If you are someone who legitimately cares then you should have seen the episode by now so miss me with that no spoilers nonsense - I don't play that. It is 2020. You know the internet exists. If there is a major episode or movie playing you have like 1 week max to call no spoilers.
...I think we can all agree that it was probably the worst of all time including the musical episode.
Fans all seem to agree that season 16, episode 16 (one more 6 would have been perfect foreshadowing) was not how Alex Karev's time in Seattle should have ended. And fans don't write the shows, it's true. In this case it was someone named Elisabeth Finch who wrote this episode and did for Karev's redemption arc the exact opposite of what Greta Gerwig did for the character development of Amy March.
A quick recap...we haven't seen Alex in a hot minute since he arranged for a troop of character witnesses to defend Meredith and save her medical license after she committed insurance fraud. Just another day at Grey Sloan. He appears to have ghosted Jo and Link keeps assuring her that everything is fine but he's named after a video game character so what does he know. In this episode, Karev writes everyone letters that explain where he is been and why he isn't coming back.
Since it was announced that Justin Chambers was leaving back in January fans have speculated that he would be killed because Shonda Rhimes is kind of like Old Testament God in her willingness to smite. When we realized that Alex did not die, but was instead living it up on a farm in Kansas with ex-wife Izzie, death suddenly seemed like the better plot choice.
Longtime viewers were either up in arms claiming that Karev would never or angry about an alleged character assassination. But here's the thing...I've been telling everyone for years that Karev is still a horrible person And lookie there. I was right.
I don't agree with this ending for him - I will reveal my far superior ideas later - but I do think this is on brand for the type of person Alex Karev is. Sure. He has his redeeming qualities. Hitler probably sent his mom flowers on her birthday - doesn't make him a paragon of morality. This man (Alex not Adolf) has been doing HORRIBLE things to everyone for literal years.
- he treated Lexie like crap
- he tortured Izzie for being a lingerie model & shared her photos around the hospital
- he dangerously left a bullet in him to pick up girls
- he had an unethical relationship with a married patient
- he spread syphilis
- he didn't respect bro code when Meredith asked him to not with Lexie
- he cheated on Izzie
- he severely bullied George because of his own insecurities
- he has severe anger management issues
- he screwed Meredith over & got her fired so he could be chief resident
- he almost killed Andrew DeLuca for seemingly doing something Alex himself has done countless times
To name a few. But completely abandoning Jo to be with the woman who abandoned him and didn't tell him he had kids for like 5 years? Completely unforgivable. Don't get me wrong I think Alex is capable of it because I think he's a sociopath. But it's not the most realistic of endings.
My roommate actually theorized what I think would have been a much more suiting way for Alex to exit the show. As Meredith was reading her letter and I was looking back and forth between Emily and the screen in disbelief, Emily said, "I bet he's in prison." and in my heart that felt right.
Her main argument was that no one actually writes letters. Except inmates. And she's got a point. These were handwritten letters on what appears to be legal pad paper to my expert eyes. Then he told Meredith to come visit him and Emily thought that nullified her theory. But I pointed out there was no return address on Meredith's letter. Every other letter showed an actual return address but on Mere's he just wrote Evil Spawn in the top left corner. So she doesn't have any way to actually track him down.
And Alex going to prison doesn't require a great stretch of the imagination. He's no stranger to an orange jumpsuit. Presumably, he could have been himself and gotten arrested (again) and be writing to everyone from prison pretending things are great. I do think if he found himself in prison he wouldn't want anyone to worry about him or try to help him because as truly horrible as he is, he is at least cognizant of his ethical shortcomings. The producers could keep 99% of the episode material. Just do a quick shot at the end of Alex behind bars writing another letter.
So there you go. That's how Karev's exit should have gone. Years from now when we're all grandmas threatening to "push 10 of epi stat" when our grandkids cry over something dumb like their iPhone 32s refusing to teleport to them...you might be ready to rewatch Grey's Anatomy from start to finish. And when you reach season 16, episode 16, feel free to read this post instead of watching that whole situation. You're welcome.
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