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Culture > Entertainment

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Left Us in the Dark About Alex for Too Long

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Catherine Lowe

During Thursday night’s midseason premiere of Grey’s Anatomy, many fans—myself included—were insanely frustrated that the show waited 58 minutes before even mentioning the status of Dr. Alex Karev. When the winter finale aired back in November, I was glued to the television, asking myself, “Is Karev going to jail? Is he guilty? Maybe he’s innocent?” So many questions. 

For those who need a quick recap of the drama that happened before the show’s hiatus, Alex is currently going through a huge court case because he physically abused DeLuca. (Side note: Where has DeLuca been?) Because of the attack, Alex was forced to work in the clinic, and he was even close to losing his medical career. Meredith, Alex’s amazing BFF, jumped into the drama and took Alex’s side, which wasn’t any surprise. Since Meredith and Alex give us all friendship goals, this was one of my favorite Meredith and Alex moments in Grey’s history. It almost ranks as high as when Meredith couldn’t speak in Season 12. 

Shonda and Co. left us with a huge cliffhanger during the winter finale, so it was obvious that many fans wanted some answers from last night’s premiere. Instead, viewers were presented with a completely different scenario. The episode focused on Bailey, Arizona and Jo visiting a pregnant prisoner named Kristen. Even though this situation was insanely dramatic, I was still frustrated at the fact that they didn’t mention Alex and his ordeal once. Why are you doing this to me, Shonda? 

Luckily, I wasn’t the only one who was frustrated with the episode. Many fans took to the #GreysAnatomy hashtag, tweeting things like, “Not seeing Alex Karev once in this episode was the biggest disappointment in my life,” and “Are we going to find out anything about Alex?? This is good but…”

I can understand why the writers did this, but it really disappointed me that they decided to wait 58 minutes before the characters even talked about Alex. At the end of the episode, as Bailey, Arizona and Jo were driving home from the prison hospital, Bailey mentioned that Alex is indeed going to jail.

Wait… What?! 

Why in the world did I have to wait so long before I got my answer? After that odd car conversation, I have follow-up questions. Why did he decide to do this? Does Alex not care about himself, his friends or his career?

Well, Shonda, you left us with another cliffhanger. I guess I’m going to have to wait another six days before I get my answer.

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Catherine is an ambitious twenty-something woman living in Rock Hill, South Carolina where she attends Winthrop University as a mass communication major. She is the President and Campus Correspondent for Her Campus at Winthrop, which she co-founded in November 2014. She has also been a member of the Winthrop chapter of the Association for Women in Communications, and is currently the President of the Society of Professional Journalists chapter at Winthrop. Since being involved with Her Campus, Catherine received an internship at Her Campus Media in Boston, MA. She also currently works as a Chapter Advisor for the company and writes about Grey's Anatomy each week for the site. Because of Her Campus, she has also received writing positions at many publications throughout her 3 years at Winthrop. Outside of her busy lifestyle, Catherine enjoys relaxing with her friends on the weekends and having Sex and the City marathons. She can't live without her dog, family, Cosmopolitan, friends, Starbucks, Instagram, The Bachelor, Grey's Anatomy and of course Chick-fil-A. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter: @cathclowe!