Jumping the Shark

There comes a time on every good show where they have that moment. The moment where fans and critics alike cringe, and think, yikes what has happened to this show? My moment came this week with Grey's Anatomy.

I have put up with this show through a lot. Through the behind the scenes drama, the recent abrupt firing of Brooke Smith after the mishandled lesbian romance of Callie and Erica, the stupid Meredith dies by drowning and comes back to life, the horrible mistake known as Gizzie. Yet, I remained watching. Finally, I was starting to love Grey's again. They were actually going forward with the romance of Meredith and Derek, having both characters actually grow and adapt into an adult relationship. Cristina was ready to move on from Burke to hot army doc, Lexie was finally coming into her own character and out of big sis's shadow, and the show was portraying Alex's deep seeded issues as he tried to grow up and jump head first with a girl he's been in love with since the beginning of the show.

Which brings me to Izzie Stevens. This character has caused me great frustration for the past couple years. I don't know if the producers are doing this storyline to give Katherine Heigl some good material for a second Emmy, or if it is punishment, or an exit storyline if she is in fact leaving come spring. Whatever the reason, viewers are now being tortured with the return of Denny. Now, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is charming, and I liked the character enough the first time around. But he died, over two seasons ago! We had Izzie mourn, move on to George, and now to Alex. The fans seem to be really behind this Alex/Izzie pairing, but let's insert Denny into it again, stalling it where Alex is now competing for her affection with a dead guy. The guy just put his old girlfriend in a mental hospital, he hasn't dealt with enough crazy?

This other worldly romance might work if this show wasn't about science and supposed to be grounded in reality. If I wanted this kind of love story, I can pop in Ghost. When Denny first started appearing, I thought well maybe this is finally closure. Yet he keeps appearing even after there were two scenes that would have been perfect end notes on the character. But no, we have to go all "Izzie, touch me." And, she can?! Oh, and they kiss, and in the previews, they are having sex. I don't understand any way the show is going to explain this other than Izzie has a brain tumor which is making her "see" Denny (which General Hospital did earlier this year) or she is headed for a major psychological collapse. One of those things better happen, or I will quit this show.

Jumping the shark doesn't mean the end of a show. Many go on for more seasons to good ratings even after the moment happens. Some shows like Lost, are good enough that they can come back from these moments and bounce back into creative strides, while most aren't able to ever recover. Grey's is still a ratings success and will be around for at least a few more years, but its credibility as a top drama still is up in the air.