Looks Like Grey's Anatomy is All Out of Ideas (Except Political Ones)
With Ellen Pompeo exiting the show and the quality gradually decaying from episode to episode, fans wonder why Grey's Anatomy hasn't yet come to an end.
Grey's Anatomy has been on the screens for 19 seasons and more than 400 episodes. The longest-running scripted primetime ABC show had its ups and downs over the course of its epic run.
The first few seasons were extremely good and successful. They cemented the place of Grey's Anatomy as one of the best television shows of all time and secured the series' enormous built-in fan following.
However, the quality and ratings of the popular medical drama have fallen over the years. Many dedicated viewers quit watching with longtime regulars leaving the show. And now that the lead character is exiting too, many fans agree there's no point in continuing Grey's Anatomy any longer.
In addition to Meredith Grey leaving as a full-time character, fans feel that the medical drama has nothing new to offer. It declined so much in quality that the latest seasons have been hard to watch, many think. In numerous discussions around the internet, fans note that there has been a huge downturn in writing for the past few years. The majority of new characters were not as interesting as the original regulars and a lot of storylines became too soapy and boring.
One of the major issues long-term fans have with the show is the reflection of social issues.
Earlier episodes used to highlight both sides of a particular problem, and then slowly ease into the solution. The show not only commented on the social issues but also gave a fresh take on them which helped many viewers form an opinion about things happening around them.
Now, though, Grey's Anatomy is not adding anything new to the conversation. With long production periods, all the political and social issues that the show tackles become almost irrelevant between episodes being written and airing.
"It puts [Grey's Anatomy] in a position of commenting on and following the zeitgeist rather than being the zeitgeist that it used to be," one of the fans wrote in a Reddit discussion.
There's no value in just repeating points that are already out there, the fan thinks. With Grey's Anatomy being just the shadow of its former self, it is becoming more and more evident that there's no salvaging the show at this point. It needs to end.