10 Reasons We Should Stop Watching Grey's Anatomy (& 10 Why We'll Never Give It Up)
A typical TV drama tends to get canceled after five or six seasons, but there's one show that has stood the test of the time (and many character deaths… and many character breakups… and just about anything that we could imagine happening on the small screen).
Yup, that show is Grey's Anatomy, the popular hospital-set drama that started in 2005.
The truth is that we know that this show has practically overstayed its welcome on the small screen, and we'll admit that fact whether we're still big fans or if we said our goodbyes to the series after the first few seasons.
But it's hard to imagine a TV show that garners more passionate responses from people. And while people are divided on whether it's amazing and totally worth it to keep up or not, there's a reason its success has continued. Whether they love or leave the show and its characters, there are plenty more fans out there to keep it going.
Yup, we have complicated feelings when it comes to this show, and we know that other fans feel the same way. We definitely have a lot of things to talk about. Here are 10 reasons we should stop watching Grey's Anatomy and 10 reasons we just can't give it up.
20 Should Stop: It's So Many Seasons
When Grey's Anatomy premiered in 2005, we would be hard pressed to find a friend or family member who didn't say to us, "You really have to watch this show."
But it's common knowledge that a few seasons in, a lot of fans gave up on the show and thought that it didn't feel the same.
Now, if we mention this show to someone, they will automatically ask us how many seasons it's been or say, "That's been on since forever." Grey's Anatomy is currently in its 15th season and it's tough to think of other TV shows that have lasted that long. If we feel like we should stop watching, we might say that 15 seasons is a lot for a show.
19 Can't Give It Up: We're So Invested By Now
At the same time, though, we can't stop watching Grey's Anatomy because we're so invested in it. That definitely happens when you've been tuning into a TV show for this many seasons.
From wondering whether Meredith is going to truly be okay to wanting to see all of the personal and career success that all of the characters experience, we can't help but be interested. When a friend asks why we're still watching, we say "We just have to see how everyone is doing" and we really mean it. The characters feel like our good friends and we want to check up on them every week.
18 Should Stop: Our Fave Couples Have Split Up
It's inevitable that some TV couples are going to break up and make some fans unhappy (whereas other fans think that they never should have gotten together in the first place).
One thing that all Grey's fans can agree on is that there were many breakups that we all are still pretty upset about.
Callie and Arizona. Jackson and April. Cristina and Owen. Owen and Amelia (if we don't count the fact that they kind of seem to be back together… those two are complicated). There are so many love stories that we ship hard on this show, and we can't believe that these love stories had to end. It's enough to make us wonder if we should break up with this show.
17 Can't Give It Up: We Know We'll Just Come Right Back
Like leaving a relationship and then wondering if we should reunite with our ex-boyfriend, many of us might have said that we've quit watching Grey's Anatomy over the years. And then what happened? Well, we came right back and started watching all over again.
Like any good drama with twists and turns and love triangles and fascinating characters, Grey's Anatomy is a show that is very easy to become addicted to. Even if we wonder if we should stop watching for any number of reasons, the truth is that we do love it, so we keep watching. We know that many other fans feel the same way.
16 Should Stop: We'll Never Get Over McDreamy's Passing
For many (if not all) Grey's Anatomy fans, something really huge happened in the episode that aired on April 23rd, 2015. It was the 21st episode of season 11 called "How To Save A Life."
But, of course, a life of a very hunky doctor wasn't saved… and we said goodbye to Derek Shepherd.
Can we even describe how much we cried while watching this episode? Or how upset we were when we talked to people about it? Or how we can't even think about it today without getting worked up?
This was a tough moment and it has made us wonder if we should stop watching. It's just really hard to get over.
15 Can't Give It Up: We Want To See Meredith Find Happiness Again
Just like we root for our BFF and want her to find every possible happiness in the world, from career success to following her dreams to good health and finding love, we root for Meredith Grey. She's the core of the story of Grey's Anatomy and she's our anchor when we tune in every week.
We want to see her find happiness after losing Derek and that desire keeps us watching. It might be the one reason why we can't stop watching after all these seasons (15, to be exact) but it's a pretty massive guiding force. What can we say? We love Mer and want the best for her.
14 Can't Give It Up: We Keep Hoping Couples Will Get Back Together
We love love and we love TV couples who fall for each other after lots of longing looks and almost kisses and complicated scenarios. We want certain characters to get back together on Grey's Anatomy and that keeps us watching, even after 15 seasons and even when we wonder if it's time to give it up.
We just can't stop because we want April and Jackson to reunite (even if April is off the show now… we're big dreamers, okay?!) and there are several other couples who we wouldn't exactly mind seeing together once again. There's nothing like shipping some iconic couples to keep us invested.
13 Should Stop: Any Show Becomes Stale After So Long
The truth is that even the best TV show can feel a bit stale after so long on the air. That would be true of pretty much any show that has lasted 15 seasons or more. How many new things can happen? How many crazy twists can occur during the mid-season and season finales?
This makes us wonder if it's time to stop watching.
Have you ever watched the same TV show for this long? Do you feel like you're still invested and interested in the characters and the ups and downs of their lives? We might not even really know the answers to those questions because we're used to watching the same show for so long.
12 Should Stop: Our Friends Gave Up Seasons Ago & We Can't Talk To Them About It
Sure, we love watching a good TV show, but we also love discussing it with our friends. It's fun to go out for dinner and chat about the latest crazy episode of Grey's Anatomy and all of the wild things that happened on it.
These days, though, a lot of our friends have stopped watching for various reasons.
Maybe they think that it's going on too long. Maybe their favorite characters have left the show or passed away (because a lot of them definitely did… which is too sad for us to even think about) and they just can't even anymore. We might wonder if we should stop watching, too, because we might be running out of people to share it with.
