invested in this show and all of its characters, especially the ones you least expect to get attached to because nobody knows where you might end up.
Best Episode: Season 8, Episode 21 “Moment of Truth”
Similar Shows: “Private Practice,” “The Resident” and “The Good Doctor”
Trigger Warnings: “Grey’s Anatomy” has an overwhelming amount of triggering content. The show features death, blood, gore, violence and other traumatic events. There are also traumatic character deaths. I cannot stress this enough — this show is extremely graphic. Please watch with caution.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
“Greys Anatomy”
Available to stream on Netflix and Hulu
342 episodes, a little over 13 days and 19 hours
