‘Grey’s Anatomy’: The Wasted Potential of Sadie Still Bothers Long-Time Fans
It’s no longer shocking when Grey’s Anatomy kills off some fan-favorite characters, considering there have been so many tragic deaths, heartbreaks, and exits over the years. Viewers know better than to get comfortable with new characters, but there are still some from the past that we can’t help but wonder, “what if…”
In particular, long-time fans are still bothered by what happened to Sadie and feel like there was so much wasted potential when the writers killed her off the show.
Sadie’s character on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’
Sadie Harris debuted in season 5 as an old friend of Meredith’s. When the new intern makes her way into the medical drama, she’s unapologetic and takes charge in some aspects.
For instance, when the other interns are bummed about not getting enough surgical practice, Sadie jumps in to save the day by cutting her shoulder and allowing them to stitch her back up. In an even more drastic attempt to fit in with the interns, she also let them perform an appendectomy on her, which would go completely wrong and become life-threatening.
It starts to become clear Harris doesn’t know much about medicine, and the only reason she made it this far was that she ‘faked until she made it,’ hoping to magically learn it along the way. She ended up quitting.
Her relationship with Meredith
Sadie and Meredith were close friends when they were younger, nicknames and all. Meredith was “death,” and Sadie was “die.” The two were excited to be reunited, but their relationship concerned current BFF Christina Yang because she was jealous of their past and significant history together.
However, it wasn’t long-lasting since the intern was exposed as a ‘fraud’ of sorts when it comes out she doesn’t really know anything about medicine and expected Meredith to help her along the way. On her way out, she brazenly asked Meredith to take off with her on some unexpected, crazy adventure like they used to do when they were younger, but the idea was preposterous.
Fans feel like the writers really ‘blew it’ by killing her off
While some fans think Sadie’s character was ‘unnecessary’ to the Grey’s Anatomy plotline, others are jumping to her defense, saying the writers could’ve done so much better with her.
“I never understood death/die until someone on here pointed it out,” one Reddit user commented. “She had so much potential being an old friend of Meredith’s, but the writers blew it.”
“She had potential, but the writers gave up on her quickly,” another commenter added. “I don’t know why. I like the theory that she was supposed to originally be an Avery (proto-Jackson), but they decided otherwise, so that’s why they got rid of her.”
“I kind of wished her character had stuck around with the intention to grow. I think it would have been interesting to see her go from a cheating slacker to someone who believes in the importance of her work and her patients,” a third commenter said. “No guarantee that the writers would have taken that route had she stayed, but I would have liked to see it if it was possible.”
There’s no saying where Sadie would be today if she had stayed, but long-time fans can help but imagine. As an old friend of Meredith’s, she really could have added a lot to a meaningful relationship with the leading lady.
