CLEAR!

I know. I know.

Of all the ‘guilty pleasure binges’, Grey’s is probably the least original and the most cliché. I get it, ok.

And yet I keep coming back to it. If I’m sad, or lonely, or need a Christmas special, the characters are familiar, I know their nicknames and their stories, I’ve been through stuff with them (oh George!). Yes, I have a ‘person’, and I know what season an episode is from by looking at Mer’s haircut. I know the episodes, I know the plots twists, and I know the music too – any sappy song you know has probably been on the show. (And yes I’m a sap – shut up).

Honestly I only started watching it to mock my parents. They had hit a particularly low patch in TV shows (this was pre-Covid, so it’s all relative I suppose) and with a sigh they told me they’d started watching Grey’s Anatomy. I laughed, hung up the phone and decided to watch the pilot. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t great. As if doctors have their hair done all the time and as if that many people miraculously wake up from being dead. I didn’t stop the next episode from playing though, and it wasn’t long before I was hooked. After a few episodes I wanted to see what happened, and after a few seasons I was really invested. After that, well… there are 17 seasons so far, so it would have been rude to stop.

Over the years I’ve watched and rewatched Grey’s, two new seasons have come out and I have had to wait a week for a new episode. ‘What kind of barbarity is this?’ I raged. It was a shock to say the least. I did it though, because I wanted – nay, needed – to see who went to prison. (And yes, I just used the word ‘nay’. This show does things to me. ) There were so many twists and turns - sometimes very rogue twists and turns - like the episode where everyone sings. I hated it but I loved it, and I honestly thought there was something wrong with the video’s sound for the first half of the episode. But then I started to get into it, and that’s the thing – they drag you in. You think you’re too cool and scientifically literate, and then all of a sudden you’re thinking you’re ready to go do a CABG. I know how to spell that because I needed the subtitles on when I was eating chips, but I know how to spell it nonetheless.

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NB:

For any actual medical people reading this, I can only apologise, but most of my ‘medical knowledge’ is from a TV show. This is probably why I try and give a detailed history and mention what I’ve eaten that day when I see you, and for that I’m sorry. I am also not sorry though, because I am convinced that I could yell ‘CLEAR’ when resuscitating someone before I actually shocked them. Maybe. Either way – my hair would look great while I was doing it.

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This Christmas, like many people, I wasn’t home. I was lucky to be able to spend the holiday with family but only took a few days off before coming back to mine. Before and after the holiday I was feeling very nostalgic and teary and I didn’t know why, so I watched Christmas movies every day. Some days, I didn’t have time for a movie, so I’d watch an episode of Grey’s. Yes there is more than one Christmas episode, and yes they are all wonderful. My favourite is the one with Doc (their dog) and Izzie’s crazy decorations. The episode finishes with three of the main characters lying under their tree, looking up into the lights. Absolutely iconic, man. It made me feel much so much better and spurred me on to making a gingerbread house from scratch.

I watched the pilot before writing this, just so I could remember it (some episodes are obviously more memorable than others). I always forget how completely unrealistic it is – as if surgeons drills holes in people’s heads with household drills, or perform surgeries in elevators. But it’s not about that – it’s about watching the characters’ lives . The episodes are short, I can start whenever, I can skip the sad ones (Season 11, anyone?), and I don’t really even have to watch them. I can knit or paint or eat or whatever – really, they are just a comforting thing going on in the background. If I’m sick, hungover, bored, sad – whatever, Seattle Grace is always there.

So I say own your binging – that’s what TV shows are for! They might not always be the best acting or filming, and they may not always have storylines, but there’s something to be said for curling up and watching your favourite episode, where no one has died yet and everything is happy. I will shamelessly rewatch Grey’s Anatomy forever, and I think you should too.