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Grey’s Anatomy has been a fan favorite for years. We’ve followed Meredith Grey through her journey from an intern to a respected doctor. She’s grown in her personal life, found love, became a mother, and then struggled through loss.

And now it seems that the character of Meredith has stagnated. But the show has other characters – lots of other characters – and we’ve watched their journeys too.

Unfortunately, now that Grey’s Anatomy is in its 16th season, viewers aren’t as excited about the show as they once were. But can it be saved? Here’s why Grey’s Anatomy‘s 16th season hasn’t lived up to the hype and what that means for the future. 

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 16 has been boring 

CAMILLA LUDDINGTON, ELLEN POMPEO
CAMILLA LUDDINGTON, ELLEN POMPEO | Byron Cohen/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

So far in season 16, viewers feel like nothing is really happening. The writers finally gave us closure about Alex’s absence, but fans have been really disappointed with the way they chose to end his storyline.

He ditched both his “person” Meredith and his wife Jo to run off and live with his ex, Izzie. And after 15 years of getting to know Alex’s character, fans didn’t believe he’d actually make that choice. It didn’t fit his personality to leave with only a note as the explanation. 

In addition, Amelia realized that her child may be fathered by her ex, instead of Link, but she chose not to get a paternity test to find out for sure. When Link expressed his desire to know if the baby was his, Amelia just ended their relationship.

She felt that if Link couldn’t love her and the child regardless of who fathered it, that they shouldn’t be together. Again, most fans were really annoyed by this decision and felt that it was logical for Link to want an answer. 

For both of these plotlines, viewers were upset about the way things turned out. And despite a huge number of characters on the show, there hasn’t really been anything else to keep fans interested.

A recent Reddit discussion asked viewers how they thought the writers could improve season 16, and one commenter felt that it had gotten so bad that the only answer would be to have the hospital explode and “every character dies.”

Is ‘Station 19’ hurting ‘Grey’s Anatomy’?

Another big reason that fans are getting fed up with Grey’s Anatomy this season is the release of its crossover show, Station 19. Although the new show takes place in a fire station instead of a hospital, the characters from both shows interact a lot.

In fact, viewers are getting frustrated because they feel that they’re now being forced to watch both shows just to keep up with Grey’s Anatomy. Who has time for that?

Viewers on Reddit expressed their disappointment. “I think this might be the reason I’m done watching,” said one fan. “I can deal with Alex being gone, but I don’t like Station 19. Also, I don’t have two consecutive hours to dedicate to TV, especially when I have no interest in half of it… It’s been good 14 years (since I started watching) Grey’s, but I think I’m done.

Grey’s Anatomy isn’t coming up with enough plot lines on its own to hold the viewer’s interest. But instead of working on that problem, they’ve just created an entirely new show. Now, fans have to watch two hours of TV to keep up with the story, and they still feel that it’s boring. 

Does ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ just need to end already?

Considering all the problems that Grey’s Anatomy is having, is it time for the show to end? They’ve been on the air for 16 seasons. That’s far longer than most shows survive. But at this point, they’re just not coming up with enough interesting storylines to keep viewers excited about the show. 

The show has created tons of characters in the Grey’s Anatomy world, especially considering the additional characters in Station 19. However, viewers aren’t interested in most of these characters.

They may have 2 or 3 favorites, but all the others become background noise. Plus, all these additional characters make the show harder to keep up with. When a TV show starts to feel like a homework assignment, then something is wrong.

Unless the show somehow makes some drastic changes in the remaining episodes of this season, viewers aren’t going to stick around for a season 17. It may be time for Grey’s Anatomy to admit that the show has run its course.