Binge-Worthy Recommendation

by Kelly Lee

Grey's Anatomy

Official Summary: The series follows Meredith Grey, the daughter of an esteemed general surgeon named Ellis Grey, following her acceptance into the residency program at the fictional hospital Seattle Grace Hospital.  During her time as a resident, Grey works alongside her fellow doctors Cristina Yang, Izzie Stevens, Alex Karev, and George O’Malley, who each struggle to balance personal lives with the hectic work and training schedules.  They are overseen during their internship by Miranda Bailey, a senior resident who works for attending Derek Shepherd, the head of neurosurgery and Meredith’s love interest; Preston Burke, the head of cardio, who becomes Yang’s fiance; and Richard Webber, the Chief of Surgery and the attending general surgeon, and lover of Ellis Grey decades before.
In the sixth season, these residents are joined by Jackson Avery and April Kepner, former Mercy West residents who join Seattle Grace following an administrative merger.  During the first six seasons, Burke, O’Malley, and Stevens all depart the series.
In addition to Webber and Shepherd, the surgical wing is primarily supervised by Addison Montgomery, as head of OB/GYN, neonatal, and fetal surgery; Callie Torres, a resident who later becomes head of orthopedic surgery, who left Seattle at the end of the 12th season; Mark Sloan, as head of plastics; Owen Hunt, as head of trauma; Arizona Robbins, as head of pediatric surgery, and later head of fetal surgery; Erica Hahn, as head of cardio; Teddy Altman, as head of cardio, and Amelia Shepherd, Derek’s sister, who is hired to replace him as head of neuro.
New young doctors in the residency program include Lexie Grey, Meredith’s half-sister.  She is killed with Mark Sloan in the Season 8 finale. Other additions include Leah Murphy, who departs near the end of Season 10 but returns during Season 13; Shane Ross, who departs with Yang in the Season 10 finale; Stephanie Edwards, who resigns during Season 13; Jo Wilson, a doctor who begins a romantic relationship with Karev; Andrew DeLuca, the love-interest of Meredith half-sister Maggie Pierce, who also serves as the head of cardio; and Benjamin Warren, an anesthesiologist-turned-resident, who has to balance his own desire to succeed with his wife Miranda Bailey’s new role as the Chief of Surgery.  In Season 12, attending cardio surgeon Nathan Riggs joins the show. In Season 13, the hospital sees a shakeup when attending sports medicine/orthopedic surgeon Eliza Minnick (Marika Dominczyk) is hired as an educational consultant to revamp the residency program. She is fired following an explosion in the hospital.

ALNM rec:. This is actually the show that I am currently binge-ing on Netflix.  As someone who is frequently in and out of hospitals, this may be one of the shows that I probably shouldn’t be watching.  The inaccuracies of everyday hospital life aside, this is a ridiculous show in that some of the “emergencies” that come through their trauma department are just downright impossible.  Yes, I criticize this show, but at the same time, it is one of my current guilty pleasures and I know plenty of medical professionals who feel the same way. We all know in our heart of hearts that none of this is actually real, but at the same time, we can’t wait to tune in each week to see what kind of catastrophes the doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital encounter next.