A Fan of Grey’s Anatomy

I’ve had a thing for the American medical drama Grey’s Anatomy for many years. It’s one of the most successful shows worldwide. After rewatching Episode 3 of Season 2, I think I’ve finally realized why it’s so popular. The series tackles real-life issues and challenges, making us question whether modern medical technology really helps patients or mainly benefits the medical industry. Sometimes, doing everything possible is worse than doing nothing at all. Why can’t we try to live and die more naturally? Why have we abandoned the search for the root causes of chronic illness in favor of endless surgeries—cut, cut, and cut, until there’s nothing left to cut?

Summary: Episode 3, Season 2 of Grey’s Anatomy

In Episode 3 of Season 2, the main character, Meredith Grey, faces multiple challenges. She breaks up with her boyfriend, Dr. Derek Shepherd, after discovering he’s already married. To make matters worse, her mother, Ellis Grey, a once-renowned surgeon, is brought to the hospital from her nursing home. Ellis has been secretly suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and now that she’s hospitalized in the same place where she once worked, everyone realizes she can no longer perform surgeries. Her daughter, Meredith, an intern at the hospital, can’t handle the embarrassment and just wants to shy away from caring for her mother. As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours: Meredith’s best friend, Christina Yang, has an extra uterine or ectopic pregnancy and faces a life-threatening condition.  

Personal reflection

I deeply relate to Meredith’s struggle in this episode. She feels so disappointed when she learns her mother’s liver tumor is benign, not malignant. She wishes her mom could pass away quickly because having a mom suffering from Alzheirmer’s disease really worsens her life. I’ve had a few family members who are paralyzed or living with Alzheirmer’s or Parkinson’s disease. No one wants to live a life like this, dealing with such challenges. As I buried my eldest sister’s ashes in the earth, a sense of relief washed over me, though it was mixed with sorrow. She had been suffering from kidney failure for over 20 years, and her condition kept deteriorating. Sometimes she acted just like Meredith’s mom, experiencing hallucinations and yelling at us all night. She had one surgery after another, but eventually her death was inevitable. After she endured such a long time of severe illness, no one shed a tear for her passing. 

Modern medical technology often prolongs suffering for both patients and their families. It’s a kind of brutal mercy and the real beneficiary is the medical industry. Death is a natural part of life, and we need to learn to let go. I especially admire how animals in the wild live so simply and naturally. They don’t need anything to survive. After they die, their bodies are decomposed by Mother Nature. They don’t require coffins, graves or cemeteries. Unnecessary and overly complicated human traditions and rituals harm the Earth’s environment and place a financial burden on people. Why does the death of an animal in the wilderness cost nothing, but the death of a human being cost a fortune? We’ve forgotten to learn from Nature about simplicity and keep allowing our desires to complicate things until everything gets out of control.

Keywords: Grey’s Anatomy, Episode 3 of Season 2, review, reflection, Alzheirmer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, hallucinations, simplicity, animals, nature