Grey’s Anatomy
Perhaps more than any other long - running primetime drama serial in recent history , Grey ’s Anatomytruly revitalize the notion of the plot twist , and just how important a ingredient it is to the instauration of a successful , habit-forming series .
With twists now happening at an staggering charge per unit , it ’s comfortable to blank out that the earlier episodes were slow , and less surprising in some heed .
However , as the series became more and more popular , and as fan grew all the more invested in the soapy medical series , it became clear that the twists and the cliffhangers would turn in their favor . Well , for the most part , at least .
sure plot twists– such as the introduction of a character , or the start or ending of a romantic relationship– tend to work more strongly in terminal figure of garnering fan dedication and interestingness .
However , other ideas– including lurid , callous Death for beloved fiber , written strictly to outrage the audience– have incinerate the series clock time and again .
Yet , Grey’sstill put up , nearly fourteen full seasons later and with no sign of slowing down its disturbed pace of twists and turns any time soon .
Here are the8 Plot Twists That HurtGrey ’s Anatomy(And 7 That Saved The Show ) .
Hurt: George’s passing
Arguably the first sign thatGrey ’s Anatomywould truly contain nothing back when it come to offend its fans , George ’s eliminate at the closing of the serial ' fifth time of year stay on one of the most infuriating and disconcerting decisions that the series has made to date .
George , adorably affable and hapless in every way , was the closest the original team of house physician had to a real heart .
By getting disembarrass of him so short , the serial shortly lost much of its warmth in turn .
Admittedly , there were sure behind - the - scenery factors at play here in the conclusion to spell O’Malley out of the serial publication in such an precipitous way .
However , no part of any offset drama could maybe explain the traumatic , gruesome , and overly elaborated way in which George passed away .
Saved: Burke leaves Cristina at the altar
Of course , George ’s divergence was n’t the only one principally force back by behind - the - view matters . Dr. Preston Burke ’s abrupt exit at the end of season 3 was , of course , motivated by rumor after rumour of dispute between Isaiah Washington , mould fellow member , and Shonda Rhimes herself .
However , while George ’s exit from the show proved detrimental to its overall narrative , Burke ’s exit allowed one of the show ’s strongest characters– Cristina Yang– to grow so much more than she had until that power point .
By allowing Burke to leave Cristina at the altar , Grey’sset up geezerhood upon year of strength and ontogeny for Cristina that we may never have gotten had the physician get hitched with as intended .
Also , by allow for Cristina to grow stronger in all those years , her determination to consent a place working alongside Burke so many years subsequently is all the more rewarding .
Hurt: Callie’s new girlfriend is responsible for Derek’s passing
Grey’sasks a lot of its viewers when it comes to suspending their disbelief in extremely unrealistic aesculapian and emotional scenario .
However , perhaps one of its most unforgivable decisions in that regard was to pair Dr. Callie Torres in a romanticist kinship with Dr. Penny Blake , one of the doctors who had been responsible for Derek Shepherd ’s unseasonable death .
It would have been one thing had the reveal of Callie ’s poor choice of a significant other been used as a moment of shock economic value , leading the new couple to discontinue up and avoid all the messy ramification that came with this union .
However , the series stick by this abysmal couple , even send Callie off to go with Penny in New York with fiddling Sofia following Sara Ramirez ’s decision to decease the serial .
Saved: Addison’s introduction
It was the cliffhanger ending that shocked looker and passionate Meredith / Derek fans everywhere : season 1 ofGrey ’s Anatomyends with the reveal that Derek ’s estranged wife , Addison , has arrive at Seattle Grace .
Addison would go on to be a polarizing role for many , but there ’s no denying that the intromission of her character injected the series with some much needed tension .
Stakes were now raised much high for the sports fan favorite but as of yet unstable couple .
what is more , in the appendage of creating Addison ’s character , Grey’swas able-bodied to resist take aim the unproblematic way out . While occasionally shrill and villainous , Addison was allowed to become a full - imprint character of her own , and not just a new obstruction in the way of Meredith and Derek ’s kinship .
Hurt: Owen’s presumed deceased sister returns
As we ’ve already project , characters reappearing again out of virtually nowhere is n’t on the nose unheard of onGrey ’s Anatomy . However , when all signs point to those never before see character having been deceased , and then they on the spur of the moment resurface , that ’s quite a different matter .
