That wasn’t a happy ending anyone was hoping for.
As unfortunate as it is, every TV show has limits to its potential. Of course, TV history is full of examples of soap operas that can go on forever and come up with new ideas, but even they tend to lose quality over time.
Besides, they don’t have to worry about realism, while more serious procedural dramas usually do.
Grey’s Anatomy has done very well considering how many seasons it has. Of course, the show has lost some of its writing quality in its nearly 20 years on the air, but renewal after renewal just goes to prove that it still has a bunch of very loyal viewers, no matter how bad the s torylines get at times.
One of the things the audience still has a hard time forgiving the writers for is Alex Karev’s departure from Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
As one of the 5 original interns introduced to viewers at the beginning of season 1, Karev had some trouble getting the audience to love him, but ended up being one of the fan favorites.
Unfortunately, in 2020, Justin Chambers, who portrayed Karev for more than 15 years, announced that he was leaving the show to pursue other opportunities. As much as fans were ready to support his decision, they weren’t ready for what was in store for Karev in the universe.
On the show, Alex Karev was also leaving to pursue other opportunities, but in his case, those “opportunities” included Izzie Stevens and her two children born from embryos she had frozen while battling cancer. It would be a very nice character ending if Karev didn’t have a family back in Seattle.
By having Alex leave his wife Jo and everything they had together, and not even see her or his best friend Meredith eye to eye, the writers almost destroyed years of character development.
No one really expected Karev to turn out to be such a coward that he couldn’t stand by and explain his decisions, but felt the need to leave immediately.
Needless to say, the departure caused a lot of backlash, and many fans still can’t believe their favorite character was ruined by a bad showrunner’s decision.
If you want to revisit the earlier seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and remember the MAGIC days of glory, you can stream the show on Netflix, Hulu or Disney Plus.