Grey's Anatomy: The Episode That Had Us Saying, 'Come On, Now'
All television shows like to play fast and loose with realism.
The mark of a great show is one that has the audience willingly suspend their disbelief to just enjoy the ride. This is achieved through strong writing, and relatable characters, and most of the time, Grey's Anatomy has seemingly effortlessly pulled off this trick.
Hospital dramas can be difficult to capture for television. It needs to be interesting, engaging, and believable. But most importantly, it also has to stick to its own formula. If a show begins by being a little less than totally realistic, it can continue that safely as it becomes what viewers expect. On the other hand, if a show establishes a baseline for accuracy and later deviates from that, it can leave fans rolling their eyes and declaring "come on, now."
Here is where Grey's Anatomy, a fantastic and brilliantly written show, fell into that trap. Well, in truth, it has strayed from the lines of realism many times, but this particular episode was over the line, with even the most devout fans finding it laughable.
Season three, episode sixteen, Drowning on Dry Land. Now, a lot happens in this one. But the central error is sticking to reality. Meredith Grey, the main character, falls into Puget Sound and is drowning. She reaches the point where she is so exhausted, she stops struggling to surface and accepts her fate, sinking beneath the water. Meanwhile, Derek Shepherd is frantically searching for her and finally learns she is underwater.
Here is where reality takes a back seat to a great story. Firstly, Derek somehow manages to magically find Meredith in all that water, likely hundreds of feet down. Wearing his clothes, in freezing water, with no diving equipment, his search and rescue is successful. Secondly, Meredith is quite clearly dead when she is retrieved from the water.
Of course, Derek attempts CPR not wanting to give up on her. But she is freezing, blue, with no pulse, and not breathing and has likely been in that state for at the very least, several minutes. An experienced doctor, like Derek, would know, that the only sensible course of action would be to call time of death.
Thirdly, after much additional drama and excitement, Meredith miraculously awakens in the hospital, alive. And fourthly, despite being technically dead for an undetermined amount of time, she suffers absolutely no brain damage or negative long-term effects.
As much as the episode tugged at heartstrings and had the audience cheering, it also had them questioning how any of this could be possible. Well, it isn't. And fans have not been shy about expressing their disbelief at Meredith Grey somehow developing magical powers, coming back from the dead, and resuming her life as normal after this experience. A rare writing miss, from an otherwise brilliant show.