Grey's Anatomy's big twist shouldn't surprise anyone (warning: spoilers)
|
Version 0 of 1. Last night 9.4 million people tuned in to watch Derek Shepherd die. Which, to be honest, shouldn’t be surprising. Rumours of Patrick Dempsey’s impending doom began circulating earlier in the week, and by the time his character got into that fateful car accident yesterday, the series reached its largest audience since September’s season premiere. Why? Because Derek Shepherd was a prince of a character we’d known and loved since the beginning. Also, because his death marks the end of an era. Once upon a time, Grey’s Anatomy was the story about a woman, a man, their careers, and thousands of obstacles between them. Whether Meredith Grey and Dr McDreamy would get together became the fodder for dormitories, workplaces, and drive-thru windows (or maybe that was just me), and everything that revolved around them was secondary. As long as Mer and Der got together, everything would be fine. And then they did, and of course – because creator/genius Shonda Rhimes isn’t going to let us off that easy – it wasn’t. By the time Grey and Shepherd exchanged vows/Post-It notes in season 7, Grey’s Anatomy had changed. By that point, it had become a show that had broadened its narrative to fit an ever-expanding roster of characters who brought their own brands of conflict, sexual tension, and humanity to Seattle Grace. Characters left (Cristina Yang), died (everyone – seriously, that hospital and/or city is doomed), and among all of it, Derek and Meredith’s saga began to seem a little less interesting. Which is why, when Derek went MIA the last couple of weeks, the show carried on. And it’s also why the show will continue to carry on now that he’s gone. What Shonda Rhimes has done is create a world so bustling and so rich in story that when one person’s ends, there are umpteen more to take its place. Like ER, the success of the show no longer relies on the presence of a single person or power duo, it relies on where the story takes place and how the ensemble interacts with it. Grey’s Anatomy is no longer a vehicle in which we follow Meredith Grey’s adventure: it’s the place Meredith brought us to. And if she leaves without us, we – like the series – will carry on, too. Is this to say Derek’s death was inconsequential? How dare you. Like Mark Greene’s death in ER (never forget) or Will Gardner’s murder in The Good Wife (still not over it), the show will feel emptier without one if its founding fathers. The dynamic will be different. Remember: thanks to watching her husband die, Meredith’s life will change. And because she will change, so will the dynamic at the hospital, which will obviously also change the courses of the other characters in it. That being said, remembering this doesn’t make Derek’s passing any easier to accept. Regardless of whether you’ve been watching steadily since the beginning or dropped off when Preston Burke left Cristina Yang at the altar (blasphemy), the death of McDreamy isn’t an easy one to take. Not only did he help usher in one of TV’s best romances of the past 10 years, Patrick Dempsey delivered to us a kind, compassionate character who may be the only person in the world who can get away with saying, “It’s a beautiful night to save lives.” I just can’t believe that not a single doctor at that hospital could manage to save Derek Shepherd’s. RIP, friend. |