Basically All ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Weddings Are Cursed

On Grey’s Anatomy, the only thing that dies more than a patient is a relationship. From McDreamy and Meredith’s early-season love-hate relationship woes to Jackson and April’s roller coaster love affair, nothing goes as planned in Shondaland.

As such, with Maggie and Winston preparing to tie the knot, fans are nervous about what lies ahead in a series where marriage is a surefire way to welcome hellfire and damnation. 

‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Maggie and Winston’s journey to the unknown

Bustle notes that Maggie and Winston fell in love during season 16, and as Season 17 comes to a close, people are waiting to see if they take the plunge and get married. The pair got engaged after only a few months of long-distance dating but appear happy, compatible, and poised for a happy marriage. Of course, in a show like Grey’s this could be a death knell. 

Many have seen the relationship as one of the few bright moments in a bleak, depressing, and eventful seventeenth season. However, nothing on Grey’s ends perfectly happy. As Maggie and Winston veer toward marriage, there’s plenty to be afraid of going forward. 

Doomed from the start 

In a Reddit thread about the season finale, one user, u.Oncer93 predicted something dire if Maggie and Winston do get married. From last-minute objections to sudden death, Grey’s has already kept its audience on its toes for these predicaments. This has trained the fans to look at them sideways 

“Maggie and Winston’s wedding day will go wrong. No Grey’s wedding ever goes right or smoothly,” they wrote on the website. 

They’re not wrong. Throughout its time on the air, Grey’s holds two universal truths. One, everything that can go wrong will go wrong; and two, no marriage will go down smoothly. From death to divorce, affairs, and so much more, Grey’s is not the place that people go to see the happily ever after that so many other stories promise.

Here, people see unmitigated chaos in medical procedures, work environments, and personal relationships that often intertwine with one another. Grey’s so often blurs the line between tragedy and comedy and u/Oncer93 just hopes that it’s the latter in this instance. 

“Things will probably go wrong, but I hope it’s more funny than traumatic or sad,” they wrote on the thread they started. 

U/redhed311 could see less world-changing familial dynamics springing up, writing that “Maggie’s dad won’t be able to make it, so Richard will have to walk her down the aisle.”

Everyone has their own conspiracies ranging from tsunamis to a pleasant change of pace on the show. Looking back at the marriages of Grey’s past, however, it’s easy to see why the fans are not holding out hope regarding Maggie and Winston’s nuptials. 

Marriage woes on ‘Grey’s’

Vulture ran down some of the series most memorable wedding moments in a piece from 2018. From Teddy Altman marrying a patient to get him good health insurance to Amelia and Owen Hunt’s ill-fated romance blossoming into married life, Grey’s isn’t the place for the standard fairy tale wedding. 

Jackson and April always had a more romantic relationship, but writers filled it with drama, pregnancy scares, and love losses. However, their wedding went without a hitch before they separated in the future. April and Matthew got married on two separate occasions, each coming with their own unique set of challenges. 

Then, of course, there was Meredith and Derek Shepherd. Their relationship sprouted from Derek’s affair with the show’s namesake and the roller coaster of will-they, won’t-they spread over many years. At any given point, they were dating, fighting, engaged, and disengaged depending on their previous interaction. Of course, it culminated when Derek made good on the adage, ”Til death do you part?” 

Grey’s is not a Hallmark movie. Relationships rarely serve romantic purposes, and the bumpy road is far more entertaining than the ones with a smooth street. That is why fans keep coming back. However, they’ll do so with a constant state of fear, hoping that Maggie and Winston can change the role that marriage played through seventeen seasons and counting.