IMHO: Things I Miss About the Old Grey’s Anatomy

I religiously watched Grey’s Anatomy from seasons 1 through 4. Season 5, I didn’t care missing some episodes, I just watched them online. Season 6, I didn’t watch the entire season until it finished and season 7 had already started. A couple of months ago, I caught up on season 7, but I don’t watch it as religiously as I did. I tried very hard to believe that the quality of the show had not deteriorated but man oh man, it has gone down the drain by Grey’s Anatomy standards. It may still be good TV (apparently some people still believe that based on the comments I read). But no, the good times are over. Here’s some of the things I miss about the old Grey’s Anatomy.

• The old Dr. Bailey. I miss the hardcore Dr. Bailey. I don’t believe that every character in a TV show has to have a love interest. Before, Dr. Bailey was solid. Not as heartless probably was the early Christina Yang, but the mushy Dr. Bailey that now has sessions with the nurse in the on-call room, way different than the Dr. Bailey of yore – hardcore but compassionate, and uber talented.
• The surgeries. Man, they don’t even go into the OR as much anymore. There used to be medical talk more than stating the condition. In one hour, we saw our favorite surgeons in the OR. Now, they’re 5th year residents already and we don’t even see the talent they have that was much talked about in earlier season. They all said, “you’re going to be a great surgeon” to our favorite characters. But somehow, we have not seen them doing the great things they had been expected to do and become.
• The parallelisms of their lives with their patients’ illnesses. In the past, there was dialogue with the patients, they drew parallelisms to what they were going through and learned from them.  Now, patients just come and go, and just seem to be part of the props.
• Meredith’s hair. What is up with Meredith’s hair? She does not need the bangs. I loved her either straight hair or wavy ones. But no, this current hair do is just a hot mess.
• The old Callie Torres. Sara Ramirez is one of the most accomplished actors in the show. They started weakening her character when they made her gay. There was even an episode in season 6 I believe that she was about to give a presentation and she couldn’t handle it. Seriously?! It’s Callie!
• The Callie and Sloan tandem. I’m so done with Callie and Arizona because Sloan and Callie are just such a perfect match. When season 7 began, Callie and Arizona had broken up, and when Arizona returned, Callie was beyond mad at her. I had wished she had been able to move on from then but nope. Callie and Sloan are just hot, and they should be together, and Sloan should really just ditch Lexie.
• Shepherd in the show. Last couple of episodes, Derek was barely even there. What, 2 or 3 scenes, very little dialogue. Man. Aren’t they building a house? Why are there no scenes of him at least checking that out.

There’s probably more that I’ll remember when I’m watching the show. I’m truly disappointed. I heard season 8 may be the last season because that’s when Ellen Pompeo’s and Patrick Dempsey’s contract expire, and Ellen had mentioned she will not renew it. I hate to say this but if the show can’t step up to the same plate as it used to be, it’s probably time to end. With Shonda Rhimes having 3 other shows, I can see how the focus on our beloved Seattle Grace may not be there anymore.