It’s not Grey’s Anatomy without the Grey (or the anatomy)

The more Grey’s Anatomy storylines focus on doctors’ personal drama, the less interesting the show becomes for many viewers.

For the 15 years Grey’s Anatomy has been on the air, the show has done a pretty decent job of fitting interesting medical storylines and dramatic (often romantic) subplots into each episode. For a long time, it was known for its ability to tell captivating stories that incorporated both of these key elements into one coherent, linear narrative.

While there are many things about the show that have changed over time, its struggle to balance its medical focus and its reliance on multiple layers of drama is the most insufferable. From episode to episode, Grey’s just can’t seem to figure out how to do what Shonda Rhimes was — and still is, though elsewhere now — so good at doing.

Take this past week’s episode, for example. The entire hour focused on Levi — who is currently on medical leave after an injury — as well as a dinner party, hosted in Catherine and Richard’s home, featuring doctors (and a few firefighters) not on duty or anywhere near a hospital.

Why does this kind of “filler episode” frustrate so many fans? It could be the fault of the characters and their relationships, whom many find uninteresting. It could be the total absence of Meredith Grey (unless you count the opening and closing voiceovers). Or maybe it’s the fact that the previous episode left audiences on the edge of several intense cliffhangers, none of which this week’s episode touched on.

In the past, these one-off episodes haven’t all been pain points for viewers. One in particular featured an intense dinner party just like this one, but it stands out even to this day as a fan-favorite.

What was it about the dinner party in Season 12 that made the whole episode feel so genuine and unforgettable, while “The Last Supper” felt drawn-out and unimportant?

Because that dinner party put Meredith Grey face-to-face with the woman partially responsible for the death of her husband.

Drama! Absolutely. But also Meredith Grey! And death!

Regardless of how you feel about the direction the show has taken in recent years, it’s hard to argue that it’s largely strayed from what once made it so loved by so many fans.

Long gone are the doctors competing for surgeries, and the medical cases that caused the show’s main characters to deeply reflect on their own lives. Sometimes, the show’s main title character doesn’t even show up. And when she does, she seems much less likable than she used to be.

Grey’s Anatomy hasn’t gone completely underwater. It still has its charming, heartwarming, and occasionally laugh-out-loud “I killed him with my gayness” moments.

But going forward, it needs to re-establish its carefully constructed balance between interesting medical cases and the personal lives of the doctors working on them.

We saw a refreshing glimpse of this a few weeks ago when an interaction with a patient and their fiancé made Link realize he needed to demand a paternity test from Amelia. That same episode, we watched Bailey struggle with the possibility of young children losing their mother because she was dealing with a recent miscarriage.

Without more episodes like those, the show might as well change its name. It’s Grey’s that proved a primetime medical drama can be intelligent, funny, overdramatic, and sometimes educational — all while telling multiple well-thought-out stories each week. That’s where the show’s heart lies. Its heart can’t just stop beating.

Without Meredith Grey, without medicine, without good storytelling, all we have is a mess of petty breakups and mostly forgotten offspring, Alex Karevs that live exclusively inside text message threads and, you know, the occasional sociopath named Catherine Fox.

Which is all well and fine. If it all fits in neatly alongside an interesting medical case that only doctors like Meredith Grey and her colleagues can solve.

You need both ingredients. One or the other just isn’t good enough.

What is your favorite Grey’s Anatomy episode (any season)? What makes it your favorite?