Grey's Anatomy

I miss Grey's Anatomy.

I started watching this ABC medical drama when it debuted as a mid-season replacement for a show I can't even remember.  I was a loyal viewer all through college and after graduation...even when they consistently depicted all Army personnel as being gung-ho for battle 24/7 or as tortured PTSD-ridden shells of their former selves.

I was loyal through all of Meredith and Derek's break-ups and make-ups, Izzy's character disintegration (Heigl's eagerness to leave the show was palpable through all her scenes) and Alex's lack of growth.  I loved that show.  I still love it.

But with a husband deployed overseas and overhearing gunshots during our phone conversations, the final days of Season Six and the sum total of Season Seven are beyond my capabilities as a viewer.  I couldn't handle it.  I couldn't handle the finale (a disgruntled husband of a former patient goes on a shooting rampage throughout the hospital, killing many).  I knew I wouldn't be able to sit there and watch Derek bleed from a bullet wound while his wife pleads for his life, offering her own in exchange.

So I didn't.  I haven't watched a single episode of Grey's Anatomy in more than a year.



Season 7 Cast, courtesy of http://www.daemonstv.com



I know it's just a television show and I'm too emotionally invested in such transparent fiction, but I can't help myself.  Instead of giving me some respite from my life, Grey's started to really depress me; I'd be raw for days after an episode would air.  And it may be healthier to face the negative possibilities of a war-time deployment head on, but I found solace in pushing those thoughts from my mind.  Grey's kept them on the surface at all times.

I still follow the show on Wikipedia like some girl who stalks her ex-boyfriend on Facebook but makes no effort to reconcile.  Considering all the story lines based on PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from last season finale's carnage, I know I made the right decision.  Watching people have panic attacks as they remember being two steps away from death is not my idea of entertainment.  Television is supposed to take you away from your everyday life into a world where everything is more dramatic and therefore less realistic...not remind you some degree of these events could be your fate as well.

So I have yet to replace Grey's Anatomy on my TV schedule.  I tried Private Practice (a Grey's spinoff) but was put off by the main character's consistent infidelity.  Off the Map (another medical drama by Shonda Rhimes) seems promising but is over for the season.  Taking place in the middle of a South American jungle, that show has just the right amount of fantasy to prevent me from dwelling on the traumas.

My Husband hooked me on a few shows I never would have tuned into otherwise...Sons of Anarchy and Archer on FX and the station's newest original, a black comedy starring Elijah Wood called Wilfred (starts June 23).  I stopped watching The Biggest Loser (I found it to be too much about winning the game and not enough about losing weight and changing one's life in recent seasons) but am still a fan of ABC's Castle, Fox's Bones and the one-two comedy punch of Modern Family and Cougar Town.

I find myself becoming a fan of House after getting caught up watching reruns on USA Network.  Next season I'm gonna make a real effort for Community (I regretfully skipped it as it used to be on opposite Bones) and some of the promising pilots coming on this fall.

But I don't think I'll ever stop missing Grey's Anatomy.