Each time it is introduced that an actor is departing Gray’s Anatomy, it is pure to surprise what horrific loss of life will get written for his or her character.
Maybe we need not fear about characters dying a lot anymore as a result of, currently, Gray’s has been letting them dwell and discover life past Gray Sloan.
Nathan, April, Arizona, and Alex had been written off in methods the present appeared to think about joyful endings.
Moreover not killing the character off, these joyful endings all concerned the departing character getting again along with their ex-lover.
These “joyful endings” make me want Gray’s Anatomy would return to killing off its foremost characters.
It is could be one factor if Gray’s Anatomy wrote a reunite with an ex-lover exit for one character, however now they’ve tried to tug off this trick a number of occasions to diminishing outcomes.
Moreover being repetitive, this sort of ending does not do the departing character justice.
It form of labored for Nathan to reunite with Megan, however the the explanation why it form of labored had been distinctive to his character and his storyline.
For one factor, Nathan’s tenure at Gray Sloan was fairly brief. He debuted on Grey’s Anatomy Season 12 Episode 6, and his final look was on Grey’s Season 14 Episode 5. He did not have the time to develop and alter the way in which characters with longer runs do.
Megan was at all times a part of his storyline, so from that perspective, it made sense the 2 of them would wind up collectively.
Even so, it was not a very satisfying strategy to write out Nathan as a result of Meredith was the true pressure behind pushing the couple again collectively. The plotting carried a cynical subtext of the writers shooing out a personality as quick as doable.
An identical subtext clouded the departure of April Kepner.
April’s final episode, Grey’s Anatomy Season 14 Episode 24, featured her getting married to Matthew, the man she left on the altar to run away with Jackson again on Grey’s Anatomy Season 10 Episode 13.
As an alternative of April marrying Matthew being a grand, romantic second, it got here off as giving April a comfort prize earlier than she rides into the sundown.
April did not marry Matthew the primary time as a result of he represented every part April thought she needed however did not really need. Her determination to go away Matthew on the altar was disrespectful, but it surely wasn’t the unsuitable alternative.
Gray’s Anatomy subsequently selecting to marry April off to Matthew invalidates her journey. It appears like Gray’s Anatomy was saying April ought to have married Matthew all alongside and every part she suffered after leaving him on the altar was as a result of she selected Jackson over Matthew.
The present did attempt to mitigate this harsh implication as a result of that they had April and Matthew reconnect after every of them went by means of main tragedies and defined they bought again collectively after understanding one another higher than they did earlier than.
The issue with this clarification is the present advised us as a substitute of exhibiting it. Seeing extra of it play out onscreen would have made the brand new April and Matthew dynamic extra plausible and the tip of April’s onscreen story extra satisfying.
The flaw of telling as a substitute of exhibiting additionally marred Arizona’s departure and her implied reconciliation with Callie.
Arizona and Callie had one of many nastiest splits featured on Gray’s Anatomy. Their downward spiral included infidelity and a no holds bars custody battle on Grey’s Anatomy Season 12 Episode 22.
Moreover, Callie moved on to have a relationship with Penny, a relationship she moved throughout the nation to proceed.
After all of the harm Arizona and Callie put one another by means of, we’re anticipated to imagine just a few textual content messages and a pep discuss from Richard and April is sufficient for Arizona to think about getting again along with Callie a good suggestion.
Giving out the crumbs of a narrative will not be an alternative choice to really telling a narrative, and why did Gray’s Anatomy really feel the necessity to tack on a romantic element to Arizona’s ending when it wasn’t logistically doable to inform it correctly or essential?
Gray’s Anatomy characters are inclined to worth their professions greater than their romantic lives. Having Arizona co-run a ladies’s clinic with Dr. Herman is a contented ending by itself. Arizona did not have to be with Callie to dwell fortunately ever after.
A minimum of Arizona was capable of depart Seattle along with her characterization intact. The identical can’t be mentioned about Alex’s exit, which Grey’s Anatomy Season 16 Episode 16 detailed.
Sure, behind the scenes realities hindered Gray’s Anatomy’s talents to jot down a farewell for Alex. These elements don’t justify character assassination.
Alex reworked himself into certainly one of TV’s most loyal characters. Him abandoning Jo for Izzie — children or no children — was utterly out of character. It made him, somebody identified for brutal honesty, a liar as a result of he repeatedly mentioned he was not carrying a torch for Izzie and cherished Jo.
The Alex leaves Jo for Izzie ending additionally reeks of Gray’s rewriting its historical past to make Alex and Izzie a love story for the ages when it wasn’t. These two, principally Alex to Izzie, handled one another horribly more often than not.
There have been different methods to jot down out Alex with out tarnishing his character, resembling having Alex proceed to run Pac-North offscreen. In all probability the largest argument in opposition to that is it limits storylines for Jo.
This can be a weak argument as a result of Jo has gotten storylines impartial of her relationship with Alex, and Gray’s Anatomy wants to beat its weak spot of dropping curiosity in foremost characters who aren’t sleeping with one other foremost character.
The very best exit written for a Gray’s Anatomy character was Cristina’s. Within the lead as much as her leaving, Cristina noticed her ex-fiancee, Dr. Burke on Grey’s Anatomy Season 10 Episode 22.
The episode utterly sunk the thought of Cristina and Burke changing into a pair once more. It acknowledged the 2 of them turned stronger, totally different, higher individuals after the dissolution of their relationship.
Gray’s Anatomy ought to have remembered this after they had been crafting exits for Nathan, April, Arizona, and Alex as a substitute of forcing them into fantasy endings with ex-lovers and undermining his or her character development.
The characters deserve higher and so does the viewers.
Over to you, TV Fanatics!
Are you uninterested in Gray’s Anatomy reuniting departing characters with their lengthy misplaced ex-lover?
What could be a greater means of writing off characters?
Hit the feedback under.
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Becca Newton is a employees author for TV Fanatic.