Fall premiere week gives networks a chance to debut their new series’, but also to bring back favorites. One show that is no stranger to premiere week is ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” which debuted its thirteenth season on Sept. 22. Written by mastermind Shonda Rhimes, who also created “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder,” two other major ABC shows, “Grey’s” continues to be a standard for many television watchers for over a decade.
Viewers who are long-time fans know what to expect by now; hot doctors, a bunch of medical terms no one really understands, some lighthearted humor and lots of drama. However, the latest season’s premiere seemed to fall short of any and all of those expectations.
Last season left off with Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), a character who started on the show at the beginning, getting into a physical fight with new doctor, Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) over Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington), Karev’s on again, off again girlfriend. While the fight started merely over a misunderstanding, Karev’s blows to DeLuca has left the latter fighting for his life in the season premiere, in a plot line that no one cares about.
The other major plotline of the episode centered around leading lady Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and her newly formed love triangle with Dr. Nathan Riggs (Martin Henderson) and Meredith’s half-sister Maggie (Kelly McCreary). In a plotline that seems right off of a cheesy Disney Channel sitcom, Meredith cannot pursue a relationship with Riggs because her sister Maggie has a crush on him. The entire plotline is cringe-worthy and not something that a show as incredible as “Grey’s” should have considered.
Perhaps the problem is the new crop of characters that Rhimes and her collaborators have added to the show. All of the new doctors on the show, such as DeLuca and Wilson, are dull and lack energy. When the show premiered over a decade ago, it was filled with bright, interesting doctors played by some insanely talented actors. Characters like Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) and Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) brought something fresh and exciting not only to the show, but to television itself. Generally, when characters like Maggie or Wilson even speak, it is completely irrelevant to the plot.
In interviews about this season, Rhimes promised that the focus will be on the remaining main characters from the first few seasons. However, with Karev in jail, Meredith in a hideous love triangle and most of the other main characters from the early seasons either dead or gone, season 13 is looking to be a disappointing one. Hopefully, the season will not continue to be an unlucky one for “Grey’s.”
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