Grey’s Anatomy: Why So Much Hatred For Season 17?
It’s hard keeping a show going strong for 17 years. While most shows offer a strong 7-8 year run, Grey’s Anatomy has withstood the test of time. For a show critics weren’t sure would make it past the first season, it has more than held its own against all newcomers. But everything must come to an end, right?
The season began with great concern as star, Ellen Pompeo and ABC had yet to draw up a new contract. Then, with the COVID storyline and Meredith basically seeing ghosts, fans began to wonder if this could be it for the hit medical drama. In all fairness, the signs were pointing in that direction.
That was just the drama on the opposite side of the camera. What drove fans crazy, was what was unfolding on screen every Thursday night.
The 17th Season of Grey’s was remarkable, to say the least. For starters, the big draw for fans has always been the writer’s ability to pull at viewer’s heartstrings. And no other season has been able to do that since the deadly plane crash in Season 8.
It began with Meredith dealing with COVID-19. Every doctor at Grey Sloan Memorial was working around the clock to save one of their own from a disease. A doctor fighting for their life has been done plenty of times on this show so the effect they were going supposedly was not as impactful to some of the fans.
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But the true essence of Grey’s has always been their ability to keep the pressure on.
The lives of the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial has always been the main foundation of the show. But what Season 17 offered was less on love and more on emotions. Love was still in the air but it just hit differently than previous seasons.
The hate has to stop. Think about the emotional rollercoaster that season 17 took fans on.
With Meredith basically on her deathbed, the writers took a gamble with the return of past Grey’s standouts such as Mark Sloan, Lexie Grey, George O’Malley, and Derek Shepherd. For most, just a season full of cameos would be enough to keep the fans entertained. But even with the surprise appearances, even the hardcore fans felt the show was in decline.
Owen and Teddy were still going through their cheating scandal. Link and Amelia were trying to figure out parenting and working, and Jackson was having an internal fight within himself. With all that going on, fans still found time to hate Season 17. No, it wasn’t the best but it wasn’t awful either.
Season 17 was a rollercoaster. Its job was to take viewers down memory lane and it did that. It was to spotlight what reconciliation looks like within the confines of love with Teddy and Owen plus a possible romance with Jackson and April.
These are the same factors that the writers have used in the past to pull viewers in and hold their attention. However, for Season 17, those same fans felt slighted by the storylines. Season 17 gave Grey’s fans everything and yet, not everyone was satisfied.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
