For the past two seasons that Grey’s Anatomy has possessed television viewers, I bragged about never watching it. What did I want to see another medical drama for? I wasted enough of my life on ER for how many years? I was not going back in. Being devoted to a television series is like a bad marriage. You don’t realize until it’s all over that you were really getting nothing out of it, even if it was entertaining from time to time.
So when people would start talking about it, I would stand back proudly, fold my arms and say, “Oh, I never watch that.” I was sticking with the relationships I knew were solid: Lost, Criminal Minds, Oprah. But I’m sad to report, all it took was one accidental viewing of one episode, and I was hooked.
Yes, though I’ve only seen about five episodes of the dreaded virus, I am afflicted. I have now ordered seasons one and two on DVD, and I suppose I’ll stick it out til the bitter end, or until the Meredith/McDreamy storyline inevitably fades and resentment sets in. Either way, I know this is one of those relationships that is completely unavoidable. You rush in way too quickly, thinking it’s good for you.
The thing is, though, public attention has been focused on the wrong doctor. Perhaps Patrick Dempsey is the new George Clooney but to me he’s far from the cutest, dreamiest guy on the show. I know, I know, I have no right to say, since I missed all of the flirtation and entire seduction of Meredith and her McDreamy. I’m on the tail end of it when it’s obvious he’s still in love with her (why do these love stories, on TV, always follow the same pattern?), and it’s becoming a bit old.
Three cheers for Dempsey for bringing his career back from the brink. It doesn’t happen often with actors, but Dempsey had it coming. A good actor, an underrated actor, Dempsey never quite got the attention he deserved. He finally has it. Three quarters of America and half the world is in love with him. But here is one girl who didn’t fall immediately for McDreamy.
The doctor everyone should be talking about is Isaiah Washington as Dr. Burke. Moody, brilliant, cocky – he is like a bad accident waiting to happen, the kind of guy who could ruin your life, make you drop out of medical school, the whole deal.
I will probably fall in love with Dempsey when I check out season one. As it stands now, though, I am beholden to another. There isn’t another show awaited with as much excitement and anticipation as this one. By the time you read this you’ll know where Meredith’s heart is headed. So far she’s slept with two doctors; there’s probably no chance she’ll end up with Dr. Burke.
Anyway, she’s got bigger fish to fry than which guy she’ll end up with. She’s got the mom thing, the dad thing, the knitting thing – safe to say she’ll wind up season three even more tangled up than she began it. But we like her, don’t we? We don’t care if she’s messed up – in fact, we love her for it. Listen to me, talking like a regular fan!
If you can’t get enough of the weekly drama, however, two of the show’s minor characters will have their own blogs this season – blogging as the characters not as the actors. Probably a couple of the show’s writers will be doing it but they’ll be filling in the blanks of what the characters are doing when they’re not on the show. Just in case you forgot for a minute that it was a show and not real life. You do realize it’s not real life, right?
All in all, I’m not entirely ashamed of myself for adopting this new TV marriage. I do worry, though, that so many television relationships have already come and gone. Is this to make up the bulk of my life? Relationships with TV people? Perhaps it’s time to let them turn the cable off. For good, this time!
