The Black, the White and the Grey
Therese Walsh on Feb 21 2007 | Filed under: CRAFT
Consumers are demanding folks, aren’t they? It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about books or movies or screenplays or television shows, either–they want and want and want.
Thank God.
This week I couldn’t resist pointing to the latest February sweeps effort by the writers of the hit TV series Grey’s Anatomy. If you watch the show, you know we were left hanging in the middle of a 3-part disaster sequence, our sometimes-fearless cast of young resident docs still dealing with various medical crises following a ferry crash. Viewers may be intrigued by some of the substories–the pregnant burn victim, for example–but how do they feel about the lead story involving Meredith Grey, the show’s namesake, having fallen into the sea and “died?”
The heated post-show debate at Pop Candy interested me, because it’s a strong reminder why the most-oft-touted writerly rules are important, unless your goal is to alienate consumers.
1. Keep it REAL.
“You have to do more than suspend belief to enjoy this show – you have to believe it occurs in some alternate universe.”
Did they run out of extras during production? This is a big city; this is Seattle. Where are all the emergency personnel?
“My husband (in Atlanta) is a fireman & he was screaming at the TV for the bad way they portrayed those scenes. It was even worse than most soap opera scenes.”
And why was the intern taking pictures using a 70s Polaroid instead of a digital camera that would produce jpgs they could easily share with area hospitals?
But nothing inflamed viewers like Meredith’s drowning.
“How did the guy with the impaled leg get into the water, not drown, and still climb out of the water…and she can’t even keep her head afloat??”
“This dude, with his calf sliced open like a honey baked ham, swims to the jetty and climbs it. There he is saved by a doctor who cannot survive a ten foot drop from said jetty, into the same chilly water. BOGUS!”
“How long was she in the water? How long not breathing?”
It did seem like an unreal amount of time for anyone to survive. And the aftermath? How did Derek find her so quickly in the water?
“I know it is a tv show, but it drove me nuts they paged all the ‘top specialists’ and 4 interns to Meredith’s side in the middle of a crisis situation at the hospital.”
The consensus among many:
“the show has officially jumped the shark.”
2. Avoid the Soap.
I feel manipulated and bored, was the general theme among viewers.
“Of course she’s not dead. Well, she is now, but won’t be next week.”
“I’m sure she’ll make a ‘miraculous recovery’.”
“She’ll spend some time with Denny and Kyle, and they’ll convince her to come back. With three minutes to spare, she’ll miraculously awake to Shepherd and Christina’s faces, while Kate Havnevik’s music soars in the background.”
So what will it be? A coma? Amnesia? A message from the dead?
“The out-of-body surreal experience plot device is really played out.”
Not only are folks fed up with the turn-away-from-the-light near-death plot ploys, they are sick of characters stepping up onto their sudsy boxes without then falling squarely on their annoying asses.
“Izzy’s ridiculous ‘I Believe’ Speech…sounded like something you’d get in a lame email forward.”
3. Take Risks, Create Surprise.
“Show me something I haven’t seen.”
Consumers want fresh, exciting and unpredictable stories. Always. They can smell an overused plot point halfway around the globe, and they want you to avoid all of them–at all costs.
Frustrated viewers were so ready to improve upon what they knew they’d receive from the writers that they began drafting their own endings to Meredith’s soggy tale, probably improving upon it immeasurably.
“The only way they can possibly salvage last night’s ending would be to kill off Meredith and then move on. Otherwise, we are going too far down the campy soap opera road.”
“It would have been really nifty and daring to kill the title character.”
“Maybe it was attempted suicide? That could be interesting.”
She could become a dead story narrator, ala Desperate Housewives, suggested some, and comment on characters from “the other side.” Or, said another brainstorming viewer, maybe she’ll return with a “sixth sense,” able to converse with the dead at any time.
I think all of two commenters felt as this one did:
“It’s network television, not the history channel. Just relax and enjoy!!”
4. Reveal Moments. Want to know what made viewers stand up and cheer? A ten-second bit played out between estranged friends. In those seconds we saw a simple touch on the arm as Sloan sat beside Derek, who was silently but clearly falling apart waiting to hear whether his loved one would live. There were no words, but Sloan’s message was heard: I know you hate me, but this is serious, this is real, and you need me. I’m here for you. And Derek nodded: Thanks. That moment, poignant in its authenticity, made men (the kind who watch football) cry. Says one viewer:
So while I desperately want to hate the show (and have found reason this year), I just can’t because of things like the Sloan-Shepherd scene this week. I just wish they would make more of it that real and heart-felt instead of the never-ending melodrama.
