Grey’s Anatomy season 16 is a dramatic mess

You get a malpractice lawsuit! And you get a malpractice lawsuit! Oh, and don’t forget! Everything is all extremely rare! 

Season 16 of the critically acclaimed medical drama Grey’s Anatomy has just been added to Netflix. And, to say the least, it’s a mess.

Just about nothing goes right for the almost unrecognizable cast of characters we’ve all come to barely care for. The show is capitalizing off of its audience’s bleeding hearts, just hoping they feel nostalgic during the far too many flashback episodes.

It goes without saying that there will be spoilers ahead and although I trust that you’ve given up on Grey’s already, I feel obligated.

Everyone’s pregnant! It’s not Grey’s Anatomy unless at least two on-screen female leads are with child—and God forbid we ever know who the father is! 

Not long after Amelia and Dr. Lincoln are made aware of their pregnancy, Amelia pieces together that the Shepherd devil spawn might not be a credit of Linc’s.

Thanks to the fact that the Grey-Sloan Memorial staff go about their day as if they’re working in a brothel, I wouldn’t be surprised if Erica Hahn was the father. It’s nothing more than an exhaustive narrative trope that melodramatic audiences have come to predict.

To add insult to injury, Miranda Bailey — the only redeeming character on the entire show — has a miscarriage and is then forced to assist Amelia in birthing her child. No one wins.

The most disappointing character arc is that of Teddy Altman. It seems as if Shonda Rhimes had to pick someone’s life to ruin and landed on war veteran, cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Altman. Altman goes from comeback player of the year to public enemy number one in no time at all. 

Not only does she cheat on Owen Hunt with the antagonistic Chief-of-Chief’s Tom Koracick, audiences also discover that twenty years prior, Altman had been sleeping with her best friend’s partner — who died on 9/11 shortly after.

They’re just piling on for the sake of it. I’m completely sympathetic to those who continue to suffer from the devastating effects of 9/11, but this is nothing more than a cheap narrative ploy from producers in an attempt to maintain shock value.

Having run dry on genuine, intriguing narratives, the writers of Grey’s have opted to permeate their viewers with what naive Hollywood believes to be heartbreak. But frankly, it’s difficult to care about their hardships when you don’t care about the characters in the first place.

The only episode of the entire season that found a way to get any emotion out of me was Alex Karev’s one-hour departure special — eat your heart out, Lebron James. 

Over the past six or seven seasons, Alex has slowly transitioned from a fiery, hotheaded surgeon to a vulnerable, grumpy old man. In no way was I sad to see this Alex leave, but for the sake of nostalgia, I know he’ll be missed in the upcoming season.

Of course I don’t have nearly enough room to discuss all of the misinterpreted misfortunes throughout this season — thank Christ — so if my ramblings have somehow convinced you to give it a shot, that’s your call.

For those of you who have jumped ahead of the Netflix crowd and have begun on season 17, I have one, brief sentiment for you: we need an escape from COVID-19, not a recap. 

Of course it makes sense that a medical drama would feel obligated to address the global pandemic, it’s only appropriate. But the way in which they are going about it is not only miserable but exhausting. However I digress.

Season 16 is a disappointment. For a show that hasn’t released a tolerable episode in years, the very least audiences expect is that kind of reliability. Instead, Rhimes and the producers of Grey’s Anatomy have opted to burn down the house before any of us can escape.

And if you’re in the same boat as me, just wait until you see Meredith running down the beach towards her deceased husband in season 17. It’s comically haunting.