Grey's Anatomy: Thanks for the Grief...

TV is back and that means I actually have something to blog about here on Captain TV. Granted, there was a ton of reality dreck to slough through during the summer but unlike some recap sites, I don't like to recap something just for the sake of it. I have to actually, you know, not mind watching it.

Which is why, dear readers, I think I have to admit defeat. It's time to give up on Grey's Anatomy. After all my posts last season in which hope for improvement slowly dwindled away, I figured I'd give it one more shot. What better way than with a two-hour season premiere?

Um, yeah. So, I'm probably in the minority when I say this because die-hard Grey's fans are...die hard. I should know, I should be one. I was there to defend the show when it jumped the shark and had Meredith die in that dreadful ferryboat crash story arc.

I'm not defending the show any more. It's awful. It doesn't make any sense. The characters have become unlikeable, annoying, selfish...caricatures.

Meredith and Derek are married because they said so on a Post-It. I know Shonda Rhimes thinks this is perfect for them but they might have a spot of trouble proving that legally. I know it's not supposed to be a 'legal' marriage but more of a 'forever-bond' between them but...what happens if they fight, they tear up the damn Post-It? Does this mean all it takes to "remarry" them is a new pack of Post-Its? For a couple who is so unconventional, they don't have to get married to be...married, why bother then? Isn't it enough to be Mer and Der and live happily ever after after Meredith got 'cured' with her therapy?

But they can't. Because George is dead. I suppose for such a major character, it was fitting that the show focused on the after-effects of his death. I just don't think they did it very well.

For example, I love Izzie's 'miraculous' recovery. When I say "love", you should hear the sarcasm dripping. She had a minute chance of survival last season and yet despite the fact that she literally dies, she's well enough to go to the funeral of George and walk on her own, looking more robust and healthy than anyone else? Sure, they gave her a headscarf but, not to whoever's in charge of that stuff, we could see her hair peeking out the back!. Now her cancer is in remission even though she couldn't go for a week last season without a brain-tumour growing.

I hate that Izzie's alive. I've made no secret that I despise the character but last night, she did nothing to redeem herself. I was actually proud of Alex for telling her that her demand that he comfort her for losing George was not exactly a turn-on.

I think the part that cemented my dislike for the show is the funeral. I'm guessing that the hysterical laughter was a throwback to The Bomb Episode in which Izzie says she has inappropriate reactions to stress. Yet, seeing them all laughing reminded me of the final episode of Seinfeld in which you realized the characters are miserable, mean people who live to mock others. In this case, I don't care how grieving you are, going off by yourselves to hysterically laugh is ridiculous. It's rude. It's cruel. It's inconsiderate. Those other people at the funeral cared about George. What about his mother? Is she really going to understand that George's best friends had gathered to laugh? Yeah, didn't think so.

I felt sorry for that girl that George saved who spent the whole episode crying outside the hospital. I felt sorry that she had to endure Izzie's "pep talk". I think we were supposed to applaud Izzie but, sorry, I wanted to slap her. Have some SENSITIVITY! People handle grief in different ways. Sure, this girl was wasting her life grieving for a man she didn't know and was annoying but who the hell was Izzie to give her a dose of reality while Meredith beamed with pride? I know, I'm letting my Izzie-hate taint my opinion but, wow, was that harsh. I suppose that's Izzie's way: Direct and insensitive to other people's feelings.

The rest of the characters irked me. You know when I find Lexie the most interesting character, something's wrong. Callie bothered me. Bailey bothered me. Bailey has become WAY too soft for my liking. I know she's having a crappy time with her former intern's illnesses and deaths. I know her husband left and she's a single mother but...Bailey breaks down too much. She does get too emotionally involved. She said it herself. I miss "The Nazi", the Bailey who would push the elevator button to hold the elevator to let another doctor have a meltdown away from prying eyes. I hate that she's now the one having the button pushed for her.

Overall....I was bored. There were no surprises. Owen and Christina made strides in therapy so they're becoming yet another happy-but-tormented couple. Lexie and Mark are a couple. Derek and Meredith are married on a Post-It. Alex and Izzie are married but seemingly regretful. Arizona and Callie are living together, it seems, and both are emotional wrecks. Isn't there ANYONE on this show with a backbone anymore? I like Arizona but I didn't like how she used Callie to get what she wanted. I don't like that she's becoming as screwed up as everyone else on this show.

I've flip-flopped. What I used to love about Grey's, I now hate. I'm fed up of all these people and their soap-opera drama. Where's the reality? Is it a girl who they call 'cerviche' because she was crippled from a boating accident? That storyline got way old with Lexie-as-cheerleader and the parallel's to all the other characters on the show. I guess she was grief in a human body, angry, denying, bargaining, depressed and, finally, accepting. Yes, writers, WE GOT IT. Thanks. Now if you could do it in a way that didn't involve a nasty, flacid pair of amputated arms wrapped in a towel, that'd be dandy.

I'm going through grief myself when it comes to Grey's Anatomy. I was in denial for a while that the show had begun to suck. Then I was angry because they kept bringing Dead Denny back, even though the fans hated it. Then I bargained..."Give me one storyline that makes me care and I'll keep watching!". I sort of got depressed because I was disappointed but, ok, that stage is a little dramatic for a TV show..now I'm accepting that the show is just...bad.

I think I'm going to have to give it up. I started DVR'ing Fringe so I can catch up. The Office is already on at the same time and I also watch Skins, BBC America's gritty, dark and fascinating teen drama. They're all on at the same time as Grey's and...they're all better.

So, maybe it's time to let it go. It's going to be a hard break-up but maybe it's time. I just don't care anymore.

And that's not a good thing.