I’m not sure what the Grey’s Anatomy writers have in store for viewers on Thursday, but I hope they pull something original out of their collective hat. I have my own well of ideas. Maybe Meredith comes back from the Great Beyond with a message from Denny, and Izzy, learning she will see her former fiancee again once dead, takes her own life? At least it would make some bit of sense out of the “rock star’s” gushy speech and create memories for others to tease out in the coming weeks, perhaps leading them, finally, down new, untrodden paths. I think this might be the best part about a writer’s life–exploring all those fascinating shades of grey.
So what do you think? What can the writers do to save this storyline and series from campville?
Kathleen Bolton
Therese Walsh
Ann Aguirre
Porter Anderson
Brunonia Barry
Carleen Brice
Sarah Callender
Keith Cronin
Anna Elliott
Jane Friedman
Robin LaFevers
Donald Maass
Juliet Marillier
Sophie Masson
Jael McHenry
Jan O'Hara
Debbie Ohi
Barbara O'Neal
Crystal Patriarche
Ray Rhamey
M.J. Rose
Chuck Sambuchino
John Vorhaus
Yuvi Zalkow
Sharon Bially
Anne Greenwood Brown
Tracy Hahn-Burkett
Suzannah Windsor Freeman
Kristan Hoffman
Jeanne Kisacky
Erika Robuck
Lydia Sharp
I don’t watch the show (I hardly watch any network tv anymore) but something similar happened to Alias. At first it was fun trying to figure out who the moles were, the family drama of having a spy family with personal issues getting in the way, the forbidden romance, all that good stuff. I was totally hooked.
Then Season Three hit.
After watching preposterous storylines unfold one after the other, thinking the writers either burned out or were plotting while drunk, I gave up on it. Even the actors seemed like they were having a hard time keeping their eyes from rolling.
And I think this comes from not having enough distance in the project. After so many years of doing the same thing, it becomes easy to take shortcuts, get lazy, imo.
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Have to admit they pretty much lost me with this stunt. I too didn’t understand how she could just fall in and disappear like that – it didn’t even look like she’d hit her head or anything! Can’t she swim? even so, you’d think she’d resurface and struggle a bit before going under completely. When I can watch The Office instead (campy fun), I’ll choose that.
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While not weighing in with any solutions or criticism, I will say that the Sloan-Derek ten second “scene” reached far beyond the TV screen…really.
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I don’t watch this show, so can’t really comment on how good or bad this last episode was. But I loved how you broke it down and showed us just how they broke the rules.
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The show is getting a little lazy, Kath; you called it.
I agree, Teresa; why didn’t she try to save herself? A hit on the head would’ve help the believability of that sequence a lot, IMO. (The fact that she was submerged for what looked like a half hour is another matter, though!)
Larramie, that was the best moment, wasn’t it?
Thanks, Melissa!
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this is why ER has lasted so long, and Grey’s Anatomy might not. but ter, you sorted out the problem pretty well. it should be interesting to see how they work it out. and if its lame-Oh, oh well!!!
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I don’t watch Grey’s Anatomy but I do watch The Closer, Rome and Weeds.
These are shows with writers who know how to use the characters to surprise, shock and titilate the audience. Just when you think you know, i.e. Brenda from The Closer, she says or does something that you might not agree with per se, but you have to find out what happens next.
So for me, it’s all about using what you’ve got right in front of you: the characters. Killing of Meredith is dangerous ground. If they bring her back, it’ll be like Buffy, which in my opinion, killed the show.
Mary C
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I do watch Grey’s Anatomy and I love it! It’s my one guilty pleasure!!
Things make more sense now, as far as Meredith goes. She chose not to swim because her mother (who has alzhimers – sp?) told her that she was just common and made her feel worthless since she was a young girl. I can completely understand that. In the end, Meredith’s mother came through for her and in death told her that she was not common. She gave Meredith the self-worth that is so important in every child’s life. She helped Meredith want to live and go back to Derek
I love the Izzy / Denny connection. I love his character and the warm, loving relationship that he had with Izzy.
I love McDreamy (Derek) and his love for Meredith. Everyone should be loved like that.
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I’m glad they made sense of the no-swim scene, at least, though I didn’t see a Great Depression brewing with Meredith that would set up an attempted suicide. Maybe the writers should have shown the beginnings of psychological trouble in a few of the preceeding episodes? I was also glad to see the gang shoo’ed back to work.
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I saw the first episode and was sufficiently put off by the treacly writing and ludicrous plotting not to watch Part 2, other than the last 5 minutes. (Thank goodness! I would’ve missed the guest spot by my personal McDreamy, Kyle Chandler.) I did watch Part 3 last night (yay! more Kyle!) and was fairly satisfied by how it all played out. There was some really touching stuff, and most of the characters seem to be moving back toward their original personalities or growing in interesting or important, but viable, ways. Maybe the show will redeem itself after all. The writers had better stay on their toes, though; they came really close to blowing it, and I don’t think most of the show’s core audience will be quite so blindly trusting after this.
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