Grey’s Anatomy is a show that fell out of favor with me several seasons ago. After Meredith died and spent an episode hanging out with dead characters, I decided that I had better things to do with my time. No one is more surprised than me that I actually ended up loving season 6 of Grey’s Anatomy. Season 6 gave the show another chance by getting rid of old characters, introducing some new friends, and writing its characters like adults with realistic problems. Grey’s Anatomy, you win. I am a fan once more.
At the beginning of season 6, George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) is dead and Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) barely survived her surgery but is now in recovery. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) is having trouble getting past Izzie’s brush with death, and he is emotionally distancing himself from Izzie who is trying to enjoy newlywed life. The other pair of newlyweds Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) and Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) are almost obnoxiously happy and drama-free. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Owen Hunt are together, Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) are together, and it is nothing but smooth sailing for Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw), the show’s new lesbian couple. Even Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) has started dating again. Problems arise for the characters when Chief Webber (James Pickens Jr.) approves a merger with another hospital, and the doctors of Seattle Grace have to battle it out with doctors from Mercy West to keep their jobs. Further complications include Chief Webber’s battle with alcoholism, a lawsuit over end-of-life requests, Mark’s pregnant daughter, and Owen’s Iraq War nightmares.
I can see that all the characters have grown and matured since they first arrived at Seattle Grace. With the exception of Mark, Lexie, and a few of the Mercy West transfers, the main characters are less willing to immediately jump into bed with each other. Everyone is in a relationship. Their hardships are no longer sexually-transmitted diseases and gossip. Instead, they sit down and talk with their significant others when they are considering career changes or having children. This is a more mature Grey’s Anatomy than the soap opera silliness that was present in past seasons. In particular, Callie and Arizona’s relationship proved that the writers viewed their show’s sole gay couple as real people, not a gimmick. The only disappointing storylines in season 6 were Mark getting to know his pregnant daughter and almost everything involving Izzie.
For those who are less interested in the personal drama, the medical emergencies in season 6 are more realistic than in past seasons. Medical cases include morbid obesity, premature babies, and a few boating accidents (something that doctors in Seattle probably have to deal with on a regular basis). Some people prefer medical shows with outlandish cases, but while it makes sense for Dr. House to attract unusual cases, I think it is a bit rarer in a hospital like Seattle Grace. With more common place illnesses and injuries, the storylines in season 6 are interesting because of the patients’ personalities and personal issues. Then when patients die, the audience cares more. One of the saddest losses of the season was in the episode named “Suicide Is Painless” where a terminally ill patient played by Sara Gilbert (Roseanne, The Big Bang Theory) comes to the hospital for physician-assisted suicide. When she curled up with her quilt in the hospital bed and lay next to her husband as she died, I felt a few tears rolling down my cheeks.
Another part of “Suicide Is Painless” that I really liked was how the show integrated physician-assisted suicide into the plot, a practice which is currently legal in only 3 states (including Washington) and is still extremely controversial in the United States. During the health care debate this past year, politicians railed about death panels and told horror stories about doctors pushing euthanasia for high-cost and elderly patients. In the episodes “Suicide Is Painless” and “Sympathy for the Parents,” Grey’s Anatomy showed just how un-sinister doctors and euthanasia are in reality, and that while these decisions are difficult and complicated, physician-assisted suicide can be the right choice. End-of-life requests from “Sympathy for the Parents” also play a large part in the season finale, an episode so exciting that my husband stopped playing Mass Effect 2 to watch it with me.
After seasons of soap opera drama and increasingly ridiculous medical cases, season 6 of Grey’s Anatomy rebooted a series that had completely dropped off my radar. Grey’s Anatomy has allowed its characters to mature and develop, and as many of them are settling down, the show has gotten better at being a medical drama, not a soap opera version of House. Thanks to season 6, I am now caught up on Grey’s Anatomy, and as the show starts up again, I am looking forward to seeing what will happen this year at Seattle Grace.
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
For die-hard fans, there is an extended version of the season finale and tons of deleted scenes from throughout the season. There is also a gag reel, all six episodes of the web series “Seattle Grace: On Call,” and a great featurette on actress Chandra Wilson.
"Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Sixth Season" is on sale September 14, 2010 and is rated PG13. Drama, Romance, Television. Directed by Bill DElia, Chandra Wilson, Edward Ornelas, Jeannot Szwarc, Randall Zisk, Rob Corn, Stephen Cragg, Tom Verica, Tony Phelan. Written by Shonda Rhimes, Krista Vernoff, Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, Stacy McKee, Debora Cahn, Zoanne Clack, Allan Heinberg, William Harper, Peter Nowalk. Starring Chandra Wilson, Chyler Leigh, Ellen Pompeo, Eric Dane, James Pickens Jr, Jessica Capshaw, Justin Chambers, Katherine Heigl, Kevin McKidd, Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh, Sara Ramirez, TR Knight.