The truly bizarre , uncomfortable , and ostensibly never - ending plot regard Owen Hunt , his sister Megan , and Nathan Riggs took up far more narrative outer space than it should have .
gratefully , Megan would be written out eventually , taking Riggs along with her for sound measure and eliminating another reservoir of difficult scenes .
hold matters worse , the series was forced to recast the part of Megan as a outcome of scheduling conflict , which led to both Bridget Regan and Abigail Spencer appearing in unlike capacities as Owen ’s sister .
Saved: Mark’s introduction
Being introduced as a fibre who ’s only out for himself and stands in direct foeman to the male tether is n’t an enviable position for any Modern character in a series .
However , somehow Mark Sloan managed to do the out of the question , get ahead over the audience even as he rise himself to be quite the saccade to start .
The mankind who was once Derek ’s right friend– and would become his best supporter again , in time– was only ab initio a author of further dispute for the rocky wedlock between Derek and Addison .
However , over sentence , Mark ’s character was allowed to develop from McSteamy into a much more mature , emotionally open one .
Through his rekindled friendly relationship with Derek , as well as his wiz - cut across romance with Lexie , Mark would show over time that his introduction was one of the best decisionsGrey’sever made .
Hurt: Denny returns as a ghost… again
Grey’sisn’t afraid of get spiritual , in many senses of the word . In one of the series ' most iconic episodes , Meredith in brief exists in a world between biography and destruction , having allowed herself to submerge for a short menstruation of time .
While in that Department of State , she is visited by the recently deceased Denny Duquette , retiring fire of fellow resident physician Izzie Stevens . In that context of use , the coming into court of a familiar face is genuinely affecting , allowing some of Meredith ’s most redolent exploitation in the cognitive process .
However , the serial publication try out to tap into the ghostwriter Denny well once again in time of year five with a meandering , unbearably uneasy plot with Izzie look him and becoming romantically involve with his ghost on legion occasions .
Unfortunately , as a result of this , the use of Denny ’s character in this capacity untie any good that the character had done antecedently .
Saved: Callie and Arizona call it quits for good
On the whole , the relationship depicted inGrey ’s Anatomyare scarcely worth aspiring to emulate in real lifetime . Often filled with Lie , betrayal , and handling , the couples in the series have been consistently portrayed in as smarmy a manner as possible .
When it comes to the kinship between Callie and Arizona , however , these rebuff and faults are all the more worrisome .
For twelvemonth , the couple was hailed as true progress for LGBTQ representation ; but in later years , the progressive message they were hail as putting forth was lost behind bed upon layer of manipulative behavior , infidelity , and a grueling hands battle that nearly ruined both graphic symbol in the cognitive operation .
Thankfully , the serial made the correct decision in the goal , have the long - clock time span burn thing off for good in season 11 - - a determination that became all the more permanent with Sara Ramirez ’s exit .
Hurt: Cristina’s exit
Truthfully , there was nothing remotely out of character about Cristina Yang ’s departure from the series . Ever ambitious and brilliantly bluff , it arrive as no surprisal that she would choose to pursue her career and her dreams , even if it meant move half a worldly concern away from all those closest to her .
What was most troubling about this twist of result , however , was what came next .
Due to Sandra Oh ’s desire to go forth the series after all of those years , the show was storm to work through next traumatic case that pretend Meredith without the welfare of having her best friend , her someone , right by her side as she always had been .
A torso double was awkwardly used in the illustration of Derek ’s last , but beyond that , Cristina ’s arrant absence from the narrative is one that has provided hard and harder to accept over time .
Saved: Addison’s departure, and the creation of Private Practice
As previously discussed , Addison was always a polarizing character during her land tenure onGrey’s . The decision to allow her character to pop off the serial , and in turn have a series all her own , therefore , was undoubtedly a brave one on the net ’s part .
However , in doing this , they were able to clear two big problems all at once .
Grey’sno longer had so difficult a figure to fence with , and what ’s more , Addison was allowed to really come into her own and be the track of her own story onPrivate Practice .
Running for six season , the serial publication showed a more vulnerable side of Addison thanGrey’shad ever been able to show , allowing her quality to settle in love and discover family and happiness in the process .
