Anatomy of the Hospital Drama

My dear friend and contributor tancow had this to say recently about one of her favorite shows...

What I love about Grey's Anatomy is that I can consistently plan on crying every episode. Whether it be about a relationship gone wrong or a patient we get too emotionally attached to, or the sadness we feel for these characters we've grown to love, the show never fails to make me sob uncontrollably for hours on end.

When Julie asked me to blog about my favorite show, it was inevitable it would be Grey's Anatomy. On the final episode before the big writer's strike, we saw young Dr. Lexie Grey get a taste of what it's really like to be a doctor. When these doctors were enticed by the concept of saving lives and playing God, they were never told that playing God only exists if they could save every life they touched, and this after all is real life and not all is perfect. What are the writer's of Grey's Anatomy reminding us time and time again? Even though these doctors play God on the surgical table like when African-American Doctor Bailey is forced to "rise above" and operate on a White Supremist with a Swastika tattooed on his stomach to save his life, she at last is God to him, but not God in her own life. While she is busy saving someone else's life, her husband is in the waiting room giving her a final chance to redeem what's left of their marriage. The writers of Grey's Anatomy remind us that in order to save our lives, they give up theirs. That is their offering to us when playing God.