As we approach the end of March, it is hard to believe that it’s been one full year since the U.S. went into lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost 365 days later, life has changed dramatically; we have all changed dramatically. That being said, many fictional storylines have opted to reflect the changes brought on by COVID, especially in our beloved TV shows. Grey’s Anatomy, along with others like Black-ish, Shameless, South Park, and This is Us have all incorporated COVID into their storylines this season. Audiences, however, have mixed feelings about the role of the pandemic in these popular shows.
On the one hand, one of the reasons we watch television is to escape, to dive into the fictional universe of the characters we love, and forget our own lives for 45 minutes (or more, depending on how many episodes you binge). Especially at a time when stress levels are soaring, many are arguing that this escapism is more needed than ever. All day we’re constantly thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic: whether it be remembering to wear our masks when we enter a grocery store, thinking and worrying about a loved one with a pre-existing condition, or canceling all of our vacations and plans for the near future. Even more pervasively, many of us have upended our whole lives for the protection and safety of ourselves and others. We are reminded of COVID every day when we log on to our laptops for online school or work, spend hours volunteering to help underserved communities, and even treat COVID patients in emergency rooms across the country. After a long day of thinking about this pandemic that has taken so much from us all – do we really want to sit down and watch TV show characters deal with it as well?
However, in the case of Grey’s Anatomy, America’s beloved 17-season-and-counting medical drama, the situation is different. As a long-time fan of the show, I have seen main character Meredith Grey and her friends face tragedy after tragedy, surviving plane crashes, shootings, natural disasters, and countless illnesses. It was not surprising then, that the show decided to take on COVID-19 in its most recent season. Grey’s Anatomy, though, differs from other TV shows in one critical way: its subject matter. As the longest-running and most popular American primetime medical drama, it would be ignorant of Grey’s creators to simply disregard one of the biggest medical phenomenons in recent memory. Moreover, Grey’s Anatomy has a responsibility to the healthcare workers on the front lines of this crisis risking their lives every day to share their stories and raise awareness of the trauma and conflicts they’re enduring. In the words of executive producer Krista Vernoff, “It’s [COVID] permanently changing medicine, and we have a responsibility to do it. We’re the biggest medical show in the world. We have to tell these stories.”
