How Grey's Anatomy Remains Timely

"He is not the sun, you are!"

- Christina Yang

Did you cry? I did!

400 episodes is a milestone and a half. Who'd have thought that after 18 seasons, Grey's Anatomy could deliver yet another jaw-dropping finale while paying homage to its past during a beautiful 'Chasing Cars' montage? Every time you hear that song on Grey's it's hard not to melt into a puddle of tears. After all, it has been at the pinnacle of the majority of Grey's Anatomy's heart-wrenching moments.

How this show still pulls aces out of the bag after so long is sensational. The finale leaves so many lives and jobs up in the air. Who knows who will be returning next season after that. The fates of pretty much every character is hanging in the balance. Everyone's world has been turned upside down. Seeing how these characters come back from these monumental changes will be riveting stuff.

Season 18 has been dismal in places and lacking in a lot of areas but the two-hour finale saved the day by delivering a hell of a cliffhanger. Hearing Christina Yang tell Meredith she is the sun all over again is what we all needed to hear after the emotional two-hour event.

“It means so much to us that the show means so much to so many people in the world. The 400th episode is dramatic! We were lucky enough to have the 400th episode fall on the season finale so we pulled out all the stops.”

- Krista Vernoff

**Beware of spoilers below!**

One of the biggest successes of Grey's Anatomy is how it continues to stay relevant and timely with the world's issues. It is groundbreaking with its representation of characters and their arcs.

In the season finale, the hospital is low on blood, and there is a crisis because of the rain. With not enough blood to run the hospital, surgeries are cancelled and the trauma pit is closed. Therefore, the chief of staff Dr Bailey decides to set up a blood bank inside the hospital and asks all staff to donate.

If you've been to donate blood before, you'll know that if you are a gay man you can't give blood if you have been sexually active with another man in the last three months. Before COVID it was a lifetime ban. So if you've ever had sex with another man you can never give blood. If you're gay and a woman this doesn't apply. This subject is brought up in the season finale with all the doctors showing their outrage at the rule because it is such an absurdity. These men have perfectly fine blood but just in case they might have HIV they don't want to take their blood. Especially when there is such a shortage. It's outrageous.

In the real world if there was a shortage gay men should definitely be able to donate their blood. They do not have dirty blood and that's how they're treated. Even if there isn't a shortage of blood they should still be allowed to give blood.

“To think of that [ban], as you have this poison blood, which is just not it's not scientifically accurate. And we have come so far in terms of blood safety tests. … There's no reason for it,”

- Jake Borelli (who plays Dr Levi)

It's topics like this in a TV show that can really get people talking and if they make enough noise hopefully something can be done about it and the rules can change.

Grey's Anatomy stays current by growing along with the world over the 400 episode run. They also bring in new refreshing characters every season that are needed in order to avoid becoming stagnant.

What they managed to deliver on their 400th episode was nothing short of perfection. I can't wait to see what their 500th episode is like. If they get there of course.