Grey’s Anatomy is a super smash of a hit that is known more for the scandals backstage involving Isaiah Washington and T.R. Knight than the storylines from Season 3. This may be due to the fact that a show that delivered measurable doses of hope, angst, humor and tragedy needed a stomach pump to clear some of the bad medicine delivered in Season 3.
Tragedies Abound
The season opened with the aftermath of Denny Duquette’s death. Katherine Heigl played Izzy’s grief well and it was a journey to see her begin to put back the shattered pieces of her life after she blew it up trying to save the man she loved. Ultimately, Izzy returned to the hospital, but it took 9 episodes to really get her back in the door. But somewhere between her grief and her return, Izzy became really unlikeable.
Then there’s George. Poor George (who struggled through his crush with Meredith) is now struggling in his relationship with Callie Ramirez. His dad comes in with problems and dies after undergoing extensive surgery. In the aftermath of that, George and Callie elope. George has no regrets, but suddenly Izzy is treating he and Callie worse. Turns out, Izzy has a crush on George and let’s just not go there.
Then there’s Meredith, who lives at the center of the angst storm. Her affair with Derek leads him to break off his marriage with Addison. Derek is finally pursuing Meredith, but that means she has to break the heart of the very lovable McVet (Chris O’Donnell) and then Derek decides to walk away for her own good again. Meredith’s step-mother is trying to encourage a relationship between Meredith and her very distant father and then the ferry boat accident happens.
This three-parter was really too long and it’s very painful to watch as Derek pulls a very blue and still Meredith out of the water. She nearly dies and has an out of body experience. In the end, she survives but Derek is now terrified that she will give up again and Meredith loses her mother in the same episode.
If that’s not dark enough for you, later in the season, the beloved Susan (Meredith’s step-mom) also dies and Meredith’s father lashes out at her for the death and says really hateful, crushing things. She and Derek are having problems, Cristina is left at the altar (after a season of just really bad choices with Burke’s damaged hand) and that’s just the tip of the ice berg.
Season 3 of Grey’s Anatomy is sad and somewhere they lost the funny. Shonda Rhimes, the executive producer is promising better for next season, but unless you’re a die-hard collector, you may want to wait a bit before adding this morose entry to your shelves.