11 Can't Give It Up: Watching It Is Part Of Our Routine
We might be saying to ourselves "But we just can't stop watching because it's what we do every Friday night" and that's totally valid. Maybe we tape the latest episode on our DVR and can't wait to get home from work on Friday so we can watch it and officially start the weekend.
Routines are an important thing and make us really happy. Whenever we're having a crazy week at work or just feel more stressed out than usual, our routines are anchors that really help us out. If Grey's Anatomy can help us feel less stressed, then of course, we should keep watching because that's awesome.
10 Should Stop: It's Super Emotional And We've Shed Too Many Tears Over This Show
Can you even think about all of the emotional and terrible things that have happened on Grey's Anatomy? We all know the meme of Dawson Leery's crying face and Meredith totally has an iconic crying face, too…
The drama on the show is sadder than anything that we could possibly imagine.
From Meredith almost drowning to losing the love of her life to April's recent crisis and Callie and Arizona's custody fight and anything in between, we're pretty burnt out on tragedy at this point. It just feels like a lot and the thought that we've shed too many tears over this show has definitely crossed our mind.
9 Can't Give It Up: We've Come This Far… So We Should Continue
But then another thought crosses our mind and we think, "We've come this far. We should keep watching. What's another few seasons?"
It's like when we're in the middle of a workout and we really feel like stopping. It's been half an hour already and that's pretty good, right? We're sweaty and our heart is pounding and we feel like that's enough working out for today. But at the same time, we know that we shouldn't stop now and that we can get through the next thirty minutes. It can be tempting to quit, but we never regret continuing, and we might just keep watching this show, too.
8 Should Stop: Everyone Ends Up In A Low Place
It's tough to think of any character really getting a happy ending on Grey's Anatomy. Everyone has suffered a lot and shed many tears and just generally had a tragic time. There are light moments and heartwarming storylines sure.
But we have to admit that it can be depressing to think about how sad everyone has been throughout the show's run.
This could be enough to make us stop watching the show and we feel like many other fans agree with us. How much more can we really take? We've seen Meredith and the gang face so many struggles already.
7 Can't Give It Up: We're Big Fans Of Shonda Rhimes
We can't not love Shonda Rhimes. She is absolutely amazing and inspiring. Whether we're watching her many TV shows, from Grey's to Scandal to How To Get Away With Murder or reading her inspiring memoir My Year of Yes, we're nodding our heads and we're big fans.
Because we love Shonda Rhimes so much, we love Shondaland and we're going to watch all of her TV shows. How can we stop watching Grey's Anatomy when we're Shonda fans?! Exactly. We just couldn't. This is yet another reason that keeps us watching week after week and season after season.
6 Should Stop: We've Reached 'Peak TV' And There's So Much Other Choice
We're watching The Haunting of Hill House with our boyfriend on Netflix. We're still halfway through Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. We know that we still want to watch the last season of Grace and Frankie and then there's A Million Little Things, the new fall 2018 show that our best friend has been raving about.
We often hear that we've reached "peak TV" because there are so many incredible TV shows to choose from.
And that seems to be truer every day. We always have a long list of shows to watch and there just doesn't seem to be enough time to watch them all.
5 Can't Give It Up: We Still Get Surprised By The Crazy Plot Twists
Did you predict the Teddy/Owen/Amelia love triangle? Or the fact that Meredith is dating again? Maybe but maybe not. It can be tough to predict what's going to happen on Grey's Anatomy since it's been on the air for so long and we might feel like every possible storyline has already been done…
But then we watch another episode and are happily surprised all over again. Because there are still so many plot twists and crazy things happening, we don't want to give this show up. We just can't. We have to keep watching and seeing what happens to these characters.
4 Should Stop: There Are Too Many Sad Moments We'll Never Get Over
Whenever we tune into a new episode of Grey's Anatomy, there is one major question on our minds: are we going to cry? Our partners or friends might make fun of us and say that we always cry buckets of tears when we watch this show.
But, honestly, how are we not supposed to shed some tears when we watch Meredith and her pals navigate such tough times?
We're human and we have emotions. We're going to cry. This might make us wonder if we should stop watching, though. Life can be hard and there are lots of IRL things that make us cry.
3 Can't Give It Up: The Show Reinvents Itself Each Season
We have to admit that even if we tell ourselves that 15 seasons is enough and it's time to say goodbye to this show, it does reinvent itself almost every season and do some interesting things creatively.
For one thing, there are often new characters or recurring old characters. It's been cool to see Teddy have more of a core role in the story and to see how she interacts with Owen. This season has also been said to have a romantic comedy kind of tone so that definitely feels different and more fun to watch than some of the truly sad and hard storylines and scenes.
2 Should Stop: Our Fave Characters Keep Leaving
Did you want Arizona and April to leave the show? No, none of us wanted that to happen, and we're upset whenever we think about it. This was a hard moment for Grey's Anatomy fans.
April and Arizona are beloved characters who have been so popular and who have had so many amazing storylines over the years.
They are also such strong female characters and we always love that and find that so inspiring. If we've ever thought about quitting this show, it might be because our favorite characters keep leaving. April and Arizona aren't the only ones, of course. There have been so many others, from George to Derek (ugh, Derek… we love you so much).
1 Can't Give It Up: We Need To See How It Ends
At the end of the day, we're Grey's Anatomy fans and we want to see how the show ends. We can't help but be interested in that and we might want to see if our theories and predictions come true.
Sure, we could always stop watching now and just watch the series finale (whenever it does happen)… but we might not be able to do that. We might feel too invested in the characters' lives and we might feel like we should stick with it.
After all, there are worse things than watching a TV show with some very cute doctors and some very juicy love stories, right?
